Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History Part 103

[Footnote 1: REINAUD, _Memoir sur l'Inde_, p. 9. STANISLAS JULIEN, preface to his translation of _Hiouen-Thsang_, Paris, 1853, p. 1. A bibliographical notice of the most important Chinese works which contain descriptions of India, by M.S. JULIEN, will be found in the _Journ.

Asiat._ for October, 1832, p. 264.]

It was reasonable to antic.i.p.ate that in such records information would be found regarding the condition of Ceylon as it presented itself from time to time to the eyes of the Chinese; but unfortunately numbers of the original works have long since perished, or exist only in extracts preserved in dynastic histories and encyclopaedias, or in a cla.s.s of books almost peculiar to China, called "tsung-shoo," consisting of excerpts reproduced from the most ancient writers. M. Stanislas Julien discovered in the _Pien-i-tien_, ("a History of Foreign Nations," of which there is a copy in the Imperial Library of Paris,) a collection of fragments from Chinese authors who had treated of Ceylon; but as the intention of that eminent Sinologue to translate them[1] has not yet been carried into effect, they are not available to me for consultation.

In this difficulty I turned for a.s.sistance to China; and through the a.s.siduous kindness of Mr. Wylie, of the London Mission at Shanghai, I have received extracts from twenty-four Chinese writers between the fifth and eighteenth centuries, from which and from translations of Chinese travels and topographies made by Remusat, Klaproth, Landresse, Pauthier, Stanislas Julien, and others, I have been enabled to collect the following facts relative to the knowledge of Ceylon possessed by the Chinese in the middle ages.[2]

[Footnote 1: _Journ. Asiat._ t. xxix. p. 39. M. Stanislas Julien is at present engaged in the translation of the _Si-yu-ki_, or "Memoires des Contrees Occidentales," the eleventh chapter of which contains an account of Ceylon in the eighth century.]

[Footnote 2: The Chinese works referred to in the following pages are.--_Sung-shoo_, the "History of the Northern Sung Dynasty," A.D.

417-473, by CHIN-Y[)O], written about A.D. 487,--_Wei-shoo_, "a History of the Wei Tartar Dynasty," A.D. 386-556, by WEI-SHOW, A.D.

590.--_Fo[)e]-Kou[)e] Ki_, an "Account of the Buddhist Kingdoms," by CH[)Y]-F[)A]-HIAN, A.D. 399-414, French transl., by Remusat, Klaproth, and Landresse. Paris, 1836.--_Leang-shoo_, "History of the Leang Dynasty," A.D. 502-557, by YAOU-SZE-LEEN, A.D. 630.--_Suy-shoo_, "History of the Suy Dynasty," A.D. 581-617, by WEI-CHING, A.D.

633.--HIOUEN-THSANG. His Life and Travels, A.D. 645, French, transl., by Stanislas Julien. Paris, 1853.--_Nan-she_, "History of the Southern Empire," A.D. 317-589, by LE-YEN-SHOW, A.D. 650,--_Tung-teen_, "Cyclopaedia of History," by TOO-YEW, A.D. 740.--Ke-Ne[)E] _si-y[)i]h hing-Ching_, "Itinerary of Ke-Ne[)E]'s Travels in the Western Regions,"

from A.D. 964-979.--_Tae-ping yu-lan_, "The Tae-ping Digest of History,"

compiled by Imperial Command, A.D. 983.--_Ts[)i]h-foo yuen-Kwei_, "Great Depository of the National Archives," compiled by Imperial Command, A.D.

1012.--_Sin-Tang-shoo_, "A New History of the Tang Dynasty," A.D.

618-906, by GOW-YANG-SEW and SING-Ke, A.D. 1060.--_Tung-che_, "National Annals," by CHING-TSEAOU, A.D. 1150.--_W[)a]n-heen tung-kaou_, "Antiquarian Researches," by MA-TWAN-LIN, A.D. 1319. Of this remarkable work there is an admirable a.n.a.lysis by Klaproth in the _Asiatic Journal_ for 1832, vol. x.x.xv. p. 110, and one still more complete in the _Journal Asiatique_, vol. xxi. p. 3. The portion relating to Ceylon has been translated into French by M. Pauthier in the _Journal Asiatique_ for April, 1836, and again by M. Stanislas Julien in the same Journal for July, 1836, t. xxix, p. 36.--_Y[)u]h-hae_, "The Ocean of Gems," by w.a.n.g-YANG-LIN, A.D. 1338.--_Taou-e chele[)o]_, "A General Account of Island Foreigners," by w.a.n.g-TA-YOUEN, A.D. 1350.--_Ts[)i]h-ke_, "Miscellaneous Record;" written at the end of the Yuen dynasty, about the close of the fourteenth century.--_Po-w[)u]h yaou-lan_, "Philosophical Examiner;" written during the Ming dynasty, about the beginning of the fifteenth century.--_Se-y[)i]h-ke foo-choo_, "A Description of Western Countries," A.D. 1450. This is the important work of which M. Stanislas Julien has recently published the first volume of his French translation, _Memoires des Contrees Occidentales_, Paris, 1857; and of which he has been so obliging as to send me those sheets of the second volume, now preparing for the press, which contain the notices of Ceylon by HIOUEN-THSANG. They, however, add very little to the information already given in the _Life and Travels of Hiouen-Thsang.--Woo-he[)o]-peen_, "Records of the Ming Dynasty," by CHING-HEAOU, A.D. 1522.--_S[)u]h-wan-heen tung-kaou_, "Supplement to the Antiquarian Researches," by w.a.n.g-Ke, A.D. 1603.--_S[)u]h-Hung keen-luh_, "Supplement to the History of the Middle Ages," by SHAOU-YUEN-PING, A.D.

1706.--_Ming-she_, "History of the Ming Dynasty," A.D. 1638-1643, by CHANG-TING-Y[)U]H, A.D. 1739.--_Ta-tsing y[)i]h-tung_, "A Topographical Account of the Manchoo Dynasty," of which there is a copy in the British Museum.]

Like the Greek geographers, the earliest Chinese authorities grossly exaggerated the size of Ceylon: they represented it as lying "cross-wise"

in the Indian Ocean[1], and extending in width from east to west one third more than in depth from north to south.[2] They were struck by the alt.i.tude of its hills, and, above all, by the lofty crest of Adam's Peak, which served as the land-mark for s.h.i.+ps approaching the island.

They speak reverentially of the sacred foot-mark[3] impressed by the first created man, who, in their mythology, bears the name of p.a.w.n-koo; and the gems which are found upon the mountain they believe to be his "crystallised tears, which accounts for their singular l.u.s.tre and marvellous tints."[4] The country they admired for its fertility and singular beauty; the climate they compared to that of Siam[5], with slight alterations of seasons; refres.h.i.+ng showers in every period of the year, and the earth consequently teeming with fertility.[6]

[Footnote 1: _Taou-e che-le[)o]_, quoted in the _Hae-kw[)o]-too che_, Foreign Geography, b. xviii. p. 15.]

[Footnote 2: _Leang-shoo_, b. liv. p. 10; _Nan-she_, b. lxxiii. p. 13; _Tung-teen_, b. clx.x.xviii. p. 17.]

[Footnote 3: The Chinese books repeat the popular belief that the hollow of the sacred footstep contains water "which does not dry up all the year round;" and that invalids recover by drinking from the well at the foot of the mountain; into which "the sea-water enters free from salt."

_Taou-e che-le[)o]_, quoted in the _Hae-kw[)o]-too-che_, or Foreign Geography, b. xxviii. p. 15.]

[Footnote 4: _Po-w[)u]h Yaou-lan_, b. x.x.xiii. p. 1. w.a.n.g-KE, _S[)u]-Wan-heentung-kaou_, b. ccx.x.xvi. p. 19.]

[Footnote 5: _Tung-teen_, b. clx.x.xviii. p. 17. _Tae-ping_, b. dcclx.x.xvii p. 5.]

[Footnote 6: _Leang-shoo_, b. liv. p. 10.]

The names by which Ceylon was known to them were either adapted from the Singhalese, as nearly as the Chinese characters would supply equivalents for the Sanskrit and Pali letters, or else they are translations of the sense implied by each designation. Thus, Sinhala was either rendered "_Seng-kia-lo_,"[1] or "_Sze-tseu-kw[)o]_," the latter name as well as the original, meaning "the kingdom of lions."[2] The cla.s.sical Lanka is preserved in the Chinese "_Lang-kea_" and "_Lang-ya-seu_" In the epithet "_Ch[)i]h-too_," the _Red Land_[3], we have a simple rendering of the Pali _Tambapanni_, the "Copper-palmed," from the colour of the soil.[4]

_Paou-choo_[5] is a translation of the Sanskrit Ratna-dwipa, the "Island of Gems," and _Ts[)i]h-e-lan, Se[)i]h-lan_, and _Se-lung_, are all modern modifications of the European "Ceylon."

[Footnote 1: _Hiouen-Thsang_, b. iv. p. 194. Transl. M.S. Julien.]

[Footnote 2: This, M. Stanislas Julien says, should be "the kingdom of _the lion_," in allusion to the mythical ancestry of Wijayo.--_Journ.

Asiat_, tom. xxix. p. 37. And in a note to the tenth book of HIOUEN-THSANG'S _Voyages des Pelerins Bouddhistes_, vol. ii. p. 124, he says one name for Ceylon in Chinese is "Tchi-sse-tseu" "(le royaume de celui qui) a pris un lion."]

[Footnote 3: _Suy-shoo_, b. lx.x.x. p. 3. In the _Se-y[)i]h-ke foo-choo_, or "Descriptions of Western Countries," Ceylon is called _Woo-yew-kw[(o]_, "the sorrowless kingdom."]

[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 50.]

[Footnote 5: _Se-y[)i]h-ke foo-choo_, quoted in the _Hae-kw[)o]-too che_, or "Foreign Geography," l. xviii. p. 15; HIOUEN-THSANG; _Voyages des Peler. Boudd_. lib. xi. vol. ii. p. 125; 130 n.]

The ideas of the Chinese regarding the mythical period of Singhalese history, and the first peopling of the island, are embodied in a very few sentences which are repeated throughout the series of authors, and with which we are made familiar in the following pa.s.sage from F[)A]

HIAN:--" Sze-tseu-kw[)o], the kingdom of lions[1], was inhabited originally not by men but by demons and dragons.[2] Merchants were attracted to the island, by the prospect of trade; but the demons remained unseen, merely exposing the precious articles which they wished to barter: with a price marked for each, at which the foreign traders were at liberty to take them, depositing the equivalents indicated in exchange. From the resort of these dealers, the inhabitants of other countries, hearing of the attractions of the island, resorted to it in large numbers, and thus eventually a great kingdom was formed."[3]

[Footnote 1: _Wan-heen tung-kaou_, b. cccx.x.xviii. p. 24.]

[Footnote 2: The Yakkhos and Nagas ("devils" and "serpents") of the _Mahawanso_.]

[Footnote 3: _Fo[)e]-Kou[)e] Ki_, ch. x.x.xviii. p. 333. Transl. ReMUSAT.

This account of Ceylon is repeated almost verbatim in the _Tung-teen_, and in numerous other Chinese works, with the addition that the newly-formed kingdom of Sinhala, "Sze-tseu-kw[)o]," took its name from the "skill of the natives in training lions."--B. cxciii. pp. 8, 9; _Tae-ping_, b. dccxciii. p. 9; _Sin-Tang-shoo_, b. cxlvi. part ii. p.

10. A very accurate translation of the pa.s.sage as it is given by MA-TOUAN-LIN is published by M. Stanislas Julien in the _Journ. Asiat._ for July, 1836, tom. xxix. p. 36.]

The Chinese were aware of two separate races, one occupying the northern and the other the southern extremity of the island, and were struck with the resemblance of the Tamils to the Hoo, a people of Central Asia, and of the Singhalese to the Leaou, a mountain tribe of Western China.[1]

The latter they describe as having "large ears, long eyes, purple faces, black bodies, moist and strong hands and feet, and living to one hundred years and upwards.[2] Their hair was worn long and flowing, not only by the women but by the men." In these details there are particulars that closely resemble the description of the natives of the island visited by Jambulus, as related in the story told by Diodorus.[3]

[Footnote 1: _Too-Hiouen_, quoted in the _Tung-teen_, b. cxciii. p. 8.]

[Footnote 2: _Taou-e che-le[)o]_, quoted in the _Hae-kw[)o]-too che_, or "Foreign Geography," b. xviii p. 15.]

[Footnote 3: DIODORUS SICULUS, lib. ii. ch. liii. See _ante_, Vol. I. P.

v. ch. 1. p. 153.]

The Chinese in the seventh century found the Singhalese dressed in a costume which appears to be nearly identical with that of the present day.[1] Both males and females had their hair long and flowing, but the heads of children were closely shaven, a practice which still partially prevails. The jackets of the girls were occasionally ornamented with gems.[2] "The men," says the _Tung-teen_, "have the upper part of the body naked, but cover their limbs with a cloth, called _Kan-man,_ made of _Koo-pei_, 'Cotton,' a word in which we may recognise the term 'Comboy,' used to designate the cotton cloth universally worn at the present day by the Singhalese of both s.e.xes in the maritime provinces.[3] For their vests, the kings and n.o.bles made use of a substance which is described as 'cloud cloth,'[4] probably from its being very transparent, and gathered (as is still the costume of the chiefs of Kandy) into very large folds. It was fastened with golden cord. Men of rank were decorated with earrings. The dead were burned, not buried." And the following pa.s.sage from the _S[)u]h-wan-heen tung-kaou_, or the "Supplement to Antiquarian Researches," is strikingly descriptive of what may be constantly witnessed in Ceylon;--"the females who live near the family of the dead a.s.semble in the house, beat their b.r.e.a.s.t.s with both hands, howl and weep, which const.i.tutes their appropriate rite."[5]

[Footnote 1: _Leang-shoo_, b. liv. p. 10; _Nan-she_, b. lxxviii. pp. 13, 14.]

[Footnote 2: _Nan-she_, A.D. 650, b. lxxviii. p. 13; _Leang-shoo_, A.D.

670; b. liv. p. 11. Such is still the dress of the Singhalese females.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A MOODLIAR AND HIS WIFE.]]

[Footnote 3: _Tung-teen_, b. clx.x.xviii. p. 17; _Nan-she_, b. lxxviii. p.

13; _Sin-tang-shoo_, b. cxcviii p. 25. See p. iv. ch. iv, vol. i. p.

450.]

[Footnote 4: The Chinese term is "yun-hae-poo."--_Leang-shoo_, b. liv.

p. 10.]

[Footnote 5: B. ccx.x.xvi. p. 19.]

The natural riches of Ceylon, and its productive capabilities, speedily impressed the Chinese, who were bent upon the discovery of outlets for their commerce, with the conviction of its importance as an emporium of trade. So remote was the age at which strangers frequented it, that in the "_Account of Island Foreigners,"_ written by w.a.n.g-TA-YUEN[1] in the fourteenth century, it is stated that the origin of trade in the island was coeval with the visit of Buddha, who, "taking compa.s.sion on the aborigines, who were poor and addicted to robbery, turned their disposition to virtue, by sprinkling the land with sweet dew, which caused it to produce red gems, and thus gave them wherewith to trade,"

and hence it became the resort of traders from every country.[2] Though aware of the unsuitability of the climate to ripen wheat, the Chinese were struck with admiration at the wonderful appliances of the Singhalese for irrigation, and the cultivation of rice.[3]

[Footnote 1: _Taou-e che-le[)o]_, quoted in the Foreign Geography, b.

xviii. p. 15.]

[Footnote 2: The rapid peopling of Ceylon at a very remote age is accounted for in the following terms in a pa.s.sage of MA-TWAN-LIN, as translated by M. Stanislas Julien;--"Les habitants des autres royaumes entendirent parler de ce pays fortune; c'est pourquoi ils y accoururent a l'envi."--_Journ. Asiat._ t. xxix. p. 42.]

[Footnote 3: Records of the Ming Dynasty, by CHING-HEAOU, b. lxviii. p.

5.]