208 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Art. X. — Notes on some Bronze Buddhas from Pekin. 

 By William Welch. 



[Read before tin Manawatu Philosophical Society, loth September, 1904.] 



These few notes on the bronze Buddhas are submitted with a 

 large amount of diffidence, in that in a small country town such 

 as Palmerston North we find a difficulty in consulting works 

 of reference, and we are not so sure of our facts as we should 

 be. In fact, we too often have to trust to memory from past 

 reading. 



These Buddhas form part of a collection that was looted from 

 the Imperial Palace in the forbidden City of Pekin at the time of 

 the relief of the legations by the allied troops, in August, 1899. 

 I might say I have indisputable proof of genuineness of the state- 

 ment that they came from the Imperial Palace, and not from 

 the bazaars — for the bazaars were also looted, and they contained 

 a lot of bronzes and other curios manufactured for sale to tourists 

 as the genuine article, and no doubt much that came from Pekin 

 bazaars at that time was sold as genuine. But these have a better 

 history. I have a letter from the trooper of the New South 

 Wales naval contingent who looted it. The naval people could 

 bring away more plunder than the land forces, on account of the 

 stowage-capacity of their boats ; but a better proof is the fact 

 that some of the bronzes contained a large percentage of gold, 

 in some as much as 50 per cent., while in another was hidden 

 a number of invocations to Buddha, block-printed, in the Tibetan 

 language, on parchment (some were written), invocations in his 

 attribute of Guardian Deity and Thunderbolt Bearer, sent by 

 the Lama of Lhassa to the Emperor of China in the seventeenth 

 century. These have been translated and examined by the 

 Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts in the British Museum. 



The way they were discovered — that is, the manuscripts — 

 is rather amusing. My wife was reading some tale of Indian 

 treasures, and remarked that it was a pity I could not find some 

 large diamonds or emeralds in my Buddhas. I said "Yes, it 

 is a pity." But the next morning I was gloating over them 

 as usual, and 1 took up one and shook it. and sure enough I 

 fancied I could hear a rustle. I tried again and again, still I 

 could hear it. I was not sure whether it was my shirt-cuff, or 

 my hearl thai was beating, for I may say I felt pretty excited. 

 I examined the bronze carefully, and at last made out a small 

 crack in the bottom. It was a different Buddha from the 

 others : whereas the others were elaborately dressed and de- 

 corated, this one was specially plain — merely a sheet-like garment 

 thrown over one shoulder, reaching to below the knees, and 



