388 



THE SINGHALESE CHEONICLES. 



[Part III. 



A.D. 



432. 



perennial spring, and periods for seed time and harvest 

 are regulated by the taste of tlie husbandman. This 

 statement has reference to the multitude of tanks which 

 rendered agriculture independent of the periodical rains. 



Fa Hian speaks of the lofty monuments wliich were 

 the memorials of Buddha, and of the gems and gold 

 which adorned his statues at Anarajapoora. Amongst 

 the most surprising of these was a figure in what 

 he calls " blue jasper," inlaid Avith jewels and other 

 precious materials, and holding in one hand a pearl of 

 inestimable value. ' He describes the Bo-tree in terms 

 which might ahnost be applied to its actual condition 

 at the present day, and he states that they had recently 

 erected a building to contain " the tooth of Buddha," 

 which was exhibited to the pious in the middle of the 

 third moon with processions and ceremonies which he 

 minutely details.^ All this corresponds closely with the 

 narrative of the Maliaicanso. The sacred tooth of Bud- 

 dha, called at that time Ddthd dhcitu, and now the 

 Dalada, had been brought to Ceylon a short time before 

 Fa Hian's arrival in the reign of Kisti-Sri-Megha-warna, 

 A.D. 311, in charge of a princess of Kalinga, who con- 

 cealed it in the folds of her hair. And the Mahawanso 

 with equal precision describes the procession as con- 

 ducted by the king and by the assembled priests, in 



^ It was whilst looking at this 

 statue that Fa Hian eucoimtered an 

 incident which he has related with 

 touching simplicity : — " Depuis que 

 Fa FLcan avait quitte la terre de 

 Han, plusieui'S annees s'etaient ecou- 

 lees ; les gens avec lesquels il avait 

 des rapports etaient tons des homnies 

 de coutrees etrangeres. Les nion- 

 tagnes, les rivieres, les herhes, les 

 arbres, tout ce qui avait frappe ses 

 yeux etait nouveau pour lui. De 



{)lus, ceux qui avaient fait route avec 

 ui, s'en etaient separes, les uns 

 s'etant arretes, et les autres etant 

 iiiorts. En reflechissant au pasge, son 



coeiu- etait toujours rempli de pen- 

 sees et de tristesse. Tout a coup, a 

 cote de cette figure de jaspe, il vit 

 un niarchand qui faisait homniage 

 a la statue d'un eventail de tafletas 

 blanc du pays de Tsin. Sans qu'on 

 s'en aper^ut cela lui causa une emo- 

 tion telle que ses larmes coiUerent 

 et remplirent ses yeux." (Fa Hian. 

 Foe Koue Ki, ch. xxxviii. p. 333.) 

 " Tsin " means the province of 

 Chensi, which was the birthplace of 

 Fa Hian. 



'-^ Fa Hian, Foe Koue Ki, ch. 

 xxxviii. p. 334-5. 



