594 



MEDI^^VAL HISTORY. 



[Pakt V. 



Concurrent testimony, to the same effect, is found 

 in the recital of the Chinese Buddhist, Fa Hian, who 

 in the third century describes, in his travels, the same 

 strange pecuharity of the inhabitants in those days, 

 whom he also designates " demons," who deposited, 

 unseen, the -precious articles which they come down to 

 barter with the foreign merchants resorting; to their 

 shores.^ 



The cliain of evidence is rendered complete by a 

 passage in Pliny, which, although somewhat obscure 

 (facts relating to the Seies being confounded with 

 statements regarding Ceylon), nevertheless serves to 

 show that the custom in question was then well known 

 to the Singhalese ambassadors sent to the Emperor 

 Claudius, and was also fiuniliar to the Greek traders 



' " Les marcliands des autres roy- 

 aimies y faisaient le commerce : 

 quand le temps de ce commerce 

 ^tait venu, les genies et les demons 

 ne paraissaieut pas ; mais ils met- 

 taient en avant des choses precieuses 

 dont ils marquaient le juste prix, — 

 s'il convenait aiix niarchands, ceux- 

 ci I'acquittaient et preuaient la mar- 

 chandise." — Fa IIian, Foe-koue-ki. 

 Transl. liEMrsAT, ch. xxxviii. p. 332. 



There are a midtitude of Chinese 

 authorities to the same effect. One 

 of the most remarkable books in any 

 language is a Chiiiese Eu cyclopaedia 

 •wliicli, under the title of Wen-hian- 

 thoung-khao, or " Researches into 

 ancient Monuments^'' contains a liis- 

 tory of every ai't and science from 

 the commencement of the empire to 

 the era of tlie author Ma-toxjan-lin, 

 who wrote in the thirteenth century. 

 M. Stanislas Julien has published in 

 the Journal Asiatique for Jidy 1836 

 a translation of that poHion of this 

 gi'eat work which has relation to 

 Ceylon. It is there stated of the 

 aborigines that when " les marchauds 

 des autres royaumes y veuaient com- 

 niercer, ils ne laissaient jms voir leurs 

 corps, et montraient au moyen de 

 pierres precieuses le prix que pou- 

 vaient valoir les merchandises. Les 



marchands venaient et en prenaieiit 

 uue quantite equivalente a lem-s mar- 

 chaudises." — Journ. Asiat. t. xxviii. 

 p. 402; xxiv. p. 41. I have extracts 

 from seven other Chinese works, 

 written between the seventh and 

 the twelfth centuries, in all of which 

 there occurs the same account of 

 Ceylon,— that it was formerly sup- 

 posed to be inhabited by dragons 

 and demons, and that when "mer- 

 chants from all nations come to trade 

 with them, they are invisible, but 

 leave their precious wares spread out 

 with an indication of the value set on 

 them, and the Chinese take them at 

 the prices stipulated." — Leang-shoo, 

 "History of the Leang Dynasty," 

 a.d. 630, b. liv. p. 13. Ndn-shh, 

 " History of the Southern Empire," 

 A.D. 650, p. xxxviii. p. 14. Jung- 

 tce^i, " Cyclopfedia of History," a.d. 

 740, b. cxciii. p. 8. The Tae-phig, 

 a " Digest of History," compiled by 

 Imperial command, a.d. 983, b. 

 dccxciii. p. 9. Tsih-foo-gnen-kwei, 

 tlie " Great Depositary of the Na- 

 tional Archives," A.D. 1012, b. cccclvi. 

 p. 21. Sin-Jang-shoo, " New His- 

 tory of the Tang'D\Tiasty," A.D. 1060, 

 b. cxlvi. partii. p. 10. Wan-hcen-tung- 

 Kivan, " Antiquarian Researches," 

 A.D. 1319, b. cccxxxviii. p.' 24. 



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