CUAP. III.] 



CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE CHINESE. 



615 



Buddha.' Statues of Buddha were frequently sent 

 as royal presents, and so great was the fame of Cey- 

 lon for their production in the fourth and fifth cen- 

 turies, that according to the historian of the Wei Tartar 

 dynasty, a.d. 386 — 556, people " from the countries 

 of Central Asia, and the kings of those nations, 

 emulated each other in sending artisans to procure 

 copies, but none could rival the productions of Nan-te.^ 

 On standing about ten paces distant they appeared truly 

 brilliant, but the lineaments gradually disappeared on a 

 nearer approach." ^ 



Pearls, corals, and crystals were eagerly sought after ; 

 but of all articles the gems of Ceylon were in the 

 greatest request. The business of collecting and selhng 

 them seems from the earhest time to have fallen into the 

 hands of the Arabs, and hence they bore in China the desig- 

 nation of " Mahometan stones." ^ They consisted of rubies, 

 sapphires, amethysts, carbuncles (the " red precious stone, 

 the lustre of which serves instead of a lamp at night ")'^; 

 and topazes of four distinct tints, " those the colour of wine ; 

 the dehcate tint of young goslings, the deep amber, hke 

 bees'-wax, and the pale tinge resembling the opening bud 

 of the pine." ^ It will not fail to be observed that 

 throughout all these historical and topographical works 

 of the Chinese, extending over a period of twelve 

 centuries, from the year a.d. 487, there is no mention 



but tlie reference must be to cloth 

 previously imported either from In- 

 dia or Persia. — Ming-she History of 

 the Ming Dynasty, A.D. 1368 — 1643, 

 b. cccxxvi. p. 7. 



^ A model of the shrine contain- 

 ing the sacred tooth was sent to the 

 Emperor of China in the fifth cen- 

 tuiy by the King of Ceylon ; " Chacha 

 3Io-ha-tmn,^' a name which appears 

 to coincide with Raja Maha Nama, 

 who reigned A.D. 410 — 433. — Shun- 

 shoo, A.D. 487, b. xlvii. p. 6. 



^ Nan-t^ was a Buddhist priest, 

 who in the year a.d. 456 was sent 

 on an embassy to the Emperor of 

 China, and was made the bearer of 

 three statues of his own making. — 

 Tsih-foo yuen-kicei, b. li. p. 7. 



* Wei-shoo, A. D. 590, b. cxiv. p. 9. 



■* Tsih-ke, quoted in the Cliinese 

 Mirror of Sciences, b. xxxiii. p. 1. 



^ Po-iviih yaon-lan, b. xxxiii. p. 2. 



e Ibid. 



