628 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY. 



[Part V. 



the high mountain is called Seih-lan ; hence the name of the 

 island. It is said Buddha (Shih-ka) came from the island of 

 Ka-lon (the gardens of Buddha), and ascended this mountain, 

 on which remains the trace of his foot. Below the hill there is 

 a monastery, in which they preserve the nee-pwan (a Bud- 

 dhistic phrase, signifying the world ; literally rendered, his 

 defiling or defiled vessel) and the Shay-le-tsze, or relics of 

 Buddha. 



"In the sixth year of his reign (1407), Yung-16, of the Ming 

 dynasty, sent an ambassador extraordinary, Ching-Ho and 

 others, to transmit the Imperial mandate to the King A-lee- 

 j6-nai-wah, ordering him to present numerous and valuable 

 offerings and banners to the monastery, and to erect a stone 

 tablet, and rewarding him by his appointment as tribute 

 bearer; A-lee-j6-nai-wurh ungratefully refusing to comply, they 

 seized him, in order to bring him to terms, and chose from 

 among his nearest of kin A-pa-nae-na, and set him on the 

 throne. For fourteen years, Teen-ching, Kwa-wa (Java), 

 Mwan-che-kea, Soo-mun-ta-che (Sumatra), and other coun- 

 tries, sent tribute in the tenth year of Chin-tung, and the 

 third year of Teen-shun they again sent tribute." ' 



" I have heard from an American, A-pe-le^, that Seih-lan 

 was the original country of Teen-chuh (India), and that which 

 is no'Wf called Woo-yin-too was Teen-chiih, but in the course 

 of time the names have become confused. According to the 

 records of the later Han dynasty, Teen-chuh was considered 

 the Shin-tuh, and that tlie name is not that of an island, but 

 of the whole country. I do not know what proof there is 

 for A-pe-le's statement." 



' There is here some confusion in 

 the chronology, as Teen-shvm reigned 

 before Chinof-tung-. 



- ]\Ir. Abeel; an American mis- 

 sionary. 



