REMARKABLE MONUMENT IN WESTERN CHINA 557 



THE MOST KEMAiavAJiLE .MONUMENT IN WESTERN CHINA 



By ROGER SPRAGUE 



BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 



IMAGINE, if you please, a low river bluff — thirty or forty feet high — 

 faced with a masonry of red sandstone and crowned with warlike 

 battlements, beyond which rise the tiled roofs of low-built houses and 

 fantastic outlines of quaint old temples. Such is the picture presented 

 to the traveler who visits the city of Jah-ding in western China. Be- 

 hind those battlements are huddled the homes and shops and public 

 buildings of a densely packed population, among whom many a quaint 

 and curious custom still obtains, for modern civilization is being intro- 

 duced but slowly. 



Far in the interior of Asia, more than a thousand miles from the 

 sea as the crow flies, that city is located. It stands on the banks of a 

 gently flowing river. The dark red walls overlook the dull gray water, 

 while overhead hangs a dull gray sk}', since the province of Four 

 Streams is renowned throughout all China as the land of clouds. Many 

 travelers have visited that city, for the river whicli washes its walls is 

 one of the principal waterways of western China. In fact, it is one of 

 the headwaters of the Yangtze-kiang, the natural outlet of that country. 

 To be precise, the town is located at the confluence of three streams, one 

 of which comes from the capital of the province, the great city of 

 Chentu. That capital is the goal of many a globe-trotter of adven- 

 turous disposition or scientific tendencies — the kind who write books. 

 On leaving it he floats down stream in a native boat for twenty-four 

 hours and ties up at the gates of Jah-ding (spelled Kiating on the 

 maps), to make a visit to Mt. Omei, one day's journey to the west. That 

 mountain is not only one of the natural wonders of the world, but is also 

 a center of pilgrimage for all the Buddhists of China, as it marks the 

 point where Buddhism first entered the country. Dotted with temples 

 from base to summit, the mountain overtops the surrounding plain by 

 nearly two miles, while on one of its faces a tremendous precipice de- 

 scends almost unbroken for six thousand feet. It attracts the adventur- 

 ous globe-trotter with an irresistible magnetism. 



But it is not the writer's purpose to deal with Mt. Omei or any of 

 its features. They have been portrayed in detail by others. The object 

 of this account is to describe a curious relic, not far from Jah-ding, 

 which well might attract the traveler's attention, but which has re- 

 ceived scant notice. Permit me first to outline how travelers, one after 

 another — men of literar}^ and scientific attainments — journeyed in far 

 western China, wrote of its scenery and its monuments, but neglected to 

 visit and describe the most remarkable monument of them all. 



In the late 70's, Colborne Baber, British traveler, drifted down the 



