I suppose, that Fa-sien by the character 8 
Pei -to intended to render the name of the 
Bodhi tree. It was only after the time of 
.Fa-sien, that the characters P‘u-t‘i for rend- 
ering this name came into use. 
On the other hand some Chinese authors 
chose the characters Jp| Pei-to to des- 
ignate the Palms, or rather the leaves of 
Palms, which are used in India for writing 
(Palmvra palm). Chinese writers explain, 
that Pei-to means leaf (patra) in Sanscrit. 
But the Palmyra palm bears the Sanscrit 
name Ta-la. 
Mr. Sampson (1. c. p. 180) gives the trans- 
lation of: several quotations in the Kuang- 
Iciin Fang-phi, regarding the Pei-to-shu. As 
] am not able to present to the reader, a 
more correct translation, I may be allowed 
to quote Mr. Sampson’s words, adding only 
a few explanations. 
in China. Ainslie means probably Tung- 
shu. Under this name, which does not occur in the 
Pen-ts'ao, the Kuang-kun fang-phi describes pretty 
well the Banyan tree, as a large wide branching ever- 
green tree, with numerous rootlets pendant from the 
branches, which on reaching the soil penetrate it and 
form, as it were, new trunks, so that a large tree will 
have roots in 4 or 5 different places. A single tree 
will afford a shade of several mow in extent. A fine 
drawing of the Yung tree is found in the Ch. W. 
XXXVII 10. Mr. Sampson gives much interesting in- 
formation about the Banyan tree in China. ("Notes 
and Queries III p. 72.) 
“ The Banyan tree of South China, as the distin- 
guishing name Bastard-banyan, which is often applied 
to it, imports, is not considered identical with though 
it is closely allied to the celebrated Banyan tree of 
India. According to Flora Hongkongenis the Bastard 
banyan is the Ficus retusa L. In Southern China there 
is scarcely a rural ferry landing on the rivers of Kuang- 
tung, that is not furnished with one or more, to afford 
shelter to the passengers as they await the return of 
the boat; few public buildings are without the tree 
to adorn and shade the space in front or the court 
yards behind. There is no doubt, that the Banyan is 
a native of this part of the world. In China it extends 
northward as far as the Yang-tsze; it is abundant in 
the Fu-kiert province, and has for that reason given 
its name to the capital, city Foochow, which is poetic- 
ally termed Yung-ch‘eng or Banyan city; 
and besides growing abundantly in the more South- 
ern provinces, it forms a prominent feature in the 
landscape along the rivers south of the Poyang lake. 
Mr. Sampson states, that the Yung tree is mentioned 
only by modern Chinese authors. But he overlooked 
the fact, that the first book quoted in the Kiin-fang- 
p‘u about the Yung tree is the Nan-fang-ts‘ao-mu- 
ch'uang (4th century) and that some of the state- 
ments, which Mr. S. translates, are taken from this 
work. . ... T) 
The Sanscrit name of Ficus indica is aswattha. By 
this name it is always called in the Vedas, Sliastras, 
Puranas and other ancient Indian writings. Kreeshna 
said: — The Eternal Being is like the tree aswattha, 
the roots of which turn towards the heaven, whilst 
the branches descend to the ground. (Cf. Bhaguat- 
gecta or Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon, quoted 
in Ritter’s Asien IV 2. p. 067). This points unmis- 
takably to Ficus indica. Some savants, iiowever, con- 
sider aswattha as a synonym for the Bodhi tree (Ficus 
religiosa). Cf. Amarakocha 1. c. I p. 84, also Asiatic 
Researches Vol. IV p. 309. Mr. Eitel (Chinese Buddh- 
ism I p. 25) uses also the name aswattha 
The Shi-ivei-ki (4th century) states. In 
IH? Lo-yemg (the Chinese Capital dur- 
ing the Tsin dynasty 265-420 A. D., to the 
West of the present Ho-nan-fu) the Yih 
Tsin bridge leads to the Bodhi-manda (altar 
of intelligence, v. Eitel 1. c. p. 25) where the 
Buddhist classics were translated. At this 
Bodhi-manda were upwards of ten Brahmin 
and Indian priests making a new translation 
of the classics, the originals of which came 
from abroad and were written on leaves of 
the Pei-to tree; the leaves are one foot and 
five or six inches in length, and more than 
five inches broad; in form they are like a 
- Pi-pa ( guitar ) but thicker and 
they are written on crosswise, and 
are bound together in books of various sizes. 
The Yu-yang-tsa-t.su, or Desultory Jot- 
tings of Yu-yang (close of the 8th century) 
reads as follows: 
363\ 
large 
The 
4« 
TJ3 
Pei-to tree comes from 
Magadha (v. s.); it is sixty or seventy, feet 
in height, and its leaves do not fall in winter. 
There are three kinds of this tree: 
X JI ^ 
1. 
pn4 1 
^ tv 
10- p''o-U-ch'a-pei-to. 
*• m m % X M T °- 
11- p'-o-li-ch'-a-pei- to. 
ififik 
j|g A-shi-ho-ta in Chinese hooks) as a syno- 
nym for the Bodhi tree. Tt seems indeed, that the two 
sacred trees of India, Ficus religiosa and F. indica 
are often confounded by native writers. Other Sans- 
crit names of Ficus indica are Vata and Nyagrodha 
(Cf. Asiatic Researches IV p. 309, also Amarakocha 
1. c. p. SO). The latter name is rendered in Chinese 
Buddhist books by Kl # Ni-M-lu. This 
tree Ni-kii-lu is mentioned also by Fa-sien (p. 24), 
besides the Pei-to-shu, as a tree, beneath which Buddha 
sat on a square stone, turned to the East: Perhaps 
some of tlio quoted synonyms relate to other species 
of the Genus F’icus. Sir W. Jones in the Asiatic Re- 
searches IV p. 109 enumerates 4 kinds of holy Fig trees 
in India, distinguished by different Sanscrit names. 
Ritter in his Asia, IV 2, p. 656-85, gives very valuable 
accounts of the sacred Fig trees in India. 
Besides these trees Buddhist works enumerate some 
other trees, in connexion with the different Buddhas, 
namely. 
The Pandarioa (Bignonia spec ?) 
The Patala tree (in Chinese yjjjjt )||| Po-to-li), 
the Trumpet-flower (Bignonia suaveolens, according to 
Wilkins.) 
The Sal tree <£*■ 
. n © So-lo-shu in Chinese). 
Shorea robusta. Sakynmni's (Buddha’s) death took 
place in the shade of Sal trees. Mr. Eitel (1. e. p. 114 
commits an error in klendifying Shorea robusta with 
the Teak wood. Teak wood is obtained from Tectonia 
grandls. 
Sirisha (in Chinese ^|t}J Shi-li-slici. Cf 
PSn-ts'ao XXXV5 3. Article 
(i 
Ho-huan). 
Mimosa Sirisha, according to Roxburgh., 
