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Hsin Hsing is the only Yünnan woven cloth which can be depended upon for length, breadth, and evenness of texture.
Ponies and Mules.-I cannot doubt that if the Government of Burmah is inclined to take the matter up, Yünnan would in time become an important source of supply of mules and ponies; but it would be necessary to send competent and, I may add, patient officers into the breeding districts to explain the requirements of Burmah. Burmah gets the off-sweepings of Yunnan in the way of ponies-the halt, the maimed and the blind.
At present, for ponies, the best, but probably also the dearest, market is Yünnan-fu itself, where there is a much wider choice of animals than anywhere else.
At Hsia Kuan the number of ponies sold is small, but all over the part of Yunnan which I traversed, ponies and mules are bred in considerable numbers, and hardly any village is so poor as not to have a few ponies and donkeys.
The Chien Chang (south-west) corner of Szechuan is also an important pony-breeding ground, and I have seen a very few mules from the same district which would, I think, be large enough for batteries, prices asked being 60 to 80 taels (now 120 to 160 rupees).
I also met several caravans of ponies (30 to 50 in each) en route from the Chien Chang to Burmah via the Kun Long Ferry; many were mares in foal, and for the rest their obvious destiny was to draw a ticca gharry in Mandalay. There is a steady movement of animals from these districts down to Yung Chang and Teng Yueh to supply transport for the Burmah and the salt trades. It is, however, very hard to get exact numbers, because animals are mostly privately sold, and not exposed on the open market, so as to avoid those official exactions which ruin the internal trade of China, and especially of Yunnan. One dealer, who was taking ponies to Mandalay from Hui Li, in the Chien Chang, told me that by dodging the cities and markets he managed to get across the province without paying taxes more than five times, or, in all, 4 rupees per beast, which represents about 12 per cent, ad valorem at his home.
At Hoching, five days north of Ta Li, there is a specially good class of mule engaged in the salt trade. He is hardly big enough for a battery, but he carries 215 lbs. over very severe mountain roads an average of 15 miles a-day, day in and day out.
But the main source at present of the Burmah pony supply is Chung Tien, ten days north of Ta Li, across the Yang-tsze, the inhabitants of which are Thibetans known as Ku Tsung men. I have not yet been able to visit their country, but it is stated to supply a large number of a strong, though not elegant, type of pony. They seem, however, not to thrive in a hot climate, and receive so little attention on their long journey down that they usually reach Teng Yueh in a very poor condition. Besides horse-dealers, a number of other Ku Tsung men come down to West Yunnan every year with beasts which they let out for hire for transport, and take back to their homes at the end of the spring.
The Fowl's Foot Mountain is near Ta Li.
Leaving Pin Chuan by the North Gate, we followed the road down the valley towards the Yang-tzse for a mile, and then turning west across the stream which inadequately waters the plain, marched slightly west of north across downs and foot-hills which fringe the west side of the valley. The road is cut at intervals by several streams flowing from the mountains which shelter the east shore of the Ta Li Lake, eastward into the Pin Chuan Plain, and along these streams there is garden-like cultivation and picturesque villages. After three hours' march we crossed a road leading from Nui Kai to Wa Ch'i, a market on the east shore of the Ta Li Lake, whence a boat can be taken across to Ta Li Fu.
Passing the market of Lien Tung, which is situated above the rich padi valley of Fu Tien Chuang, whose fields are mostly owned by the monks of the Chi Tsu Shan (Fowl's Foot Hill). On the grassy slopes near our camp, pheasants, quail, and partridges abounded.
All day long we had seen in front of us a huge hog-backed mountain rising up from the Pin Chuan Valley in a west direction across fifteen points of the compass, and terminating on the west in an isolated castle-like pinnacle, on the summit of which could be seen the white glitter of a temple.
On the next day we continued over-hill and down towards the great mountain, having on our left the range which hangs over the east shore of the Ta Li Lake, and after two and a-half hours' march we emerged from a forest into the beautiful valley of Sha Chi, which nestles along the south foot of the Fowl Mountain. The broad flank of the mountain is densely clad with forest, amid which may be discerned the roofs and pagodas of the lower temples, and a pellucid stream flows past the padi terraces of Sha Chi in an easterly direction towards the Yang-tzse. In the afternoon we ascended the hill to 7,800 feet through dense forest, and then, turning east along a good path, reached the beautiful temple of Shih Tan Ssu, entirely surrounded by virgin forest.
This is the residence of the Seng Cheng Ssu, or Controller of all the temples and monks on the hill. He administers corporal punishment, or in bad cases can expel the offending bonze from the precincts of the hill. The office is now filled by a pleasant old monk of about 60 years old, who has spent all his life on and near the hill, and, having lived through the Panthay rebellion, during which the temples were alternately and impartially pillaged by the followers of the Prophet and the followers of Confucius, has many tales of adventure to relate. At present he seems to be more interested in getting in his rents than in attaining Nirvana, and in the price of the drugs which his hill produces, than in the Buddha, the law, or the order.
Twenty-nine temples are shown on a native map of the hill; they are all, with the exception of the summit shrine, situated on the south slope of the mountain, and buried in a magnificent growth of forest, but many are now abandoned and in ruins.
From Shi Tak Ssu a good cornice road leads along the mountain slope in a west direction to Chin Lan Ssu (Golden Orchid Temple), which is at the foot of the west pinnacle. Besides this main road, there are wood-cutters' paths in all directions, and pleasant walks through the cool depths of the forest, where the stately silver pheasant and the elegant Amherst pheasant may be seen strutting in their native wilds.
When the winter sun of Yünnan floods the whole hill with light, the view of forest and mountain is so superb that it is easy to believe that a spot so conspicuous, so accessible and so beautiful, must have attracted the religious devotion of men from the time when they were first moved by the conception of the spiritual or the sublime. Legend attributes the earliest temples to the Tang dynasty, and the Chi Kwang Ssu is even stated to have been founded by Han Ming Ti, who sent a Buddhist Embassy to India; A.D. 58. But, in point of fact, there is nothing in the buildings at present standing to take the dedication of the hill to Buddha further back than the Ming dynasty. The style of the architecture of these temples strongly resembles that of the Ming tombs near Peking, save that in some of them there are graceful bell-towers of wood built into the main structure on the right and left of the first court. There are also some good specimens of the ornate carved eaves, such as are to be seen in the British Legation at Peking, and these I take to date only from the early days of the present dynasty. From tablets and inscriptions still to be seen in the temples, it is clear that there was a powerful Buddhist movement in Yünnan in the reigns of Tien Chi and Wan Li of the Ming, 1573, 1621.
Many of the wooden tablets are of great size, and of value as specimens of Ming calligraphy; it is said—and it is quite likely—that there were also valuable collections of altar furniture and pictures which were looted during the Panthay rebellion. In the Shih Tan Ssu, the residence of the Controller, are the usual Wan Sui, or 10,000 year tablets in honour of the reigning Emperor, and also tablets which are supposed to secure the prosperity of the high provincial officials, each of these dignitaries having a separate tablet with his titles and the characters "lu wei" (seat of official prosperity) inscribed thereon. Apart from this, the images in the temples are all purely Buddhist. The three precious Buddhas, representing the Buddha, the law, and the order, Kuan Yin in a side shrine, and the Ju Lai Fo, are the commonest of the idols. The usual Chinese heroes and demi-gods are conspicuous by their absence. Thibetan influence is very marked, and, indeed, the impulse of Buddhism probably came here from Thibet. The walls have been scribbled over with Thibetan script by pilgrims from the north. Thibetan charms dangle from the walls, and the main court of Shih Tan Ssu is adorned with Thibetan tiles.
In all the chief temples morning and evening services are celebrated, but there is little or no knowledge of the faith among the Bonzes. The total number of the holy men on the hill is about 300; the Shih Tan Ssu has about thirty and Hua Yen Ssu forty.
The rents of Shih Tan amount to 300 piculs of grain yearly, derived from lands in the neighbourhood. Hua Yen Ssu is also fairly well off, but on the whole the Bonzes have fallen on bad times and begging, or the subscriptions of visitors at the end...
[2021 - 1]
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246
Hsin Hsing is the only Yünnan woven cloth which can be depended upon for length breadth, and evenness of texture.
Ponies and Mules.-I cannot doubt that if the Government of Burmah is incline to take the matter up, Yünnan would in time become an important source of supply si mules and ponies; but it would be necessary to send competent and, I may add, patient officers into the breeding districts to explain the requirements of Burmah. Burmah gets the off-sweepings of Yunnan in the way of ponies-the halt, the maimed and the blind.
At pre
For ponies, the best, but probably also the dearest, market is Yünnan-fu itself, where there is a much wider choice of animals than anywhere else.
At Hsia Kuan the number of ponies sold is small, but all over the part of Yunnan which I traversed, ponies and mules are bred in considerable numbers, and hardly any village is so poor as not to have a few ponies and donkeys.
The Chien Chang (south-west) corner of Szechuan is also an important pony. breeding ground, and I have seen a very few mules from the same district which would, I think, be large enough for batteries, prices asked being 60 to 80 taels (now 120, to 160 rupees).
I also met several caravans of ponies (30 to 50 in each) en route from the Chien Chang to Burmah via the Kun Long Ferry; many were mares in foal, and for the rest their obvious destiny was to draw a ticca gharry in Mandalay. There is a steady movement of animals from these districts down to Yung Chang and Teng Yueh to supply transport for the Burmah and the salt trades. It is, however, very hard to get exact numbers, because animals are mostly privately sold, and not exposed on the open market,so as to avoid those official exactions which ruin the internal trade of China, and espe cially of Yunnan. One dealer, who was taking ponies to Mandalay from Hui Li, in the Chien Chang, told me that by dodging the cities and markets he managed to get across the province without paying taxes more than five times, or, in all i t. 80 m. (say, 4 rupees) per beast, which represents about 12 per cent, ad valorem at his home.
At Hoching, five days north of Ta Li, there is a specially good class of mule engaged in the salt trade. He is hardly big enough for a battery, but he carries 215 lbs. over very severe mountain roads an average of 15 miles a-day, day in and day
out.
But the main source at present of the Burmah pony supply is Chung Tien, ten days north of Ta Li, across the Yang-tsze, the inhabitants of which are Thibetans known as Ku Tsung men. I have not yet been able to visit their country, but it is stated to supply a large number of a strong, though not elegant, type of pony. They seem, however, not to thrive in a hot climate, and receive so little attention on their long journey down that they usually reach Teng Yueh in a very poor condition. Besides horse-dealers, a number of other Ku Tsung men come down to West Yunnan every year with beasts which they let out for hire for transport, and take back to their homes at the end of the spring.
The Fowl's Foot Mountain and to Ta Li.
Leaving Pin Chuan by the North Gate, we followed the road down the valley towards the Yang-tzse for [?] mile, and then turning west across the stream which inadequately waters the plain, marched slightly west of north across downs and foot- hills which fringe the west side of the valley. The road is cut at intervals by several streams flowing from the mountains which shelter the east shore of the Ta Li Lake, eastward into the Pin Chuau Plain, and along these streams there is garden-like cultiva tion and picturesque villages. After three hours' march we crossed a road leading from Nui Kai to Wa Ch'i, a market on the cast shore of the Ta Li Lake, whence boat can be taken across to Ta Li Fu.
Passing the market of Lien Tung, which is situated above the rich padi valley of Fu Tien Chuang, whose fields are mostly owned by the monks of the Chi Tsu Shan (Fowl's Foot Hill). On the grassy slopes near our camp, pheasants, quail, and partridges abounded.
All day long we had seen in front of us a huge hog-backed mountain rising up from the Pin Chuan Valley in a west direction across fifteen points of the compass, and terminating on the west in an isolated castle-like pinnacle, on the summit of which could be seen the white glitter of a temple.
On the next day we continued over-hill, and down towards the great mountain, baving on our left the range which hangs over the cast shore of the Ta Li Lake, and after two and a-half hours' march we emerged from a forest into the beautiful valley of
Sha Chi, which nestles along the south foot of the Fowl Mountain. The broad flank of the mountain is densely clad with forest, amid which may be discerned the roofs and pagodas of the lower temples, and a pellucid stream flows past the padi terraces of Sha Chi in an easterly direction towards the Yang-tzse. In the afternoon we ascended the hill to 7,800 feet through dense forest, and then, turning east along a good path, reached the beautiful temple of Shih Tan Ssu, entirely surrounded by virgin forest.
This is the residence of the Seng Cheng Ssu, or Controller of all the temples and monks on the hill. He administers corporal punishment, or in bad cases can expel the offending bonze from the precincts of the hill. The office is now filled by a pleasant old monk of about 60 years old, who has spent all his life on and near the hill, and, having lived through the Panthay rebellion, during which the temples were alternately and impartially pillaged by the followers of the Prophet and the followers of Confucius, has many tales of adventure to relate. At present he seems to be more interested in getting in his rents than in attaining Nirvana, and in the price of the drugs, which his hill produces, than in the Buddha, the law, or the order.
Twenty-nine temples are shown on a native map of the hill; they are all, with the exception of the summit shrine, situated on the south slope of the mountain, and buried in a magnificent growth of forest, but many are now abandoned and
in ruins.
From Shi Tak Ssu a good cornice road leads along the mountain slope in a west direction to Chin Lan Ssu (Golden Orchid Temple), which is at the foot of the west pinnacle. Besides this main road, there are wood-cutters' paths in all directions, and pleasant walks through the cool depths of the forest, where the stately silver pheasant and the elegant amherst may be seen strutting in their native wilds.
When the winter sun of Yünnan floods the whole hill with light the view of forest and mountain is so superb that it is easy to believe that a spot so conspicuous, so acces- sible and so beautiful, must have attracted the religious devotion of men from the time when they were first moved by the conception of the spiritual or the sublime. Legend attributes the earliest temples to the Tang dynasty, and the Chi Kwang Ssu is even stated to have been founded by Han Ming Ti, who sent a Buddhist Embassy to India; A.D. 58. but, in point of fact, there is nothing in the buildings at present standing to take the dedication of the hill, to Buddha further back than the Ming dynasty. The style of the architecture of these temples strongly resembles that of the Ming tombs near Peking, save that in some of them there are graceful bell-towers of wood built into the main structure on the right and left of the first court. There are also some good specimens of the ornate carved eaves, such as are to be seen in the British Legation at Peking, and these I take to date only from the early days of the present dynasty, From tablets and inscriptions still to be seen in the temples, it is clear that there was a powerful Buddhist movement in Yüntan in the reigns of Tien Chi and Wan Li of the ... 1573, 1621. Ming, and that huge sums must have been spent on the temples themselves and on the roads about the bill.
Many of the wooden tablets are of great size, and of value as specimens of Ming caligraphy; it is said-and it is quite likely-that there were also valuable collec- tions of altar furniture and pictures which were looted during the Panthay rebellion. In the Shih Tan Ssu, the residence of the Controller, are the usual Wan Sui, or 10,000 year tablets in honour of the reigning Emperor, and also tablets which are supposed to secure the prosperity of the high provincial officials, each of these dignitaries having a separate tablet with his titles and the characters "lu wei" (seat of official prosperity) inscribed thereon. Apart from this, the images in the temples are all purely Buddhist. The three precious Buddhas, representing the Buddha, the law, and the order, Kuan Yin in a side shrine, and the Ju Lai Fo, are the commonest of the idols. The usual Chinese heroes and demi-gods are conspicuous by their absence. Thibetan influence is very marked, and, indeed, the impulse of Buddhism probably came here from Thibet. The walls have been scribbled over with Thibetan script by pilgrims from the north. Thibetan charms dangle from the walls, and the main court of Shih Tan Ssu is adorned with Thibetan tiles.
In all the chief temples morning and evening services are celebrated, but there is little or no knowledge of the faith among the Bouzes. The total number of the holy men on the hill is about 300; the Shib Tan Ssu has about thirty and Hua Yen Ssu forty.
The rents of Shih Tan amount to 300 pieuls of grain yearly, derived from lands in the neighbourhood. Hua Yen Ssu is also fairly well off, but on the whole the Bonzes have fallen on bad times and begging, or the subscriptions of visitors at the end
[2021 - 1]
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