CO129-321 - Public Offices & Others - 1903 — Page 251

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of the year, the time of the great pilgrimage form their chief means of subsistence, and most of the buildings are falling into a sad state of disrepair.

Another feature of the Shih Tan Ssu is a balustrade of Ta Li marble, some 30 yards long, before the chief shrine which contains three colossal Buddhas. Leaving Shih Tan Ssu and following the main cornice road to the summit in a westerly direction through the forest, we first passed the minor temples of Hsing Hsien Ssu and Wan Sheng An, and so arrive at Ta Chueh Ssu (Monastery of Great Perception), which is one of the Wa T Ssu or five great temples (Ta Chueh, Shih Tan, Chin Lan, Hua Yen, and Mo Ni An).” Ta Chueh Ssu consists of three courts in a tumble-down condition. Close to Ta Chuch is Chi Kwang Ssu, which claims to be the oldest of all the shrines. In it are seven images of the Jn Loi Buddha, with the mystic symbol on their breasts; also a small Buddha on a white elephant, and two enormous rice boilers of bell-metal dating from the Ming Emperor, Tien Chi. The forest then opens out, allowing fine views of the valley of Sha Chi and of the large Hua Yen Ssu, situated lower down the hill on a wooded height. After ascending 2,000 feet in 5 miles we arrived at the foot of the western pinnacle of the mountain, and put up in the comfortable Chin Lan Ssu, otherwise known as Chia Sha Ssu, where we found only three monks. From this temple the ascent to the Chin Tien, or Golden Shrine, on the summit takes about 1 hour. Winding up a steep stone path between limestone precipices, we passed several caves in which holy but dirty monks lay in wait for the cash of the faithful. A few hundred feet below the summit is the Tung Fo Ssu, a small temple dating from this dynasty with a roof of copper. A steep and dizzy climb brought us from this to the top, at an elevation of 11,800 feet. The Chin Tien is a tumble-down little temple in the centre of the chief court, of which is a shrine with door and roof of copper, and surrounded by a Ta Li marble balustrade, closely resembling the copper shrine at Wu San Kwei's temple near Yünnan-fu.

In front of the shrine is a large and artistically-shaped incense burner of bell-metal, about 5.8 feet high.

The view from the summit of the Chi Shan is of surpassing magnificence, and embraces a large portion of the Ta Li Prefecture. To the east the ridge of the Chi Shan slopes away to the Pin Chuan Valley, while its forest-clad heights slope gradually down to the valley of Sha Chi at the spectators' feet. To the south-east were the mountains which we had crossed in our journey from Ta Yao, running north and south in parallel ranges. To the south are the masses of hills between the Ta Li Lake and the plain of Yunnan Hsien. To the west a magnificent view is obtained of the isolated range of the Tsang Shan, which, with its nineteen peaks, rising to about 13,000 feet, forms a vast screen on the west side of the Ta Li Lake. No snow was visible in early December, and, indeed, the attitude of this range is well under the snow-line in this part of Yunnan. Glimpses of the lake are obtained, and though the city of Ta Li is hidden, the pagodas outside the north gate of the city can be seen. But the most conspicuous object of all in the whole panorama is to the north, where the great white dome of the Lichiang snow-peak, towering high above all rival summits, glitters in the winter sun. From the Chi Shan it is distant 65 miles in an air-line.

Leaving the Ka Sha Ssu and passing through the forest for a mile, we cross a col, 9,200 feet, and descend in a north direction down a beautiful glen, where slopes of bracken and fields of oats are diversified with shrubberies of rhododendrons and pines. On the north side of the mountain there is only one temple, the Feng Chen Ssu, inhabited by a villainous-looking bonze, who apologized for the disordered state of his temple because he had only just come out after six months in the Teng Chuan Gaol. Some mules, it appeared, had vanished from near the holy man's abode, and here, as elsewhere, the world is very censorious. From this undesirable spot my muletcer hastened us down a rough road, with views of bare mountain ranges to the north in front of us, down to the bed of a small stream, along the banks of which runs the high road from Ta Li to Yung Peh. This stream flows east into the Yang-tsze, and we followed up its course in a west direction, along a narrow strip of cultivation, until we found a camp-ground at the little village of Ta Wang Miao. The next day, at [F] miles, we passed out of the valley and over a grassy col, insignificant in itself, but important as being the divide between the Yang-tsze and the Mekong. Shortly after the north end of the Ta Li Lake came into sight- the flourishing villages, dense cultivation round the fringe of the lake, the numerous fishing-boats, and the flocks of wildfowl forming a striking contrast to the bare, lonely slopes of the mountains above. We struck the lake near a marshy pond full of mallards, which enabled us to replenish the larder; and after an easy and interesting walk past the flourishing market of Chiang Wei (where excellent fowl and snipe shooting is to be had) and past flourishing villages, we crossed the bridge of boats

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which spans the river which feeds the north end of the lake, and marched into Shang-Kuan under the shadow of the Tsang Shan.

The influence of Buddhism-of which the temples on the Chi Shan are the outward and visible sign-is still strongly marked in the Ta Li valley, which is popularly spoken of as the "Land of Buddha." A number of military officers come from Ta Li, Hoching, and Lichiang: and most of them (including Chiang, the late provincial Commander-in-chief) are devotees of Buddha. Their piety is sometimes usefully and elegantly displayed by the construction of bridges and the ornamentation of temples. Sometimes it breaks out in inconvenient places. Thus, the military authorities in Yunnan are very fond of forbidding the slaughter of animals for food, though whether their motive is, as they state, "respect for heaven-given life" or the prospect of a squeeze "for permitting breaches of their own regulations, I leave to be determined by those who know the mandarins. Shortly before I arrived the Captain of the City Guard at Ta Li had issued a strange Proclamation. After pointing out that "all the myriads of created beings love life," he proceeds to assert that eels and magpies in particular have a "meng," or destined course of life, with which it is impious to interfere. Accordingly, it is strictly forbidden to catch these creatures, and all and sundry who would indulge in the surreptitious pleasure of fried eels, or the more doubtful joys of magpie shooting, are warned that the eye of the Captain of the Guard is on them.

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Tu Li-fu and the Valleys near it.

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The importance of Hsia Kuan, at the south of the Ta Li Valley, as a centre both of foreign and native trade cannot fail to strike the traveller; it is the commercial capital

passes of West Yünnan, and if we can insist on respect being paid to transit Burmah, will soon become the largest market in the province. The li-kin is one of the best in the province, the amount collected chiefly on native opium being from 40,000 taels to 50,000 taels per annum. The town is increasing rapidly, and rents are far higher than at Ta Li, the greater part of the latter city being still in ruins, and being cursed by the presence of a number of officials. Hsia Kuan has a population of over 12,000, nearly all of whom are engaged in trade; the town is situated on both sides of a small river which flows out of the south-west corner of the Erh Hai or Ta Li Lake, and The ruins of the old rans west into the Yangpi River, and so to the Mekong. Rivan, or fortified wall, which ran from the foot of the mountains to the lake, are still standing in picturesque dilapidation on the north bank of the river.

Not only is Hsia Kuan a resort of merchants of all kinds-dealers in foreign goods from Tengyueh, cloth-sellers and opium buyers from Lin Au (South Yünnan), Canton opium buyers, pedlars from Szechuan, Thibetans, and Li-chiang traders with ponies, mules, woollen cloth, drugs, and musk to exchange for tea, salt, sugar, and cottons-but it is an important centre of opium production and general consumption. I estimate that at least half of our imports from Burmah go up to Hsia Kuan.

The mountains press close on the east shore of the lake, while on the west the feet of the great Tsang Shan range are only 15 li, or 4.4 miles from the water, but the Ta Li plain, though narrow, is very thickly populated, and to the north and south of the lake are a series of rich agricultural valleys. The district of T'ai Ho Hsien, which comprises only the plain between lake and mountain, and between Hsia Kuan and Shang Kuan- say, 44 miles by 30 miles-has nearly 250 villages, besides the towns of Ta Li and Hsia Kuan; and the population can hardly be under 100,000. The sub-Prefecture of Chao Chou at the south end of the lake and of Teng Chuan at the north head of the lake have a large area of rich agricultural land and an abundant supply of water; further south are the plains of Meng Hua, 20 miles by 4 miles, and Hung Ai, 18 miles by 5 miles, which resemble the valleys of Szechuan in their richness; while to the north of Teng Chuan are the plains of Lang K'ung, Chien Chuan, Hoching, and Lichiang.

I estimate that quite 1,250,000 persons and the best-to-do in the province are supplied from Hsia Kuan, and in a province the whole of which does not probably contain more than 10,000,000 inhabitants, this is a high figure. I would advocate the establishment of a Chinese agency at Hsia Kuan by some foreign firm. If arrangements can be made to send opium to Canton via Burmah, the prosperity of the country will be greatly increased.

The great majority of the peasants in the Ta Li plain and the valleys to the north are Minchia. They are, however, especially in the Ta Li plain, very mixed with Chinese. It is said that between the lake and the mountain there are only two villages of pure Minchia, but the majority of the population along the actual shore of the lake

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