Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
ORASHKB and author
86
Vol. 1 (1961)
ISSN 1991-7295
The prince Siddhartha thereupon asked, "Is there any good bow in this city which will suit my strength?" The father, King Suddhodana was very glad and said, "Yes, there is." "Where is it then, Your Majesty?" asked the prince. "Your grandfather Simhahanu (the lion's cheek) had a bow which is now kept in the temple and flowers are offered to it. No man has ever been able to bend it." The prince urged the king to send for it, and when it had been fetched, all the Shakya nobles were allowed to have a trial, but no one could string, nor draw it. Then the minister Mahanama was given an opportunity. He exhausted all his energy yet he could not move a single inch of the string and so he presented it to the prince. The prince remained seated without moving. He seized the bow with his left hand and bent the string with a single finger of his right hand. A startling noise broke out throughout the city Kapilavastu which made all the people frightened. "What noise is it?".
+
28
In Ch.2 of the Pei-yu-chi, the king of the Kingdom of Ko-ko () received a tribute from the Western tribes. It was a bronze drum twelve inches thick. Upon the challenge of the tributary messenger, no one in the court, not even the generals, could pierce its surface with an arrow. The prince,
The prince, who was only seven, claimed that he could shoot through it. "He seized the bow with his left hand and put on the arrow with his right hand. The arrow darted off and pierced the surface with the feather of the arrow left outside.'
The age of No-cha and that of the said prince were seven years. We can see that No-cha's story is derived partly from the Pei-yu-chi and both originated from the story of the Buddha.
No-cha's arrow darted off to a far distance and accidentally killed a Taoist disciple of Madame Shih-chi (ENR), who was a goddess of the Intercepting Sect. Shih-chi sent the Athlete of the Yellow Turban to bring Li Ching to her grotto in the K'u-lou Shan (Mt. Skeleton) and pressed him for an explanation, Li Ching vowed his innocence and was set free so that he could investigate the matter. No-cha again admitted to his father what he had done, and followed Li Ching to Shih-chi's place to settle the matter. At the entrance to the grotto he had a desperate clash with the goddess, and though he hurled all his precious weapons they fell into her hands and sleeves. No-cha fled to Mt. Ch'ien-yüan for protection. His master, the Immortal T’ai-I had a violent quarrel with Shih-chi on his behalf, and the quarrel
28 No. 190, The Tripitaka in Chinese, translated by Jfianagupta; also Sister Nivedita & Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists, Harrap, 1914, pp. 261-2.
Page 90
Page 91
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
ORASHKB and author
86
Vol. 1 (1961)
ISSN 1991-7295
The prince Siddhartha thereupon asked, "Is there any good bow in this city which will suit my strength?" The father, King Suddhodana was very glad and said, "Yes, there is." "Where is it then, Your Majesty?" asked the prince. "Your grandfather Simhahanu ( the lion's cheek) had a bow which is now kept in the temple and flowers are offered to it. No man has ever been able to bend it." The prince urged the king to send for it, and when it had been fetched, all the Shakya nobles were allowed to have a trial, but no one could string, nor draw it. Then the minister Mahanama was given an opportunity. He exhausted all his energy yet he could not move a single inch of the string and so he presented it to the prince. The prince remained seated without moving. He seized the bow with his left hand and bent the string with a single finger of his right hand. A startling noise broke out throughout the city Kapilavastu which made all the people frightened. "What noise is it?".
+
28
In Ch.2 of the Pei-yu-chi, the king of the Kingdom of Ko-ko () received a tribute from the Western tribes. It was a bronze drum twelve inches thick. Upon the challenge of the tributary messenger, no one in the court, not even the generals, could pierce its surface with an arrow. The prince,
The prince, who was only seven, claimed that he could shoot through it. "He seized the bow with his left hand and put on the arrow with his right hand. The arrow darted off and pierced the surface with the feather of the arrow left outside.'
The age of No-cha and that of the said prince were seven years. We can see that No-cha's story is derived partly from the Pei-yu-chi and both originated from the story of the Buddha.
No-cha's arrow darted off to a far distance and accidentally killed a Taoist disciple of Madame Shih-chi (ENR), who was a goddess of the Intercepting Sect. Shih-chi sent the Athlete of the Yellow Turban to bring Li Ching to her grotto in the K'u-lou Shan (Mt. Skeleton) and pressed him for an explanation, Li Ching vowed his innocence and was set free so that he could investigate the matter. No-cha again admitted to his father what he had done, and followed Li Ching to Shih-chi's place to settle the matter. At the entrance to the grotto he had a desperate clash with the goddess, and though he hurled all his precious weapons they fell into her hands and sleeves. No-cha fled to Mt. Ch'ien-yüan for protection. His master, the Immortal T’ai-I had a violent quarrel with Shih-chi on his behalf, and the quarrel
28 No. 190, The Tripitaka in Chinese, translated by Jfianagupta; also Sister Nivedita & Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists, Harrap, 1914, pp. 261-2.
Page 90Page 91
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