RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch ORASHKB and author 72 Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 hua-pên (story-tellers' prompt-book), we can hardly know their origin or the invaluable part played by the author of the Fêng-shên in transforming them into interesting characters. Li Ching, bearing the same name as the historical hero in the early part of the T'ang dynasty, is no doubt derived from the Buddhist heavenly king Vaisravana. We know from many Buddhist texts the legends of the Four Heavenly Kings. According to the Abhiniskramana-sutra (出曜集經) translated by Jnanagupta in 587, they are, Dhritarashtra or Chih-kuo T'ien-wang in the East, who leads the gandharvas, musicians in heaven; Virudhaka or Tseng-chang T'ien-wang in the South, who is the sovereign of the kumbhandas or deformed demons; Virupaksha or Kuang-mu T'ien-wang in the West, who is king of the nagas who dwell in their palaces at the bottom of the lakes; and Vaisravana or To-wen T'ien-wang in the North, who is head of the yakshas, strong and brave genii. The author of the Fêng-shên Yen-i adapted these four heavenly kings in his novel (Chs.31-40) and called them "the four generals of the Mo family". He made them brothers and commanders who took charge of the Chia-mêng Pass under the command of the Premier Wên T'ai-shih. Their individual names are Mo Li-ch'ing, Mo Li-hung, Mo Li-hai and Mo Li-shou. But in Ch.31 when they are summoned by Premier Wên T'ai-shih, the author writes, "The four heavenly kings (ssu t'ien-wang) strode forward,” thus unconsciously revealing their origin, and afterwards in Ch.99 they are given the titles of Tsêng-chang T'ien-wang (Mo Li-ch'ing), Kuang-mu T'ien-wang (Mo Li-hung), To-wên T’ien-wang (Mo Li-hai) and Ch'ih-kuo T'ien-wang (Mo Li-shou) respectively. In Ch.40 the author describes the weapons of these four brothers through the mouth of General Huang Fei-hu as follows: The eldest brother Mo Li-ch'ing is twenty-four feet in height, with a face resembling that of a crab, and his beard is like copper wires. He fights always on foot with a long spear, and he has a sword which is called "Blue Cloud", on which there are charms and a seal saying "earth, water, fire and wind". The wind caused by the brandishing of this magic sword is a black wind in which hundreds of thousands of spears would run and cut off the limbs of men. Following the wind is a blaze in which flaming golden serpents cover the atmosphere with black smoke. The weapon of Mo Li-hung is an umbrella. * chúan 16, Shê-kung Ch'u-chia P'in (攝功出家品). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 56 Yin in the other temple, the Pi-yun Ssu, depicts her with only two arms sitting cross-legged on a recumbent blue lion. Her assistants are an unnamed dark-faced elderly minister who appears to be South Asian, standing holding a tablet before his chest and dressed in a long blue robe. Her other attendant is the Red Youth, Hung Hai-eh, standing on her left hand with his hands held together before his chest, and dressed in a red robe over green trousers with a flowing scarf-like halo. Taking the three groups, the twenty Deva listed in Soothill, and the two groups in the Ta Pei Ssu and the Pi-yun Ssu, we have twenty deities common to all three. These are: Brahma, Indra, Pancika, Sarasvati, Laksmi, Skanda [Wei T'o], Prthivi, Hariti, Marici, Surya, Candra, Siva, Yamaraja, Bodhidhruma, Guyapati, Kinnara and the four T'ien-wang guardians Vaisravana, Dhrtarastra, Virudhaka and Virupaksa. In the Ta Pei Ssu we also have five additional Deva not present in the Pi-yun Ssu, the Asura, Vimalakirti, Nanda Upananda and Mahoraga. A further two Deva images are seen only in the Pi-yun Ssu. These are Lei Kung and Sagara. Taking each of the deities in turn, we shall examine their background and in particular their Brahmanist [or Vedic] origins, their role in the Chinese pantheon and any ambiguities or contradictions we encounter. The important three Brahmanist deities are known in Sanskrit as the Trimurti: the creator Brahma the preserver Vishnu the destroyer Siva Brahma and Siva are indeed included in the two temples whilst Vishnu is not3. Though a major Hindu deity today Vishnu was not so during the Vedic era of the second millennium BC. His particular task ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 58 seen in a comparatively modern temple near Taipei. A lengthy tunnel connects the main part of the Kuan Tu temple complex, to the North-west of Taipei, with the front entrance overlooking the Tamshui River. Some twenty-eight images stand in glass-fronted niches carved into the rock down the sides of the tunnel. These large individual images are of the Early Buddhas, the Ku Fo; the Buddhas of pre-history, the Buddhas who came before Sakyamuni, The Buddha. They have no altars and as there is an altar dedicated to the Thousand-arm and Thousand-Eye Kuan Yin P'u-sa at the river end of the tunnel they are not offered incense individually. Several aspects of the hagiography of the images in the cave/tunnel are intriguing. First of all, those holding weapons have them in their left hand. They are mostly dressed in gilded armour, and finally, their titles in Chinese, though Sinicised Sanskrit, have proved impossible to translate into the original Sanskrit and are therefore unidentified. Several of these unidentified deities have been depicted in Taiwanese religious literature but without any explanation apart from being listed under a general title of Supportive Incantations to Buddha, Ta Pei Chou Fo 大悲咒佛. The following Vedic deities who have been noted in one or both of the temples in the Western Hills would seem not to be present in the cave/tunnel: Marici, Pancika, Hariti, Pippala [Bodhidruma], Laksmi, Prthivi, Surya, Candra, Vimalakirti, Nanda Upananda and Skanda/Veda. Of the scores of books, both the popular illustrated and monastic academic, produced over the last half century in Taiwan describing the Buddhas, bodhisattvas and the hundreds of minor deities of Buddhism, one at least has listed what they have called The Celestial Guardians Division. This list includes not only the Four Diamond Kings, the T'ien Wang, [Vaisravana, Dhrtarastra, Virudhaka and Virupaksa] but nine of the Deva seen in the Western Hills. These are Indra [Sakra-devanam], Brahma [Maha-Brahman], Marici, Laksmi [Sri-maha-devi], Sarasvati, Yamaraja, Guhyapati, Skanda [Wei T'o] and Gandharva. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 73 large, wide, gaping mouth has but four small teeth showing, these being normal human-size incisors top and bottom. Finally, he has three small white skulls across his forehead held in place by a pink band. 19] Gandharva known in Chinese as Kan-t'a-p'o The Gandharva are one of the eight classes of supernatural beings referred to in the Lotus Sutra. They are Indra's musicians and also in the retinue of Dhrtarastra [they are the same as or similar to the Kinnaras]. They do not eat meat nor drink wine but feed on incense and fragrance. An image of the Gandharva is in the Ta Pei Ssu but not in the Pi-yun Ssu. His image portrays him standing, dressed in multi-coloured robes over armour, a helmet over black spiky hair, and is clean shaven. His face is semi-demonic, with large protruding eyes. He has no unique characteristics. 20] Nanda Upananda known in Chinese as Nan-t'o Pa-nan-t'o 跋難陀 Little seems to be known about Nanda Upananda apart from being a protector of Magadha [near Bihar]. His image has only been seen in the Ta Pei Ssu and not in the Pi-yun Ssu. It depicts him as an elderly man but with a semi-demonic face. He has round eyes, small ugly protrusions on his cheeks, a gaping mouth and fang-like eye-teeth, no moustache but a short pointed beard, and is wearing decorated robes and cap. His hands are held together as if holding a tablet [which may well be missing]. 21] Skanda, Viharapala or Veda' known in Chinese as Wei T'o #BE Wei T'o, a Hindu deity, the Deva Protector of the Dharma, guards the sanctuary of virtually all Chinese Buddhist temples. He stands with his back to the main entrance in the inner temple hall facing the main altar and back-to-back with the Laughing Buddha of the Future, Mi-lo Fo, who greets visitors with his smiling welcome. Wei T'o is also to be seen guarding many a folk religion temple, though only very rarely does he appear on a household altar. Because of the prayers offered to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 78 the Twenty-four Heavenly Lords. The Four, said to be brothers, are believed to have been born during the 11th century BC and are now protectors of Mi-lo Fo. The 16th century novel, Feng-shen Yen-i, describes the popular myths surrounding the defeat of the four Mo-li brothers during the legendary wars of the 12th century BC who fought with their magical weapons but whose main weapon was the white rat which devoured all enemies. However, Yang Chien, the nephew of the Jade Emperor and son of Li Ching [the General with the Pagoda] was swallowed by the white rat but once inside it he ate the rat's heart and at the same time transformed himself into the white rat which was unsuspectingly put back into its bag by one of the Mo-li brothers. Yang Chien stole out whilst the Four brothers were in a drunken sleep and stole the magic umbrella, whilst Na-cha who had fought and defeated them broke their magic jade ring. The Four lost heart, were defeated and slain. The war was followed by their canonisation by Chiang Tzu-ya who appointed them to the posts of the Heavenly Kings, controllers of the elements, from whom people sought protection from calamities. There are standard images of all four of the Great Celestial Kings in both the Ta Pei Ssu and the Pi-yun Ssu. There has been a certain amount of confusion over the colours, names, and titles of these guardians; even their characteristics and attributes vary from monastery to monastery. Confusion has arisen over the centuries due to non-Buddhist and even pre-Buddhist factors, with every combination to be seen, such as the General of the North with the Umbrella, the General of the West with the Rat or Mongoose, and so on. The most frequently noted observations are as follows: Taoist Titles Symbol Characteristics Buddhist title Sanskrit title Mo-li Ch'ing Magic weapons or Sword/lance or Jade Ring or Parasol black face or black beard Ch'ih-kuo T'ien-wang Dhrtarastra 持國天王 or 東方大王 [colours: blue/green] or Lyre/lute ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 89 Appendix B THE DEVA WITHIN THE BODHISATTVA HALL IN THE PI-YUN SSU PEKING'S WESTERN HILLS The Chinese titles of these the Deva within the Bodhisattva Hall in the Pi-yun Ssu are as follows together with their standard Sanskrit name: Fan T'ien Brahma [Mahabrahman] Ti-shih Indra [Sakra Devaran] T'o-wen Tien-wang Vaisravana (Guardian of the North) Ch'ih-kuo T'ien-wang Dhrtarastra (Guardian of the East) Tseng-ch'ang T'ien-wang Virudhaka (Guardian of the South) Kuang-mu T'ien-wang Virupaksa (Guardian of the West) ) the Four ) Guardians ) of the ) Entrance ) to ) Buddhist ) Temples** Mi-chi Chin-kang Guhyapati Another Diamond King Guardian Mo-hsi-shou-lo Siva [Mahesvara] Pan-chih Ta-ching Pancika Pien-ts'ai T'ien Sarasvati Chi-hsiang T'ien-nü Laksmi Wei-t'o Skanda or Viharapala Chien-lao-ti-shen Prthivi P'u-t'i Shu-shen Bodhidruma or Pippala Kuei-tzu Mu Hariti ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 91 Appendix C THE TWENTY-SEVEN SO-CALLED DEVA WHOSE IMAGES STAND IN THE TA PEI TIEN, ONE OF THE BA DA CHU [THE EIGHT GREAT SITES] IN PEKING'S WESTERN HILLS Asura Candra Dhrtarastra Gandharva Guhyapati raja Hariti Kinnara Ksitigarbha Laksmi devi Maha Isvara Mahabrahman - Brahma Marici Nanda Upar Nanda Pancika Pippala ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 94 Ah-hsü-lo Wang 阿修羅王 [Asura] Na-lo-yen T'ien 那羅延天 [Narayana - son of Nara -the Original Man] Mi-ta Chin-kang 密達金剛 [Guhyapati raja] T'i-t'ou Le-cha 提頭勒吒 [Mo-li Hai - Dhrtarastra - Guardian of the East - one of the Four Diamond Kings] P'i-lo Le-cha 毘羅勒吒 [Mo-li Hung- Virudhaka, Guardian of the South - one of the Four Diamond Kings] P'i-lo-po-cha 毗羅博叉 [Mo-li Ch'ing - Virupaksa - Guardian of the West - one of the Four Diamond Kings] [T'o-wen T'ien Wang - Mo-li Hung] P'i-sha-men T'ien 毗沙門天 [Vaisravana, One of the Four Diamond Kings - the Guardian of the North - Bishamen] [Protector of Travellers in the train of the 1000 arm Kuan Yin] Chin Ta Wang 金大王 Chin-se Kung-ch'iao [Five-colour Peacock] 金色孔雀 Man Hsien-jen 滿仙人 [Purna - The Fully-complete Immortal] Ma-hu-lo Wang 摩虎羅王 [Mahoraga] Ma-ho-lo Nü 摩和羅女 [?] ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 96 Appendix E THE LIST OF TWENTY DEVA 十天 +* IN SOOTHILL'S DICTIONARY OF CHINESE BUDDHIST TERMS Maha Brahman - Brahma Sakra devanam - Indra Vaisravana Dhrtarastra Virudhaka The Four Diamond Kings - Temple Guardians of the Four Directions Virupaksa Guhyapati Mahesvara Pancika Sarasvati Laksmi Skanda Prthivi Bodhidruma or Bodhivrksa Hariti Marici Surya Candra Sagara Yama-raja ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 Devas in the Deva Hall of the Pi-yun Ssu right to left: Sarasvati, Lei Kung, Virupaksa, Dhrtarastra and Indra 105 ================================================================================