The
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1898.04,
pp.329--347
-oOo-
When you enter the chief
hall of a Buddhist temple in China you cannot fail to notice two rows of large
yellow figures -- one along the east and the other along the west wall. These
figures, which are usually numbered and labelled, are called the Eighteen Lohan,
and if you ask your guide what they are he will probably reply "belong jess."
This answer may not be deemed satisfactory, but further inquiry will only elicit
the information that these are images of Buddha's eighteen great disciples. The
names, however, show that this information is not quite correct, some of them
being unknown to the original Buddhist canon. If you go on to Korea and visit
the curious old Buddhist temples in that country, you will find that Buddha's
Hall has rows of similar figures, but sixteen in number. If you continue your
journey and visit Japan, you will find there also Sixteen Rakan lining the side
walls of the Buddhist temples. Lohan and Rakan are for A-lo-han, the Chinese way
of expressing the Sanskrit word Arhan for Arhat. Suppose you could go back and
travel to Lhassa, there also you would find Sixteen Arhats, or as they are
called there, Sthaviras, in the Chief Hall of Buddha's temples. Tibet, however,
seems to have also its Eighteen Lohan, imported from China apparently in modern
times.
When we examine the
Buddhist literature preserved in the libraries of the great monasteries in
China, we find in it mention of only sixteen great Arhats, the number eighteen
being apparently unknown even to the comparatively modern native treatises. As
for the pictures and images of these sixteen, they are mainly derived from the
works of one or two painters of the T'ang dynasty. About the year 880 an artist
named Kuan Hsiu made pictures of the Sixteen Lohan, which were given to a
Buddhist monastery near Ch'ien-t'ang in the province of Chekiang. These became
celebrated, and were preserved with great care and treated with ceremonious
respect. In the reign of Kien-lung of the present dynasty an official, while on
duty in the district, had copies of these pictures made by competent artists and
sent them to the emperor. His Majesty had further copies made, and ordered them
to be printed and distributed. It was found that wrong names had been given to
several of the figures, so the emperor ordered that all the names should be
compared with the original and correctly transcribed according to the new
system. But the question remains, who are these Arhats? and the answer is to be
found in the Buddhist scriptures. They are patrons and guardians of Sakyamuni
Buddha's system of religion and its adherents, lay and clerical.
An early mention of
spiritual protectors of Buddha's religion after his decease is found in the
"Sutra of Sari putra's Questions," No. 1,152 in Mr. Bunyio Nanjio's Catalogue.
We do not know when or by whom this book was translated or when it Teas brought
to China, but its translation has been referred to the fourth century of our
era. In this treatise the Buddha is represented as com mitting his religion to
the protection of Sakra and the four Devarajas. He also entrusts the propagation
of his system after his death to four "Great Bhikshus." The names of these are
given as Mahakasyapa, Pindola, Kun te-pan-t'an, and Rahula. These men were to
remain in existence and not experience final Nirvana until the advent of
Maitreya as Buddha. Three of these names are well known, and the unknown one is
apparently the Kun-t'ou p'o-han of the " Tseng-i-a-han-ching " (ch. 23). These
characters evidently represent the Pali name Kundo-vahan, which means
Mungoose-bearing, a name to be remembered in connection with what follows. The
composition of this sutra may probably be referred to the end of the last
century B.C. Then in a sastra, the name of which is restored as "
Arya-Vasumitra-bodhisattva- sangiti-sastra," Nanjio, No. 1,289, we find mention
of sixteen "Brahmans" over whom Buddha is lord. These are probably the Sixteen
Arhats, although a note added to the text gives the name of the second one as
Ajita- Maitreya. This treatise, which was probably composed in the first century
of our era, was translated in the year 384.
In another treatise
called the "Ju-ta-sheng-lun," the " Mahayanavataraka-sastra" of Nanjio, No.
1,243, we have further mention of guardians of Buddhism. Here we have
ninety-nine lakhs of " great arhats" and also sixteen called "Great Sravakas."
Of these only two names are given, Pindola and Rahula, the reader being supposed
to be acquainted with the sutras from which the author quotes. These guardians
of Buddha's religion are dispersed over the world, the names of some of their
spheres being given. Among these are Purva-Videha, the Wheat (Godhuma) region,
the Chestnut (Priyangu) region, the Lion (Simha) region, and the "Bhadrika
place." This sastra was corn posed by the learned Buddhist Sthiremati, and
translated into Chinese by Tao-t'ai and others about A.D. 400.
The test, however,
from which all our knowledge of the names of the Sixteen Arhats or Lohan of
Buddhist temples in China, Japan, and Korea may be said to be derived is that
entitled " Ta-A-lo-han-Nan-t'i-mi-to-lo-so-shuo-fachu-chi." This means "The
record of the duration of the law, spoken by the great Arhat Nandimitra." The
treatise, which was translated by the celebrated Yuan-chuang (Hiouen Thsang), is
No. 1,466 in Nanjio's Catalogue. The name of the author is not known, but he
must have lived long after the time of Nandimitra, and apparently he was not a
native of that arhat's country. There seems to have been also a previous
translation of the same or a similar original, and to it Yuan-chuang and other
writers appear to have been indebted.
The book begins with
the statement that according to tradition within 800 years from Buddha's decease
there was an arhat named Nandimitra at the capital of King Sheng-chun in the
Chih-shih-tzu country. Nanjio took Sheng-chun to be Prasenajit and Chih-shih-tzu
to be Ceylon according to the Chinese notes in the " Hsi-yu-chi." But
Prasenajit's capital was Sravasti in Kosala, and we do not find any king with
that name in the annals of Ceylon. The " Chih-shih-tzu " country of this passage
is probably the Shih-tzu-kuo which we know from the 16th chapter of the "
Tseng-i-a-han-ching " was in the Vrijjian territory. The original home of the
Aryan immigrants into Ceylon was not far from this district, and the name
Simhala-dvipa may have been derived from this Lion-country. The words Sheng-Chun
may stand for either Prasenajit or Jayasena. (1)
The sutra then
proceeds to narrate how the great Arhat Nandimitra answered the questions of his
perplexed and desponding congregation about the possible continued existence of
Buddhism in the world. He tells his hearers that the Buddha when about to die
entrusted his religion to sixteen great Arhats. These men are to watch over and
care for the religious welfare of the lay-believers and generally protect the
spiritual interests of Buddhism. They are to remain in existence all the long
time until Maitreya appears as Buddha
and brings in a new system. Then, according to Nandimitra, the Sixteen Arhats
will collect all the relics of Sakyamuni and build over them a magnificent tope.
When this is finished they will pay their last worship to the relics, rising in
the air and doing pradakshina to the tope. Then they will enter an igneous
ecstasy and so vanish in remainderless nirvana. At his hearers' request
Nandimitra gives the names of these Protectors of the Faith, their homes or
spheres of action, and the numbers of their retinues. These Arhats are the
Sixteen Rakan of the Japanese and Koreans and constitute sixteen of the Eighteen
Lohan of the Chinese. They have incense burnt before their images, but generally
speaking they are not worshipped or consulted like the gods and P'usas of the
temples.
The names of the
Sixteen Arhats or Lohan, together with their residences and retinues, are now
given according to this sutra of the Duration of the Law and in the order in
which that work gives them. Variations as to the names which have been noticed
in other lists and in different temples are also given. But as to the pictures
and images of the Sixteen we must remember that these, whether merely works of
art or consecrated to religion, are not supposed to be faithful representations
of the men indicated by the names attached. The pictures and images are to be
taken merely as symbols or fanciful creations. (2)
1.
Pin-tu-lo-Po-lo-to-she, Pindola the Bharadvaja.
He has a retinue of
1,000 arhats, and his place is the Godhanga region in the west. Sometimes the
name of this arhat is transcribed Pin-tou-lo, and sometimes he is styled
Bharadvaja simply. Pindola was one of Buddha's great disciples, became an arhat,
and was distinguished as a successful disputant and defender of orthodoxy, with
a voice like the roar of a lion. (3) But he had a weakness for exhibiting his
magical powers before all sorts of people, and sometimes for unworthy objects.
On one occasion, according to the
Pali and other editions of the Vinaya, in order to show his superhuman powers,
he rose in the air, took a sandal-wood bowl off a very high pole, and floated
about with it for a time over the heads of an admiring crowd. This proceeding
brought a severe rebuke from the Master, and was the occasion of a rule
prohibiting the use of sandal-wood bowls. (4) The Buddha also on this occasion
announced to Pindola that he was not to "take Nirvana," but was to remain in
existence protect Buddha's system until the coming of Maitreya. (5) We read also
of Pindola working a miracle with a hill in order to go to a breakfast given by
Sudatta's wife, and some make this to be the occasion on which Buddha rebuked
him and told him he was to remain in existence to foster Buddhism until the
advent of Maitreya to bring in a new system. (6) But Pindola sometimes wrought
miracles for good purposes, and his exhibition of magical powers at Rajagriha
led to the conversion of an unbelieving lady. (7)
Pindola has been
living ever since Buddha's time, and he has appeared on several occasions to
pious workers for Buddhism. In India it was once the custom for lay believers
when giving an entertainment to the Buddhist monks to " invite Pindola." The
arhat could not be seen, but the door was left open for him, and it was known by
the appearance of the flowers or the condition of the mat reserved for him
whether he had been present. (8) When King Asoka summoned his great assembly
Pindola was living on the Gandhamali (or Gandhamadana) mountain with a company
of arhats 60,000 in number. Called to the assembly, he flew swan-like to the
place of meeting, and on account of his undoubted seniority he was chosen
president. He was then a very old man with white hair and long eyebrows, which
he had to hold back with his hands in order to see." (9) As he often has very
long eyebrows in his pictures and images, the Chinese have come to know him
popularly as the "Ch'ang-mei-seng" or "Long-eyebrowed Monk." But Lohans with
other names also have this characteristic in the fancy portraits which adorn
temples and pictures.
In the seventh
century Pindola came to China and appeared to Tao-hsuan, the great Vinaya doctor
and signified his approval of the work which that zealous monk had been doing.
(10)
We find the name
Pindola explained in Chinese com mentaries as meaning Pu-tung or Unmoved, but
this cannot have been intended for a translation of the word. The Tibetans give
"Alms-receiver" as the equivalent, connecting the name with pinda, but it may
have been derived from the name of a place transcribed Pin-t'ou in Chinese. This
was a town or village in the Kosala country in Buddha's time. In a far-back
existence Pindola had been a bad son and a cruel man, and owing to his bad Karma
he had to suffer in hell for a very long period. Here his food was "tiles and
stones," and even when he was born to be a pious arhat of wonderful powers, he
retained a tendency to live on "tiles and stones." (11) We cannot wonder that he
was thin and ribbed.
Some pictures and
images represent Pindola sitting and holding a book in one hand and his
alms-bowl in the other; others have him holding a book reverently in both hands;
and sometimes we find him with an open book on one knee and a mendicant's staff
at his side.
2. Ka-no-ka-Fa-tso,
Kanaka the Vatsa.
This arhat is
appointed to Kashmir with a retinue of 500 other arhats. He was originally a
disciple of Buddha, and it was said of him that he comprehended all systems good
and bad. (12) The Tibetans, in their usual manner, have translated the name
literally "Gold calf."
3.
Ka-no-ka-Po-li-tou-she, Karaka the Bharadvaja.
This arhat's station
is in the Purva-Videha region and he has 600 arhats under his authority. He is
sometimes pictured as a very hairy old man, and some paintings give him a small
disciple at his side.
4. Su-p'in-t'e,
Subhinda.
His sphere of action
is the Kuru country in the north, and he has a retinue of 800 arhats. This name
does not occur in several of the lists, but it is found in the temples in China,
Korea, and Japan. Instead of it we find occasionally Nandimitra, and the new
recension and the Tibetan give A-pi-ta, which may be for Abhida. The Tibetan
translation of the name is inseparable or indissoluble, and this seems to point
to an original like Abhinda or Abhida.
This arhat appears as
a venerable sage with a scroll in his right hand, or as sitting in an attitude
of meditation. He is also represented as sitting with an alms-bowl and an
incense-vase beside him, holding a sacred book in the left hand, while with the
right he "cracks his fingers." This gesture is indicative of the rapidity with
which he attained spiritual insight.
5. No-ku-lo,
Nakula.
The sphere of this
arhat's action is Jambudripa, that is, India, and his retinue is composed of 800
arhats.
This name is found in
the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese temples, but in some lists instead of it we
find Pa-ku-la or p'u-ku-lo, that is, Vakula. This was the name of one of
Buddha's great disciples, often mentioned in the scriptures. Vakula became an
arhat, but he led a solitary, self-contained life; he never had a disciple and
he never preached a word. He was remarkable for his wonderful exemption from
bodily ailments and for the great length of life to which he attained. When King
Asoka visited his tope and showed his contempt for Vakula by offering a penny,
the arhat was equal to the occasion and refused the coin. (l3)
We must, however, go
by Yuan-chuang's text and read Nakula. This word means Mungoose, and we remember
the arhat called Kundo-vahan or Mungoose-bearer already mentioned. We read also
of a Nakula's father, in Pali. Nakula-pita, who became a devoted lay adherent of
Buddha's teaching. Nakula was a Vrijjian resident at Uruvilva, but we do not
find much about him in the scriptures. He may be the same person with Nakulapita
converted when he was 120 years old, but made young and happy by Buddha's
teaching. (14)
Nakuls is often
represented, as in the Tibetan picture, with a mungoose as his emblem, and
sometimes instead of that animal he has a three-legged frog under his left arm.
Sometimes he is represented as meditating or as teaching with a little boy by
his side.
6. Po-t'e-lo,
Bhadra.
This arhat was
appointed to T'an-mo-lo-Chow, that is, Tamra-dvipa or Ceylon, and he was given a
retinue of 900 other arhats. We sometimes find him called Tamra Bhadra,
apparently from the name of his station.
The Bhadra of the
Buddhist scriptures was a cousin of the Buddha and one of his great disciples.
He was a good preacher, and could expand in clear and simple language the
Master's teaching. Hence he is often represented as expounding the contents of a
book which he holds in one hand. He took his profession very seriously and aimed
at spiritual perfection.
Bhadra often appears
in pictures and images accompanied by a tiger which he soothes or restrains, but
he is also represented without the tiger and in an attitude of
worship.
7. Ka-li-ka, Kalika
or Kala.
This arhat has 1,000
other arhats under him and resides in Seng-ka-t'a. This has been supposed to be
Ceylon, but it is evidently the name of some other region. The Chinese
characters may stand for Simhata, and something like this may have been the name
of the "Lion country " in the Vrijjian territory already mentioned.
(l5)
This arhat is
apparently the great disciple called "Lion King Kala", who attained arhatship
and was honoured by King Bimbisara. (16) He is represented as studying a scroll
or sitting in meditation, or holding a leaf of a tree, or he has extremely long
eyebrows which he holds up from the ground.
8.
Fa-she-lo-fuh-to-lo, Vajraputra.
He has 1,100 arhats
and resides in the Po-la-na division of the world, that is, in Parna-dvipa
perhaps.
In some temples and
lists of the Lohan the name is given as Vajriputra. This may be the Vajjiput of
the village of the same name who became a disciple and attained to arhatship.
(17) He is represented as very hairy, or as very lean and ribbed.
9. Shu-po-ka, Supaka
perhaps.
This arhat is
stationed on the Gandhamadana mountain and has an establishment of 900 arhats.
Instead of the character for Shu we find in some places Kie, that is Ka, making
the name Kapaka, but this is evidently wrong. In the new transcription we have
Kuo-pa-ka, that is, Gopaka. The Tibetans have the two Chinese transcriptions
Kapaka and Supaka, but their translation is Sbed-byed, which requires the form
Gopaka (or Gopa), meaning protector. We do not know of any disciple of Buddha
named Supaka, but we read of one named Gopaka, a sthavira at
Pataliputra.
The representations
of this arhat often show him with a small figure of a saint above his right
shoulder or close to his side, but he also appears with a book or a fan in his
hand.
10. Pan-t'o-ka,
Panthaka or Pantha.
This arhat's sphere
is the Trayastrimsat Heaven, and he is attended by 1,300 arhats.
He is sometimes
called simply Pantha or Panthaka, and sometimes Ta or Maha-Panthaka, Great
Panthaka, to distinguish him from his young brother, who is No. 16 of this list.
The name is explained as meaning way or road, or "born on the road," and a
legend relates how it was given to the two boys because their births occurred by
the roadside while their mother was making journeys. (l8) But we find the name
also explained as meaning "continuing the way," that is, propagating Buddhism,
and the Tibetan translation gives "doctrine of the way" as its signification.
But this explanation belongs rather to the younger brother, who also is
frequently styled simply Pantha or Panthaka. We occasionally find in books Pa
(or Sa) -na-ka for Pan- thaka, apparently a copylst's error. Pantha is also
found transcribed Pan-t'a, and for the second syllable we find t'u or
t'e.
Panthaka was
distinguished as among the highest of Buddha's disciples, who " by thought aimed
at excellence." (19) He was also expert in solving doubts and difficulties in
doctrine for weaker vessels, and he had extraordinary magical powers. (20) He
could pass through solids and shoot through the air, and cause fire and water to
appear at pleasure. He could also reduce his own dimensions little by little
until there was nothing left of him. (21) These magical powers were called into
request by Buddha when he made his expedition to subdue and convert the fierce
dragon-king Apalala. (22)
The various pictures
and images represent Panthaka as sitting under a tree or teaching from an open
book, or as holding a scroll, or as sitting in profound meditation with his arms
folded. He is also frequently depieted in the act of charming a dragon into his
alms-bowl.
This Panthaka is not
to be confounded with the Upasaka of the same name who accompanied Mahinda in
his mission for the conversion of Ceylon.
11. Lo-hu-lo,
Rahula.
To Rahula was
assigned the Priyangu-dvipa, a land of aromatic herbs, (23) and he had a suite
of 1,100 arhats.
Rahula, the son of
Buddha, was distinguished as a disciple for his diligent study of the canon and
his uncompromising thorough strictness in carrying out the rules of his
profession. He is often represented in pictures and images as having the large
"umbrella-shaped" head, prominent eyes, and hooked nose which some books ascribe
to him. But in many cases he is apparently represented without any distinctive
features or attribute. It is his lot to die and return to this world as Buddha's
son for several times, and he is not to pass finally out of existence for a very
long time.
12. Na-ka-si-na,
Nagasena.
This arhat was
appointed to the Pan-tu-p'o or Pandava Mountain in Magadha, with a retinue of
1,200 arhats.
Nagasena is, I think,
the disciple called Seni in the " Tseng-i-a-han-ching " and the
"Fen-pie-kung-te- lun." In the former this bhikshu is selected for praise as an
orthodox expounder of the principles or essentials of Buddhism. The latter
treatise also calls him first in exposition. It adds that he was a bhikshu
thirty years before he attained arhatship, because he made the laying down of
dogma the one chief thing postponing to this release from sin, that he was
skilled in analysis and the logical development of principles, and that he left
a treatise embodying the results of his studies. (24)
Now this Se-ni is, I
think, the Nagasena who composed the original work which was afterwards
amplified into the "Questions of Milinda." In the " Tsa-pao-tsang-ching " We
have this Nagasena, called also Se-na, a man of commanding presence, proud and
learned, subtle-minded and ready-witted, and he is put through a severe ordeal
by a king called Nan-t'e or Nanda. (25) Then these Nanda and Nagasena are
evidently the Min-lin-t'e and Nagasena of one translation of the ''
Abhidharma-kosa-vyakhya-Sastra '' and the Pi-lin-t'e and Lung-chun, Dragon-host
of the other translation. (26) They are also the Mi-lan and Na-hsien of the "
Na-hsien-pi-chiu-ching " (27) and the Milinda and Nagasena of the " Questions of
Milinda." (28)
This Nagasena was, or
was taken to be, a contemporary of the Buddha and Sariputra, although he is also
supposed to be living long after Buddha's time. He is called arhat by the author
of the introduction to the "Questions," but in the body of the book he is not an
arhat. In this treatise he defends against his cross-examiner the unity and
consistency of Buddha's teachings, and explains and expands hard doctrines with
great learning and richness of illustration. He became the head of the Church in
Milinda's country to watch over and maintain Buddhist orthodoxy. His treatise
must have existed in various lands and in different forms from a comparatively
early period. The " Abhidharma-kosa-sastra " and the " Tsa-pao-tsang-ching "
quote from a text which is neither the "Na-hsien-pi-chiuching" nor the
"Questions," and these two last differ very much.
13. Yin-kie-t'e,
Angida.
This arhat's station
is the mountain called Kuaug-hsie or Broad-side, that is, Vipulaparsva, and he
has a retinue of 1,300 arhats. In one place I have seen Mu instead of Yin, and
the Tibetans have Angija, but all other tran- scriptions are apparently either
Angida, or Angila.
One of Buddha's great
disciples was named Angaja, and he was noted for the cleanness and fragrance of
his body. (29) Another great disciple was Angila, who was described as being
perfect in all things. (30) These two names may possibly indicate only one
person.
The Lohan called
Angida is sometimes the fat, jolly creature who is supposed to be Maitreya or
his incarnation. Other pictures or images make him a lean old monk with a staff
and a book containing Indian writing. This latter is the old traditional
representation handed down from the period of the T'ang dynasty.
14. Fa-na-p'o-ssu,
Vanavasa.
A Korean temple has
Fa-lo-p'o-ssu, giving Varavasa, but all the other transcriptions seem to have
Vanavasa.
This arhat, who has a
retinue of 1,400 other arhats, is stationed on the K'o-chu or Habitable
Mountain. He is sometimes represented sitting in a cave meditating with eyes
closed, or his hands make a mudra, or he nurses his right knee.
15. A-shih-to, Asita
or Ajita.
These characters do
not represent Yuan-chuang's ordinary transcription either for Asita or Ajita,
and it is probable that here he adopted the transcription of a predecessor. The
new authorized reading gives Ajita, and it is so in the Tibetan. But Ajita is
Maitreya, and that Bodhisattva, according to all accounts, remains in Tushita
Paradise until the time comes for him to become incarnate on this
earth.
So he cannot properly
be a guardian of Sakyamuni's system, which must have passed away before he can
become Buddha.
This arhat, whom we
may call Asita, resides on the Gridhrakuta Mountain, and has 1,500 arhats in his
suite. It cannot be that he is the old seer Asita who came from his distant home
to see the newly-born infant who was to become Buddha. The images and pictures
generally represent the arhat as an old man with very long eyebrows, nursing his
right knee or absorbed in meditation.
16. Chu-ch'a, (t'a)
-Pan-t'o-ka, Chota-Panthaka.
The first part of the
name is also given as Chou-li or Chu-li. These transcriptions stand for the
Sanskrit Kshulla and Pali Chulla (or Chula), and Chota is a dialectic form still
preserved in the vernacular. The words mean little, small, and this Panthaka
received the above name in order to distinguish him from his elder brother
already noticed. He is also called Hsiao-lu or Little Road, the elder brother
being Ta-lu or Great Road.
Chota-Panthaka has a
household of 1,600 arhats, and his station is the Ishadhara Mountain, a part of
the great range of Sumeru. As a disciple Little Pantha was at first and for a
long time exceedingly dull and stupid, the result of bad Karma. He could not
make any progress in the spiritual life, being unable to apply his mind or
commit to memory even one stanza of doctrine. (31) He was accordingly slighted
by the Brethren and their lay patrons, but the Master always had pity and
patience. On one occasion the King invited Buddha and the disciples to
breakfast, but Little Pantha was excluded. When Buddha discovered this he
refused to sit down to breakfast until the despised disciple was bidden to the
feast. (32) And when Little Pantha was expelled by his elder brother as being
incorrigibly dull and stupid, Buddha brought him back and would not allow him to
be expelled. He comforted the sorrowing disciple and gave him the words
"Sweeping broom" to repeat and keep in mind. In the effort to do so the
intellectual faculties of the poor dullard were stimulated, and he came to see
that the two words meant that all attachment to things of this world was
defilement and to be swept away by the broom of Buddha's doctrine. (33) Having
entered on the good way he went on towards perfection, and became noted as one
of the first disciples in "mental aiming at excellence"; he was chiefly occupied
with the mind and mental contemplation. (34) By his determined perseverance he
attained a thorough insight into religious truths, and expounded these with such
power and eloquence that even giddy nuns, who came to laugh and mock, remained
to be impressed and edified. (35) In process of time Little Pantha attained
arhatship, with the powers of flying through the air and of assuming any form at
pleasure. He had also other miraculous powers, and on one occasion he produced
500 strange oxen and proceeded to ride one of them. (36)
This arhat is
sometimes pictured as an old man sitting under and leaning against a dead tree,
one hand having a fan and the other held up in the attitude of teaching. He is
also represented as a venerable sage sitting on a mat-covered seat and holding a
long staff surmounted by a hare's head.
17 and
18.
There does not seem
to be any historical account of the first introduction of the Lohan into the
Halls of Buddhist temples, nor can it be ascertained when the number of these
guardians was raised from sixteen to eighteen in Chinese temples.
In some of these,
down to the present time, the number of the Lohan is still sixteen, e.g. in the
Pao-ning-ssu, near Mount Omi, visited by Mr. Baber. (37) Some Chinese have
supposed that there were formerly eighteen gods regarded as protectors of
Buddhist temples, and that the Lohan took their places. But we know nothing
about these gods, and the supposition need not be taken into consideration.
Another suggestion, and one which seems not improbable, is that the Buddhists in
this matter imitated a certain Chinese institution.
When we read the
history of the reigns of T'ang Kao Tsu and T'ai Tsung, we find the record of an
event which may have given the idea of grouping the Lohan in the Chief Hall of a
temple and of raising their number to eighteen. In the year 621 T'ai Tsung
instituted within the palace grounds a very select college composed of eighteen
members. These dons were officials of high standing, of sound learning and good
literary attainments, and faithful adherents and personal friends of the
founder. Among them were such famous men as Tu Ju-mei and his friend Fang
Hsuan-ling; Yu Chi-ming, learned scholar and loyal statesman, who wrote the
preface to Yuan-chuang's " Hsiyu-chi "; Lu Te-ming, and K'ung Ying-ta. The
members took their turns in batches of three in attending on duty, and while in
the college they were liable to be visited and interrogated by the emperor. He
had portraits of the members made for the college, and each portrait was
furnished with a statement of the name, birthplace, and honours of the original.
The merits of each were described in ornate verse by one of the number, Chu
Liang. These favoured men were called the Shih-pa-hsue-shih or Eighteen Cabinet
Ministers, and they were popularly said to have teng-ying-chou, to have become
Immortals. It is this Hall of the Eighteen which I think may have led to the
installation of the Eighteen Arhats in Buddha's Hall. The names of these
venerable ones are given, and sometimes their stations and retinues are added.
There are also temples in which the Lohan are arranged in groups of
three.
But these Eighteen
Lohan have never received authoritative recognition, and they are not given even
in the modern accepted Buddhist treatises. We find them, however, occasionally
in modern Chinese works of art. The South Kensington Museum has a pair of bowls
on which they are painted, and the British Museum has them on an incense-vase.
This vase is remarkable for departing so far from the established doctrine of
the Lohan as to represent three of the eighteen as boys or very young men. The
modern Chinese artist, followed by the Japanese, apparently takes the Lohan to
be Immortals, and he shows them crossing to the Happy Land of Nirvana or leading
lives of unending bliss among the pines of the misty mountain-tops.
As to the persons who
should be admitted as guardian Lohans of Buddha and his religion, there has been
a great diversity of opinion, and consequently different worthies have been
added in different places. In many old temples we find the 17th and 18th places
given respectively to Nandimitra and a second Pindola. This Nandimitra, in
Chinese Ch'ing-yu, is the arhat already mentioned as describing the appointment
and distribution of the Sixteen Arhats. As one of the additional Lohans we
sometimes find the well-known Imperial patron of Buddhism, Liang Wu Ti (A.D. 502
to 550), or Kumarajiva, the great translator who flourished about A.D. 400.. In
some temples we find Maitreya or his supposed incarnation the Pu-tai-ho shang,
or Calico-bag (cushion) Monk. This monk is said to have lived in the sixth
century A.D., but he was not honoured as a Lohan until modern times. He is the
special patron of tobacco-sellers, and his jolly fat little image often adorns
their shop-fronts. Another interesting person sometimes found among the Eighteen
Lohan is the Indian Buddhist Dharmatara (or Dharmatrata), in Chinese Fa-Chiu.
This is perhaps the Dharmatara who was a great master of Dhyana and learned
author, and lived about the middle of the first century of our era probably. He
is sometimes called a great Upasaka, and is represented as receiving or
introducing the Sixteen (or Eighteen) Lohan. Writing about Lhassa the learned
Mr. Chandra Das has the following: "In the Na-chu Lha Khang Chapel erected by
one of the Sakya Lamas named Wang Chhyug Tsondu, were the most remarkable
statue-like images of the Sixteen Sthaviras called Natan Chudug, arranged to
represent the scene of their reception by Upashaka Dharma Tala, one of the most
celebrated and devout Buddhists of ancient China." (38) In Tibet the Sixteen
Arhats are called Sthaviras, and "Natan Chudug" means Sixteen Sthaviras. Then
"Dharma Tala" is for Dharmatara, who was Indian, not Chinese. He is also now one
of the Eighteen Lohan in Tibet as in China. Another illustrious personage
installed as one of these Lohan in many temples is Kuanyin P'usa. He appears as
such in his capacity as Protector of Buddhism and Buddhists.
NOTES:
(1) The "
Chih-shih-tzu-kuo" of this sutra and the " Shih-tzu-kuo" of the "
TSeng-i-a-han-ching" are probably the Simhadvipa of Schiefner's " Tara- natha,"
S. 83. This last cannot be Ceylon, and the mention of the Lusthain. in it
reminds us of the garden in the Shih-tzu-kuo. In the Sarvata Vinaya Yao-shih,
ch. 8, we have mention of a Shih-tzu district which lay between Sravasti and
Rajagriha.
(2) For illustrations
and details of the Lohan see Anderson's "Catalogue of Japanese and Chinese
Paintings in the British Museum"; Pandar's "Das Pantheon d. Tschangtscha
Hutuktu, " S. 83f.; Hsiang-chiao-p'i-pien, ch. 2.
(3)
Tseng-i-a-han-ching, ch. 3 (Bun., No. 543, tr. A.D. 385) ;
Fo-shuo-a-lo-han-chu-te-ching (Bun., No. 897, tr. about 900).
(4) Vinaya Texts,
iii, p. 79.
(5)
Ch'ing-Pin-t'ou-lu-ching (or-fa) (Bun., No. 1,348, tr. 457).
(6) Tsa-a-han-ching,
ch. 23 (Bun., No. 544, tr. between 420 and 479).
(7)
Tsng-i-a-han-ching, ch. 20.
(8)
Ching-Pin-t'ou-ching.
(9) Divyavadana, p.
402; Burnouf, Introd., p. 397; Tsa-a-han-ching, l.c.
(10)
Ta-Sung-seng-shi-liao, ch.2.
(11)
Ken-pen-shuo-i-ch'ie-yu Vinaya Yao-shi, ch. 16 (tr. by I-ching about
710)
(12)
Fo-shuo-a-lo-han-chu-te-ching.
(13)
Tseng-i-a-han-ching, chs. 3, 23.
(14) Tsa-a-han-ching,
ch. 5; A-lo-han-chu-te-ching.
(15) In the Sarvata
Vinaya Yao-shih, ch. 8, we find mention of the "Lion Town" which lay between
Sravasti and Rajagriha.
(16) Sarvata Vinaya
Yao-shih, ch. 17.
(17) Tsa-a-han-ching,
ch. 29.
(18)
Fen-pie-kung-te-lun, ch. 5 (Bun., No. 1,290, tr. perhaps about 200).
(19) Abhidharma
pa-kan-tu-lun, ch. 27 (Bun., No. 1,273, tr. 383).
(20)
A-lo-han-chu-te-ching.
(21)
Tseng-i-a-han-ching, ch. 3.
(22)
Fen-pie-kung-te-lun, l.c.
(23) But the Chinese
pilgrims were taught that priyangu was the Indian name for the
chestnut.
(24)
Tseng-i-a-han-ching, ch. 3; Fen-pie-kung-te-lun, ch. 5.
(25)
Tsa-Pao-tsang-ching, Ch. 9 (Bun., No. 1,329, tr. 472).
(26)
Abhidharma-kosa-vyakhya-sastra, ch. 22 (Bun., No. 1,269, tr. 565) ;
Abhidharma-kosa-sastra, ch. 30 (Bun., No. 1,267, tr. 652).
(27)
Na-hsien-pi-chiu-ching (Bun., No 1,358, tr. between 317 and 420).
(28) " The Questions
of King Milinda Milinda," translated from the Pali by T. W. Rhys
Davids.
(29)
Tseng-i-a-han-ching, ch. 3.
(30)
A-lo-han-chu-te-ching.
(31)
Tseng-i-a-han-ching, ch 11; Fen-pie-kung-te-lun, ch 5; Sarvata Vinaya Yao-Shih,
ch. 17. Compare the account of Chulla-Panthaka in Jataka (Chalmers), p. 14, and
see note at p. 20.
(32)
Fa-chu-pi-yu-ching, ch. 2 (Bun., No. 1,353, tr. about 300) ; Ch'u-yao- ching,
ch. 19 (Bun., No. 1,321, tr. 399).
(33)
Tseng-i-a-han-ching, l.c.
(34)
Abhidharma-pa-kan-tu-lun, ch. 27 (Bun., No. 1,273, tr. 383) ; Abhidharma-
fa-chih-lun, ch. 18 (Bun., No. 1,275, tr. about 660).
(35)
Fa-chu-pi-yu-ching, I.c.
(36)
Tseng-i-a-han-ching, chs. 3 and 22.
(37) " Travels and
Researches in Western China," p. 31.
(38) "Narrative of a
Journey to Lhasa," p. 145.
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