Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1904-12-08

being placed on the plinths OF the
statues; a mode which clearly indicates
that they were placed there as votiye
offerings. tits clear that the person who
deposited them there had cut the book
up so as to lay page before as many
of the divinlties as possible. The texts
have been examined by Mr.. D. L. Bar
nett, of the British museum, who nnoe
them to be Of great literary importapcs-
They form part Of very early Thib.tsn
version Of Buddhist philosophical
work entitled the "Saiistanbsturs." 4
work hitherto only known to scholars
from quotations in other ssnscrt
works
The Importance OF the find Is very
great. for those leaves are undoubtedly
the Oldest specimens Of Thibetan writ
ing, and they also gain additional I'm
portance from the historical and po-
litical associations with their discovery
in this remote sphere Of Thibetan in1u-
ence. From Chinese and Thibetan graf
fife on the walls OF the temple the date
Of these manuscripts cannot be placed
later than the second half Of the eighth
century Of our era. the period when the
rule Of these provinces was passing from
the Chinese to the Thibetans They have.
however, an additional Importance az
showing how quickly Buddhism had es-
tablished Itself in Tibet BudGha died
about ATT B. c., and the Buddhist creed
was introduced into Thibet IN A. D. 03S;
the great temple at Lhassa being burnt
in A. D. 661. So that these scattered
leaves prove that in less than a century
and a half after the Introduction Of tbs
new creed Sanscrit philosophical works
were being translated into Thibetan. The
fact is important as showing that tbs
former estimate Of the illiterate and
barbarous state Of this country must be
considerably revised. The increase OF
the Thibetan power and the decay OF the
Chinese influence at this period, now
confirmed by these hnds, calls attention
to a very interesting inscribed stone tab
let outside the great monastery at
Lhassa
This tablet bears upon 1t the biIingual
text in Thibetan and Chinese Of treaty
OF peace and alliance between the TIVE
nations, which was drawn up in the
year A. D. 82i, and some OF the clauses
are particularly Apostle at the present
time-when our own mission Is extract
ing q similar treaty from the unwilling
Lamas. After . very verbose prologue
we come to the pith OF the document.
The first important clause reads: That
the Chineses shall have the Tang az
sovereign, and the county Of the western
race shall have the Great Fan as ruler.
From this time henceforth both shall
put up weapons and armor, forget their
differences and old grievances. and re-
spect the honored kinship Of their SOW
ereigns and the ancient bonds Of mutual
aid" The clause as to suspected per-
sons is OF especial interest in regard to
the recent action Of the Thibetan toward
the traders of Sikkim: "If any persons
are suspected they shall be taken alive.
and their business inquired into, then
they shall be given clothes and food and
sent back to their own country" This
interesting document Of such great
antiquity should materially aid In estab-
fishing a precedent for the new treaty
now being concluded. The discovery
of these important manuscripts orearly
Buddhist literature is another proof Of
the belief long held By scholars that
many treasures will be found In the
libraries of the monssteries Of LhGsss.
which will throw light not only on the
early development OF Buddhism, but
also restore to us lost chapters OF the
history Of China, Thibet and Central
Asia.