13. T'U-JEN (Aborigines), formerly T'u-fan of Hsü-erh-chuang, in

habiting eleven p'u.

14. FAN-MIN of Ma-lien-ch'uan of T'u-fan descent.1

In the Chuang-lang Sub-prefecture (T’ing), (in Liang-chou

Prefecture).

15. HSIEH-ERH-SU, and other clans of Fan-min, eight in all, inhabiting tents.

16. MAO-TA-LA, T'u-min.

17. HUA-TS'ANG and SHANG-CH'A-ERH-TI Fan-min, twenty clans; like the Koko-nor Fan-tzu, they yearly pay a money tribute. They are also called Hsi-Fan, which is the real name of these tribes.

In the Wu-wei Prefecture (Liang-chou Prefecture).

18. The western TO-PA, three clans of Fan-min belonging to the Ch'ing hai. Pay a yearly horse tribute of seventeen head.2

In the Ku-lang Prefecture (Liang-chou Prefecture).

19. A-LO and other Fan-min clans, eight in all, originally Kokonor Hsi-fan. Pay a yearly horse tribute of eleven head.

In the Yung-chang Prefecture (Liang-chou Prefecture).

20. YÜAN-TAN and other Fan-min clans, five in all, generic name Hsi-fan. Comprise fifty Hundreds. In olden times they grazed on the Huang-liang shan, south of Yung-chang Hsien. Yearly tribute of six horses.

In the Hsi-ning Prefecture.

21. TUNG-KOU and other Fan-min clans, eight in all, of HsiCh'iang descent. Live seventy li from Hsi-ning Hsien. 22. CH'AN-TOU. Originally from the western regions (Hsi yü). First came to Hsi-ning in the Ming Hung-wu period to trade, and after that established themselves there. They live at Hsin-tseng P'u,3 forty li from the city.

23. TO-PA. Fan-min. Related to the people of Great Tibet (Hsi-Ts'ang).

24. Aborigines (T'U-MIN) descendants of Hsi-Fan.

1 On the Ma-lien River. See p. 27, note 3. 2 One head for every Hundred. 3 Probably the Hsin-chen or ch'eng, referred to on p. 97.

In the Nien-po Prefecture (in Hsi-ning Prefecture).

25. TUNG-KOU,1 T'u-min, descendants of Li Ko-yung of the Shato Turks in the T'ang period.

26. TA-TZU (Mongols), WAN, etc., twenty clans of Fan-min; belonged originally to the Ki-pen Mongols. In the Yüan period their ancestor, To-erh-chi Shih-chieh, was Secretary (Tso-cheng) of Kan-su.

27. NAN-SHAN ("South Mountain ") Fan-min of Ch'ü-yün-ssu. This lamasery was built (according to the "Ming shih”) in the Hung-wu period by the lama Sa-la chao chiang-hantung no-pu in the Nan ch'uan of the Nien-po prefecture. 28. PA-YANG JUNG (Bayan rong) Fan-min; belong to the Ch'ing hai (Koko-nor).

In the Military District (Wei) of Ta-t'ung (north of Hsi-ning). 29. HSING-MA, etc., Fan-min, six clans; belong to the Koko-nor. Each Dsassak is called Hei-Fan.2 They are pastoral tribes; hence, also, Sheng Fan (i. e. "Wild Fan").

In the Military District (T'ing) of Kuei-té (south of Hsi-ning). 30. FAN-MIN, twenty-five clans (tsu). Belonged in old times to Hsi-chi'ang; formerly attached administratively to the Kokonor. Have black tents, but cultivate the soil.

In the Prefecture of Kan Chou (Kan-liang Circuit).

31. BLACK FAN (Hei-Fan), commonly called Hei-jen ("black people"); belong to the lamas of Tibet. Have been living, for generations back, in the mountains south of Kan Chou, but take tribute to Lh'asa.

In the District of Kao-t'ai (Su-Chou Prefecture).

32. HUANG FAN ("Yellow Fan"), two clans, called the Cha-shihtun and So-nan-shih-tien; formerly Koko-nor tribes. 33. HEI FAN ("Black Fan"); belong to the lamas of Tibet. Their chief lives in the Sa-erh-pa valley. Pay a yearly tribute of two head of horses.

1 Cf. the name Dungans, given to the Mohammedan rebels of Kan-su, which may possibly be derived from Tung-kou. See Bretschneider, "Not. of Med. Geog. of Central Asia," p. 125.

2 I do not understand this; there is possibly a misprint.

3 All the laity is called by this name in Mongol countries.

In the District of Wen Hsien (Chieh Department).

34. FAN-MIN of Lien-ch'in-shu, a tribe of eastern Tibetan (Miao

Their

Man) descent; not like the Fan on the west border (of the province). They live to the south of the district. dwellings are on high slopes, and on mountains.

II

ORIGIN OF THE PRAYER, "OM MANI PADMÉ HÜM”

THE Buddhist magic formula om mani padmé hum occupies such an important place in the every-day worship of the people of Tibet, so much time and money are expended by them in reproducing on stone and paper the six syllables composing it, that it deserves more than a passing mention.

Although the six-syllable prayer (vidyā shadaksharī, it is called in Sanskrit) is not found in early Buddhist writings, it is probably coeval with the rise of the cult of Avalokiteshwara, which we know to have been popular as early as the fourth century of our era. It is therefore possible, as is in fact claimed by native historians, that it was introduced into Tibet by the first missionaries who visited that country in the seventh century, but, for the time being, we have not sufficient evidence to settle the question definitely.

The earliest mention I have found of it by any European writer dates from the second half of the thirteenth century. Willelm de Rubruk, speaking of the Buddhist monks at Karakorum, says: "Habent etiam quocumque vadunt semper in manibus quamdam testam c. vel ducentorum nucleorum, sicut nos portamus paternoster, et dicunt semper hec verba, on man baccam,1 hoc est, Deus, tu nosti, secundum quod quidam eorum interpretatus est michi, et totiens exspectat remunerationem a Deo quotiens hoc dicendo memoratur.” 2

The explanation the friar gives of this prayer is, of course, wide of the mark, and so are nearly all those which subsequent

1 Some MSS. have mani hactain, and mani haetani.

2. Itinerarium Willelmi de Rubruk.

Recueil de Voyages et de Mémoires publié par la Soc. de Géog. de Paris," IV,

p. 285.

writers have offered from time to time. The mani, as the prayer is colloquially called in Tibet, is an invocation to Avalokiteshwara, the Merciful One, whose one great self-imposed mission is the salvation of all living creatures from the miseries incident to sentient existence, in the hope that it may lead them on in the way of salvation, and that he will, hearing it, ever keep the world in mind. The continual repetition of this prayer is recommended as a means of acquiring merit, and as the only way of keeping in the road to freedom; its diffusion and reproduction by writing, printing, and engraving are held to be highly philanthropical acts.

The legendary origin of this prayer is set forth in a Tibetan work called "Mani kabum" (also pronounced Mani kambum) or "Hundred thousand precepts of the Mani." This work is attributed to Srong-tsan gambo, the first Buddhist sovereign of Tibet, who lived in the seventh century of our era; but it is probable, from internal evidence, that it was written at a more recent date, in all likelihood in the fifteenth century, after the establishment of the Lh'asa pontificate. As the genesis of Avalokiteshwara and his vain efforts to save the world are intimately connected with the origin of the prayer, it is necessary to begin the history of the formula (Chap. IV) with that of the god addressed in it, which is also found in the "Mani kabum" (Chaps. II and III). The following is a translation:

(CHAP. II.) "Then the Perfect Buddha, called 'Infinite Brightness (Nang-wa t'ä-yä), Light eternal' (Wu-pa-mé), having discerned that the Great Compassionate One (T'u-jé che') was wise in means and filled with compassion, bethought him of using him under the appearance of a god, and the goddess Drolma under that of a goddess, in the work of redemption of the world. So Nang-wa t'ä-yä entered the state of profound abstraction called 'Redemption of the world by T’u-jé-ché,' and from his left eye came a ray of white light out of which issued the Bodhisattwa called 'the Lord looking with a glance of his eye' (Shen-rä-zig Wang-ch'yuk),2 and from his right eye came a ray of blue light out of which issued the goddess Drolma. Moreover, after this apparition had been thus miraculously born for the redemption of the kings and other mighty ones of the world, he appeared from out a lotus (Padma), for there came (as)

1 The title of this work has frequently been translated "Hundred thousand precious commandments," but, as I have said, the word mani is used to designate

the prayer whose power and efficacy this work sets forth.

2 A literal translation of the Sanskrit Avalokiteshwara.

will now be related) a light out of a Lotus pond (Ts'o padmachan) and he was born in the body from out a lotus in his apparitional person.

"It happened that in the western lands, in the realm called 'Lotus abode of bliss' (Padma-chan Dé-wa-chan), there reigned a mighty monarch, a universal king (chakravartin rāja), called 'the Best One' (Zang-po ch'ok). He ruled over the four continents, and all riches and power were his, but his consort was barren and had borne him no son, though, this excepted, he enjoyed every blessing given the righteous. Now there was a lake in that country, called 'the Lotus pond' (Ts'o pa-mé), and when the lotuses had bloomed on the lake and it was time for the king to make offerings to the Chief Rarity (Kon-ch'ok) swift messengers were sent to get flowers which they brought to the king, and he offered them to the Kon-ch'ok. It happened one day that a messenger, having come to get flowers, was filled with the greatest amazement on seeing in the pond on a lotus stem surrounded with spear-like tendrils and shield-like leaves a closed flower. He went and told this to the king, who said: 'It is certain that there is in that flower a miraculously born creature; I will go myself to see this much-to-be-revered object.' So, having called to him his queen, his ministers, and his inner and outer attendants, with boats to go on the lake, chariots, all kinds of presents, banners, flags, etc., and to the sound of a great music, carrying akaru, duruka and every other kind of sweet perfume, and many garments of Kashika cotton, he came to the Lotus pond. And having embarked on the pond in a boat he came to where was the flower, which opened, and in it he saw a youth of sixteen marked with all the signs and characteristics of a Buddha. A mighty glory came from out his white body, and he was in the full bloom of youth. He carried a sharp sword, and he was gorgeous with all kinds of precious jewels. He was wrapped to his middle in silk, and a deerskin hung over his shoulders. From out his mouth there came these words: 'Love of all creation.'

"Then the king and all his attendants bowed down and worshiped him, and the king, having presented him with a piece of Kashi cloth,1 requested him to ascend a chariot, and, all the offerings having been made him, he went to the royal palace, where he became an object of worship. Having been born from out a 1 We are reminded here of the Tibetan custom of offering k'atag, so frequently referred to in the body of my narrative.