[1] I have always heard policemen called sa sung (srung) pa by Tibetans. The word used by our author seems to be khor che (byed) pa, which would correspond to “patrol-men.” Huc says that Lhasa is about two leagues in circumference, and A. K. that it is about six miles.—(W. R.) [↑]
[2] Doring (or rdo ring) means “ancient stone,” or “stone from long ago.” On the inscription here referred to, see Jour. Roy. As. Soc. (new series), vol. xii. 486 et sqq.; and vol. xxiii. p. 264. Yu-tog zamba means “blue roofed bridge.”—(W. R.) [↑]
[3] Better known by its popular name of Cho or Jo khang, or Lhasa Jo-wo khang. A. K. calls it Jhio. He also mentions Azimabad (Patna) merchants as having shops in Lhasa.—‘Report on the Explorations,’ p. 32. See also Waddell, op. cit., 300 et sqq. [↑]
[4] These “fringes” are cotton strips on which are printed charms (mantras). Usually the figure of a horse occupies the middle of the strip. They are called lung-ta, or “wind-horse.” E. Schlagintweit, ‘Buddhism in Tibet,’ p. 253, and plate xi. The “inscribed banners” belong to the same class of objects, and have also prayers or passages from the scriptures printed on them. Georgi, ‘Alph. Tibet.,’ p. 509, refers to these “flag-poles” as being called Tarpo che (tar-pai shing?), “Arbor salutaris, depulsoria mali.” See also Waddell, op. cit., 468 et sqq. [↑]
[5] Mutton fat is a common substitute for butter in tea among the Tibetans, and is not always used as a pis aller, but in preference to butter.—(W. R.) [↑]
[6] A dzo is a tenth of an ounce (sang), or about two-thirds of a rupee in weight. In India its equivalent is a tola.—(W. R.) [↑]
[7] The Buddha’s death is said to have occurred on the 15th of the 4th month, which only occasionally falls on June 1.—(W. R.) [↑]
[8] “Outside the gate (of the Jo khang) there is a stone pillar in a poor state of preservation: it is the tablet containing the alliance of Tang Te-tsung with his nephew. On either side of the pillar are old willows, whose aged trunks are bent and twisted like writhing dragons. It is said that they date from the Tang period.” Jour. Roy. As. Soc. (new series), vol. xxiii. p. 264. This inscription bears date A.D. 783.—(W. R.) [↑]
[9] See I. J. Schmidt, ‘Geschichte der Ost-Mongolen von Ssanang Ssetsen,’ p. 35. According to Tibetan historians, this same princess (or Kung chu, her name was Chin-Cheng), the wife of King Srong-btsan gambo, introduced into Tibet, among other things, the art of pottery, grist-mills, looms, etc. Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Die Könige von Tibet,’ p. 49. Chinese authors (see Jour. Roy. As. Soc., vol. xxiii. p. 191) attribute to her influence the first use of winepresses, paper, ink, the Chinese almanac, and the introduction of the silkworm. This princess was not a daughter of the Emperor Tai-tsung, but a member of his family. She appears to have travelled from China to Lhasa by the Hsi-ning road, which passes by the sources of the Yellow River.—(W. R.) [↑]
[10] On the various celebrated images of the Buddha, see ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 105, note 2. Kunyer is the “keeper of images.”—(W. R.) [↑]