Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/453

Rh while flowers of the Chan-pi. But more frequently they praise its "yellow flowers," the "odorous gold" which scents the wood, or its " gold-coloured flowers " which make it the "Buddha of the forest."

The Palmyra Palm (Borassus flabelliformis) is called Tāla in Sanskrit. This word early passed into Chinese as to-lo (^ jg), which soon became a well known term. But it is given to at least one other species of Palm, and the Palmyra or Fan Palm is not very familiar to the Chinese. This is the tree the leaves of which, as we have seen, are usM as writing material in India.

The word to-lo, as written above, is also sometimes used to transcribe the Sanskrit word tida, which means Cotton. It is specially, however, of the silky down of the Cotton-tree that it is so used, and that tree is sometimes called To-lo-mti {% ^ 7fC), mil being a Chinese word for tree. But the old way of expressing tfila in this sense is tou-lo (^ Jg), which is still so used. The reformers of the T'ang period tried to substitute tAi {jfi) for tou, but the change was not adopted. When European velvet, plush, and woollen goods were first introduced into China they received the general name tou-lo. Thus we find Tou-lo-ni (now To-lo-ni) and Tou-lo-juiig, for woollens and velvets respectively. The name is supposed to have been given to some of these in admiration of their softness and whiteness. So the lily-white hands, for example, of Buddha are described as ToU'lo-mien-shou (^ ^ |S ■$), hands like cotton from the tree.

It seems to be generally admitted that the Chinese obtained their knowledge of the Cotton-plant and its uses from India. But it is not easy to ascertain with certainty when and how they first became acquainted with this useful plant. It was probably, however, during the time of the later Han dynasty and by means of Buddhist missionaries. One name for cotton in San- skrit is Karpasa, the Pali form being KappHsa. The Chinese have a native name Mieyv'hua, but they have also an older name, which is of foreign origin. In the early literature we find this given as Chi-pei ("g ^), that is, in the pronunciation of the time and place