Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/501

Rh writes of himself as Na-tzŭ (衲子), the Ragged one, or Pin-na (貧衲), Poor rags. The name is derived from the na or ragged patchwork coat which the poor monks once wore. This sort of garment may still be seen occasionally on a zealous Brother going about begging.

We have already seen that la (臘), the sacrifice to ancestors after the winter solstice, is used in the sense of a year or winter of one's life. In Buddhism this use is modified, and the word is employed in the sense of a year of profession in religion. Thus the words Sêng-la-wu-shi mean "he was a monk for fifty years," the age of the monk being given as so many sui or years of life.

Passing on to other subjects we notice a few more instances of new meanings for old terms. In the sense of the sky or heaven T‘ien is a very old word in the Chinese language. When the Buddhists came they took it to translate the Sanskrit words Deva, a god, and Marut, a storm-god. As Devas the t‘ien are the first of the Liu-tao or Six Orders of beings, and it is in this sense that the Buddhists use the word commonly. Among the gods Indra was chief, and hence his title T‘ien-chu (天主), Lord of Devas, in Sanskrit Devendra. There are four sovereign devas, who are the guardians of the Buddhist religion and its adherents. These are known in China as the Ssŭ-ta-t‘ien-wang (四大天王), Four great Deva Kings, or as the Ssŭ-ta-chin-kang-wang, Four great Vajra Kings. They stand in front of Buddhist temples to protect them from hostile demons, but they have long since come to extend their protection to individuals and temples of other religions. The term T‘ien is applied even to that dreadful creature Māra, the Tempter, whom we find spoken of as T‘ien-mo (天魔), the Deva Māra.