The Epitaph of a Buddhist Lady: A Newly Discovered Chinese-Sogdian Bilingual.

AuthorBo, Bi
PositionCritical essay

INTRODUCTION

In this paper we present our reading and translation of a bilingual Chinese-Sogdian epitaph preserved in the Ancient Steles Art Museum in Yulin. In recent years the tombs of several Sogdians who were settled in China have been excavated in northern China. Many of these are elaborately decorated with carved or painted panels in Central Asian style; some tombs also contain epitaphs, usually in Chinese, but in a few cases also in Sogdian. This is in fact the third bilingual Chinese-Sogdian epitaph to be discovered. The first was that of the sabao Wirkakk or Shijun 5&3t "Mr. Shi" and his wife Wiyusi, excavated in the northern suburbs of Xi'an in 2003 and published in 2005 in the volume Les sogdiens en Chine, where the Chinese text was edited by Sun Fuxi and the Sogdian text by Yutaka Yoshida. (1) Prof. Yoshida has since made some minor revisions to his earlier reading and translation. (2) Unfortunately his latest results have been published only in Japanese, so that most Chinese and Western scholars continue to rely on the articles published in 2005.

The second such epitaph is that of the merchant Nanai-vande and his wife Kekan, now preserved in the Wangye Museum in Shenzhen, but evidently originating from Ye in northern China. This was published in 2017 by us in cooperation with Mr. Yan Yan, the director of the Wangye Museum. (3)

In passing, it is worth mentioning the Chinese-Middle Persian bilingual epitaph from Xi'an, which has been known for much longer, having been discovered in 1955 and published several times, most recently by Hassan Reza Baghbidi and by Yutaka Yoshida. (4) It is a memorial for a Persian lady who died in 874 CE.

The two previously known Chinese-Sogdian bilingual epitaphs both date from the Northern Zhou period (557-581 CE). Although they come from quite different areas, they also have several other features in common. In particular, each commemorates a husband and wife, who were buried together in the same tomb. The new inscription dates from a much later period (739 CE) and commemorates only one person, a woman, who was buried by her husband and sons in a special place chosen by herself in line with her personal religious beliefs. In the previously known bilingual epitaphs (including that in Chinese and Middle Persian) the two versions differ considerably in their content and phraseology. The two versions of the new text correspond to one another much more closely, as Yutaka Yoshida points out, though here too each version includes some phrases that have no equivalent in the other.

The stone on which the new inscription is carved is 51.5 cm in length, 42.5 cm in height, and 8.5-9.0 cm thick. It has lost one corner, including parts of the first two lines of the Sogdian text. It is otherwise complete, but was apparently exposed to the elements over a long period, resulting in surface damage that makes many parts extremely hard to read. The two previously known bilinguals are much better preserved. The difficulties of interpretation that the latter present are largely due to errors made by the engravers, while the new inscription seems to be more accurately carved. In terms of its grammar, the new Sogdian text not surprisingly shows a later stage of development. In particular, it has lost the distinction between the masculine and feminine forms of the 3rd person singular intransitive preterite, which is still preserved in both of the bilinguals from the Northern Zhou period. (5) Other characteristics of the later language include the use of xyp[delta] '(one's) own' as equivalent to a genitive marker (line 1 and passim), m 'tyh rather than m [delta]ryh as the obi. case of m 'th 'mother' (line 14), and the spelling mx 'yz 'nt for mnx 'yz 'nt, 3 pi. impf, of 'nx 'yz 'to erect' (line 12).

The most remarkable feature of the new inscription, which clearly differentiates it from the other bilingual epitaphs, is its strong Buddhist content. The inscription from Ye gives no hint of any religious affiliation, while in the case of Wirkakk scholars have debated whether he was a Zoroastrian or a Manichaean. (6)

The new epitaph is clearly Buddhist, and the central part of both the Chinese and the Sogdian texts is specifically concerned with the religious beliefs of the deceased and her conversion to the Buddhist sect known as the Sanjie jiao [phrase omitted], the "Three levels" or "Three stages" school. The fact that the deceased was an adherent of this sect, which has also been recognized by Li Hao, is clear from the references to the "two kinds" of Buddhist law, "the universal and the particular" ([phrase omitted] Chinese, line 3) or "the direct and the divergent" (Sogdian, lines 3-4), and to the "law suitable for the mind of an ordinary person" (Sogdian, lines 7-8), which refer to fundamental ideas of this school. It also explains why the body of the deceased was taken to the Zhongnan mountain, the final resting place of Xinxing [phrase omitted] (540-594), the founder of the Sanjie jiao, who is referred to in both the Sogdian and the Chinese texts as the "Great virtuous friend."

THE CHINESE VERSION

Chinese Text (fig. 1)

  1. [phrase omitted]

  2. [phrase omitted]

  3. [phrase omitted]

  4. [phrase omitted]

  5. [phrase omitted]

  6. [phrase omitted]

  7. [phrase omitted]

  8. [phrase omitted]

  9. [phrase omitted]

  10. [phrase omitted]

  11. [phrase omitted]

    Translation of the Chinese Text

    During the Great Tang (dynasty), the stupa inscription of the late lay-sister of the An family, with preface.

    (2) The lay-sister is from the An family (and) was a person from Guzang [phrase omitted] (8) in Liangfu [phrase omitted] (i.e., Wuwei [phrase omitted]). Since the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan [phrase omitted] (= 729 CE) (3) she has lived in the "royal domain" [phrase omitted] (i.e., Chang'an [phrase omitted]). Thereupon she heard two kinds of Buddhist law: the universal and the particular. (4) Although she heard about medicine, it did not yet come into contact with her person, so that (all her effort) was in vain for two years, in an instant three years passed. Afterward she met (5) a "virtuous friend" who expounded for her the wonderful sublimity of the One Vehicle and enlightened her lost mind, (which was that) of an ordinary person. She vowed that through (6) three uncountable eons the correct law might be clear (for her)! Then, in the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan, in the second month, on the twenty-fifth day (= 10 April 736 CE), (7) having become ill she passed away in her own house in Qunxian Ward [phrase omitted] at the age of sixty-one. (8) Then, in the third month, on the second day (= 17 April), her coffined body was taken to the side of the Da Shanzhishi [phrase omitted] ("Great virtuous friend") forest in the Zhongnanshan [phrase omitted] (9) and a stupa was erected by (her) sons, Si... [phrase omitted] Shanzhi [phrase omitted] and the other one, according to the instruction in her will. Alas! Such sorrow! (10) Therefore an inscription was produced. In their wisdom, Buddhists are weary of (the cycle of) life and (11) death, desiring to attain nirvana.

    It (i.e., the stupa) was made in the twenty-seventh year of Kaiyuan, a jimao [phrase omitted] year, in the second month, on the fifteenth day (= 28 March 739 CE).

    A Note on the Chinese Text

    There is no need for an extensive commentary on the Chinese text, since most points that require comment also appear in the Sogdian and will be discussed below in the commentary to that version. As in the case of the Sogdian, our readings are partly based on a rubbing and partly on direct autopsy of the stone. Sometimes the stone is clearer, sometimes the rubbing, but it must be admitted that many characters are doubtful because of the poor condition of the surface. This explains why some of the readings suggested by us differ from those of Li 2020. (9)

    THE SOGDIAN VERSION

    Sogdian Text (fig. 2)

  12. ]. p[wr]st[y.sup.a] '[']n kwtr' 'wp'y'[h.sup.b] xyp[delta] 'st'wp n'm[delta]'[n.sup.c]

  13. ]. y[delta] "n kwtr' 'wp'y'[h.sup.b] ken sky [gamma]w'[n.sup.d] cyk mrtxm'k

  14. m't x'y 'nkwyn 10-[6.sup.e] myk sr[delta]y kw xwmt'n "[gamma]t w'nw pt[delta]ws[delta]'rt '[delta]w znk'n

  15. pwty p[delta]kh 'sty mrxy ZY pt'yn styw wn pt[gamma]ws[delta]'rt m't my[delta]'kk r'[beta] syr[[y].sup.f]

  16. rwr' 'sty pyst sy w'n[w.sup.g] pryn'(?) L' 'krty 'yc xwrt wn'yty k[[delta].sup.h] ZY sy ZKw [gamma]r'yw

  17. "y'yrwt'y '[delta]w '[delta]ry sr[delta] pysm 'n[beta]'nty m'y[[delta].sup.i] zrn'k(?) ZY w'r'k xrt cyw'y[delta] pstrw

  18. syr'nk'ry ptz'ncyk pcwsty ZKZ[Y.sup.j] sy 'yw pr[beta]'r p'r'[gamma]z nsk'rt pr[??]'y[r.sup.k] w'yw[s.sup.1] my[delta]'kk

  19. xyp[delta] p'zn ns'ky [delta]rm xy[delta] w'n "y[delta]'y xws[delta]'rt m't r'm'nt 100 krp ory "s'nky

  20. wzrw[(?).sup.m] p[delta]kh pcwz'n ZY pt[gamma]ws'n" ZY ywxs'n ZY sw'n ptsr[delta] x'y 'nkwyn 20-4 myk sr[delta] r'[??]k'[w.sup.o]

  21. 'krt[y.sup.p] [delta][beta]ty m'xy 20-5 s[gamma]ty nym'k my[delta] s..'w'[n.sup.q] xwyr tx'yz 'wy kwn'yn [??]'nk xyp[delta] x'n'y pw'rst[y.sup.r]

  22. krtyP 20-20-20-1 myk sr[delta]y esty m'x [delta][ws[gamma]t][y.sup.s] [beta]rw'rtykw n'ms'n'y RBk syr'nk'r'k ptz'ncyky

  23. xyp[delta] st'wpy [.....sup.t] [beta]rt[(?).sup.u] st'wp mx'yz'nt xyp[delta] wyry wy'ws M '[delta]ry z'tk sr[delta]m'n

  24. ZY "[delta]pr[n.sup.v] ZY 'M pwty[delta][beta]' [r.sup.n] pr'yw my[[delta].sup.w] c'nw pst'wn m't z't'yt nxwh z[gamma]w[y.sup.a] m'r'yx[k.sup.x] en

  25. m'tyh.... ry ' p'rZY enn wys" [k.sup.y] pwty m[gamma]'wn m'tyh yw'ystym 'M RBk [beta]zy'

  26. pcw'sty[m.sup.z] rty mn(?) k[delta] z'wr [beta]wt'y rty [beta]t rtnyn'k 'st'wp wn'yt'ym tym k[beta]ny m't pys[t.sup.aa]

  27. snkyn'k 'st'wp m'y[delta][(?).sup.bb] m'ryxc n" prm'[y.sup.cc] 'krty 10-5

  28. yn'k st'wp x'y nkwyn 20-7 my sr[delta] o[beta]ty m'x 'krty

    (a) Reading suggested by YY. (b) Or 'wp ynh, hardly 'wp 'yyh (in either line 1 or line 2).[.sup.c] One word or two? YY suggests n'm [delta]nn. [.sup.d] Or xw 'n, xwyn, [gamma]wyn. (e) Error for 10-7. [.sup.f] Or xy..? n..? (g) Less likely wzrw. (h) With...

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