1

Sandalwood Buddha Statue of the King Udayana

A. Terentyev

PrefaceFirst hearing the rumors about the exceptional statue, which, according to a legend, was cut out of sandalwood in the time of the Buddha himself (!), I was full of skepticism and did not even consider the possibility of the statue being made in the Buddha's lifetime. But now, after 30 years of research experience, I am very reluctant to accept the anonymous idea of the art historians stating that no Buddha image could have been executed in his lifetime and his first icons appeared only centuries later.

The data collected in this book do not pretend to be a thorough elucidation of the problem of the 'Sandalwood statue of Udayana' since this would require of much more textological and other investigations, such as the scientific analysis of the composition of the material the statue was made of. The book presents only in brief the old history of 'Zandan Zhuu' or 'Sandalwood Lord' as it is named in Buryatia, and I view my main task to confide in more details mainly about its fate in Russia, to where it was brought from China in 1900. The research shed some light quite unexpectedly on utterly surprising and unusual aspects of this detective – literally – story. It came out that the relics of the Buddha himself had been kept in the statue. This book, to my hope, may attract attention of people in Buryatia, who possibly still are in posession of these relics, and, perhaps, of the 'sun stone' (diamond?) stolen from the statue's head during Soviet time, and may help to return the sacred objects to the statue.

Compiling this book was in fact a joint effort, which became possible through enthusiasm of my friends and colleagues from different parts of our small world. From the Buryat side the main contributors were Nina Bazarovna Badlayeva, the former Chief curator of the Buryat Historical Museum in Ulan-Ude, who provided me with numerous written and oral materials (some of them translated into Russian by Tseren Dejid Dorjiyeva) including rare photographs, and a student of Buryat lore Konstantin Yermilov, who shared with me numerous Buryat publications on the subjectю In particular he has recently found the earliest photograph of Zandan Zhuu, published here for the 1st time. He also translated into the Russian language the first part of this book (which I originally wrote in English) thus saving a good share of my time. Czech scholar Lubosh Belka openly shared with me his rich resources; much help was offered by Prof. of Sorbonne University Heather Stoddard, also by Tibetan scholar Tashi Tsering, friends and colleagues from China and Japan, specifically Shinichiro Miyake of Otany University (whose invitation to Kyoto enabled me to personally explore the copy of the Sandalwood statue kept there). Much contribution was made by the scholar of Thailand Peter Snelling, who opened my eyes on the extent Siam version of the Sandalwood image story, my thanks also to Anne and Olivier Teuch who encouraged me and

2

supported my work. Also I am thankful for their cooperation to the former abbot of the Egituy Datsan Dorji Tsydenov and to the present abbot Agvan Ravusay Lama (Амgalan Dashatserenov). Important advices were given by Andrey Strelkov. Algirdas Kugevicius translated the text by Rolpe Dorje, interesting materials were given by Maya Lebel from State Hermitage Museum in St.-Petersburg and by the Chief Curator of the Buryat Historical Museum Svetlana Bardaleeva, Irina Harry corrected the Russian transcriptions of many Chinese names…, in short – this book is the result of our joint effort. And, as in most other cases, my deep gratitude goes to the name of my late precious teacher Ven. Jimba-Jamtso Tsybenov, who was the first to tell me the real story of Zandan Zhoo.

------------------------------------------------------------------Though it is generally accepted that the first Buddha images appeared only

centuries after the Mahaparinirvana, in the Buddhist texts of various traditions we find mention of several Buddha images made during his lifetime. Both paintings and statues of Buddha are mentioned. Because, these stories are generally known in the literature1, I shall mention it only briefly.Perhaps the best known of the paintings of that period is the famous ‘Wheel of Existence’ (Sanskr. bhavacakra), depicting the 12 links of ‘dependant origination’, which is believed to have been composed under directions from the Buddha himself, and is still reproduced in every temple of the Tibetan tradition.2

Also, several sculptures were reported to have been made. We find notice of this in all Buddhist traditions. One account, preserved in the Tibetan tradition tells us of a statue, composed of ‘precious materials’, when a patron named Dad sbyin invited the Sangha for a meal. Because the Buddha himself could not attend, and with his permission, the statue of Buddha was created by sculptor mGon med zas sbyin, to preside over the assembly3. According to Peter Skilling, the legend of the Sandalwood Buddha is told in many versions also in India and Southeast Asia4. In Siamese version: "… The story begins in the Jeta Grove on the outskirts of the Indian city of Sāvatthi. King Pasenadi of Kosala comes … to pay homage to the Buddha but finds that he is absent… The next day the Blessed One returns, and Pasenadi goes again to see him. He says to the Buddha (summarised translation): 'Yesterday we came to pay homage to the Lord Buddha, but we did not find him here. We grieved greatly, and it was as if we had no refuge. We thought how, even when the

1 Concerning Tibetan tradition see for example Dagyab, Loden Sherab. Tibetan Religious Art. Parts 1,2./ Monographienreihe zur Geschichte, Kultur und Sprache der Völke Ost- und Centralasiens, Band 52/ Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 1977, p.20-232 The story of this painting offered by Bimbisara to Utrayana, the ruler of distant kingdom of Roruka ( tib. sgra sgrog; not the Udayana of Vatsa – tib.: gsal ldan – as noted by M artha Carter: The Mystery of the Udayana Buddha. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, (Supplemento n. 64 ANNALI – vol. 50 (1990), fasc. 3., p.42), probably in Khotan, can be traced to the 37th chapter of Divyāvadāna . See Divyāvadāna . Ed. by Vaidya. Darhanga: The Mithila Institute, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts no.20, p. 544-586. See also Nobel, J. Udrayana, König von Roruka: Eine Buddhistische Erzälung. Die Tibetishe Übersetzung des Sanskrittextes. Wiesbaden, 1955, vol.1. 3 Sum pa mkhan po. Dam pa’i chos byung tshul dpag bsam ljong bzang (rgya gar chos ‘byung). Ed. by S. Ch. Das. Calkutta, 1908. See also Dagyab, op.cit., part.1, p. 22.4 Peter Skilling. For merit and Nirvana: the production of art in the Bangkok Period//Arts Asiatiques. Annales du musée Guimet et du musée Cernuschi. Tome 62, 2007, p.78.

3

Buddha is still alive, we grieve when we don't see him – what about when Lord Buddha has passed away! I ask for permission to create an image of the Buddha, which will act as the object of worship and offerings for humans and gods.'

The Blessed One gave his permission, and Pasenadi had a statue of the Master carved in sandalwood. When the king invited the Buddha to come to see the image, the image began to rise from his seat to greet him. The Master, however, commanded the image to stay seated, bidding it: 'Do not descent from your seat! Remain there – it will not be very long before the Tathāgata passes away. You must stay and protect the Śāsanā for five thousands years! Pasenadi then asked about the benefits of making images and the Buddha tought him the Vatt[angulī-jātaka…"5

This episode, when the Buddha stops the Sandalwood image from descending is even reflected in the Thai Buddhist iconography6. Similar legend we find also in Burma, but here, instead of Prasenajit, the production of the image is ascribed to local king Candrasuriya. As Juliane Shoeber tells us: "The myth7 claims that the casting and consecration of the Mahāmuni Image occured as a result of the desire of the Arkanese king Candrasuriya to pay homage to the Buddha. Perceiving by his divine powers the king's wish to make offerings to him, the Buddha resolved to visit the king so as not to expose him and his retinue to dangerous travel. Accompanied by Ānanda and 500 arhats, the Buddha flew through the air and alighted on the Selagiri hill in Arakan. King Candrasuriya approached the Buddha, offering flowers… When Buddha prepared for his departure, the king lamented that he and his court would be no longer able to pay homage to the Buddha and asked for an image in his likeness. … the Buddha concented to the king's request. Candrasuriya collected gems, gold, and other treasures for the casting, … [and then] Sakka and Vissakamma cast his image… Then the Buddha breathed upon the image to impart life in it, and "the image was transformed into a life-like one, so life-like indeed that to the eyes of men, nats, Sakra, and Brahma there appeared to be two Lords"8. … When the Buddha gazed upon the image, it rose as if possessed of life, greeting the elder brother. The Buddha extended his right arm, waved his hand, and said: "Yonger brother, do not stand up. I shall enter Nirvana in my eightieth year; but you, endowed with the supernatural power of a Buddha shall exist for 5,000 years…" … The Buddha then preached a sermon and named the image Candasāra. The myth of Mahāmuni is similarly recorded in the Dhammapada Commentary, a Theravada text known throughout Burma and Southeast Asia"9.

5 I summarize the story as recounted in Sanguan 2515, vol.2, pp.68-88, "Tamnan phrakaewkaenchan." See also Penth, Hans. Jinakālamālī Index: An annotated index to the Thailand part of Ratnapanna's Chronicle Jinakālamālī . Oxford: The Pali Text Society/Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. 1994, pp.167-171. (Footnote by P. Skilling – A.T.)6 Peter Skilling. For merit and Nirvana… Fig.6,8, (p.82): Buddha "restraining the Sandalwood Image", p. 82.7 The myth recorded here follows Forchhammer, E. (Report on the Antiquities of Arakan, I. Mahamuni Pagoda, (Rangoon: Superintendant, Government Printing), 1892, p.2ff) rendering of it found in the Arkanese manuscript Sappadānapakarana … 8 Forchhammer, E. … p. 4. 9 Shoeber, Juliane. In the Presence of the Buddha: Ritual Veneration of the Burmese Mahāmuni Image.// Shoeber, Juliane (ed.) Sacred Biography in the Buddhist traditions of South and

4

In 1784 the Burmese king Bodawpaya conquered Arakan and moved the Mahāmuni image to his capital Amarapura in Upper Burma, where it resides up to now at 'Mahāmuni Pagoda'.It can be noted that both Siam and Burmese legends speak about sitting Buddha images10, while in Mahayana sources it is written about standing image: it was made while the Buddha, in his 38th year, was preaching to his mother in the Heaven of 33 gods, or, in the Tuśita heaven (both versions can be found in the Pali Canon). On request of the king of Kauśāmbī, Vatsarāja, more commonly known as the rāja Udayana, Maudgalyayana carried sculptors to the heaven where the Buddha was preaching to his mother. There they observed the exact form of the Buddha, and on returning back to the Earth, they erected the ‘natural size’ (about 2 m high) Buddha’s statue from goshirsha – “ox-head” white sandalwood11. In front of the uṣniṣa a ‘sun-stone’ was inserted.12 The legend says that when the Buddha returned from the heaven, the statue greeted him. Ven. Hsing Yao gives a lively tale about this event:

“According to the Agama Sutras, the first Buddha statue was carved during the summer retreat one particular year when the Buddha disappeared from his disciples. When the disciples realized that the Blessed One was nowhere to be found, they started asking around, but no one knew where he was. They then went to ask Ananda if he knew the whereabouts of the Buddha, but Ananda was also in the dark. Ananda suggested that they should solicit the help of Aniruddha, who was foremost in supernatural vision. Using his supernatural vision, Aniruddha found out that the Buddha had gone to Trayastrimsas Heaven to teach the Dharma to his deceased mother, Queen Maya. Why did the Buddha leave for Trayastrimsas Heaven without letting anyone know? There were three reasons. First, the Buddha had always wanted to teach the Dharma to his deceased mother to thank her for bringing him into this world. Second, as the Buddha was always around to teach them, some of his disciples had grown complacent and lax in attention to his teachings. Third, there had been some quarrels within the Sangha, and the Buddha wanted those involved to have time to reflect on their behavior.

Southeast Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawai'I Press, 1997, pp. 259-288.

10 “King Udayana Image”, Longmen caves, 7th centuryDr. Nicolas Revire from Thammasat University attracted my attantion to the fact that among the seated "King Udayana" type sculptures there is special group of images from Longmen caves (China) which seat in the 'Maitreya posture' with extended legs (bhadra-asana). "Many of them are inscribed ca. 655-680 and clearly show some affinities with South-East Asian images. Both Amy McNair (Donors of Longmen, 2007, pp. 99-104) and Marylin Rhie discuss the "Udayana type" (in Early Buddhist Art of China and Central Asia, vol. 2, pp. 432-445 especially in footnote 360 where she makes a reference to Funan Images)." - Nicolas Revire (personal communication).11 Some Chinese sources render it as 'red sandalwood'.12 Dagyab, op. cit., p. 22. This is an important iconographic detail which was not given due attention. Usually the ‘flames’, golden or gilded tops or jewels are incerted on TOP of the uṣniṣa , not ‘in front’ of it. See also plate 0?? – the late Japanese illustration of making this statue by sculptors.

5

Among those who missed the Buddha the most was King Udayana of Kauśāmbī. The king was most reverent toward the Buddha, and he missed the presence of the Buddha so much that he fell ill. The royal household put their heads together to find a way to make the king feel better. They all agreed that the best way was to find the best sculptor in the land and have him sculpt a statue of the Buddha. They hoped that, in the absence of the Buddha, they could pay their respects to the statue instead. The king was very pleased with the idea, and he immediately asked Maudgalyayana, who was foremost in supernatural power, to help them. Using his supernatural power, Maudgalyayana transported a sculptor to Trayastrimshas Heaven so that he might study the magnificent appearance of the Buddha. After three visits to the heaven, the sculptor finally carved a five-foot tall likeness of the Buddha out of sandalwood. When the king saw the finished statue, he was happy beyond words, and his illness was cured.

After three months, the Buddha returned to our world. On his return, the statue actually came alive and walked to welcome the Buddha home. The Buddha smiled and said, "You must be tired from these three months. For future generations of sentient beings, it will be up to you to remind them of the Truth."13

Some more legends are connected with this statue14, describing its origin with only slight variations. The most important of ancient alternatives is recorded in the diaries of Fa-hsien, who visited India before 414. According to this version, known already in Kuṣāna Era15, not Udayana, but rāja Prasenajit (as in the Siam version cited earlier) has commissioned creation of the 1st Buddha image – also out of gayashirsha sandalwood (some versions mention gold). Fa-hsien claims that he saw this very image in Jetavana Vihāra in Śrāvastī16 and states that this Prasenajit statue was the very first Buddha icon and a model of all others.17 In both Mahayana narratives – on Udayana and Prasenajit - Buddha said that later the statue will move to China.

According to S.Ch. Das, the statue was first kept in Bodh-Gaya, but in the III century B.C. it was carried to Bactria18: perhaps it was the foremost place where the Buddhist teachings flourished in that period. There were great Buddhist monasteries with thousands of caves for resident monks in Central

13. Hsing Yao. Seeng the Buddha http://www.blia.org/english/publications/booklet/pages/21.htm Here and further on, the transliterations of names and terms in quotations follow the original sources.14. See Lha dbang blo gros bzang po. bstan rtsis ‘dod sbyin gter ‘bum. Ed. by E. Schlagintweit as “Die Berechnung der Lehre. //Eine Zeitschrift zur Berehtigung zur buddhistisch Chronologie verfassed im Yahre 1591 von Sureśamatibhadra .// Abh. der Königl. bauerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, I Cl., XX Bd., 3 Abt., München, 1897, p. 589-670. Also Benjamin Rowland, Jr. A Note on the Invention of the Buddha Image//Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 11, No. 1/2 (Jun., 1948), pp. 181-186. See also Carter, Martha L. The Mystery of the Udayana Buddha. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, (Supplemento n. 64 agli ANNALI – vol. 50 (1990), fasc. 3.15. Carter, M., op. cit., p. 8. 16. Beal, S. Buddhist Records of the Western World, 2 vols. London, 1884, I, p. xliv-xlv. 17. It is not quite clear if it was a sitting or standing image. Martha Carter identifies the Gandhāran relief of the Peshavar Museum where a seated Buddha is presented a seated Buddha statuette as the gift of Prasenajit. – Carter, M., op. cit., p. 8.18. Das, S. Ch. Tibetan-English Dictionary. Calcutta, 1901, p. 996.

6

Asian areas, and recently we were sadly reminded about the Buddhist fame of these places, when the Taliban destroyed the greatest Buddha statues in the world, made in Bamyan in the 4th century a.d. Perhaps, these statues were replicas of the famous Sandalwood image of Udayana or Prasenajit.

In the 4th century a.d. a Kashmiri monk Kumārāyana in order to save this statue from military dangers of the time, decided to take it to China, and on the way arrived to Kucha, one of the Central Asian oasises on the Silk Root. The legend says he carried the statue on his back during the day, and at night the statue carried him19. When he reached the kingdom of Kucha, he was welcomed by the king and was asked to stay for some time. Soon he became the royal priest and the teacher of the kingdom. The younger sister of the king, Jīvaka, fell in love with him. In compliance with royal decree, Kumārāyana stopped his monkhood and married the king's sister. When a son was born to them, they called him Kumārajīva, combining their names.20 Kumārajīva (344-413) became an erudite Buddhist scholar and famous translator of Buddhist texts – to the degree, that the Chinese troops were sent to Kucha to capture Kumārajīva and bring him to China.21 When Kucha has fallen and Kumārajīva was captured in 384, it is believed that the statue was taken with him to China, though Kumārajīva's biography does not mention it22. The statue presumably remained in Ch’angan up to 417, was then moved to Chien-k’ang (Nanking) and stayed there up to 588. In that year the statue survived the destruction of a monastery by Sui troops and was taken by the monk Chu-li to Yang-chou, Kiangsu, where in 614 Chu-li made copy of it. Other copies were also made, and the Japanese pilgrim-monk Ennin, who visited there in 838, mentions four (!) copies of Sandalwood Buddha23. Then, because of local wars, the original statue was again moved several times and appeared in K’ai-feng in 97024, where at the end of the tenth century, another copy was made by order of the Japanese monk, Chonen (938-1016) and then taken to Japan in 985 or 987. According to the text written by Ven. Jozan, pupil and traveling companion of Ven. Chonen: “this image of the Seiryo-ji was a copy, executed by a sculptor named Chang Jong, of the famous sandalwood figure which King Udayana had made when the Buddha was preaching the law to his mother in the heaven of the Thirty-three deities.”25

19. See Soper, A.C. Literary Evidence for Early Buddhist Art in China// Artibus Asiae, Supplementum XX, Ascona, 1959, p. 264.20. Morrel, R.E. (transl.) Sand and Pebbles (Shasekishū): The Tales of Mujū Ichien, A voice for Pluralism in Kamakura Japan. Albany: State University of New York Press. 1985. p.143-144.21. See Carter, M., op. cit., p. 9. 22 The 'Blue Annals' by Gos Lotsava Shonnupal (tr. By G. Roerich, Calcutta, 1949, p. 48) also does not mention Kumārajīva when telling the story how the Sandalwood statue was brought to China by Chinese commander. He mentions then, that both the statue and the Buddha relics captured by this general, when he raided the Northern India, were venerated also by descendants of the general.23 Evidently not all of them were of Chinese origin. Some researches say that the replicas of the Sandalwood statue penetrated China before the 4th century(Gregory Henderson and Leon Hurvitz 'The Buddha of Seiryoji: New Finds and New Theory'// Artibus Asiae 19 (1956), p.15).24. Soper, A.C., op. cit., p. 264-265. 25. J. Hackin. The Colossal Buddhas at Bamiyan and their Influence on Buddhist Sculpture// The Eastern Art. vol.1:2, 1928.10, pp. 109-116. Comparing features of the Japanese statue and the statue preserved in Russia (see Fig. 9a) we can see both striking similarities, like straight nose line, but also a number of evident discrepancies. I guess, this might be explained by the fact,

7

This copy was installed in 1018, in a Shaka Hall at Seikaji and is still there26. It is interesting to mentioned that at some point the Japanese decided that Chinese original and Japanese copy miraculously ‘changed places’ and now it is the authentic Udayana Buddha statue is being preserved in Japan, which, as such, came to be known as “the red sandalwood image of Shakyamuni transmitted through three countries”27.

Thus, the legend that connects the Sandalwood statue supposedly made by Udayana or Prasenajit and brought to China by Kumārajīva is the main version. Still in the Chinese sources there are also alternative stories. In particular, there is a contradictory statement that the Udayana statue was seen by Xuanzang, who visited Kauśāmbī in the 7th century, while it was supposed to be in China for at least 3 centuries by that time:

“In the city, within an old palace, there is a large vihara about 60 feet high; in it is a figure of Buddha carved out of sandalwood, above which is a stone canopy. It is the work of the king U-to-yen-na (Udayana). By its spiritual qualities (or, between its spiritual marks) it produces a divine light which from time to time shines forth. The princes of various countries have used their power to carry off this statue, but although many men have tried, not all the number could move it. They therefore worship copies of it, and they pretend that the likeness is a true one, and this is the original of all such figures.  When Tathagata first arrived at complete enlightenment, he ascended up to heaven to preach the law for the benefit of his mother, and for three months remained absent. This king, (i.e., Udayana), thinking of him with affection, desired to have an image of his person; therefore he asked Mudgalyayanaputra, by his spiritual power, to transport an artist to the heavenly mansions to observe the excellent marks of Buddha's body, and carve a sandalwood statue. When Tathagata returned from the heavenly palace, the carved figure of sandalwood rose and saluted the Lord of the World. The Lord then graciously addressed it and said, "The work expected from you is to toil in the conversion of heretics, and to lead in the way of religion future ages."28

Further accounts describe how the Udayana image of Shakyamuni was brought from India to China during the Six Dynasties and T'ang periods. Again, some sources claim, that the sandalwood statue was taken to China by Kashyapa Matanga, when he joined the Emperor Mingti's mission in the first century AD, and that it was presented to the emperor.29

mentioned by the late Kōgi Kudara – that the actual carving of the statue took place in Taizhou two years (!) after Chōnen and his attendants actually saw the statue in Bianjing in 984. (Kōgi Kudara. Uigur and Tibetan Translations of "The History of the Buddha Statue of Sandalwood in China"// Turfan Revisited – The First Century of Research into the Arts and Cultures of the Silk Road. Ed. By Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, Simone-Christiane Raschmann, Jens Wilkens, Marianne Yaldis and Peter Zieme. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 2004, p.151.)26. As mentioned by M. Carter (p. 16), the resent research had proved that this statue is the original copy brought by Chonen in 988: see Henderson G. and Hurvitz L. “The Buddha of Seiryōji”, Artibus Asiae, XIX, 1, 1956, pp. 5-55.27. Henderson G. and Hurvitz L. “The Buddha of Seiryōji”, Artibus Asiae, XIX, 1, 1956, p. 6-7. Quoted by M. Carter, p. 16.28. Xuan Zang (Hiuen Tsiang). Transl. by Samuel Bell. Buddhist Records of the Western World, London, 1906, I. 235.29. http://www2.bremen.de/info/nepal/Icono/EShakya.htm .

8

Tibetan historian Sumba Khenpo states that this statue was brought to China in the times of Cin dynasty30. As stated in the Tibetan canonical text on the History of the Sandalwood Buddha, Tsan dan gyi sku rgya nag san a bzhugs ba’i byung tshul (or, shorter, Tsan dan jo bo’i lo rgyus) which was translated into Tibetan from the Chinese in 126331, for 68 years the statue was kept in the city of Khu sen (= Kucha – A.T.) in the country of Li (Khotan – A.T.), and for the following 40 years – at the north of Mi nyag. Then it was kept for 17 years in Kyin chan hu, etc., and finally was brought to Peking. According to another Tibetan author De'u dmar dge bshes bstan 'dzin phun tshog, whose work Kun gsal tshon gyi las rim me tog mdangs ster 'ja' 'od 'bum byin written presumably between 1720 and 1730 was partly published and translated by David Jackson, this Sandalwood image, when brought to China, was copied on cloth by the minister of Chinese emperor named Zi Chun Phu Sa Then and in this way the Chinese tradition of scroll paintings 'si thang' was started.32

More details we learn from the other Tibetan text composed by the famous 3rd Peking Khutuhtu lCang skya Rol pa’i rdo rje (1717-1786)33, who was interested in the Buddhist art and himself composed numerous iconographic manuals. In his historical survey of this famous statue written in Tibetan, but based primarily on Chinese sources, as the author himself says in his introduction ("because the Tibetan accounts of this image are limited"), he repeats the basic Udayana legend, pointing that in the Heaven of 33, the sculptors were looking not at Buddha himself, but at his reflection in waters (this is a popular explanation of the shape of the wavy folds on the clothes of this statue), and also, Rol pa’i rdo rje mentions that on returning to Earth Buddha praised the statue’s semblance to himself, made a prophesy about the future travel of the statue into China and specifically stressed that this statue will become a supreme object of refuge for confessing sins, and thus will greatly benefit the Dharma in the future. He also mentions a special features of the statue like 'the eyes looking to the sky symbolising leading beings to Awakening, the heat could be felt at the statue's heart area, and that a silk thread could be drown between feet of the statue and th ground' – that is in fact the statue is levitating.34

30. Sum pa mkhan po. Op. cit., p. 137. 31. Beijing edition of Tibetan Tripitaka, No. 5090. See Востриков А.И. Тибетская историческая литература. Москва, 1962, p. 223. This text was published and translated into English by Kōgi Kudara (Uigur and Tibetan Translations of "The History of the Buddha Statue of Sandalwood in China"// Turfan Revisited – The First Century of Research into the Arts and Cultures of the Silk Road. Ed. By Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, Simone-Christiane Raschmann, Jens Wilkens, Marianne Yaldis and Peter Zieme. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 2004, pp.149-154. 32 Jackson, D. A History of Tibetan painting. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischenen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1996, pp. 49, 387.33. Tsan dan jo bo’i lo rgyus skor tshad phan yon mdor bsdus rin po che’i phreng ba// gSung-‘bum [Collected Works], vol. 7. –(My gratitude to Dr. L. Belka, who supplied me with this text.) A new Russian translation by A. Kugevicius made for this book is a Supplement 3 on p.?? (For the 1 st time it was translated into Russian from the Mongolian translation by Mongolian Enkhe-lama as 'Сутра по имени «Драгоценная гирлянда», обобщающая легенда о Зандан Жуу, о пользе и благе от почитания этой святыни', and published as a Supplement 2 to Buryat Buddhist magazine Легшед No. 2, 2004. p. 3-6.)34 Tsan dan jo bo’i lo rgyus, p.5 This story of the levitating statue is still popular in Buryatia. As it was recently narratad by the former Chief Curator of the Museum Nina Bazarovna Badlayeva: " I have heard that the statue is a little bit lifted above the ground, and it is possible to strach a thread or a 'khadag' (silk ceremonial scarf – A.T.) under its feet. I never tried to do it myself, but some people did, and

9

Rol pa’i rdo rje’s text then follows the ‘Kumārajīva version’ of the statue’s travels, and states that finally the statue was placed at Peking. He says that starting from Emperor Khublai of the Yuan dynasty and up to the Chin dynasty all emperors greatly worshipped this statue; and finally emperor Kangxi, who was an emanation of Manjuśrī, erected a special temple to the NW of the Forbidden City and the statue was moved there with many corresponding ceremonies.Rol pa’i rdo rje points to reported cases of the statue healing people, and аlso mentions different light phenomena created by the statue, such as light rays and sparks.Some more details on this temple and statue are found in a slightly deviating presentation of 1935: “To the north of the [National] Library is a short wide street running to the wall of the Park, which is called Chan T’an Ssŭ (Temple of the Red Sandalwood Buddha). The name is all that now remains to remind us of one of the largest and most famous temples in Peking, which once stood on this street, on the site now occupied by military barracks… It was built under early Mings and originally called Ch’ing Fo Tien (Hall of the Pure Buddha), later changed to Hung Jên Ssŭ (Temple of Exalted Benevolence). This name Chan T’an Ssŭ dates from the 15th year of Kangxi (1676), when the temple was reconstructed and dedicated to Chan T’an Buddha. It consisted of three large buildings, one of which, Ta Pao Tien (Hall of the great Jewel) contained a very famous and miraculous idol.This was a statue of Buddha five feet high in red sandalwood, covered with black varnish, which used to change colour according to temperature and hour of the day. In the reign of Ming Emperor Wan Li (1572-1620, - A.T.) it was guilded over. According to a stone tablet of the 60th year of Kangxi (1722) that used to stand in the temple35, this idol was carved in the days of the Chou dynasty and came of itself to China from the West, at the time when Buddha appeared on earth. Thirty two similar idols were made at the same time, but Buddha is said to have declared that this Chan T’an one was the only true likeness… The idol was carried from place to place in different parts of China – the details of its pilgrimage if true, form a remarkable record – until it finally found a resting place in this temple. What became of the idol eventually is not known… The temple was well endowed by Manchu Emperors, and several hundred Lamas resided there. A Living Buddha also had his residence there and used to hold a grand prаyer-meetings with “Devil Dances” on the 8th of the first moon”36

The very first European reference of the temple and statue was evidently made by E. Pander: „Chan tan ssu (Zhantansi) is totally inaccessible to Europeans. I was allowed to enter the temple after long negotiations. I had to

not all managed. It is well known that Bogdo Gegen did it under the watch of many witnesses during his second visit to Buryatia, when the statue was standing at Egitui Datsan already. Perhaps, one should be pure enough to perform it. (The text of this interview was kindly supplied by K.Ermilov.)35 The Chinese text of this tablet and translation are given in Supplement.36. Arlington, L.C. (Lewis Charles) and William Lewisohn with an introduction by Geremie Barmbe. In Search of Old Peking. Hong Kong : Oxford University Press, 1987, pp. 134, 135. (I am thankful to Alan Mok, who provided me with this important reference)

10

undertake the costly celebration of a mass and during that had to climb the stairs of Chan t´an chao (Zhantan Jowo) and offer a khatag (kha.btags), i.e., a silken scarf, as well as a big piece of silver at his feet. There I also saw a gigantic and richly adorned mandala made of silver ..., a splendid, coloured porcelain statue of Kuan yin, and a complete version of the Kanjur in Manchu language“.37

The Sandalwood statue was also mentioned by a Russian Mongolist A. Pozdneev, who notes that it was the Sandalwood monastery, where Zanabazar (the First Bogdo-gegen of Mongolia) and the emperor Kangxi sat together on the same mat38 – a historic moment that reminded the meeting of the Sakya Lama Phagpa and emperor Khublai when a history of Buddhism in Mongolia was initiated.39

More detailed description was made by a French Catholic priest Alphonce Favier (1837-1905), who even made a photograph of the Chan T’an Temple and published a print of a line-engraving of the statue in his book on Peking, printed in 189740. Favier reproduced an ‘official’ Chinese version of the statue’s genealogy:

“TCHAN-T’AN-SSE – Lamas’s templeThis temple is located in the Imperial City, north of the Si-che-k’ou catholic institutions compound. Built by the Ming and formerly named Tsing-fou-tien during this dynasty, it then had been reconstructed and called Houng-jen-sse by K’ang-si on the fifth year of his reign; it is more well-known as Tchan-t’an-see. Several hundred lamas, paid by the Emperor, serve this elaborately decorated pagoda. Marble has been used for the paved yards and three sumptuous buildings stand there: the first is called T’ieu-ouang-tien ; the second Tse-je-pao-tien ; the third Ta-pao-tien : the famous Fo (Buddha – A.T.) image, so-called miraculous, can be seen in the third one.True by tradition, it is said that this statue, which measures slightly more than five foot high, came by itself from the West, as soon as Fo appeared. It is a T’chan-tan wood image and it has been commissioned by the King You-tien-ouang, the twelfth year of Mou-ouang’s reign, during the Tcheou dynasty. Although thirty-two statues had been sculpted, Fo [Himself] has revealed that this is the only one likeness. The King of Po-see (Persia) had ordered one copy and called it Jou-laè-siang, meaning that it can live and walk by itself. Long ago, it had been covered with a sort of blackish varnish and its color used to change with the temperature and hour. But the Empress-mother, during the reign of the Emperor Ouan-li , Ming dynasty, ordered to have the image wholly gilded.

37. Pander, Das Lamaistishe Pantheon// Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Berlin, 1889) p. 40, fn. 12. The English translation is quoted from Patricia Berger: Berger, Patricia, Empire of Emptiness: Buddhist Art and Political Authority in Quing China, Honolulu: University of Hawai´i Press 2003, p. 164.38 This is an important detail, because, according to Eastern etiquette the higher person should be sitting higher.39. See Позднеев, А. Монголия и монголы. ( Mongolia and the Mongols ) СПб.: Издание Императорского географического общества. 1896. (Mongolia and the Mongols, 333. Quoted by Patricia Berger), p. 227, note 81.40. Favier, Alphonse. Péking: Histoire Et Description. Peking: Imprimerie des Lazaristes au Pé- T'ang, 1897.

11

Since it was sculpted up until the sixtieth year of K’ang-si, 2710 years had elapsed41. (All these fabulous/mythical details had been recounted by K’ang-si [himself]). After staying in the West42 for 1280 years, it [image] left by itself to the Koui-tse-kouo (Kucha – A.T.) and it remained there for 68 years and after that in the Kan-sou for 14 years, in Si-ngan-fou for 17 years, in Kiang-nan for 173 years, in Ngan-houi 367 years, and then moved to others places for more or less a long time.At last, it arrived at Peking (Beijing) into the Cheng-ngan-sse pagoda, and [then] into the Imperial Palace where it stayed for 54 years. Because the Palace had been burned, it returned to the pagoda for 59 years. All the events mentioned had happened before and during the Yuen dynasty.During the Ming dynasty, it [the image] arrived to Kiou-foung-sse and stayed there for 128 years. In brief, after many others peregrinations, it went for good [permanently] to the Houng-jen-sse pagoda on the fourth year of K’ang-si. It still can be seen in this place.The image presents one hand upraised to the sky, the other pointed down to earth.This statue is highly venerated and even the Emperor worships it.”43

In 1895 this very statue in the above temple of Chan T'an Ssŭ was seen by S. Ch. Das.44

The next page in the history of the travels of this statue was turned during Boxer’s uprising in China. There is a general opinion that the statue was lost: “Records show that the image was … finally lost in the upheaval surrounding the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.” 45 M. Carter also notes that now we know “… the only extant replica of the Udayana image, the Seiryōji Buddha…”46

Tchekh scholar Lubosh Belka in his recent publication47 quotes many more accounts, in particular Susan Naquin: ,,The temple i.e. Zhantansi, Sandalwood Temple, known also as Hongrensi, the Temple of Vast Humaneness, where the Beijing Sandalwood Buddha was placed, was largely destroyed by French armies during the Boxer troubles in 1900, and the wonderful image was lost."48

Another independent report about the fate of the Beijing statue, comes from Wan Jiu-ling: ,,Because of the Geng Zi Coup Defeat in Guang Xu Period Hong Ren Temple suffered hardships of war, and the sandalwood image of the Buddha was thus lost...”49

41. This refers to traditional Chinese dating of Buddha’s life. 42. That is India. 43. Favier, Alphonse. Péking, p.357-358. This quotation was kindly translated for me from French by Anne Tuech. 44

. Das, op. cit., p. 996. 45

. Shakyamuni - the historical Buddha. http://www.taleofgenji.org/shakyamuni.html) 46. Carter, M.L. op.cit., p.1 Note 2. 47

. Zandan Zhuu and The Buryat Sangha: History and present state.// Экологические проблемы и духовные традиции народов Байкальского региона. Материалы научно-практической конференции, посвящённой памяти ламы-гелонга Данзан-Хайбзуна Самаева. Улан-Удэ: изд-во ГУЗ РЦМП МЗ РБ.2006,(The Ecological Problems and Spiritual Traditions of the Peoples of the Baikal Region. Ulan-Ude : Izd-vo GUZ, 2006. ISBN 5-98582-041-6) с. 143-152.48. Naquin, Susan. Peking: Temples and City Life, 1400-1900, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000, p. 34349. Jiu-ling, Wan. A Brief History of the First Sandalwood Image of Shakyamuni Buddha", www.tangmi.com/indiaphoto/buddlha.htm (10.06.2006).

12

In fact the statue was not lost, but was secretly taken to Russia. But the secrecy was so profound that until recently I was able to find only two rwferences about it. One was published by the Tibetan author Thubten Phuntsog in 1985: "According to [one] Chinese (rgya'i tshig 'dzin du) this Sandalwood statue, when there was a distruction in Beijing done by the armies of the eight states in 1900, was carried by the Russian troops into their country and placed into the Cremlin Palace in Moscow."50 Also, though only in 2005, - well after some Buryat publications on that issue, Chinese scholar Wang mentioned at the end of his article the news from the Russian scholar "Czar" (such name does not occur in Russian language, so I was unable to trace it) that the statue is kept in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia51.

True, in 1900, troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance, including France and Russia, entered Peking. What is significant here is that the Russian military contingent included the Buryat Cossacks of the Transbaikal Cossack Host, special national detachments from the Baikal area in Siberia. Buryats and Kalmuks are the Mongol tribes which migrated into Russian territory in the 17th century and settled there. They confessed a Tibetan form of Buddhism, so the Buddhist Teachings became spread in Russia with their migration.52 There were many Buryat detachments among the Russian troops in Bejing. We know several versions of what happened next.Belka53 starts with the version by the Buryat scholar Bazar B. Baradin, who states that the monks of Chan T'an Ssŭ monastery themselves, in order to save the famous Sandalwood statue from the French troops who had set the monastery on fire, managed to get it out of Peking and then transferred it to Buryatia.54

The second version says that first the statue was hidden from the dangers of war in Wu Tai Shan mountains (perhaps by the monks, mentioned by Baradin). Then, according to the 1990 testimony of a by then 89-old Buryat lady Darizhap Lupilova (Belka mistakenly writes 'Garmayeva'), recently published in Russia:“After the French took control over Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion, Mongolian monks from the Beijing monastery Yun-khua [Yonghegong] approached the French missionary named Favre [Alphonse Favier – L.B.]55 with a

50 Gangs dkar ri bod 1985, №2 Thub bstan Phun tshog: Bod kyi mdses rtsal ri mo'I lo rgyus (History of Tibetan Painting. p. 79- note 80). My thanks to Mr. Tashi Tsering for this reference.51 Wang, Jiapeng. Huang Di Yu Shi Tan Rui Xiang (The Emperor and the Sandal Wood Buddha) / /Forbidden City, Volume 128, 2005 01. p. 187. My thanks to Alan Mok for this reference.52. See more on the history of Buddhism in Russia e.g. Terentyev A. Tibetan Buddhism in Russia // "The Tibet Journal", Vol. XXI, No.3, Autumn 1996, p. 60-70.53. Op. cit., p. 145. 54. Барадин, Базар (Baradin, Bazar). Буддийские монастыри // Альманах « Ориент», вып. I , Sankt - Petersburg , 1992, с. 82. 55. This is a very interesting note. “Favre”, as we know, was not just a “missionary”: Pierre Marie Alphonse Favier (1873-1905) was bishop of Beijing's Pehtang Cathedral. In 1899, he was appointed a head Catholic Bishop in Beijing – that is he became a chief Christian religious figure of the area. The Qing Government granted him the official uniform of the second rank as an indication of courteous reception. So, the fact that the head French Catholic priest was asked for help, and not by the monks of the Sandalwood Monastery, but by the monks of the main monastery of the Tibetan tradition, Yonghegong, shows how seriously the danger to the statue

13

plea to protect sacraments against the threat inherent to war. The missionary agreed, and the trusting monks calmed down. However, in the meantime, the missionary dispossessed the statue of all the precious jewels - rubies and brilliants, and kept them. To cover traces, he wrote an instruction for French troops to burn down the monastery. During the fire, monks managed to save the Zandan Zhuu56 and to hide it in Wutaishan. This happened in 189857. When Erdenii Sorzho Lama of Egitui Monastery learned of it, he collected money amongst the believers to be able to bring this statue to the monastery... When it was the time to transport the sacrament of the Zandan Zhuu, Erdenii Sorzho Lama asked his faithful companion Bazar Gavzha Soibosho, who had always been at his side, and one of his pupils named Garmyn Lupil for help. They carried the sacrament of the Zandan Zhuu on a wagon made especially for this purpose, which the statue fitted well. It was carefully wrapped in a khadak (ceremonial scarves – A.T.) and covered with canvas. To be able to transfer the load safely, they made all the necessary precautions, and they traveled only on safe roads. Before they arrived in Egita, they passed Aksha, Bada, Kizhinga, Uldurga and Marakta. Upon arrival they kept the statue at home and not in the monastery. It is believed that they brought the Zandan Zhuu in 1900, because on the decision of Taisha (local chieftain – A.T.) Aiusha Tsyrendorzho from January 25th 1901, the statue was placed in the monastery (the document confirming this fact is found in Ulan-Ude Municipal Archives file 285, op. 1-117-1)58." This story, Darizhap Garmayeva heard in her childhood from Garmyn Lupil himself, who was her father."59

According to the 3rd version, "the statue was brought from China by two Mongols, named Sodnom and Shagdar, and presented as a gift to a monastery".60

I personally have more faith in another version of this legend first transmitted to me orally by my late Buryat guru, Ven. Zhimba-Zhamtso Tsybenov, around 1982. According to Ven. Zhimba-Zhamtso, the whole action of bringing the Sandalwood statue to Buryatia was a precisely planned conspiracy by Ven. Zodboyev, the abbot of the Egitui Datsan, and executed by the Egetui Lama Gombo Dorje (Gombo Dorje was the proper monastic name of this person,

was perceived by the Buddhist Community of Peking. And, as we saw from his book published just before the uprising, Favier was no less informed about the statue’s history, than the Buddhist monks, who approached him with their request. Because the Bishop Favier was a writing person, and, as we saw, left one of the first European description of the statue, there was a hope, that he would mention in his memories the details of what actually happened with the temple and statue. But when I shared this thought with L. Belka, Belka wrote that he has already found Favier's diaries: "I was searching in his diary (documented his summer during the Boxer Rebellion day by day), but there is no mention about Beijing Sandalwood Buddha. It is quite strange, because he published in the book a photo of the Beijing Sandalwood Temple…" (L. Belka, personal letter of 16.11.2006). I would say it is more than strange, and the accusitions of an old Buryat lady immediately come into mind… 56. In Buryatia this Sandal statue is known by a Mongolized name of Zandan Zhuu. 57. In fact the allied troops started their operation only in 1900. 58. Note by Belka: op.cit., p. 147. 59. Бахлаев С. А,. Эгитуйский дацан [Egitui Monastery], Улан-Удэ: Изд-во Бурятского Университета, 2004, с. 17-21. English translation quoted from Belka, op. cit., p. 147.60 Ibid.

14

while Erdeni Sorzho, mentioned above, is a more ‘popular’ nickname: ‘Erdeniyev’ – was his official surname, russified as a patronymic, according to the Russian policy of russification of peoples of the Empire, while ‘Sorzho’ is the name of his office in the monastery, which may be freely translated here as Deputy Abbot). According to Ven. Zhimba-Zhamtso, the fire in the Chan T'an Ssŭ monastery was set by Buryat Cossacks themselves61, and during the fire the statue was stolen and hidden in somebody’s house in suburbs of Peking for a year. When the accident was more or less forgotten, the statue, hidden in a cart with hay, was carried through Mongolia down to Russia, to Egetuy Monastery.This version is likely to fit the oral information from a late Russian scholar and diplomat in China Boris Pankratov (1892-1979) published by V. Montlevich, “The operation was headed by the chief of the Russian postal service, Gomboyev. The statue was placed on a sledge, covered with straw, and camouflaged by provisions and postal properties. There were two sledges, and the statue was loaded on the second.”62

Similar independent confirmation and maybe a new dimension of the Beijing version is voiced by Buryat author Galina Chemitdorjin, who quotes the Buryat language book by one of the oldest Buryat ‘uligerchins’ (a kind of folk epic-singers) Rigzin Erdyneev "Эгэтын дасанай тyyхэhээ", where the writer says "…there came a telegram from Khambo Agvan Dorjiev to Naidan (Nikolay63) Gomboyev, the manager of the postal station by the Russian Consulate in Peking – to search all possibilities to buy the Zandan Zhuu…64".

Nowadays there appeared many independent confirmations of this version. We already know the name of kossak officer who executed the deal: this was the head of the Buryat kossaks security detachment of the Russian Embassy in Beijing ataman Bato Aisuyev. I received a letter from his compatriot D. Badmayev (from the village of Nizhny Burgatai in Buryatia) who quats local memories about it:

"… headed by the Selengin kossaks ataman Bato Aisuyev, small group [of kossaks] penetrated the Emperor's Museum and stole the statue of the god Zandan Zhuu. They payed the equal to the statue weight in gold to the person

61. Still, there is alternative data by Arlington and Lewisohn, who insist that “This temple was completely destroyed by the Allies in 1900, because it was head-quoters and drill-ground of the Boxers, whilst the Lama priests attached to it took a leading part in inciting the populace and troops to attack the neighbouring Catholic cathedral.” Arlington, L.C. (Lewis Charles) and William Lewisohn, op. cit., p. 134. This information seems strange, because, as we know, the temple belonged to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and so, could hardly be involved into Boxer’s movement. Not to mention that marshal arts are not practiced in the Tibetan tradition. 62. Монтлевич В.М. Сандаловый Будда // "Гаруда" №2/1996, с. 61. 63. It is still common even now, that some Buryats have both Buryat and Russian names and use it depending on the convenience.64. Чимитдоржин, Галина. "Эгитуйский дацан "Дамчой Равжелинг" и его святыня"//,Легшед.Приложение №2, 2004, p . 1 l -13. The Internet version: www.datsan.buryatia.ru/chimitdor.html (29 Nov 2004). Tsanid Khambo Lama Agvan Dorjiev (1854-1938) was the most famous Buddhist leader in Russia, one of the tutors and confidents of the 13th Dalai Lama, and one of the main heroes of the “Big Game” in Asia. In 1914 he built a famous Buddhist Temple in St.-Petersburg. If the information of Rigzin Erdyneev is true, and Dorjiev was really involved in the Zandan Zhuu affair, this story becomes even more interesting. Up to now I was only able to find out that a certain telegram from Dorjiyev to Gomboyev really existed, but the exact contents of this message is not known to me.

15

who helped to take the statue away and then set the Museum on fire to to wipe out tracks of the theft.

Having overcome the persecution of Chinese65 and Mongols on their way, they managed to [reach and] cross the [Russian] border. As people say, first they brought Zandan Zhuu to Khambin (Tamchen) datsan (he means Gusinoozersky Datsan, the seat of Bandido Khambo Lama – A.T.). And without any consulting the Selenga people they carried Zandan Zhuu to the Egetui Datsan."

Though some details of this story are definitely wrong – such as the mention of 'Museum', etc. – the fact of taking the statue by kossaks and setting fire in the 'Museum' exactly fit the story.

Or, as it is published by professor of fililogy Ulzy-Zhargal Dondukov: "… Gomboyev received a cable from Khambo Agvan (=Dorjiev – A.T.). It was said in this telegramm, that it is necessary to take advantage of the situation and to buy the statue of the god Zandan Zhuu for money or gold. The Consul Gomboyev (in fact Gomboyev was not a Consul, but a head of an Embassy's postal service – A.T.) together with a lama of Egitui Datsan had instigated the ataman (head – A.T.) of the Selengin kossaks who guarded the Russian Embassy. And this ataman was a Buryat from Jida sortuls (a Buryat tribe – A.T.). They developed a secret plan… and payed in gold to the keeper of the Museum… I have heard this story from the member of Mongolian Academy of Sciences Luvsandondev…"66

It is interesting to ponder why some Buryats were so keen on this statue. Probably the 1st Buryat Lama who paid great attention to it was famous Namnane Lama of Tsugolsky Datsan, who came to Beijing to make 100000 prostrations before this sacred image67. And this Lama was a root Guru of Dorjiev, who brought him to Tibet, and also he gave some big initiations at Egitui Monastery, where he probably was telling to local monks about his travels in China and Tibet…

A Buryat legend tells us that even while kept in Peking, every morning the statue was found turning north (evidently, dreaming to go to Buryatia – A.T.). To avoid this inconvenience, the servants of the temple one day fixed the statue to the floor by a nail, which they hammered between the big toe and other four toes of its foot. Still it did not help. Perhaps this recent legend was referring to the broken finger of the right foot of the statue which was repaired in the mid XX century – the finger was reportedly cut out from cedar (or pine – A.T.), guilded and installed by the sculptor Vasilyev.68

Another legend tells us that some influential Lamas from Mongolia tried to carry the statue to Mongolia, but Gombo Dorje managed to resist all their efforts, so

65 Heather Stoddard (personal communication) has heard from someone that the Great Wall was crossed through the Juyongguan Gate.66 Зандан Жуу Бурхан Тухай. "Буряд Унэн" (an Ulan-Ude nespaper in the Buryad language of 03.04.2008). Trans. From the Buryad language by N. Dorjieva.67 ‘jam dpal dgyes pa’i blo gros. dpal ldan bla ma dam pa rnal 'byor gyi dbang phyug byang chub tsul khrims dpal pzang po'i rtog brjod gus ldan dad pa'i chu gter 'phel ba'i zla ba'i snang ba zhes bya ba bzhugs so||Рукопись на тиб. яз. в архиве автора, л. 13а. Also see : А. Кугявичус, А. Терентьев. Жизнеописание Намнанэ-ламы Чжанчуба Цултима. (in print).68. – see Н.Б. Бадлаева, Т.В. Бадлаева. "Зандан Жуу" www.datsan.buryatia.ru/ZandanZhu.html (29 Nov 2004).

16

the statue was kept at Egetui Datsan up to 1935. Also, there was a new copy of the statue cut out from the wood – to substitute an original one in case if Chinese will came to claim their possession. Now this wooden copy is placed in the altar of Kizhinga Datsan in Buryatia (see ill.??).

Egitui Datsan by that time was one of the leading Buryat Monasteries. Famous Russian Mongolist Pozdneev, when visited it reported that its printery had wooden blockes with carved texts of 34 volumes in the Tibetan language, and the same number on Buryat-Mongol language.69 The records of a Buryat scholar Bazar Baradiin of 2004 says:

"Here one can find lots of printed Tibetan and Mongol books, and generally local conditions makes me believe that the educational level of this datsan will be flourishing among other Transbaikalian datsans.The monastery underwent several reconstructions. In 1900 the new Tsogchen Dugan (main hall – A.T.) was built in the Chinese style. The builders were from Buryats from Orongoi locality (Orongoi carpenters were quite famous that time). Desides Tsogchen Dugan there were other buildings like Choira Sume (philosophy school), Dandra (Tantra – A.T.) Sume, Duinkhor (Kalachakra – A.T.) Sume, and others."70

According to Ochir Lodoyev from the Egita village: "Old people told there were about 300 households around the monastery, and 700 lamas were serving there. There were doctors 'emchi', yogies 'yegozor', many educated and learned old ones. They were often visited by lamas from India, Tibet, China, and from other Buryat monasteries like Aginsky, Tsugolsky, etc. That period there were no phones, nor electricity, but they could communicate at a distance. When antireligious compaign in the USSR started in the middle of 1930-s, all these lamas were dissipated, arrested, or shot. The monastery belongings were nationalized, cofiscated, destroyed or stolen."71

According to a local journalist D. Zhamsuyeva: "First the Tsogchen Dugan was used for the Chair of the Egitui Consumer's Society and the Credit Partnership, then the Unitary Labour School of the 1st degree moved in there. In 1942 the whole Tsogchen Dugan was disassembled and moved to the regional center – the village of Sosnovo-Ozerskoye, where they built a cinema (called Raduga) from its parts.

The other datsan buildings followed similar fate: the aimak Hoito-Dugan was taken to become a club of the Egitui collective farm called after Karl Marks, Urda-aimak Dugan became a club of the collective farm of the Uldurga area called after Molotov, Zun-aimak Dugan became a Communist party headquaters in Sosnovka."72

When the peasant revolts against ‘collectivization’ started in Siberia in the 1930-s; together with Buryat peasant uprisings, the Buddhist monasteries were smashed by Soviet military power. Many precious statues, paintings and manuscripts kept in the monasteries perished forever, some were saved in the museums and private hands.

There began a new chapter in the biography of the Sandalwood statue: it was confiscated from the monastery and taken to Antireligious Musum in Ulan-Ude. This action was performed by two persons: Zh. Zhabon and Ts. Nomtoyev. Zhalsan Zhabon.

69 Quoted from Бахлаев С. А,. Эгитуйский дацан [Egitui Monastery],Улан-Удэ: Изд-во Бурятского Университета, 2004, с. 18.70 Ibid.71 The interview recorded by K. Ermilov.72 The interview recorded by K. Ermilov.

17

As described by Svetlana Bardaleeva: " Most important role in the collecting and thus saving from destruction of the religious items was played by Zhalsan Zhalsanovich Zhabon (1899-1971), who was working as an instructor of the Regional Councel of the 'Militant Godless', and in 1938-1939 was a deputy director of the Antireligious Museum.Zhalsan Zhapovich Zhabon was born in Angir Dodo ulus of the Kurbin somon of Hori region. From 13 years old he studied at a Buryat school by Atsagat Datsan. In 1924 he also graduated from the Mongol language courses and he perfectly mastered the old-Mongolian scripts. For some time he worked as a school teacher at Eravna area, then as a translator in Mongolia. In 1938 he attended special courses for the antireligious museums workers in Leningrad, so he had some fundamentals in museology. Together with other museum workers - G.-D. Natsov and A.N. Kochetov73 and with the Director of the Antireligious Museum of Buryatia A.I. Gerasimova he raided the Buryat areas on the museum 'polutorka' truck (a truck designed to carry 1.5 tons – A.T.) and collected buddhist valuables from the destroyed datsans. He new the Buddhist artefacts very well and new what valuables were preserved where. He was in touch with many monks who helped him to take the saved things to the museum. He would say that we should not destroy the heritage of the people – not the gods made their own images – the images were made by human hands. I think that under the mask of an atheist he was hiding deep faith. From 1952 and up to his death in 1971 Zhabon served as the Chief Museum curator. The reserves of the museum were kept in that period in the building of the Odigitrievsky (Russian Orthodox – A.T.) Cathedral. And the Zandan Zhuu statue was brought to this very place."74

A former school teacher Ts. Nomtoyev (later he became a writer and a ‘Hero of Socialist Labour’), who worked at that period in Egetui school, narrates the story of confiscation of the Sandalwood Buddha from the monastery like this:

"One day Zhabon came from the city on a lorry and told me that he came to take Zandan Zhuu to Ulan-Ude, before the ‘godless’ destroyed it, and he asked me to help him. We drove to the datsan (Egitui monastery – A.T.) wrapped the statue first with khadaks, then with white felt, and asked local women to sew the felt. Then we loaded it into lorry and drove to our place to have tea. When we came out of the house, there were many believers in the

73 А.N. Kochetov later became an Ober-Buddhologist of the Soviet Union and his two booklets "Buddhism" and "Lamaism" though anti-religious in their attitudes still were the only books on Buddhism produced during the 70 years of the Soviet Power. I shortly met professor A. Kochetov around 1980-s., and, recollecting his years in Buryatia, for some reason he was fast to confess me, the person he met for the 1st time, that 'reports' against certain Buddhists (the appearance of such a 'report' usually meant 5 years of concentration camps for the person in question – A.T.) in Buryatia were written not by him, but by Vampilov, the Chairman of Buryat Section of 'Godless Militants' (the Soviet organization instrumental in the destruction of religion all over the country, and particularly in Buryatia – A.T.), where Zhabon worked as an 'instructor'. For fairness I must mention that at about the same time I also met Vampilov, who, as also Kochetov, settled far from Buryatia (in Balashiha by Moscow). And it was equally strange that Vampilov, who also sow me for the first time in life also for some reason started to explain to me that these 'reports' were produced not by him but by Kochetov … It was a difficult and dangerous time both for Buddhists and for Buddhologists … So, I am not surprized that the 'Instructor of the 'Godless Militants Union' was saving Buddhist relics . My Lama Zhimba-Zhamso Tsybenov also had friendly relations with Zhabon.74 С.Б. Бардалеева. "Легендарный памятник буддийского искусства" //Сокровища культуры Бурятии. (Спецномер Наследия народов Российской

Федерации)I №1, 2002, p. 318.

18

courtyard, who came to receive adis (blessings – A.T.) from Zandan Zhuu. In the lorry’s body we found lots of money – the last offerings to Zandan Zhuu from Egetui people. We handed the money over to the village Council and started on a trail. The locals walked behind the lorry sprinkling milk. We started late and drove basically overnight not to irritate the population too much".75

Thus, the Sandalwood Statue, 218 cm high76, was placed in the 2nd store of the former Russian Orthodox Odigitrievsky Cathedral of Ulan-Ude, the Buryat Capital, which was converted into the storehouse of the “Antireligious museum” reserves – this museum became one of the richest museums of the world with its many thousands of items of Buddhist collections stolen (or, rather, saved) from the ruins of destroyed Buddhist monasteries. Later it was conjoined with the Historical Museum of Buryatia.

The very existence of Sandalwood statue in the Museum was not advertised – the statue was hidden from the general public, and curators of the Museum were privileged to use their position to secretly show this statue to believers or to their friends. It was believed that even seeing this statue was very beneficial for one’s karma. When in 1978 I was first taken to the 2nd floor of ‘the Church’ – as people still used to call this museum building, - the curator seemed slightly embarrassed when I saw the money – somebody’s humble donation – by the feet of the statue - in the atheistic state it was not acceptable. Later, when we made friends and I won more confidence from her side, she confessed that she even tried to test a widespread belief that the statue is actually flying in the air, and that one can drag a thin thread between the heels of the statue and the floor77, - but failed. Why? – she was not sure – was it because the statue was not genuine, or because she herself was not pure enough?

Anyway, this huge statue was very impressive, with its special aura, and it notably differed from anything I had seen before78. Two most unusual features 75. Quoted by Н.Б. Бадлаева, Т.В. Бадлаева. "Зандан Жуу" www . datsan . buryatia . ru 76. This size was reported by Bardaleeva - С.Б. Бардалеева. "Легендарный памятник буддийского искусства" //Сокровища культуры Бурятии. (Спецномер Наследия народов Российской Федерации)I №1, 2002, p. 318.77. This legend was mentioned already by lCang skya Rol pa’i rdo rje – see above, note 29. 78. Just to convey the kind of emotions the statue evoked, I quote here the recent (slightly abridged) narration of Prof. Dr. Heather Stoddard of the Oriental Institute of the Sorbonne, which she sent to me on 17.12.06. "In between 1990 and 1992, following a suggestion from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Francesca von Thyssen (now von Habsburg) began to organise a major exhibition of Mongolian Buddhist Art. I was taken on as curator for the exhibition. Thus we spent one week working in the huge storage collections of the Buriat Museum that were housed in the former Orthodox Christian cathedral of Ulan Ude. The outside walls of the cathedral were glistening snowy chalk white and the doors and windows bright bottle green. Inside the large building was stacked high with Mongolian Buddhist paraphenalia of all possible kinds. Thousands of objects carefully collected from the Buriat monasteries and temples after the monks were killed and before the temples burnt by the Bolsheviks in the mid-1930s. Working through the objects piece by piece with the every-ready help of our Buriat colleagues, we at last arrived in the uppermost chambers. To my enormous surprise and delight, in the topmost chapel at the front of the cathedral above the main doorway, I spied what I knew instantly to be the

19

were the eyes looking upward (what was mentioned already by Rolpa’i Dorje), and fingers spread apart, - in later, especially Tibetan canons, you will never see it.79 The artistic style of the statue was not clear for me, and later I found that art historians have very different opinions on this style. As noted by A.M.: "The exact source for this style has been the subject of much argument by scholars in Japan, who have related it to styles at Ajanta (in Central India), South India, and Gandhara. Gregory Henderson suggests a relationship to Mathuran Buddha figures of the fourth century, such as the famous sandstone figure in the National Museum, New Delhi.80 Pratapaditya Pal, following Alexander Soper, sees it as “a stylistic synthesis of elements from sculptures created at Mathura

famous Tsandan Jowo (the Sandalwood Lord), one of the most sacred images in all the Buddhist world. Tradition says that it was made during Lord Buddha Shakyamuni’s lifetime in his own likeness, in order to console the group of disciples in his absence while he went up to the paradise of Tushita to teach to his mother for a period of three months. I knew of it from my studies in Buddhist art, but was also aware of its recent history from research into 20th century Tibetan-Mongolian affairs. It was said that during the Boxer Rebellion (1889-1901) just as the unpredictable Boxers rushed in the front gate of the temple, the Mongolian caretaker monks deftly carried the two-meter statue (adorned with fourteen alternating layers of gilding and lacquer) out of the back door and had it taken away in the night through the Juyongguan gate of the Great Wall of China and into the wilds of Mongolia where it was hidden away pending more clement times. Then in the 1930s, it was the turn of the Bolsheviks to launch their massive destruction of Buddhism. At that time, Agvan Dorjiev (1854-1938), the famous Buriat advisor to the 13th Dalai Lama and to the last Tsar of Russia, Nicolas II (abdicated 1917), was already in his 70s. He managed to secure the image before it fell into Boshevik hands and had it hidden away again for a while, before it was placed with all the other Mongolian sacred objects in the cathedral in Ulan Ude.On the third day of our stay, a group of high-ranking Tibetan lamas arrived in our hotel from Ulan Bator, where they had been attending the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (Sept 13-17 1991). They were on their way back home to India via Russia. The chief lama was none other than the State Oracle of Tibet, Nechung Kuten. Having recently studied in great detail the legend of the origin of the Nechung deity with Mme Ariane Spanien-Macdonald at the EPHE in Paris, and being the only one of our team to speak Tibetan, I was delighted to be able to enquire of the young oracle about many things.  We ordered a sumptuous meal to be prepared for these special surprise guests. Our guests were invited to sit on one side with our team on the other. I was put in the middle opposite Nechung Kuten, chatting to him over a high pile of steaming mutton, and interpreting for the lamas.Of course I spoke to them of the Sandalwood Lord. The lamas were thrilled and wanted to go and visit it right away. But there was a «snake guarding the treasure», and we had to negociate with our Buriat lady colleagues to keep the fiery deity at bay while early next morning we led the lamas quickley to the cathedral, up the stairs and into the front chapel. The Tsanden Jowo was standing in the midst of a group of smaller images, behind a large plate glass panel. There was a lock on the glass door. The lamas stood in a line in front of

20

in India and Khotan in Central Asia”.81 James Caswell calls it “an amalgam created under the Northern Wei from a variety of foreign sources.”82 The crucial point is that the “Indian” style of the figure, manifested in the clinging drapery, became an iconographical feature of the Chinese image."83

Still we must remember that all these authors made their observations without ever seeing the original statue – their judgments were based on the Serioji copy.

For some time one iconographic detail of the statue was arousing my suspicion: according to Tibetan records, in particular quoted by Dagyab (see note 1), there was a mention of a ‘dazzling sun-stone’ incerted by sculptors in front of the ushnisha of a statue. Tibetans usually interpreted it as a diamond, M. Carter in her essay suggested ruby. Nothing of the kind could be seen on the ushnisha of our Buryat statue, though on the copper replica from Imperial Palace and even on Seiryo-ji image a small disc with the central point, probably signifying the ‘sun-stone’ on the front of ushnisha is clearly distinguishable.

This extra puzzle was resolved, when in August 2006 by sheer chance I found the photo of our statue – it was in Germany, in the collection of Pesl-Stiftung. This very poor quality photograph (see Fig.??) was reportedly coming from Mongolia, and I think it was taken in 1935, at the moment when the statue was taken from Egetui Datsan (we have a number of photos of looted Buryat monasteries done by D. Natsov in that period) – one can see behind the statue also rgyal-mtshan (traditional parasol) taken out of the monastery and thrown on the ground. When I magnified the image – the small disk on the front of ushnisha became clearly seen.

the Jowo in awed silence. Then a Buriat lady suddenly arrived with a key. As she swiftly opened the glass door, somewhat to our surprise – for we had not seen their preparations - the lamas quietly unfolded long white silk flowing khataks of the finest quality that had been secreted in their robes. One by one they moved forward and threw the scarves around the neck of the statue. When this was accomplished they again stood back in silent reverent prayer. After a few minutes the Nyingmapa tutor to Nechung Kuten whispered gravely: «The time has passed ». They filed out at a deeply reverend pace. I have never been moved by faith as at that moment. The glass door was locked up, with all the khataks still hanging around the Buddha’s neck. We followed on outside in a state of elation. The lamas left next morning and we departed just a few days later..." 79. It is interesting, that fingers of the Seiryōji replica are beautifully joined together, while the earlier stone sculpture dated 5th century (see Fig.4??), as well as the copper replica ‘Buddha of Clear Image’ kept in the building of Clear Buddha Image in the East Wing of the Pavilion of 10000 happinesses of the Imperial palace in Beijing (Palace of Harmony. Ed. by Wu Yugi. Hong Kong: Art Blooming Publishing Company, n.d., pp. 161-163) also keep fingers spread apart. This might be one more argument for a greater antiquity of the statue now kept in Russia.80. Gregory Henderson and Leon Hurvitz, “The Buddha of Seiryōji : New Finds and New Theory”, Artibus Asiae 19 (1956).81. Light of Asia: Buddha Shakyamuni in Asian Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984, p.235.82. Written and Unwritten: A New History of the Buddhist Caves at Yungang. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1988, 41.83. McNair Amy, Sandalwood Auspicious Image // Weidner, M.S. Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism. 850-1850, Lawrence, Kans.: Spencer Museum of Art; Honolulu: University of Hawaiyi Press. 1994, P.224.

21

Then I recollected the note, mentioned in the report of the former chief curator of the Buryat museum, Nina Badlayeva, that ushnisha of the statue was partly damaged in the 1930s when somebody searched for concealed treasures84.

This crime could have been a routine work of ‘militant godless’ or NKVD, but because the statue was taken from the monastery in a safe condition – as we now may conclude from the photograph, it would have been interesting to research 'who done it' and where is the ‘sun-stone’ now?

The things look more mysterious in the view of the communication of the important Mongolian historian of the 19th century, Dharmatāla, who, in particular, said: "As it contained the Buddha’s relics, it became the focus of offerings to all the religious kings, from the Thang [Tang] rulers until now.“85

As mentioned by P. Berger, "Dharmatāla’s prophecy hints that the viability of the Quing dynasty is somehow tied to the fate of the Sandalwood Buddha. In fact, the Sandalwood Monastery was burnt to the ground during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, an event that signaled the end of the dynasty. The whereabouts of its wondrous image are unknown…"86

Still, the most interesting part of a short Dharmatāla 's notice, was about the existence of Buddha's relics in the statue - the other sources do not mention about it87. If the statue contained Buddha's relics, these relics must have been stolen together with the 'sun-stone' – because in case of wooden statues the relics usually are placed either in the opening in the heart area, or into uṣniṣa. Because it was the uṣniṣa which was broken – it must have been done by a person who knows such things. Not the ordinary 'militant godless'.

Exactly such a person was Zhabon himself. The story of bringing the statue from the Egituiski Monastery to Ulan-Ude, as retold by Nomtoyev, sounds a bit suspiscious. Why did these two persons 'drink tea' deep into the night instead of starting their trip as soon as possible – trying to avoid the unpredictable outcome of the negative feelings of the villagers who gathered at their courtyard? According to oral communication by N. Badlayeva, the statue was brought to the museum with a hole in ushnisha, but if the photograph No.?? was really made at the Egitui Datsan at the moment of confiscation of the statue – one can definitely see that the head was intact. As narrated by N. Badlayeva:

84. Н.Б. Бадлаева, Т.В. Бадлаева. "Зандан Жуу" www . datsan . buryatia . ru . 85. Dam-chos-rgya-mtsho (Dharmatāla). Rosary of White Lotuses, being the clear account of how the precious teachings of Buddha appeared and spread in the great Hor country/ Tr. and annot by Piotr Klafkowsky. (Asiatishe Forshungen, B. 95) – Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1987. p. 418.86. Berger Patricia, Empire of Emptiness: Buddhist Art and Political Authority in Quing China, Honolulu: University of Hawai´i Press 2003, p. 164. She also mentions that Dharmatāla provides earlier date, 1665, for the establishment of the Sandalwood Monastery, and notes among other episodes, that the Sixth Panchen Lama dutifully paid homage to the image right after he arrived to Beijing (p. 308). Dharmatāla also observes that this "precious Jowo Rinpoche [is] inseparable from the real Buddha".87. Only recently I have found a reference to these relics by Dunkar Lobzan Trinley, the author of the recent fundamental Tibetan language Encyclopaedia called Dungar Tsigdzo chenmo (Dung dkar blo bzang 'phrin las. Dung dkar thsig mdzod chen mo. PRC, 2002. - My gratitude to Dr. Andrey Strelkov, who attracted my attention to this publication.). The compiler of this work states, basing, evidently, on Chinese sources, that the Buddha relics obtained by the Chinese General who captured the Sandalwood statue and Kumarajiva came together. - P. 1653. Probably it was this piece of relics which was placed into the statue.

22

"In my young years when I have just joined the Museum, my duty was to remove dust from exhibits, including Zandan Zhuu. Once I noticed a hole on top of the statue's head, and of course, I ask Zhabon about its origin. But he avoided answer, and only mentioned, that probably this was done by 'godless militants' (to whom he belonged himself! – A.T.). Probably they also extracted the "sun stone" – a large diamond, from the 'third eye' of the statue, and passed it to the Ministry of Finance."88

Of course now it is difficult to say anything definite about this incident. Anyway, according to some, the relics in the ushnisha were extracted and 'saved' from the pressing Soviet Ministry of finance. If this information is true – it confirms the words of Dharmatāla that the statue contained Buddha's relics. The relics are said to be enshrined within small golden stupa and small silver replica of the statue itself – each was 5-6 cm high. If this story is true, the precious relics must be still kept by someone in Buryatia89.As was narrated by the present Chief Curator of the Museum Svetlana Baturovna Bardaleeva: "In the Soviet Period in order to see the Zandan Zhuu there was required a special permission of the Buryat Party Commetee. We were strictly forbidden even to mention the existence of this statue. But people were feeling by hearts that the Zandan Zhuu is in Odigitrievsky Cafedral and some even were making goroo (traditional circumambulation as expression of reverence – А.Т.) and prayed outside the gates. It was believed that even to be near the statue (even more – if you see it) can substentionally improve karma. Those who managed to enter (usually these were high guests) and approached Zandan Zhuu, noticed that He is alive, felt the change in His eyes, some even heard His voice. While Zandan Zhuu was present in the Cafedral, there was felt something invisible in this building, and when the statue left, it was gone."90

Around 1983 the Buryat Ministry of Culture invited an expert commission from the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad to explore the present state of the precious statue. The commission was headed by Dr. Maya Lebel, and, as Nina Badlayeva (who was a Chief Curator of the Museum in this period) tells us: "During the years while the statue was in the Museum, it was restored several times… In the middle of 1980-s for restoration of ushnisha and hair of the statue there was invited Dr. Maya Nikolayevna Lebel, the restorator of the highest qualification. To prepare paint for the hair and for shaping the ushnisha at the head of the statue there were Lamas invited: lamkhai Munko Tsybikov, lamkhai Zhimba-Zhamso Tsybenov and thanka-painter Danzan Dondokov – a deep expert in the iconography and iconometry. With their help and cunsultations М.N. Lebel restored the hair of the statue and cleaned it."91

But, because she did not have any reference photo-material (as she explained to me in the interview of 2008) – she shaped ushnisha in an ordinary fashion, without placing a circle with the 'sun-stone' on its front side – as it was with the original ushnisha.

She also made several interesting findings. First, it was discovered that the material of the statue (they analyzed at a Hermitage Laboratory a small 88 The text of the interview kindly provided by K. Ermilov.89 In 2007 while in Ulan-Ude I addressed the public with a request to those who might be still keeping these relics, to return it to the Buddha statue.90 The text of the interview was kindly supplied by K. Ermilov.91 Badlayeva, op. cit.

23

piece of wood from a slightly ‘wounded’ heel of the statue) – was not a sandalwood – it was lime-tree wood. The wood was covered by a thick layer of a sandalwood paste92. Above the paste layer the statue was covered by three layers of gold leaf gilding separated by the layers of lacquer. The upper layer of the gold was also painted. As mentioned earlier, this gilding was commissioned by the empress in the reign of Ming Emperor Wan Li (1572-1620 - A.T.). The very use of this special technology shows that the statue was a sacred object of high importance.

After the fall of totalitarian communist regime in the Soviet Union, when the country regained religious freedoms, the Egetui Datsan was rebuilt anew as most other destroyed Buddhist monasteries of Buryatia were. Then, on the request of its abbot, Dorji Lama, and believers, on 25th of September 1991 the statue and its belongings – the crown93, earings, 'toli' (Mongolian for "mirror" – a circular shape hanging on the breast of the statue – А.Т.) – were carried back to Egita as it was decided by the Buryat Ministry of Culture. A couple months before that the statue was attended by His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV, who visited Russia on the occasion of the 250-th anniversary of recognition of the Buryat Buddhism by the Russian state.Actually the Central Buddhist Board of Russia started negotiations concerning the return of this statue from the beginning of the 90-s.Nina Badlayeva narrates: "The main role in this was certainly played by the Bandido Khambo Lama Munko Tsybikov. Otherwise the statue would most likely be placed at one of the central datsans (Egituisky Datsan is one of the most remote. – А.Т.). He was telling me that before the repressions (i.e. 1935) he was a 'khuvarak' at Egitui Datsan and his duty was to take care of the Zandan Zhuu: he was preparing offerings to the statue, making prostrations. He was the last person taken from the devastated datsan. He locked the door, looked backed and left with tears in his eyes, and he made a prayer that one day the monastery will revive again and people will be able to venerate Zandan Zhuu again. Now, when people carried the statue from the cafedral, a surprising thing happened: only 3-4 persons were able to bring it down the nerrow and very inconvenient staircase from the 3rd floor. And they said that Zandan Zhuu is very light. I remember Zhabon telling me that, in 35-th 10 strong men could hardly bring the statue up. I asked Munko Lama how could it be, and he replied: «He wants to go home, so he made himself light!»But the most unusual thing happened when Zandan Zhuu was carried to Egitui Datsan by helicopter: in September there started snowfall, and it was so thick! There was a feeling of a holiday, still it was quite frightful to fly by helicopter in such a weather. Only Zandan Zhuu peacified us. During the flight the snowfall encreased and visibility became practically zero. The pilots afterwards

92. Exactly as described by Rolbi Dorje and others. Here it may be mentioned, that in Indian tradition we know some cases, when the object is called ‘sandal’ if only some part of it is really made of sandal.93 I met the restorator from Ulan-Ude, Mr. Valery Malushenko,who restored these things before returning it to the Buddhists. He told some funny details about it, in particular he communicated that when reinstalling the nissing stones of the crown incrustations, for the yelow stoned he used the green bottle glass, and for the red stones – the rear ligths of electric locomotive.

24

confessed that they could find the way only by looking to the river of Uda. Perhaps, only thanks to Zandan Zhuu we arrived safely."94 So, the statue was returned to this monastery, placed in the main altar of the temple and… gilded anew(!!!), so, that the deep shine of the paint and gold behind the ancient varnish was lost: the new bright gold formed a kind of compound with the old lacquer and could hardly be removed95. This dreadful accident was vividly described by the popular Buryat newspaper "МК в Бурятии": "…Here we can refer to the meaningful story which happened several years ago with the famous Buddhist sacrament – the statue of Zandan Zhuu. This sandalwood statue, together with the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine and a precious body of Khambo Lama Itygelov are recognized as a Buddhist Sacraments of Russia, as a monument of federal level. According to the legend the craftsman produced it 2,5 thousand years ago from the piece of sandalwood, looking at the reflection of God in the river. The sacrament Zandan Zhuu was brought to Buriatia from China. First it was kept in Odigitrievsky cathedral, then it was returned to the Buddhists of the Egitui datsan. In the datsan the statue was kept in the hall without heating (in winter the temperatures in this area often go to minus 40 degrees Centigrade – A.T.), so the priming and gilding started to scale off and fall. Some wooden parts were bitten by rats. Then the temple servants didn't find anything better than to rely on help of the scene painter of the village 'House of culture'. He simply covered it with guilding directly over the shelling, using materials which he found in the local shop. Into the hole of the Zandan Zhuu forehead this man inserted stone, and as the stone was a little bit too large, the involuntary "restorator" instead of trimming the sard, decided to widen the hole. When we were invited to examine the statue we found it in this state with the expression of suffering on the newly repainted face. Immideately after that the restorators from the Hermitage Museum were invited to Egitui datsan, who did their best to preserve the sacrament......

Then again restorators from the Hermitage Museum were invited (this time Marina Michri and Dmitry Konovalov) and it took them two years to remove new gilding, - as the present Chief curator of the Buryat Historical Museum, Svetlana Bardaleeva, tells us.96 This time again samples of wood were analyzed, but now, instead of ‘lime-tree’ (as was found out in the same laboratory in 1983) the material was determined as “rare wood”, and more than that: the statue’s age was defined as only two centuries old.97

But when I personally called Hermitage and asked Marina Мichri98 about these data, she was surprised and explained to me that this publication must be a misunderstanding, because in fact the analysis of the wood, made at the

94 Запись интервью любезно предоставлена К. Ермиловым.

95. Консерва для реликвии// МК в Бурятии on 07.04.2006

96. С.Б. Бардалеева, op . cit ., p . 320. Also quoted by BĚLKA,   L. Op. cit., p. 149. 97. “The conclusion of the laboratory tests give evidence that the statue of the Zandan Zhuu was made of rare wood by Chinese masters at the end of the l8th and the beginning of the l9th century,” - Мордвина Л. Мифы и реальность Зандан Жу // Эгитуйский дацан. (ред. Бахлаев С.А.). Улан-Удэ: Изд-во Бурятского госуниверситета, 2004, с. 37. Quoted by Belka: op. cit., p. 149.98. Telephone interview of 31.10.2006.

25

Hermitage laboratory, only supported the previous conclusion that the wood was a lime-tree, and not "rare wood" as it had been indicated in the cited article. She also said that the laboratory was not doing any datings, and the supposed age of the statue (only 200 years) was nothing else but her own personal preliminary opinion based on "stylistic peculiarities" of the statue and it was not designed to be published. Also М. Мichri mentioned that the finger of the right foot of the sculpture was cut out of the pine-tree, and not of the ceder as was told by Badlayeva (see note ??). One more interesting observation of M. Michri consisted in the fact , that the neck, kneels, back and palms of the statue were worn, as if by a gown which was weared by the statue for a long time.

Well this really was true – as we can see from the oldest photograph of this statue shooted before 1935 at Egitui Datsan and recently discovered in Buryatia by K. Ermilov (see ill??).

Though the village of Egetui is about 300 km from the Buryat capital of Ulan-Ude, it is connected with it by a good road, which makes driving easy. The place looks virtually empty, so a small hotel nextdoor to the statue is also empty – it is easy to go there and see the famous image. Some people share their impressions of the visit.Gustav Munik, Chehia99:"If you stare to the face of Zandan Zhuu it seems to start shining. When I noticed it, I took a seat at the bench opposite the statue. The holl of dugan was empty … I don't know how long I was sitting there when I realized that around the shining image of the statue there started to manifest beautiful palice – not different from the wooden dugan, but a kind of transformed one – everything became glaring and beautiful. Tears appeared in my eyes, and after a while everything returned to an ordinary state. I went out of the building hiding my eyes from my quetly talking friends, and suddenly sow the ants on the ground. And I realized: they do not know what a sacred image they live near by and cannot appreciate the beauty of this place..."Oxana, Vladivostok:"The blessing of the Sandalwood Buddha is felt here not only in every grass blade, but in your every breathe. It seems that this place is most calm on the Earth, blessed by the Buddha himself..."

In 2004 году я told the story of the Sandalwood Buddha to one of the oldest Tibetan Lamas – Ven. Кirti Tsenshab Rinpoche. Rinpoche was so impressed by the photo of the statue that immidiately decided to see this statue with his own eyes. He commisioned a very special mantle made, to fit the statue's size, and brought it to Russia next year. His visit is described by the abbot of the Egitui Datsan, Amgalan Lama, the abbot:"One of the most honourable pilgrims in our Datsan was a Teacher of the Dalai Lama XIV – Кirti Tsenshab Rinpoche. When he arrived in July 2005, there happened strong storm with powerful lightnings. The Teacher asked to leave him alone in the dugan of Zandan Zhuu, and for several days he was reading prayers there from 4 p.m. up to 9 in the morning. Perhaps, he felt that the time when he will leave this body is approaching, so… when leaving , he asked us when he will pass away to place 108 butter lamps

99 The following interviews were recorded and kindly presented for publication in this book by K. Ermilov.

26

before Zandan Zhuu and read prayers for half a year, and we did it in 2007, when it happened."100

For several years they were building a new building of a special design – for Zandan Zhuu – the building with optimal for the statue climatic conditions and no possibility of fire. The statue moved there on 25th of July 2008 and it was a great holiday for all Buryat people – several thousand attended the ceremony.A big marble-clad building with much light, regulated temperature and humidity, became a convenient home for this remarcable statue.

How reliable and trustworthy are the above versions and traditions on the Sandalwood Buddha?We may divide this question into three: 1) Did the ‘Udayana Buddha’ image ever existed?2) What statue was placed by Emperor Kangxi, into the ‘Sandalwood Temple’?3) Is the statue preserved in Russia the same, as the one, venerated by Kangxi?

1) The survey of research on this topic done by Martha Carter101 leaves almost no hope that the story of creating the Sandalwood Buddha Image by Udayana could be reliable. Her reasons are the following: no early Indian sources mention this story, it is also not included in the Pali Canon, though there is a mention on conversion of the Vatsa-rāja Udayana in Saṃyutta-nikāya 102 and some other texts. Before the 5th century a.d. Udayana was not mentioned as a patron of Buddha103, and Martha Carter meaningfully mentions that his kingdom did not even ask for the share of relics after parinirvana.104 Besides, the first mention of the Udayana Buddha statue in a temple of Kauśāmbī belongs only to the year 640 – in the travel diaries of Xuanzang.105 Chronologically, the first written mention of the story of Udayana Buddha is the Chinese translation of Ekottarāgamasūtra – an elaborate rendering of Anguttara-nikāya, compiled by Tocharian monk Dharmanandi in 385.106

But we also should take into account the existance of parallel legends in the Siamese and Burmese traditions, which seem to be independent of northern sources. On the other hand, we do not know what were the sources of Dharmanandi and how old they were. Pali Canon was transmitted orally for about 500 years before it was written down for the first time, and some texts of Mahāsanghikas could also be quite old.

100 This interview was also recorded by K. Ermilov. True, when Voula Zarpani, the Rinpoche's interpreter called me and passed this last will of Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, Oyuna Dorjigushayeva brought all the way from Ulan-Ude the butter for the lamps (see. photo ??) and everything was done as the Teacher wanted.101. Carter, M. Op. cit. 102. Saṃyutta-nikāya , vol.IV (127), Pali Text Society Edition, London, 1894, pp. 110-113. (See M. Carter, op. cit., p.4)103. See also Niti Adaval. The Story of King Udayana/ Chowkhamba Sanskrit Studies, LXXIV, Varanasi, 1970.104. Op. cit., p.5, Note 15. 105. Law, B.C. Kauśāmbī in Ancient Indian Literature, Delhi, 1939, p. 18-22. 106. See details in Carter, M. L. Op. cit., p.6.

27

M. Carter argues, that the creation of Buddha images was forbidden by Sarvastivāda Vinaya107, but, on the other hand, in the Sthavira Vinaya, or any Theravāda text (as witnessed by Ven. Prof. Anuruddha in personal communication of 04.11.2006) there were no such restrictions.I think it is not absolutely improbable, that there could exist an earliest statue of standing Buddha, which served as a prototype to the artists of both Gandhara and Mathura.

2) As we have already seen, there are several legends in Chinese literature connected with the Sandalwood Buddha image, and there is evidence that in the 9th century there were minimum 4 replicas of it in China, one of them supposedly connected with Kumārajīva. Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty also claimed to be in possession of an authentic copy of the Udayana Buddha108, and there were other icons. Which of them was placed in the Sandalwood Temple in Bejing by Emperor Kangxi – it is very difficult to say. Still it is interesting to note some specific details of the statue preserved in Russia. First, the fingers of its hands are stretched apart (like in stone sculpture of Northen Wey period – see Fig.4), while later replicas (see for example the Serio-ji copy) have fingers beautifully joined. Still later images, based, perhaps, on our particular statue, again have fingers stretched apart – see Fig.14.

3) Is the statue of Egitui Datsan the same as the ‘lost’ statue of Emperor Kangxi?Belka, in his research, did not believe it109, - only because of the quoted 'results' of the Hermitage laboratory analyses of 1995. But, as we found out (see p.??) there were no such analyses.

Bearing in mind exact correspondance of many of the statue's technical details such as blackish varnish, triple guilding, and other features mentioned by both Rolbi Dorje and Dharmatāla – one can hardly imagine that those specific features were so expertly reproduced by unknown masters in a remote Buryat village. So, it is definitely the same statue.

Conclusions.All over the world of Buddhist art we meet one icon of standing Buddha in centrally symmetrical drapery with his right hand in abhaya-mudrā and left hand in varada-mudrā. The earliest representations of this type we see in Gandhara, in Mathura, in Bamyan and, according to some, even on some Kanishka I coins. The legends, first recorded in the 4th century, tell us that this icon was commissioned during Buddha’s lifetime either by rāja Udayana, or by rāja Prasenajit. The original image of supposed 'Udayana statue' (if it ever existed) or the early replica of the above image is said to appear in China evidently at the end of the 4th century or earlier, and either survived up to now, or was substituted at some stage by another copy, which was kept in Peking and finally was placed into a special Sandalwood Temple by Emperor Kang Hsi. During the Boxer’s uprising of 1898-1900 the statue was not lost, as most authors think, but stolen by Buryat Buddhists, and eventually placed in Egetui

107. Carter, M. L. Op. cit., p. 34. 108. (M. Carter, op. cit., p.3, n. 6) 109. Belka, op. cit, p. 150.

28

Buddhist Monastery in Buryatia, Russian Federation, where it can be seen now by anyone.Because, as analysis showed, the material of this statue is not a sandalwood, but lime-treewood110, it seems likely that the statue kept in the Sandalwood Temple in Peking was not the Sandalwood statue of the legends, but a copy. Still, this remarkable statue is undoubtfully one of the most sacred and interesting Buddhist icons in Jambudvīpa.

Supplements

Supplement No.2

A detailed Chinese account of the history of this icon was inscribed on the produced in 1597 hanging scroll depicting the Sandalwood Buddha (inc rubbing of the stone engraving, kept now in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago). The full translation of the Chinese inscription was published by Amy McNair111:"Record of the Sandalwood Auspicious Image. The image of the Buddha was established in order to contemplate his appearance. The royal virtue (of King Udayana) manifested itself in a material object (the statue of Shakyamuni he commissioned), and its reverent fidelity exhorted the populace to conversion. Since ancient times, there have been many magical images, but the one transmitted from the greatest distance is the sandalwood image of King Udayana. All the records say the Buddha was born in the Western Regions in the 24 year of the reign of King Zhao of the Zhou dynasty (trad. 1029 b.c.e.) and he entered nirvana in the 52nd year of the reign of King Mu (trad. 950 b.c.e.). After Buddha had attained complete enlightenment, he ascended to the Trayastrimsha heaven to preach the Buddhist Law to his mother. Several months passed, and he had not returned. Because the king had been separated so long from the one he revered, he determined to have an image carved from sandalwood, since he longed to look upon the sacred form of the Buddha. (Buddha’s disciple) Maudgalyayana feared the image would be inaccurate, so by his spiritual power, he took 32 craftsmen up into heavens. There they observed the special marks on the Buddha’s body, and in three tries, they achieved a faithful likeness. When it was completed, the king and his countrymen wished to compare the figure to its inspiration, so the Buddha again descended to the world of men. The king led his subjects out to welcome the Buddha, and the statue rose into the air to present itself to the Buddha. The Buddha laid his hand on the head of the image and said “A thousand years after my nirvana, you will have gone to China, to make Buddhism flourish there.”Over 1.280 years after the Buddha’s nirvana, the image was first transmitted from the Western Regions to Kucha (in modern Xinjiaang province). Sixty-eight years later it went to Lianzhou (modern Gansu province). Fourteen years later it went to Chang’an (modern Xi’an ). Seventeen years later it went to Jiangzuo 110 Still, we must take into account that only a small piece of wood from the heel was identified as limetree – it could happen that this particular heel were a later piece of statue – the wood of the statue's body was not analysed.111 McNair Amy, Sandalwood Auspicious Image // Weidner, M.S. Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism. 850-1850, Lawrence, Kans.: Spencer Museum of Art; Honolulu: University of Hawaiyi Press. 1994, P.221-225.

29

(Yangzi River area). One hundred seventy-three years after that it went to Huainan (modern Anhui province). Three hundred and seventeen years later it returned to Jiangnan. Twenty-one years later it went north to Bianjing (modern Kaifeng). One hundred and seventy-six years later, during the inaugural year of the Shaoxing era of Emperor Gaozong of the Song dynasty (1131), Emperor Taizong of the Jin state welcomed the image to Yanjing (modern Beijing). He founded a Water-Land Ritual (Hall) and donated the image to the Minzhong Temple. In the 12th year (1142), Emperor Xizong of the Jin established the Dachuqing Temple. The image was placed in the Jiqing Pavilion. In the 20th year (1150), the Jin Prince of Hailing returned from the south (to ascend the throne), and he returned the image to one of the inner halls of the imperial palace for 54 years. In the third month of the dingchou year of the Yuan state (1217), there was a fire in the palace, so the minister, Lord Shimo, offered the image to Sheng’an Temple. Nineteen years later, it went to the Yuan (when Yuan conquered Jin). In the 12th year of the Zhiyuan era of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan (1275), the great official envoy Marco Polo and his entourage, accompanied by Buddhist monks and musicians, offered the image to the throne, and it was kept in the Renzhidian for the next 15 years. In the dingchou year (1277), Dasheng wan’an Temple was built. In the 26th year (1289), the image was taken from the Renzhidian and placed in a rear hall of the temple for over 140 years. From there it went to Qingshou Temple, where it remained for over 120 years, until the 17th year of the Jiajing era (1538). When the Emperor heard a memorial reporting a fire at the temple, He had the image offered to Jiufeng Temple. By now, the 25th year of the Wanli era (1597), it has dwelled here 58 years. From the year King Udayana had the image made, in the 12th year of King Ju (trad. 990 b.c.e.), to the present it over 2,580 years. How extraordinary!Majestic auspicious image! Glorious golden visage! Revere it, look up to it, as if the Great Sage were immanent. Now when all the Buddhist monks arrive at the temple and pay their reverence to the abbots and the monks, they say, “we are ignorant of the origin of the Sacred traces”. Some visiting lay worshipers also ask about the story of the image’s beginning. Records and chronologies give the dates and places of the auspicious image’s travels over the centuries. In addition, Emperor Shizu of Yuan once ordered the Hanlin Academician Recipient of Edicts Cheng Jufu to write the “Auspicious Image Palace Record”, and Emperor Taiding (r.1324-1328) asked the Institute for Glorification of Literature Academician Tuoyin to have it engraved in stone. These records provide detailed research into the origins of the auspicious image. The period from the image’s entry into the origins of the auspicious image. The period from the image’s entry into Shengshou wan’an (Dasheng wan’an) Temple during the Zhiyuan period to the present is also part of its history. This subsequent record I have appended in order to display (Udayana’s) royal virtue and to illuminate the experience of the masses who come here. If they understand its origin, it will increase their reverence at worship. To proclaim their good deed, the benefactors are listed on the reverse of this stele. The auspicious image will be forever worshiped at Jiufeng Chan Temple in the capital. Written on a favorable day in the 8th month, in autumn of the dingyou year of the Wanli era (1597) by Shaoqian, a Buddhist monk from Chengdu, who also set up this stone.[Inscriptions at bottom (in Tibetan):]

30

The Excellent Throne-holder of Tushita Heaven; Reengraving of the Excellent Throne-holder of Tushita Heaven (C. Maitreya)."112

112. The author of the article also mentions, that Tibetan identification of the image as Maitreya is "incorrect" (p. 224). It is possible to suggest that the Tibetan inscription 'the Tushita Throne-holder' might refer not to Maitreya, but to the version of the Udayana Buddha legend, stating that the Buddha visited his mother not at the 'Heaven of 33', but at Tushita heaven. Thus, in this period the Buddha Shakyamuni, as portraied in the Sandalwood statue, was the throneholder in Tushita. This suggestion could, perhaps, explain why iconographycally similar replicas of the Sandalwood statue are sometimes identified in the Chinese art as 'Maitreya'.)