Language Log

« previous post | next post »

One enigmatic artifact combines so many of my favorite things:  Dunhuang, Yi jing, Buddhism, cosmic symbols (e.g., Kunlun)….

One of the earliest known stone pagodas made in China, dating 435 AD from Dunhuang, NW China. Buddhist texts & images are inscribed with 8 trigrams, Chinese cosmic symbols, including Kun-the sustaining power of the earth. Its hexagram form shows six double lines.
#20220222 pic.twitter.com/iBLHjmEumK

— Jin Xu 徐津 (@xujnx) February 22, 2022

clevelandart.org

[For an enlargement, click on the photograph to go to the thread, then click on the photograph again. It will be large enough to make the inscription legible.]

But what is a "stupa"? This is our first language lesson for today.

A stupa (Sanskrit: स्तूप, lit. 'heap', IAST: stūpa) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as śarīra – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. A related architectural term is a chaitya, which is a prayer hall or temple containing a stupa.

(source)

From Sanskrit स्तूप (stūpa). Doublet of tope.

(source)

Chinese transcriptions (MSM only):  sūdǔpō 窣堵坡, zútǎpó 卒塔婆, sūdōupó 窣都婆, sūdǔbō 窣堵波, sītōubǒ 私偷簸, tǎpó 塔婆, lǜdōupó 率都婆, sùdǔbō 素覩波, sǒudòupó 藪斗婆, etc.   

Reduction to monosyllable:  tǎ 塔

Pali thūpa

(source)

Sanskrit stūpaḥ, tuft of hair, crown of the head, summit, stupa.

(American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed.]

A closing observation, which others may not have noted, but which Geoff Wade mentioned in calling Jin Xu's tweet to my attention, namely, the shape of such votive stupas must have derived from Shaivite linga form (images here).  And this leads to our second language lesson for today, which explains the derivation and meaning of "linga".

A lingam (Sanskrit: लिङ्ग IAST: liṅga, lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The original meaning of lingam as "sign" is used in Shvetashvatara Upanishad, which says "Shiva, the Supreme Lord, has no liūga", liuga (Sanskrit: लिūग IAST: liūga) meaning he is transcendental, beyond any characteristic and, specifically the sign of gender. Lingam is regarded as the "outward symbol" of the "formless Reality", the symbolization of merging of the 'primordial matter' (Prakṛti) with the 'pure consciousness' (Purusha) in transcendental context. It is typically the primary murti or devotional image in Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva, also found in smaller shrines, or as self-manifested natural objects. It is often represented within a disc-shaped platform. It is usually shown with yoni – its feminine counterpart. Together, they symbolize the merging of microcosmos and macrocosmos, the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration, and the union of the feminine and the masculine that recreates all of existence. The lingam is conceptualized both as an emblem of generative and destructive power, particularly in the esoteric Kaula and Tantra practices, as well as the Shaivism and Shaktism traditions of Hinduism.

The metaphorical creative principle of lingam-yoni, the union of the feminine and the masculine, the eternal cosmological process of creation is also depicted in Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang, where etymologically and semantically Yin represents the feminine, half-unity of consciousness and Yang denotes the masculine, the other half, together symbolizing the entirety or unity-consciousness in the creation.

"Lingam" is additionally found in Sanskrit texts, such as Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Samkhya, Vaisheshika and others texts with the meaning of "evidence, proof" of God and God's existence, or existence of formless Brahman. Lingam iconography found at archaeological sites of the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia includes simple cylinders set inside a yoni; mukhalinga rounded pillars with carvings such as of one or more mukha (faces); and anatomically realistic representations of a phallus such as at Gudimallam. In the Shaiva traditions, the lingam is regarded as a form of spiritual iconography

(source)

[VHM:  See especially the tripundra (three horizontal lines) on the side of the lingam illustrated in the above text.]

Lingam from the medieval period were found in the area around Quanzhou (southern Fujian Province), when Hinduism was practiced by Indians living there.  Later, with the disappearance of the South Asian communities and the demise of the religion, the stones were still worshipped, after a fashion, by the local people, but without an understanding of what they represented.

 

Selected readings

• "The Bèn school of translation" (5/30/11) — the Five-pagoda Gate at Chengde (formerly Jehol), 109 miles / 176 kilometers to the northeast of Beijing
• "Acquiring literacy in medieval Dunhuang" (2/20/21)
• "slip(per)" (7/22/14) — especially this comment on the name "Dunhuang".
• Victor Mair, "Reflections on the Origins of the Modern Standard Mandarin Place-Name 'Dunhuang' — With an Added Note on the Identity of the Modern Uighur Place-Name 'Turpan'", in Li Zheng, et al., eds., Ji Xianlin Jiaoshou bashi huadan jinian lunwenji (Papers in Honour of Prof. Dr. Ji Xianlin on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday) (Nanchang: Jiangxi People's Press, 1991), vol. 2, pp. 901-954 (very long and detailed study).
• Victor H. Mair, "Lay Students and the Making of Written Vernacular Narrative: An Inventory of Tun-huang Manuscripts", Chinoperl Papers 10 (1981), 5–96.

February 24, 2022 @ 7:28 pm · Filed by Victor Mair under Language and art, Language and religion

Permalink