Popularly, its
abbreviated form P'u-sa is used in China for any idol or image; here
the name has its proper signification.
[14] {.} {.}, "all the thien," or simply "the thien" taken as plural.
But in Chinese the character called thien {.} denotes heaven, or
Heaven, and is interchanged with Ti and Shang Ti, meaning God. With
the Buddhists it denotes the devas or Brahmanic gods, or all the
inhabitants of the six devalokas. The usage shows the antagonism
between Buddhism and Brahmanism, and still more that between it and
Confucianism.
[15] Giles and Williams call this "the oratory of Buddha." But
"oratory" gives the idea of a small apartment, whereas the name here
leads the mind to think of a large "hall." I once accompanied the
monks of a large monastery from their refectory to the Hall of Buddha,
which was a lofty and spacious apartment splendidly fitted up.
[16] The Ts'ung, or "Onion" range, called also the Belurtagh
mountains, including the Karakorum, and forming together the
connecting links between the more northern T'een-shan and the Kwun-lun
mountains on the north of Thibet. It would be difficult to name the
six countries which Fa-hien had in mind.
[17] This seems to be the meaning here. My first impression of it was
that the author meant to say that the contributions which they
received were spent by the monks mainly on the buildings, and only to
a small extent for themselves; and I still hesitate between that view
and the one in the version.
