First To Determine The Number And The Name Of
The Alleged Marco Polo Lo-Han At Canton, And Then By Means Of This Number
To Trace Him In The Series Of Pictures Of The Traditional 500 Lo-Han (The
So-Called Lo Han T'u).
The alleged Marco Polo Lo-han bears the number 100, and his name is
Shan-chu tsun-che (tsun-che being a translation of Sanskrit arya,
"holy, reverend").
The name Shan-chu evidently represents the rendering of
a Sanskrit name, and does not suggest a European name. The illustration
here reproduced is Lo-han No. 100 from a series of stone-engravings in the
temple T'ien-ning on the West Lake near Hang Chau. It will be noticed that
it agrees very well with the statue figured by M. Cordier. In every respect
it bears the features of an Indian Lo-han, with one exception, and this is
the curious hat. This, in fact, is the only Lo-han among the five hundred
that is equipped with a headgear; and the hat, as is well known, is not
found in India. This hat must represent a more or less arbitrary addition
of the Chinese artist who created the group, and it is this hat which led
to the speculations regarding the Portuguese sailor or Marco Polo. Certain
it is also that such a type of hat does not occur in China; but it seems
idle to speculate as to its origin, as long as we have no positive
information on the intentions of the artist.
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