“ They have looked up to the three Precious ones, to all the
holy saints, to the sun, moon, stars and planets, and begged them
to be their witnesses. A sworn treaty like this each one has severally
written and exposed, having sacrificed the victims for
the sworn ceremony and ratified this text. Should they not keep
these oaths, and either Fan or Han disregard the treaty and
break the sworn agreement, may there come to him misfortune
and calamity. Provided only that the work of rebels against
the state, or secret plotters, shall not be included as a breach of
the sworn ceremony.
“ The Fan and Han sovereigns and ministers have all bowed
down and solemnly made oath and carefully drawn up the
written documents. The witnesses of the two sovereigns, the
officers who ascended to the altar, have reverently written their
names below, and the sworn treaty, of which this is a true copy,
has been deposited in the royal treasury.”
There are other misconceptions about this thrice-
sacred spot. There are no “ old willows whose aged
trunks are bent and twisted like writhing dragons
on either side,” nor can the monument, from any
point of view, be called a pillar. There is no flag-pole
in this courtyard at all.
The Do-ring witnessed one of the famous assassinations
of the world. King Lang-darma, who reigned
at the close of the ninth century, was the Julian of
Lamaism. With a ruthless hand he attempted to
extirpate Buddhism and restore the earlier and simpler
devil worship of the country. A monk, disguised as
a Shamanist or Black Hat devil dancer, approached
Lang-darma as he was halting outside the western
entrance of . the Jo-kang one day in the year goo.
Gambolling and capering, now advancing, now withdrawing,
he eventually approached the monarch, whose
attention he had gained probably by his disguise,
near enough to inflict one terrific blow which smashed