Stele of Sulaiman
Encyclopedia
The Stele of Sulaiman is a Yuan Dynasty
stele
that was erected in 1348 to commemorate the benefactors and donors to a Buddhist temple at the Mogao Caves
southeast of Dunhuang
in Gansu
, China
. The principal benefactor is named as Sulaiman , Prince of Xining (died 1351). The stele, which is now held at the Dunhuang Academy, is renowned for an inscription of the Buddhist mantra
Om mani padme hum
in six different scripts
. Another stele, commemorating the restoration of the Huangqing Temple (皇慶寺) in 1351 by Sulaiman was found at the same location as the 1348 stele.
The 1348 stele is 140.5 × 61.5 cm in size. The face of the stele has the words "Cave of Unequalled Height" (Mògāokū 莫高窟) written in large Chinese characters at the top, below which the Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum is engraved in six different scripts
around the engraved image of the four-armed Tibetan form of Avalokiteśvara
, the bodhisattva
of compassion, with whom this mantra is particularly associated:
Smaller Chinese characters fills the background of the stele.
On the righthand side is a list of principal benefactors, headed by Sulaiman and his wife, Küčü (Chinese: Qu Shu 屈术), and their children. Sulaiman was a fourth generation descendant of Temüge
, the youngest brother of Genghis Khan
, and according to the History of the Yuan Dynasty
he was installed as Prince of Xining (Chinese: Xīníng Wáng 西寧王) in 1329.
On the lefthand side it is recorded that the stele was erected on the 15th day of the 5th month of the 8th year of the Zhizheng era [of Emperor Huizong of Yuan] (i.e. 1348) by the monk Shoulang 守朗. On the far left, outside the frame, is a single line recording that the stele was engraved by a certain Shelan Lingdan 奢藍令旃 (Chinese transcription of the Tibetan name Shes-rab rin-chen ཤེས་རབ་རིན་ཆེན). At the bottom is a long list of other donors, many of them with Mongolian or Tibetan names.
District, in the 8th month of the 11th year of the Zhizheng era (i.e. 1351) states that Sulaiman donated gold, silk, timber and other provisions for the temple's reconstruction, and that the monk Shoulang, who erected the 1348 stele, was responsible for keeping a register of donors. The inscription also notes that Sulaiman did when the restoration was completed, and so the principal benefactor listed at the end of the inscription is Sulaiman's son, Yaɣan-Šāh (Chinese: Yahansha 牙罕沙), the new Prince of Xining.
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
that was erected in 1348 to commemorate the benefactors and donors to a Buddhist temple at the Mogao Caves
Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves or Mogao Grottoes , also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas , form a system of 492 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China...
southeast of Dunhuang
Dunhuang
Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...
in Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The principal benefactor is named as Sulaiman , Prince of Xining (died 1351). The stele, which is now held at the Dunhuang Academy, is renowned for an inscription of the Buddhist mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
Om mani padme hum
Om mani padme hum
is the six syllabled mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara , the bodhisattva of compassion...
in six different scripts
Writing system
A writing system is a symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language.-General properties:Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that the reader must usually understand something of the associated spoken language to...
. Another stele, commemorating the restoration of the Huangqing Temple (皇慶寺) in 1351 by Sulaiman was found at the same location as the 1348 stele.
Discovery
The two steles were first recorded by the French explorer, Charles Eudes Bonin (1865–1929), during an expedition to western China from 1898 to 1900. When Aurel Stein visited Dunhuang in 1900–1901 he found both steles outside a shrine next to Cave 96, the home of a colossal Buddha statue, 35.5 m in height. Stein supposed that the steles originally belonged in the cave of the colossal Buddha, and that the inscription "Cave of Unequalled Height" at the top of the 1348 stele referred to this particular cave rather than the caves in general as is now the case.The 1348 Stele
| Om mani padme hum | |
|---|---|
| Lantsa | |
| Transliteration | auṃ maṇi pad me hūṃ |
| Tibetan | |
| Tibetan | |
| Transliteration Wylie transliteration The Wylie transliteration scheme is a method for transliterating Tibetan script using only the letters available on a typical English language typewriter. It bears the name of Turrell V. Wylie, who described the scheme in an article, A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription, published in 1959... |
oṁ maṇi pad me hūṁ |
| Old Uyghur | |
| Transliteration | oom mani badmi xung |
| 'Phags-pa | |
| 'Phags-pa | |
| Transliteration | 'om ma ni pad me hung |
| Tangut | |
| Transliteration | ·a mja nji pja mjij xo |
| Chinese | |
| Hanzi | |
| Pinyin Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... |
ǎn má ní bā mí hōng |
The 1348 stele is 140.5 × 61.5 cm in size. The face of the stele has the words "Cave of Unequalled Height" (Mògāokū 莫高窟) written in large Chinese characters at the top, below which the Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum is engraved in six different scripts
Writing system
A writing system is a symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language.-General properties:Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that the reader must usually understand something of the associated spoken language to...
around the engraved image of the four-armed Tibetan form of Avalokiteśvara
Avalokitesvara
Avalokiteśvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism....
, the bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
of compassion, with whom this mantra is particularly associated:
- Lantsa, laid out horizontally on the first row;
- Tibetan, laid out horizontally on the second row;
- Old UyghurOld Uyghur alphabetThe Old Uyghur alphabet was used for writing the Old Uyghur language, a variety of Old Turkic spoken in the Tarim basin, which is an ancestor of the modern Uyghur language. It was descendant of the Sogdian alphabet, used for texts with Buddhist, Manichaean and Christian content for 700–800 years in...
, laid out vertically on the far left; - 'Phags-pa, laid out vertically to the left of the image;
- TangutTangut scriptThe Tangut script was a logographic writing system, used for writing the extinct Tangut language of the Western Xia Dynasty. According to the latest count, 5863 Tangut characters are known, excluding variants...
, laid out vertically to the right of the image; - Chinese, laid out vertically on the far right.
Smaller Chinese characters fills the background of the stele.
On the righthand side is a list of principal benefactors, headed by Sulaiman and his wife, Küčü (Chinese: Qu Shu 屈术), and their children. Sulaiman was a fourth generation descendant of Temüge
Temüge
Temüge was the youngest full-brother of Genghis Khan. As the youngest sibling, Temüge and his mother, by Mongol traditions, were allotted the most land and people by Genghis Khan during his coronation...
, the youngest brother of Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
, and according to the History of the Yuan Dynasty
History of Yuan
The History of Yuan is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the Twenty-Four Histories of China. The historical work consists of 210 chapters chronicling the history of the Genghisid Yuan Dynasty from the time of Genghis Khan to the flight of the last Yuan Emperor Huizong from...
he was installed as Prince of Xining (Chinese: Xīníng Wáng 西寧王) in 1329.
On the lefthand side it is recorded that the stele was erected on the 15th day of the 5th month of the 8th year of the Zhizheng era [of Emperor Huizong of Yuan] (i.e. 1348) by the monk Shoulang 守朗. On the far left, outside the frame, is a single line recording that the stele was engraved by a certain Shelan Lingdan 奢藍令旃 (Chinese transcription of the Tibetan name Shes-rab rin-chen ཤེས་རབ་རིན་ཆེན). At the bottom is a long list of other donors, many of them with Mongolian or Tibetan names.
The 1351 Stele
The 1351 stele was erected to commemorate the restoration of the Huangqing Temple (皇慶寺) by Sulaiman and other benefactors. The inscription text, composed by Liu Qi 劉奇, Director of Literary Studies of the ShazhouDunhuang
Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...
District, in the 8th month of the 11th year of the Zhizheng era (i.e. 1351) states that Sulaiman donated gold, silk, timber and other provisions for the temple's reconstruction, and that the monk Shoulang, who erected the 1348 stele, was responsible for keeping a register of donors. The inscription also notes that Sulaiman did when the restoration was completed, and so the principal benefactor listed at the end of the inscription is Sulaiman's son, Yaɣan-Šāh (Chinese: Yahansha 牙罕沙), the new Prince of Xining.
See also
- Mani stoneMani stoneMani stones are stone plates, rocks and/or pebbles, inscribed with the six syllabled mantra of Avalokiteshvara , as a form of prayer in Tibetan Buddhism. The term Mani stone may also be used in a loose sense to refer to stones on which any mantra or devotional designs are inscribed...
- Yongning Temple SteleYongning Temple SteleThe Yongning Temple Stele is a Ming Dynasty stele with a trilingual inscription that was erected in 1413 to commemorate the founding of the Yongning Temple in the Nurgan outpost, near the mouth of the Amur River, by the eunuch Yishiha. The location of the temple is the village of Tyr near...
, 1413 stele with Om mani padme hum inscribed in four scripts