Page 57 - Chinese Porcelain Vol I, Galland

CHINESE MYTHOLOGY.
25
issues from a hollow rock, and flows into the Moving Sands.
Innumerable other marvels are related of the mountain and its
appurtenances, the source of which may be traced through
more than one indication to the of the Hindoo
legends
Thus the statement occurs that Mount Kw'en
mythology.
Lun is called in the West Mount Sii-mi, the well-known
Chinese equivalent for Sumeru, the abode of Indra and his
consort, with whom there is consequently ground for identi-
fying Tung Wang Kung and Si Wang Mu. The description
which is appended to this mention of Mount Kw'en Lun bears,
moreover, a striking resemblance to many of the features of
the Hindoo The mountain is said to be with
legends. peopled
genii, who cultivate upon its terraces the fields of sesamum
and the gardens of coriander (seeds which are eaten in lieu of
ordinary food by the votaries of longevity). Besides these
stand twelve gemmeous towers, all built of the five-coloured
jadestone. Here, according to another collection of Taoist
fables, dwells the goddess Si Wang Mu, at the head of her
and here the forests of and
fairy legions, grow chrysoprase,
the tree of which is the tree of life. At its
great jadestone,
foot lies the Lake of Gems. It is in this marvellous abode
that the feasted her imperial visitor, Muh of
goddess Wang
Chow."
Genii.
Of the genii themselves, there seems to be many descrip-
tions and various accounts. The following is taken from
284 : " Yu Sien, the to a certain
Mayers, p. designation proper
race of immortals or genii, who have eaten of the leaves of the
tree called K'ien, which grows within the moon, where, it is
said, eight trees altogether flourish. The result of this food
is that the bodies of those who eat of it become pellucid as
This notion to be derived, in
crystal. appears part at least,
from the Buddhist sutras, where a tree, called the tree of the
King of Drugs, is said to grow on the Himalayas, and to
such
possess magic virtues, that whoever smells, touches, or
tastes it is healed of all diseases."
immediately