法苑珠林 4.44

4.44

Furthermore, Wang Xuance's Xiguo xingzhuan states: "In the fourth year of Xianqing [659 CE], the royal envoy arrived in the kingdom of Vṛji. For the Chinese guests, the king put on an acrobatic spectacle with five women. These five women juggled three knives, and then up to ten. They also performed rope acrobatics: leaping into the air above the ropes while wearing sandals, and juggling three weapons in their hands—swords, shields, spears, and the like. There were various mechanical acrobatics mixed with sundry illusions, such as cutting out tongues and pulling out intestines, which cannot be recounted in full."