一切經音義 35.167

35.167

Birch bark (樺皮) (the first character is *hua-ma* fan; the name of a tree; its bark can serve as candles; inside it are thin and smooth layers suited for writing; those Five Indias lack paper, so they trim birch bark, or pattra leaves, or tāla tree leaves, cutting them into palm-leaf manuscripts (pothī), like the ancient people of the Central Plains who used bamboo slips and the like to write down sūtras and teachings, secular and sacred scriptures, which were transmitted to this land).