Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t2: Sala Tree
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t2
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Sala Tree
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The sala tree (commonly known as sal) is a perennial evergreen arbor of the Dipterocarpaceae family. Its scientific name is *Shorea robusta*. Its original home is in the Indian and Malayan rainforests and it is one of the Buddhist holy trees. Sutras record that the Buddha Sakyamuni entered nirvana between the two sala trees beside the Ajitavatā River outside the capital of Kuśinagara (35 km east of present-day Gorakhpur. The work *Travelling Notes on the Western Regions in the Great Tang Dynasty* (juan 6) described the sala trees seen by Xuanzang there, “The trees were similar to the Quercus dentata but their bark was bluish white, and leaves were bright and smooth. The four trees were very high and the Buddha entered nirvana here.” ‘娑罗’ (Suoluo) was the transliteration of sala in Sanskrit. Juan 1 of Shen Qing’s *Record of North Mountain* in the Tang Dynasty explained that, “It is named sala in Sanskrit and it is called jiangu here and it doesn’t wither away in winter.” The explanation on "sala forest" in *juan* 23 of Hui Lin’s *Sound and Meaning of All Sutras* differed somewhat. “The sala tree is called gaoyuan here and it is higher than other trees in a forest. It was translated as 'jiangu' wrongly in the past because sala was similar to the pronunciation of Para. If it is called 'jiangu', the sound of the same has to made by turning the tongue. If it is called 'gaoyuan', it might be done by pronouncing it straight without any turning of the tongue.” 'Jiangu' corresponds to the Sanskrit 'sàra', whose pronunciation is similar to Sala.
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*Śāla grove after the rains*
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*Juan 54*, 'Record of Foreign Countries', in the *Book of the Liang Dynasty* recorded that the state of Funan sent envoys to offer auspicious Indian sandalwood images, sala leaves, fire balls, curcuma aromatica and storax in the 18^th year of the Tianjian period (519 CE). Duan Chengshi’s *Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang* recorded that Anxi monks from the Western Regions went to the court to offer sala leaves in the first year of the Tianbao period in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Wei wrote, “Offering Sala Leaves” for the Anxi provincial governor and praised the excellent characteristics of the tree, saying that, “It doesn’t shield common grasses and harbour evil birds.” As a Buddhist holy tree, sala trees were planted in many Chinese temples. The entry on Sala in Volume 961 of the *Taiping Imperial Encyclopaedia* quoted Sheng Hong’s *Records of Jinzhou* and recorded a miracle about how a sala tree was grown in a monk’s room of Xian’an Temple in Baling in the 1^st Year of Yongkang of the Jin Dynasty and was recognised by foreign monks later. Li Yong, the governor of Hai Zhou wrote the *Sala Tree Tablet* in the 11th year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty (723 CE) in Huaiyin County, Chuzhou. There is also the *Tablet of the Sala Tree Song* in the ruins of Xiangshan Temple in Beijing’s Xiangshan Park which was made on imperial order in the 38th Year of Qianlong in the Qing period (1773). The poem, carved in four scripts - Manchu, Mongolian, Han Chinese and Tibetan - praised the Sala tree which had been planted there for 1,000 years. Ouyang Yongshu wrote his *Poem of the Sala Tree* which went as follows, “There are many rare trees in Yi and Luo. Sala trees were once famous, they are often seen in Buddhist temples and they grow best under the moon.” Therefore, the sala tree is not only an illustration of the transmission of plants between China and India but also played a role in the spread of Buddhist culture.