On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c19.19

v2.c19.19

The Stone of this passage was seen also by Fa-hsien in a temple near the Relic Tope. According to the Life there was a wheel on each sole, the tips of the toes had svastika tracery, and there were vases and fish and other things. Julien translates the words hua-wên (花文) by "des ornements de fleurs", but they mean simply the artistic tracing of the lines in the toes— the wan-tzŭ-hua-wên or svastika tracery of the Life. Then the yü-hsing-yin (or ying)-ch'i (魚形隱 (or 映) 𨅝) of the text is in Julien's rendering "des corps de poissons s'élèvent en relief". But I think the words here only mean that the lamination of the prints stood out in relief. The figures on the stone were of course wrought by an artist, and they retained the scaly character of the work as left by him. But to the pilgrim's believing eye the footprints retained the impression of the lines and figures which adorned the soles of the Buddha's feet. These, however, he describes as they appeared to him.