The true home of the Swastika is the Greek geometric style, as will be immediately obvious to every expert who examines the question through the study of that style. In seeking the home of a symbol, we should consider where it appears in the largest dimension and where it appears in the most formal and prominent way. The Greek geometric vases are the only monuments on which the Swastika systematically appears in panels exclusively assigned to it (pl. 60, fig. 13; and pl. 56, fig. 4). There are no other monuments on which the Swastika can be found in a dimension taking up one-half the height of the entire object (pl. 56, fig. 4). The ordinary size of the Swastika, in very primitive times, is under a third of an inch in diameter. They are found in Greek geometric pottery 2 or 3 inches in diameter, but they also appear in the informal scattering way (pl. 61, fig. 4) which characterizes the Swastika in other styles.The Swastika dates from the earliest diffusion of the Egyptian meander in the basin of the Mediterranean, and it is a profound remark of De Morgan (Mission Scientifique au Caucase) that the area of the Swastika appears to be coextensive with the area of bronze. In northern prehistoric Europe, where the Swastika has attracted considerable attention, it is distinctly connected with the bronze culture derived from the south. When found on prehistoric pottery of the north, the southern home of its beginnings is equally clear.In seeking the home of a symbol, we should consider not only the nature of its appearance, but also where it is found in the largest amount, for this shows the center of vogue and power—that is to say, the center of diffusion. The vogue of the Swastika at Troy is not as great as its vogue in Cyprian Greek pottery (pl. 60, fig. 15) and Rhodian pottery (pl. 60, fig. 2). * * * It is well known to Melian vases (pl. 60, fig. 8) and to archaic Greek vases (pl. 61, fig. 12), but its greatest prominence is on the pottery of the Greek geometric style (pl. 60, fig. 13; pl. 56, fig. 4; pl. 61, figs. 1 and 4; and figs. 173 and 171). * * *Aside from the Greek geometric style, our earliest reference for the Swastika, and very possibly an earlier reference than the first, is its appearance on the “hut urns” of Italy. On such it appears rather as a fragment of the more complicated meander patterns, from which it is derived. My precise view is that the earliest and, consequently, imperfect, forms of the Swastika are on the hut urns of Italy, but that, as an independent and definitely shaped pattern, it first belongs to the Greek geometric style. I do not assert that the Swastika is very common on hut urns, which are often undecorated. * * * Our present intermediate link with India for the Swastika lies in the Caucasus and in the adjacent territory of Koban. This last ancient center of the arts in metal has lately attracted attention through the publication of Virchow (Das Gräberfeld von Koban). In the original Coban bronzes of the Prehistoric Museum of St. Germain there is abundant matter for study (p. 351).
The true home of the Swastika is the Greek geometric style, as will be immediately obvious to every expert who examines the question through the study of that style. In seeking the home of a symbol, we should consider where it appears in the largest dimension and where it appears in the most formal and prominent way. The Greek geometric vases are the only monuments on which the Swastika systematically appears in panels exclusively assigned to it (pl. 60, fig. 13; and pl. 56, fig. 4). There are no other monuments on which the Swastika can be found in a dimension taking up one-half the height of the entire object (pl. 56, fig. 4). The ordinary size of the Swastika, in very primitive times, is under a third of an inch in diameter. They are found in Greek geometric pottery 2 or 3 inches in diameter, but they also appear in the informal scattering way (pl. 61, fig. 4) which characterizes the Swastika in other styles.
The Swastika dates from the earliest diffusion of the Egyptian meander in the basin of the Mediterranean, and it is a profound remark of De Morgan (Mission Scientifique au Caucase) that the area of the Swastika appears to be coextensive with the area of bronze. In northern prehistoric Europe, where the Swastika has attracted considerable attention, it is distinctly connected with the bronze culture derived from the south. When found on prehistoric pottery of the north, the southern home of its beginnings is equally clear.
In seeking the home of a symbol, we should consider not only the nature of its appearance, but also where it is found in the largest amount, for this shows the center of vogue and power—that is to say, the center of diffusion. The vogue of the Swastika at Troy is not as great as its vogue in Cyprian Greek pottery (pl. 60, fig. 15) and Rhodian pottery (pl. 60, fig. 2). * * * It is well known to Melian vases (pl. 60, fig. 8) and to archaic Greek vases (pl. 61, fig. 12), but its greatest prominence is on the pottery of the Greek geometric style (pl. 60, fig. 13; pl. 56, fig. 4; pl. 61, figs. 1 and 4; and figs. 173 and 171). * * *
Aside from the Greek geometric style, our earliest reference for the Swastika, and very possibly an earlier reference than the first, is its appearance on the “hut urns” of Italy. On such it appears rather as a fragment of the more complicated meander patterns, from which it is derived. My precise view is that the earliest and, consequently, imperfect, forms of the Swastika are on the hut urns of Italy, but that, as an independent and definitely shaped pattern, it first belongs to the Greek geometric style. I do not assert that the Swastika is very common on hut urns, which are often undecorated. * * * Our present intermediate link with India for the Swastika lies in the Caucasus and in the adjacent territory of Koban. This last ancient center of the arts in metal has lately attracted attention through the publication of Virchow (Das Gräberfeld von Koban). In the original Coban bronzes of the Prehistoric Museum of St. Germain there is abundant matter for study (p. 351).
Mr. R. P. Greg, in “Fret or Key Ornamentation in Mexico and Peru,”[101]says:
Both the Greek fret and the fylfot appear to have been unknown to the Semitic nations as an ornament or as a symbol.In Egypt the fylfot does not occur. It is, I believe, generally admitted or supposed that the fylfot is of early Aryan origin. Eastward toward India, Tibet, and China it was adopted, in all probability, as a sacred symbol of Buddha; westward it may have spread in one form or another to Greece, Asia Minor, and even to North Germany.
Both the Greek fret and the fylfot appear to have been unknown to the Semitic nations as an ornament or as a symbol.
In Egypt the fylfot does not occur. It is, I believe, generally admitted or supposed that the fylfot is of early Aryan origin. Eastward toward India, Tibet, and China it was adopted, in all probability, as a sacred symbol of Buddha; westward it may have spread in one form or another to Greece, Asia Minor, and even to North Germany.
Cartailhac says:[102]
Modern Christian archæologists have obstinately contended that the Swastika was composed of four gamma, and so have called it the Croix Gammée. But the Ramâyana placed it on the boat of the Rama long before they had any knowledge of Greek. It is found on a number of Buddhist edifices; the Sectarians of Vishnu placed it as a sign upon their foreheads. Burnouf says it is the Aryan sign par excellence. It was surely a religious emblem in use in India fifteen centuries before the Christian era, and thence it spread to every part. In Europe it appeared about the middle of the civilization of the bronze age, and we find it, pure or transformed into a cross, on a mass of objects in metal or pottery during the first age of iron. Sometimes its lines were rounded and given a graceful curve instead of straight and square at its ends and angles. [See letter by Gandhi, pp.803,805.]
M. Cartailhac notes[103]several facts concerning the associations of the Swastika found by him in Spain and Portugal and belonging to the first (prehistoric) age of iron: (1) The Swastika was associated with the silhouettes of the duck, or bird, similar to those in Greece, noted by Goodyear; (2) the association (in his fig. 41) on a slab from the lake dwellings, of the Maltese cross and reproduction of the triskelion; (3) a tetraskelion, which he calls a Swastika “flamboyant,” being the triskelion, but with four arms, the same shown on Lycian coins as being ancestors of the true triskelion (his fig. 412); (4) those objects were principally found in the ancient lake dwellings of Sambroso and Briteiros, supposedly dating from the eighth and ninth centuries B. C. With them were found many ornaments, borders representing cords, spirals, meanders, etc., which had the same appearance as those found by Schliemann at Mycenæ. Cartailhac says:[104]
Without doubt Asiatic influences are evident in both cases; first appearing in the Troad, then in Greece, they were spread through Iberia and, possibly, who can tell, finally planted in a far-away Occident.
A writer in the Edinburgh Review, in an extended discussion on “The pre-Christian cross,” treats of the Swastika under the local name of “Fylfot,” but in such an enigmatical and uncertain manner that it is difficult to distinguish it from other and commoner forms of the cross. Mr. Waring[105]criticises him somewhat severely for his errors:
He states that it is found * * * in the sculptured stones of Scotland (but after careful search we can find only one or two imperfect representations of it, putting aside the Newton stone inscription, where it is probably a letter or numeral only); that it is carved on the temples and other edifices of Mexico and Central America (where again we have sought for it in vain); that it is found on the cinerary urns of the terramare of Parma and Vicenza, the date of which has been assigned by Italian antiquaries to 1000 B. C. (but there again we have found only the plaincross, and not the fylfot), and, finally, he asserts that “it was the emblem of Libitina or Persephone, the awful Queen of the Shades, and is therefore commonly found on the dress of the tumulorum fossor in the Roman catacombs,” but we have only found one such example. “It is noteworthy, too,” he continues, “in reference to its extreme popularity, or the superstitious veneration in which it has been also universally held, that the cross pattée, or cruciform hammer (but we shall show these are different symbols), was among the very last of purely pagan symbols which was religiously preserved in Europe long after the establishment of Christianity (not in Europe, but in Scandinavia and wherever the Scandinavians had penetrated). * * * It may be seen upon the bells of many of our parish churches, as at Appleby, Mexborough, Haythersaye, Waddington, Bishop’s Norton, West Barkwith, and other places, where it was placed as a magical sign to subdue the vicious spirit of the tempest;” and he subsequently points out its constant use in relation to water or rain.
Mr. Waring continues:
The Rev. C. Boutell, in “Notes and Queries,” points out that it is to be found on many mediæval monuments and bells, and occurs—e. g., at Appleby in Lincolnshire (peopled by Northmen)—as an initial cross to the formula on the bell “Sta. Maria, o. p. n. and c.” In these cases it has clearly been adopted as a Christian symbol. In the same author’s “Heraldry,” he merely describes it as a mystic cross.
Mr. Waring makes one statement which, being within his jurisdiction, should be given full credit. He says, on page 15:
It [the Swastika] appears in Scotland and England only in those parts where Scandinavians penetrated and settled, but is not once found in any works of purely Irish or Franco-Celtic art.
He qualifies this, however, by a note:
I believe it occurs twice on an “Ogam” stone in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, figured in Wilde’s Catalogue (p. 136), but the fylfots are omitted in the wood cut. [Seefig. 215.]
Dr. Brinton,[106]describing the normal Swastika, “with four arms of equal length, the hook usually pointing from left to right,” says: “In this form it occurs in India and on very early (Neolithic) Grecian, Italic, and Iberian remains.” Dr. Brinton is the only author who, writing at length or in a critical manner, attributes the Swastika to the Neolithic period in Europe, and in this, more than likely, he is correct. Professor Virchow’s opinion as to the antiquity of the hill of Hissarlik, wherein Dr. Schliemann found so many Swastikas, should be considered in this connection. (Seep. 832, 833of this paper.) Of course, its appearance among the aborigines of America, we can imagine, must have been within the Neolithic period.
EXTREME ORIENT.
JAPAN.
Fig. 29.BRONZE STATUE OF BUDDHA.Japan. Eight swastikas onpedestal. Cane tintinnabulumwith six movable rings orbells. One-fifteenthnatural size.
The Swastika was in use in Japan in ancient as well as modern times.Fig. 29represents a bronze statue of Buddha, one-fifteenth natural size, from Japan, in the collection of M. Cernuschi, Paris. It has eight Swastikas on the pedestal, the ends all turned at right angles to the right. This specimen is shown by De Mortillet[107]because it relates to prehistoric man. The image or statue holds a cane in the form of a “tintinnabulum,” with movable rings arranged to make a jingling noise, and De Mortillet inserted it in his volume to show the likeness of this work in Japan with a number of similar objects found in the Swiss lake dwellings in the prehistoric age of bronze (p. 806).
Fig. 30.JAPANESE POTTER’SMARK ON PORCELAIN.De Mortillet, “MuséePréhistorique,”Fig. 1248.
The Swastika mark was employed by the Japanese on their porcelain. Sir Augustus W. Franks[108]shows one of these marks, a small Swastika turned to the left and inclosed in a circle (fig. 30).Fig. 9also represents a mark on Japanese bronzes.[109]
KOREA.
The U. S. National Museum has a ladies’ sedan or carrying chair from Korea. It bears eight Swastika marks, cut by stencil in the brass-bound corners, two on each corner, one looking each way. The Swastika is normal, with arms crossing at right angles, the ends bent at right angles and to the right. It is quite plain; the lines are all straight, heavy, of equal thickness, and the angles all at 90 degrees. In appearance it resembles the Swastika infig. 9.
CHINA.
In the Chinese language the sign of the Swastika is pronouncedwan(p. 801), and stands for “many,” “a great number,” “ten thousand,” “infinity,” and by a synecdoche is construed to mean “longlife, a multitude of blessings, great happiness,” etc.; as is said in French, “mille pardons,” “mille remercîments,” a thousand thanks, etc. During a visit to the Chinese legation in the city of Washington, while this paper was in progress, the author met one of the attachés, Mr. Chung, dressed in his robes of state; his outer garment was of moiré silk. The pattern woven in the fabric consisted of a large circle with certain marks therein, prominent among which were two Swastikas, one turned to the right, the other to the left. The name given to the sign was as reported above, wan, and the signification was “longevity,” “long life,” “many years.” Thus was shown that in far as well as near countries, in modern as well as ancient times, this sign stood for blessing, good wishes, and, by a slight extension, for good luck.
The author conferred with the Chinese minister, Yang Yu, with the request that he should furnish any appropriate information concerning the Swastika in China. In due course the author received the following letter and accompanying notes with drawings:
* * * I have the pleasure to submit abstracts from historical and literary works on the origin of the Swastika in China and the circumstances connected with it in Chinese ancient history. I have had this paper translated into English and illustrated by india-ink drawings. The Chinese copy is made by Mr. Ho Yen-Shing, the first secretary of the legation, translation by Mr. Chung, and drawings by Mr. Li.With assurance of my high esteem, I am,Very cordially,Yang Yu.Buddhist philosophers consider simple characters as half or incomplete characters and compound characters as complete characters, while the Swastika[Z]is regarded as a natural formation. A Buddhist priest of the Tang Dynasty, Tao Shih by name, in a chapter of his work entitled Fa Yuen Chu Lin, on the original Buddha, describes him as having this[Z]mark on his breast and sitting on a high lily of innumerable petals. [Pl. 1.]Empress Wu (684-704 A. D.), of the Tang Dynasty, invented a number of new forms for characters already in existence, amongst which[Z circle]was the word for sun,[symbol]for moon,[circle]for star, and so on. These characters were once very extensively used in ornamental writing, and even now the word[Z circle]sun may be found in many of the famous stone inscriptions of that age, which have been preserved to us up to the present day. [Pl. 2.]The history of the Tang Dynasty (620-906 A. D.), by Lui Hsu and others of the Tsin Dynasty, records a decree issued by Emperor Tai Tsung (763-779 A. D.) forbidding the use of the Swastika on silk fabrics manufactured for any purpose. [Pl. 3.]Fung Tse, of the Tang Dynasty, records a practice among the people of Loh-yang to endeavor, on the 7th of the 7th month of each year, to obtain spiders to weave the Swastika on their web. Kung Ping-Chung, of the Sung Dynasty, says that the people of Loh-yang believe it to be good luck to find the Swastika woven by spiders over fruits or melons. [Pl. 4.]Sung Pai, of the Sung Dynasty, records an offering made to the Emperor by Li Yuen-su, a high official of the Tang Dynasty, of a buffalo with a Swastika on the forehead, in return for which offering he was given a horse by the Emperor. [Pl. 5.]
* * * I have the pleasure to submit abstracts from historical and literary works on the origin of the Swastika in China and the circumstances connected with it in Chinese ancient history. I have had this paper translated into English and illustrated by india-ink drawings. The Chinese copy is made by Mr. Ho Yen-Shing, the first secretary of the legation, translation by Mr. Chung, and drawings by Mr. Li.
With assurance of my high esteem, I am,Very cordially,Yang Yu.
Buddhist philosophers consider simple characters as half or incomplete characters and compound characters as complete characters, while the Swastika[Z]is regarded as a natural formation. A Buddhist priest of the Tang Dynasty, Tao Shih by name, in a chapter of his work entitled Fa Yuen Chu Lin, on the original Buddha, describes him as having this[Z]mark on his breast and sitting on a high lily of innumerable petals. [Pl. 1.]
Empress Wu (684-704 A. D.), of the Tang Dynasty, invented a number of new forms for characters already in existence, amongst which[Z circle]was the word for sun,[symbol]for moon,[circle]for star, and so on. These characters were once very extensively used in ornamental writing, and even now the word[Z circle]sun may be found in many of the famous stone inscriptions of that age, which have been preserved to us up to the present day. [Pl. 2.]
The history of the Tang Dynasty (620-906 A. D.), by Lui Hsu and others of the Tsin Dynasty, records a decree issued by Emperor Tai Tsung (763-779 A. D.) forbidding the use of the Swastika on silk fabrics manufactured for any purpose. [Pl. 3.]
Fung Tse, of the Tang Dynasty, records a practice among the people of Loh-yang to endeavor, on the 7th of the 7th month of each year, to obtain spiders to weave the Swastika on their web. Kung Ping-Chung, of the Sung Dynasty, says that the people of Loh-yang believe it to be good luck to find the Swastika woven by spiders over fruits or melons. [Pl. 4.]
Sung Pai, of the Sung Dynasty, records an offering made to the Emperor by Li Yuen-su, a high official of the Tang Dynasty, of a buffalo with a Swastika on the forehead, in return for which offering he was given a horse by the Emperor. [Pl. 5.]
Plate 1.Origin of Buddha according to Tao Shih,with Swastika Sign.From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. NationalMuseum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.
Plate 2.Swastika Decreed by Empress Wu(684-704 A. D.) as a Sign for Sun in China.From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. NationalMuseum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.
Plate 3.Swastika Design on Silk Fabrics.This use of the Swastika was forbidden in Chinaby Emperor Tai Tsung (763-779 A. D.).From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. NationalMuseum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.
Plate 4.Swastika in Spider Web over Fruit.(A good omen in China.)From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. NationalMuseum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.
Plate 5.Buffalo with Swastika on Forehead.Presented to Emperor of Sung Dynasty.From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. NationalMuseum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.
Plate 6.Incense Burner with Swastika Decoration.South Tang Dynasty.From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S NationalMuseum Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.
Plate 7.House of Wu Tsung-Chih of Sin Shui,with Swastika in Railing.From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. NationalMuseum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.
Plate 8.Mountain or Wild Date.—FruitResembling the Swastika.From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. NationalMuseum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.
The Ts’ing-I-Luh, by Tao Kuh, of the Sung Dynasty, records that an Empress in the time of the South Tang Dynasty had an incense burner the external decoration of which had the Swastika design on it. [Pl. 6.]Chu I-Tsu, in his work entitled Ming Shih Tsung, says Wu Tsung-Chih, a learned man of Sin Shui, built a residence outside of the north gate of that town, which he named “Wan-Chai,” from the Swastika decoration of the railings about the exterior of the house. [Pl. 7.]An anonymous work, entitled the Tung Hsi Yang K’ao, described a fruit called shan-tsao-tse (mountain or wild date), whose leaves resemble those of the plum. The seed resembles the lichee, and the fruit, which ripens in the ninth month of the year, suggests a resemblance to the Swastika. [Pl. 8.]
The Ts’ing-I-Luh, by Tao Kuh, of the Sung Dynasty, records that an Empress in the time of the South Tang Dynasty had an incense burner the external decoration of which had the Swastika design on it. [Pl. 6.]
Chu I-Tsu, in his work entitled Ming Shih Tsung, says Wu Tsung-Chih, a learned man of Sin Shui, built a residence outside of the north gate of that town, which he named “Wan-Chai,” from the Swastika decoration of the railings about the exterior of the house. [Pl. 7.]
An anonymous work, entitled the Tung Hsi Yang K’ao, described a fruit called shan-tsao-tse (mountain or wild date), whose leaves resemble those of the plum. The seed resembles the lichee, and the fruit, which ripens in the ninth month of the year, suggests a resemblance to the Swastika. [Pl. 8.]
The Swastika is one of the symbolic marks of the Chinese porcelain. Prime[110]shows what he calls a “tablet of honor,” which represents a Swastika inclosed in a lozenge with loops at the corners (fig. 31). This mark on a piece of porcelain signifies that it is an imperial gift.
Fig. 31.POTTER’S MARK ON PORCELAIN.China. Tablet of honor, with Swastika.Prime, “Pottery and Porcelain,”p. 254.
Major-General Gordon, controller of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, England, writes to Dr. Schliemann:[111]“The Swastika is Chinese. On the breech chasing of a large gun lying outside my office, captured in the Taku fort, you will find this same sign.” But Dumoutier[112]says this sign is nothing else than the ancient Chinese characterc h e, which, according to D’Alviella,[113]carries the idea of perfection or excellence, and signifies the renewal and perpetuity of life. And again,[111]“Dr. Lockyer, formerly medical missionary to China, says the sign[Z]is thoroughly Chinese.”
The Swastika is found on Chinese musical instruments. The U. S. National Museum possesses a Hu-Ch’in, a violin with four strings, the body of which is a section of bamboo about 3½ inches in diameter. The septum of the joint has been cut away so as to leave a Swastika of normal form, the four arms of which are connected with the outer walls of the bamboo. Another, a Ti-Ch’in, a two-stringed violin, with a body of cocoanut, has a carving which is believed to have been a Swastika; but the central part has been broken out, so that the actual form is undetermined.
Prof. George Frederick Wright, in an article entitled “Swastika,”[114]quotes Rev. F. H. Chalfont, missionary at Chanting, China, as saying: “Same symbol in Chinese characters ‘ouan,’ or ‘wan,’ and is a favorite ornament with the Chinese.”
TIBET.
Mr. William Woodville Rockhill,[115]speaking of the fair at Kumbum, says:
I found there a number of Lh’asa Tibetans (they call them Gopa here) selling pulo, beads of various colors, saffron, medicines, peacock feathers, incense sticks, etc. I had a talk with these traders, several of whom I had met here before in 1889. * * * One of them had a Swastika (yung-drung) tattooed on his hand, and I learned from this man that this is not an uncommon mode of ornamentation in his country.
Count D’Alviella says that the Swastika is continued among the Buddhists of Tibet; that the women ornament their petticoats with it, and that it is also placed upon the breasts of their dead.[116]
He also reports[117]a Buddhist statue at the Musée Guimet with Swastikas about the base. He does not state to what country it belongs, so the author has no means of determining if it is the same statue as is represented infig. 29.
INDIA.
Burnouf[118]says approvingly of the Swastika:
Christian archæologists believe this was the most ancient sign of the cross. * * * It was used among the Brahmins from all antiquity. (Voyez mot “Swastika” dans notre dictionnaire sanskrit.) Swastika, or Swasta, in India corresponds to “benediction” among Christians.
Fig. 32.FOOTPRINT OF BUDDHA WITH SWASTIKA, FROM AMARAVATI TOPE.From a figure by Fergusson and Schliemann.
The same author, in his translation of the “Lotus de la Bonne Loi,” one of the nine Dharmas or Canonical books of the Buddhists of the North, of 280 pages, adds an appendix of his own writing of 583 pages; and in one (No. 8) devoted to an enumeration and description of the sixty-five figures traced on the footprint of Çakya (fig. 32) commences as follows:
1.Svastikaya: This is the familiar mystic figure of many Indian sects, representedthus,[S], and whose name signifies, literally, “sign of benediction or of good augury.” (Rgya tch’er rol pa, Vol. 11, p. 110.)* * * The sign of the Swastika was not less known to the Brahmins than to the Buddhists. “Ramayana,” Vol. II, p. 348, ed. Gor., Chap. XCVII, st. 17, tells of vessels on the sea bearing this sign of fortune. This mark, of which the name and usage are certainly ancient, because it is found on the oldest Buddhist medals, may have been used as frequently among the Brahmins as among the Buddhists. Most of the inscriptions on the Buddhist caverns in western India are either preceded or followed by the holy (sacramentelle) sign of the Swastika. It appears less common on the Brahmin monuments.
1.Svastikaya: This is the familiar mystic figure of many Indian sects, representedthus,[S], and whose name signifies, literally, “sign of benediction or of good augury.” (Rgya tch’er rol pa, Vol. 11, p. 110.)
* * * The sign of the Swastika was not less known to the Brahmins than to the Buddhists. “Ramayana,” Vol. II, p. 348, ed. Gor., Chap. XCVII, st. 17, tells of vessels on the sea bearing this sign of fortune. This mark, of which the name and usage are certainly ancient, because it is found on the oldest Buddhist medals, may have been used as frequently among the Brahmins as among the Buddhists. Most of the inscriptions on the Buddhist caverns in western India are either preceded or followed by the holy (sacramentelle) sign of the Swastika. It appears less common on the Brahmin monuments.
Mr. W. Crooke (Bengal Civil Service, director of Eth. Survey, Northwest Provinces and Oudh), says:[119]
The mystical emblem of the Swastika, which appears to represent the sun in his journey through the heavens, is of constant occurrence. The trader paints it on the flyleaf of his ledger, he who has young children or animals liable to the evil eye makes a representation of it on the wall beside his doorpost. It holds first place among the lucky marks of the Jainas. It is drawn on the shaven heads of children on the marriage day in Gujarat. A red circle with Swastika in the center is depicted on the place where the family gods are kept (Campbell, Notes, p. 70). In the Meerut division the worshiper of the village god Bhumiya constructs a rude model of it in the shrine by fixing up two crossed straws with a daub of plaster. It often occurs in folklore. In the drama of the Toy Cart the thief hesitates whether he shall make a hole in the wall of Charudatta’s house in the form of a Swastika or of a water jar (Manning, Ancient India, 11, 100).Village shrines.—The outside (of the shrines) is often covered with rude representations of the mystical Swastika.
The mystical emblem of the Swastika, which appears to represent the sun in his journey through the heavens, is of constant occurrence. The trader paints it on the flyleaf of his ledger, he who has young children or animals liable to the evil eye makes a representation of it on the wall beside his doorpost. It holds first place among the lucky marks of the Jainas. It is drawn on the shaven heads of children on the marriage day in Gujarat. A red circle with Swastika in the center is depicted on the place where the family gods are kept (Campbell, Notes, p. 70). In the Meerut division the worshiper of the village god Bhumiya constructs a rude model of it in the shrine by fixing up two crossed straws with a daub of plaster. It often occurs in folklore. In the drama of the Toy Cart the thief hesitates whether he shall make a hole in the wall of Charudatta’s house in the form of a Swastika or of a water jar (Manning, Ancient India, 11, 100).
Village shrines.—The outside (of the shrines) is often covered with rude representations of the mystical Swastika.
On page 250 he continues thus:
Charms.—The bazar merchant writes the words “Ram Ram” over his door, or makes an image of Genesa, the god of luck, or draws the mystical Swastika. The jand tree is reverenced as sacred by Khattris and Brahmins to avoid the evil eye in children. The child is brought at 3 years of age before a jand tree; a bough is cut with a sickle and planted at the foot of the tree. A Swastika symbol is made before it with the rice flour and sugar brought as an offering to the tree. Threads of string, used by women to tie up their hair, are cut in lengths and some deposited on the Swastika.
Mr. Virchand R. Gandhi, a Hindu and Jain disciple from Bombay, India, a delegate to the World’s Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893, remained for some time in Washington, D. C., proselyting among the Christians. He is a cultivated gentleman, devoted to the spread of his religion. I asked his advice and assistance, which he kindly gave, supervising my manuscript for the Swastika in the extreme Orient, and furnishing me the following additional information relative to the Swastika in India, and especially among the Jains:
Fig. 33.EXPLANATION OFTHE JAIN SWASTIKA,ACCORDING TO GANDHI.(1) Archaic or protoplasmiclife; (2) Plant and animallife; (3) Human life;(4) Celestial life.
The Swastika is misinterpreted by so-called Western expounders of our ancient Jain philosophy. The original idea was very high, but later on some persons thought the cross represented only the combination of the male and the female principles. While we are on the physical plane and our propensities on the material line, we think it necessary to unite these (sexual) principles for our spiritual growth. Onthe higher plane the soul is sexless, and those who wish to rise higher than the physical plane must eliminate the idea of sex.
I explain the Jain Swastika by the following illustration [fig. 33]: The horizontal and vertical lines crossing each other at right angles form the Greek cross. They represent spirit and matter. We add four other lines by bending to the right each arm of the cross, then three circles and the crescent, and a circle within the crescent. The idea thus symbolized is that there are four grades of existence of souls in the material universe. The first is the lowest state—Archaic or protoplasmic life. The soul evolves from that state to the next—the earth with its plant and animal life. Then follows the third stage—the human; then the fourth stage—the celestial. The word “celestial” is here held to mean life in other worlds than our own. All these graduations are combinations of matter and soul on different scales. The spiritual plane is that in which the soul is entirely freed from the bonds of matter. In order to reach that plane, one must strive to possess the three jewels (represented by the three circles), right belief, right knowledge, right conduct. When a person has those, he will certainly go higher until he reaches the state of liberation, which is represented by the crescent. The crescent has the form of the rising moon and is always growing larger. The circle in the crescent represents the omniscient state of the soul when it has attained full consciousness, is liberated, and lives apart from matter.The interpretation, according to the Jain view of the cross, has nothing to do with the combination of the male and female principle. Worship of the male and female principles, ideas based upon sex, lowest even of the emotional plane, can never rise higher than the male and female.
I explain the Jain Swastika by the following illustration [fig. 33]: The horizontal and vertical lines crossing each other at right angles form the Greek cross. They represent spirit and matter. We add four other lines by bending to the right each arm of the cross, then three circles and the crescent, and a circle within the crescent. The idea thus symbolized is that there are four grades of existence of souls in the material universe. The first is the lowest state—Archaic or protoplasmic life. The soul evolves from that state to the next—the earth with its plant and animal life. Then follows the third stage—the human; then the fourth stage—the celestial. The word “celestial” is here held to mean life in other worlds than our own. All these graduations are combinations of matter and soul on different scales. The spiritual plane is that in which the soul is entirely freed from the bonds of matter. In order to reach that plane, one must strive to possess the three jewels (represented by the three circles), right belief, right knowledge, right conduct. When a person has those, he will certainly go higher until he reaches the state of liberation, which is represented by the crescent. The crescent has the form of the rising moon and is always growing larger. The circle in the crescent represents the omniscient state of the soul when it has attained full consciousness, is liberated, and lives apart from matter.
The interpretation, according to the Jain view of the cross, has nothing to do with the combination of the male and female principle. Worship of the male and female principles, ideas based upon sex, lowest even of the emotional plane, can never rise higher than the male and female.
The Jains make the Swastika sign when we enter our temple of worship. This sign reminds us of the great principles represented by the three jewels and by which we are to reach the ultimate good. Those symbols intensify our thoughts and make them more permanent.
Fig. 34c.THE FORMATION OF THE JAINSWASTIKA—THIRD STAGE.Ends turned out, typifying animal, human,and celestial life, as shown infig. 33.
Mr. Gandhi says the Jains make the sign of the Swastika as frequently and deftly as the Roman Catholics make the sign of the cross. It is not confined to the temple nor to the priests or monks. Whenever or wherever a benediction or blessing is given, the Swastika is used. Figs. 34a,b,cform a series showing how it is made. A handful of rice, meal, flour, sugar, salt, or any similar substance, is spread over a circular space, say, 3 inches in diameter and one-eighth of an inch deep (fig. 34a), then commence at the outside of the circle (fig. 34b), on its upper or farther left-hand corner, and draw the finger through the meal just to the left of the center, halfway or more to the opposite or near edge of the circle (1), then again to the right (2), then upward (3), finally to the left where it joins with the first mark (4). The ends are swept outward, the dots and crescent put in above, and the sign is complete (fig. 34c).
The sign of the Swastika is reported in great numbers, by hundreds if not by thousands, in the inscriptions on the rock walls of the Buddhist caves in India. It is needless to copy them, but is enough to say that they are the same size as the letters forming the inscription; that they all have four arms and the ends turn at right angles, or nearly so, indifferently to the right or to the left. The following list of inscriptions, containing the Swastikas, is taken from the first book coming to hand—the “Report of Dr. James Burgess on the Buddhist Cave Temples and their Inscriptions, Being a Part of the Result of the Fourth,Fifth, and Sixth Seasons’ Operations of the Archæological Survey of Western India, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879:”[120]
Chantre[121]says:
I remind you that the (East) Indians, Chinese, and Japanese employ the Swastika, not only as a religious emblem but as a simple ornament in painting on pottery and elsewhere, the same as we employ the Greek fret, lozenges, and similar motifs in our ornamentation.Sistres[the staff with jingling bells, held in the hand of Buddha, on whose base is engraved a row of Swastikas,fig. 29of present paper] of similar form and style have been found in prehistoric Swiss lake dwellings of the bronze age. Thus thesistresand the Swastika are brought into relation with each other. Thesistrespossibly relate to an ancient religion, as they did in the Orient; the Swastika may have had a similar distinction.
I remind you that the (East) Indians, Chinese, and Japanese employ the Swastika, not only as a religious emblem but as a simple ornament in painting on pottery and elsewhere, the same as we employ the Greek fret, lozenges, and similar motifs in our ornamentation.Sistres[the staff with jingling bells, held in the hand of Buddha, on whose base is engraved a row of Swastikas,fig. 29of present paper] of similar form and style have been found in prehistoric Swiss lake dwellings of the bronze age. Thus thesistresand the Swastika are brought into relation with each other. Thesistrespossibly relate to an ancient religion, as they did in the Orient; the Swastika may have had a similar distinction.
De Mortillet and others hold the same opinion.[122]
CLASSICAL ORIENT.
BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA, CHALDEA, AND PERSIA.
Waring[123]says, “In Babylonian and Assyrian remains we search for it [the Swastika] in vain.” Max Müller and Count Goblet d’Alviella are of the same opinion.[124]
Of Persia, D’Alviella (p. 51), citing Ludwig Müller,[125]says that the Swastika is manifested only by its presence on certain coins of the Arsacides and the Sassanides.
PHENICIA.
It is reported by various authors that the Swastika has never been found in Phenicia, e. g. Max Müller, J. B. Waring, Count Goblet d’Alviella.[126]
Ohnefalsch-Richter[127]says that the Swastika is not found in Phenicia, yet he is of the opinion that their emigrant and commercial travelers brought it from the far east and introduced it into Cyprus, Carthage, and the north of Africa. (Seep. 796.)
LYCAONIA.
Lempriere, in his Classical Dictionary, under the above title, gives the following: