The Swastika Part 5

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 a.s.sert 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 Graberfeld 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.

Cartailhac says:[102]

Modern Christian archaeologists have obstinately contended that the Swastika was composed of four gamma, and so have called it the Croix Gammee. But the Ramayana 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 ma.s.s 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 a.s.sociations of the Swastika found by him in Spain and Portugal and belonging to the first (prehistoric) age of iron: (1) The Swastika was a.s.sociated with the silhouettes of the duck, or bird, similar to those in Greece, noted by Goodyear; (2) the a.s.sociation (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 princ.i.p.ally 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 Mycenae.

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 a.s.signed by Italian antiquaries to 1000 B. C. (but there again we have found only the plain cross, and not the fylfot), and, finally, he a.s.serts 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 superst.i.tious veneration in which it has been also universally held, that the cross pattee, 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 mediaeval 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. [See fig. 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. (See p. 832, 833 of this paper.) Of course, its appearance among the aborigines of America, we can imagine, must have been within the Neolithic period.

II.--DISPERSION OF THE SWASTIKA.

EXTREME ORIENT.

j.a.pAN.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 29. BRONZE STATUE OF BUDDHA. j.a.pan. Eight swastikas on pedestal. Cane tintinnabulum with six movable rings or bells.

One-fifteenth natural size.]

The Swastika was in use in j.a.pan in ancient as well as modern times. Fig.

29 represents a bronze statue of Buddha, one-fifteenth natural size, from j.a.pan, 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 j.a.pan with a number of similar objects found in the Swiss lake dwellings in the prehistoric age of bronze (p. 806).

The Swastika mark was employed by the j.a.panese 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. 9 also represents a mark on j.a.panese bronzes.[109]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 30. j.a.pANESE POTTER'S MARK ON PORCELAIN. De Mortillet, "Musee Prehistorique," Fig. 1248.]

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 bra.s.s-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 in fig. 9.

CHINA.

In the Chinese language the sign of the Swastika is p.r.o.nounced _wan_ (p.

801), and stands for "many," "a great number," "ten thousand," "infinity,"

and by a synecdoche is construed to mean "long life, a mult.i.tude of blessings, great happiness," etc.; as is said in French, "mille pardons,"

"mille remerciments," 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 attaches, Mr. Chung, dressed in his robes of state; his outer garment was of moire 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 circ.u.mstances connected with it in Chinese ancient history. I have had this paper translated into English and ill.u.s.trated 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 a.s.surance 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 ent.i.tled 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.]

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 ent.i.tled 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, ent.i.tled 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.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 1. ORIGIN OF BUDDHA ACCORDING TO TAO SHIH, WITH SWASTIKA SIGN. From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. National Museum by Mr. Yang Yu, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.