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The Memorial Inscription for a Lama of the Great Jin

English editorial translation of the Chinese source entry

The Da Jin Lama Fashi Baoji (“Memorial Record for a Lama Preceptor of the Great Jin”) is a commemorative stone inscription erected at Liaoyang in Tiancong year four (1630), during the Later Jin period. It is an early material witness to religious and political relations under the…

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Source-based English editorial manuscript · Historical details subject to final source verification.

Overview

The Da Jin Lama Fashi Baoji (“Memorial Record for a Lama Preceptor of the Great Jin”) is a commemorative stone inscription erected at Liaoyang in Tiancong year four (1630), during the Later Jin period. It is an early material witness to religious and political relations under the emerging Manchu state, not a Buddhist scripture compiled in later centuries. The inscription commemorates the lama Wolu Darrhan Nangsu, who had entered the Later Jin sphere, and is associated with a burial stupa south of the old city of Liaoyang.

Historical Background

Researchers, including Li Qinpu, have examined the earlier inscription and a later memorial associated with the lama's burial site on the basis of rubbings and other evidence. The inscription of 1630 must be distinguished from a stele erected in Shunzhi year fifteen (1658), which employed Manchu, Chinese, and Mongolian. Their dates and linguistic arrangements are not interchangeable; identification of the script on the earlier stone requires examination of the object and authoritative transcriptions.

Sources and Interpretation

A report on Liaoyang's inscriptions records that the earlier stone originally stood outside the city's southern gate near the lama's stupa and is now held by the Liaoyang Museum. It also preserves names associated with officials, clergy, and craftspeople involved in the monument. Among these is the inscriptional name of the educational officer Cao Zhenyan, which has attracted interest in research on the family history of Cao Xueqin. A name carved on the stone is direct evidence for its presence there, but claims of genealogical descent require independent corroboration. The stele's importance lies in the intersection of early Later Jin religious patronage, Liaoyang local history, and the study of Manchu-period documentary culture.

Sources and Bibliography

  1. www.lnlymuseum.com
  2. www.people.com.cn
  3. www.sohu.com

Links reproduce references supplied with the Chinese editorial manuscript; they do not establish that every individual statement has undergone independent archival verification.