1、Record of Buddhistic Kingdomsby Fa-HienBeing an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of hisTravels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in Search of theBuddhist Books of DisciplineTranslated and annotatedwith a Corean recension of the Chinese textBYJAMES LEGGEPREFACE （序言）Several times during my long re
2、sidence in Hong Kong I endeavoured toread through the “Narrative of Fa-hien;“ but though interested withthe graphic details of much of the work, its columns bristled soconstantly-now with his phonetic representations of Sanskrit words,and now with his substitution for them of their meanings in Chine
3、secharacters, and I was, moreover, so much occupied with my own speciallabours on the Confucian Classics, that my success was far fromsatisfactory. When Dr. Eitels “Handbook for the Student of ChineseBuddhism“ appeared in 1870, the difficulty occasioned by the Sanskritwords and names was removed, bu
4、t the other difficulty remained; and Iwas not able to look into the book again for several years. Nor had Imuch inducement to do so in the two copies of it which I had been ableto procure, on poor paper, and printed from blocks badly cut at first,and so worn with use as to yield books the reverse of
5、 attractive intheir appearance to the student.In the meantime I kept studying the subject of Buddhism from varioussources; and in 1878 began to lecture, here in Oxford, on the Travelswith my Davis Chinese scholar, who was at the same time Boden Sanskritscholar. As we went on, I wrote out a translati
6、on in English for myown satisfaction of nearly half the narrative. In the beginning oflast year I made Fa-hien again the subject of lecture, wrote out asecond translation, independent of the former, and pushed on till Ihad completed the whole.The want of a good and clear text had been supplied by my
7、 friend, Mr.Bunyiu Nanjio, who sent to me from Japan a copy, the text of which isappended to the translation and notes, and of the nature of which someaccount is given in the Introduction, and towards the end of thisPreface.The present work consists of three parts: the Translation of Fa-hiensNarrati
8、ve of his Travels; copious Notes; and the Chinese Text of mycopy from Japan. （里雅各翻译的法显传包括三个部分： 英文、注释和来自日本中文本。 ） （但是下载版没有中文本。 ）It is for the Translation that I hold myself more especiallyresponsible. Portions of it were written out three times, and thewhole of it twice. （三易其稿，或者两易其稿。 ）While preparing
9、 my own version I made frequentreference to previous translations:-those of M. Abel Remusat, “Revu,complete, et augmente declaircissements nouveaux par MM. Klaproth etLandress“ (Paris, 1836); of the Rev. Samuel Beal (London, 1869), and（参考了法译本）his revision of it, prefixed to his “Buddhist Records of
10、the WesternWorld“ (Trubners Oriental Series, 1884); and of Mr. Herbert A. Giles,（翟理斯的英译本）of H.M.s Consular Service in China (1877). To these I have to add aseries of articles on “Fa-hsien and his English Translators,“ by Mr.T. Watters, British Consul at I-Chang (China Review, 1879, 1880).Those artic
11、les are of the highest value, displaying accuracy ofChinese scholarship and an extensive knowledge of Buddhism. I haveregretted that Mr. Watters, while reviewing others, did not himselfwrite out and publish a version of the whole of Fa-hiens narrative.If he had done so, I should probably have though
12、t that, on the whole,nothing more remained to be done for the distinguished Chinese pilgrimin the way of translation. Mr. Watters had to judge of the comparativemerits of the versions of Beal and Giles, and pronounce on the many(两个译本，Mr. Watters 对此有评论)points of contention between them. I have endeav
13、oured to eschew thosematters, and have seldom made remarks of a critical nature in defenceof renderings of my own.The Chinese narrative runs on without any break. It was Klaproth who（原书没有分节）divided Remusats translation into forty chapters. The division ishelpful to the reader, and I have followed it
14、 excepting in three orfour instances. In the reprinted Chinese text the chapters areseparated by a circle in the column.In transliterating the names of Chinese characters I have generallyfollowed the spelling of Morrison rather than the Pekinese, which isnow in vogue. We cannot tell exactly what the
15、 pronunciation of themwas, about fifteen hundred years ago, in the time of Fa-hien; but thesouthern mandarin must be a shade nearer to it than that of Peking atthe present day. In transliterating the Indian names I have for themost part followed Dr. Eitel, with such modification as seemed goodand in
16、 harmony with growing usage.For the Notes I can do little more than claim the merit of selectionand condensation. My first object in them was to explain what in thetext required explanation to an English reader. All Chinese texts, andBuddhist texts especially, are new to foreign students. One has to
17、 dofor them what many hundreds of the ablest scholars in Europe have donefor the Greek and Latin Classics during several hundred years, andwhat the thousands of critics and commentators have been doing of ourSacred Scriptures for nearly eighteen centuries. There are fewpredecessors in the field of C
18、hinese literature into whose labourstranslators of the present century can enter. This will be received, Ihope, as a sufficient apology for the minuteness and length of some ofthe notes. A second object in them was to teach myself first, and thenothers, something of the history and doctrines of Budd
19、hism. I havethought that they might be learned better in connexion with a livelynarrative like that of Fa-hien than by reading didactic descriptionsand argumentative books. Such has been my own experience. The bookswhich I have consulted for these notes have been many, besides Chineseworks. My princ
20、ipal help has been the full and masterly handbook ofEitel, mentioned already, and often referred to as E.H. Spence Hardys“Eastern Monachism“ (E.M.) and “Manual of Buddhism“ (M.B.) have beenconstantly in hand, as well as Rhys Davids Buddhism, published by theSociety for Promoting Christian Knowledge,
21、 his Hibbert Lectures, andhis Buddhist Suttas in the Sacred Books of the East, and otherwritings. I need not mention other authorities, having endeavouredalways to specify them where I make use of them. My proximity andaccess to the Bodleian Library and the Indian Institute have been ofgreat advanta
22、ge.I may be allowed to say that, so far as my own study of it has gone, Ithink there are many things in the vast field of Buddhist literaturewhich still require to be carefully handled. How far, for instance,are we entitled to regard the present Sutras as genuine andsufficiently accurate copies of t
23、hose which were accepted by theCouncils before our Christian era? Can anything be done to trace therise of the legends and marvels of Sakyamunis history, which werecurrent so early (as it seems to us) as the time of Fa-hien, and whichstartle us so frequently by similarities between them and narrativ
24、esin our Gospels? Dr. Hermann Oldenberg, certainly a great authority onBuddhistic subjects, says that “a biography of Buddha has not comedown to us from ancient times, from the age of the Pali texts; and, wecan safely say, no such biography existed then“ (“Buddha-His Life,His Doctrine, His Order,“ a
25、s translated by Hoey, p. 78). He has also(in the same work, pp. 99, 416, 417) come to the conclusion that thehitherto unchallenged tradition that the Buddha was “a kings son“must be given up. The name “kings son“ (in Chinese .), alwaysused of the Buddha, certainly requires to be understood in the hi
26、ghestsense. I am content myself to wait for further information on theseand other points, as the result of prolonged and careful research.Dr. Rhys Davids has kindly read the proofs of the Translation andNotes, and I most certainly thank him for doing so, for his manyvaluable corrections in the Notes
27、, and for other suggestions which Ihave received from him. I may not always think on various pointsexactly as he does, but I am not more forward than he is to say withHorace,-“Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri.“I have referred above, and also in the Introduction, to the Coreantext of Fa-hien
28、s narrative, which I received from Mr. Nanjio. It ison the whole so much superior to the better-known texts, that Idetermined to attempt to reproduce it at the end of the little volume,so far as our resources here in Oxford would permit. To do so has notbeen an easy task. The two fonts of Chinese ty
29、pes in the ClarendonPress were prepared primarily for printing the translation of ourSacred Scriptures, and then extended so as to be available forprinting also the Confucian Classics; but the Buddhist worknecessarily requires many types not found in them, while many othercharacters in the Corean re
30、cension are peculiar in their forms, andsome are what Chinese dictionaries denominate “vulgar.“ That we havesucceeded so well as we have done is owing chiefly to theintelligence, ingenuity, and untiring attention of Mr. J. C. Pembrey,the Oriental Reader.The pictures that have been introduced were ta
31、ken from a superbedition of a History of Buddha, republished recently at Hang-chau inCheh-kiang, and profusely illustrated in the best style of Chineseart. I am indebted for the use of it to the Rev. J. H. Sedgwick,University Chinese Scholar.James Legge.Oxford:June, 1886. PICTURE: SKETCH MAP OF FA-H
32、IENS TRAVELS The accompanying Sketch-Map, taken in connexion with the notes on thedifferent places in the Narrative, will give the reader a sufficientlyaccurate knowledge of Fa-hiens route.There is no difficulty in laying it down after he crossed the Indusfrom east to west into the Punjab, all the p
33、rincipal places, at whichhe touched or rested, having been determined by Cunningham and otherIndian geographers and archaeologists. Most of the places from Chang-an to Bannu have also been identified. Woo-e has been put down as nearKutcha, or Kuldja, in 43d 25s N., 81d 15s E. The country of Kieh-cha
34、was probably Ladak, but I am inclined to think that the place wherethe traveller crossed the Indus and entered it must have been furthereast than Skardo. A doubt is intimated on page 24 as to theidentification of To-leih with Darada, but Greenoughs “Physical andGeological Sketch-Map of British India
35、“ shows “Dardu Proper,“ alllying on the east of the Indus, exactly in the position where theNarrative would lead us to place it. The point at which Fa-hienrecrossed the Indus into Udyana on the west of it is unknown.Takshasila, which he visited, was no doubt on the west of the river,and has been inc
36、orrectly accepted as the Taxila of Arrian in thePunjab. It should be written Takshasira, of which the Chinesephonetisation will allow;-see a note of Beal in his “Buddhist Recordsof the Western World,“ i. 138.We must suppose that Fa-hien went on from Nan-king to Chang-an, butthe Narrative does not re
37、cord the fact of his doing so.INTRODUCTIONLife of Fa-Hien; Genuineness and Integrity of the Text of hisNarrative; Number of the Adherents of Buddhism.1. Nothing of great importance is known about Fa-hien in addition towhat may be gathered from his own record of his travels. I have readthe accounts o
38、f him in the “Memoirs of Eminent Monks,“ compiled in（高僧传）A.D. 519, and a later work, the “Memoirs of Marvellous Monks,“ by thethird emperor of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1403-1424), which, however, isnearly all borrowed from the other; and all in them that has anappearance of verisimilitude can be broug
39、ht within brief compass.His surname, they tell us, was Kung, and he was a native of Wu-yang inPing-Yang, which is still the name of a large department in Shan-hsi.He had three brothers older than himself; but when they all diedbefore shedding their first teeth, his father devoted him to theservice o
40、f the Buddhist society, and had him entered as a Sramanera,still keeping him at home in the family. The little fellow felldangerously ill, and the father sent him to the monastery, where hesoon got well and refused to return to his parents.When he was ten years old, his father died; and an uncle, co
41、nsideringthe widowed solitariness and helplessness of the mother, urged him torenounce the monastic life, and return to her, but the boy replied, “Idid not quit the family in compliance with my fathers wishes, butbecause I wished to be far from the dust and vulgar ways of life. Thisis why I chose mo
42、nkhood.“ The uncle approved of his words and gaveover urging him. When his mother also died, it appeared how great hadbeen the affection for her of his fine nature; but after her burial hereturned to the monastery.On one occasion he was cutting rice with a score or two of his fellow-disciples, when
43、some hungry thieves came upon them to take away theirgrain by force. The other Sramaneras all fled, but our young herostood his ground, and said to the thieves, “If you must have thegrain, take what you please. But, Sirs, it was your former neglect ofcharity which brought you to your present state o
44、f destitution; andnow, again, you wish to rob others. I am afraid that in the comingages you will have still greater poverty and distress;-I am sorry foryou beforehand.“ With these words he followed his companions into themonastery, while the thieves left the grain and went away, all themonks, of wh
45、om there were several hundred, doing homage to his conductand courage.When he had finished his noviciate and taken on him the obligations ofthe full Buddhist orders, his earnest courage, clear intelligence, andstrict regulation of his demeanour were conspicuous; and soon after,he undertook his journ
46、ey to India in search of complete copies of theVinaya-pitaka. What follows this is merely an account of his travelsin India and return to China by sea, condensed from his own narrative,with the addition of some marvellous incidents that happened to him,on his visit to the Vulture Peak near Rajagriha
47、.It is said in the end that after his return to China, he went to thecapital (evidently Nanking), and there, along with the Indian SramanaBuddha-bhadra, executed translations of some of the works which he hadobtained in India; and that before he had done all that he wished todo in this way, he remov
48、ed to King-chow (in the present Hoo-pih), anddied in the monastery of Sin, at the age of eighty-eight, to the greatsorrow of all who knew him. It is added that there is another largerwork giving an account of his travels in various countries.Such is all the information given about our author, beyond
49、 what hehimself has told us. Fa-hien was his clerical name, and means“Illustrious in the Law,“ or “Illustrious master of the Law.“ The Shihwhich often precedes it is an abbreviation of the name of Buddha asSakyamuni, “the Sakya, mighty in Love, dwelling in Seclusion andSilence,“ and may be taken as equivalent to Buddhist. It is sometimessaid to have belonged to “the eastern Tsin dynasty“ (A.D. 317-419),and sometimes to “the Sung,“ that is, the Sung dynasty of the House ofLiu (A.D. 420-478). If he became a full monk at the age of twenty, andwent to India when
