Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms

F >> Fa Hien >> Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms


In this way the tempest(7) continued day and night, till on the
thirteenth day the ship was carried to the side of an island, where,
on the ebbing of the tide, the place of the leak was discovered,
and it was stopped, on which the voyage was resumed. On the sea
(hereabouts) there are many pirates, to meet with whom is speedy
death. The great ocean spreads out, a boundless expanse. There is no
knowing east or west; only by observing the sun, moon, and stars was
it possible to go forward. If the weather were dark and rainy, (the
ship) went as she was carried by the wind, without any definite
course. In the darkness of the night, only the great waves were to be
seen, breaking on one another, and emitting a brightness like that of
fire, with huge turtles and other monsters of the deep (all about).
The merchants were full of terror, not knowing where they were going.
The sea was deep and bottomless, and there was no place where they
could drop anchor and stop. But when the sky became clear, they could
tell east and west, and (the ship) again went forward in the right
direction. If she had come on any hidden rock, there would have been
no way of escape.

After proceeding in this way for rather more than ninety days, they
arrived at a country called Java-dvipa, where various forms of error
and Brahmanism are flourishing, while Buddhism in it is not worth
speaking of. After staying there for five months, (Fa-hien) again
embarked in another large merchantman, which also had on board more
than 200 men. They carried provisions for fifty days, and commenced
the voyage on the sixteenth day of the fourth month.

Fa-hien kept his retreat on board the ship. They took a course to the
north-east, intending to fetch Kwang-chow. After more than a month,
when the night-drum had sounded the second watch, they encountered
a black wind and tempestuous rain, which threw the merchants and
passengers into consternation. Fa-hien again with all his heart
directed his thoughts to Kwan-she-yin and the monkish communities of
the land of Han; and, through their dread and mysterious protection,
was preserved to day-break. After day-break, the Brahmans deliberated
together and said, "It is having this Sramana on board which has
occasioned our misfortune and brought us this great and bitter
suffering. Let us land the bhikshu and place him on some island-shore.
We must not for the sake of one man allow ourselves to be exposed to
such imminent peril." A patron of Fa-hien, however, said to them, "If
you land the bhikshu, you must at the same time land me; and if you
do not, then you must kill me. If you land this Sramana, when I get
to the land of Han, I will go to the king, and inform against you.
The king also reveres and believes the Law of Buddha, and honours the
bhikshus." The merchants hereupon were perplexed, and did not dare
immediately to land (Fa-hien).

At this time the sky continued very dark and gloomy, and the
sailing-masters looked at one another and made mistakes. More than
seventy days passed (from their leaving Java), and the provisions and
water were nearly exhausted. They used the salt-water of the sea for
cooking, and carefully divided the (fresh) water, each man getting two
pints. Soon the whole was nearly gone, and the merchants took counsel
and said, "At the ordinary rate of sailing we ought to have reached
Kwang-chow, and now the time is passed by many days;--must we not
have held a wrong course?" Immediately they directed the ship to the
north-west, looking out for land; and after sailing day and night for
twelve days, they reached the shore on the south of mount Lao,(8) on
the borders of the prefecture of Ch'ang-kwang,(8) and immediately got
good water and vegetables. They had passed through many perils and
hardships, and had been in a state of anxious apprehension for many
days together; and now suddenly arriving at this shore, and seeing
those (well-known) vegetables, the lei and kwoh,(9) they knew indeed
that it was the land of Han. Not seeing, however, any inhabitants nor
any traces of them, they did not know whereabouts they were. Some
said that they had not yet got to Kwang-chow, and others that they had
passed it. Unable to come to a definite conclusion, (some of them) got
into a small boat and entered a creek, to look for some one of whom
they might ask what the place was. They found two hunters, whom
they brought back with them, and then called on Fa-hien to act as
interpreter and question them. Fa-hien first spoke assuringly to
them, and then slowly and distinctly asked them, "Who are you?" They
replied, "We are disciples of Buddha?" He then asked, "What are you
looking for among these hills?" They began to lie,(10) and said,
"To-morrow is the fifteenth day of the seventh month. We wanted to
get some peaches to present(11) to Buddha." He asked further, "What
country is this?" They replied, "This is the border of the prefecture
of Ch'ang-kwang, a part of Ts'ing-chow under the (ruling) House of
Tsin." When they heard this, the merchants were glad, immediately
asked for (a portion of) their money and goods, and sent men to
Ch'ang-kwang city.

The prefect Le E was a reverent believer in the Law of Buddha. When
he heard that a Sramana had arrived in a ship across the sea, bringing
with him books and images, he immediately came to the seashore with an
escort to meet (the traveller), and receive the books and images, and
took them back with him to the seat of his government. On this the
merchants went back in the direction of Yang-chow;(12) (but) when
(Fa-hien) arrived at Ts'ing-chow, (the prefect there)(13) begged
him (to remain with him) for a winter and a summer. After the summer
retreat was ended, Fa-hien, having been separated for a long time
from his (fellow-)masters, wished to hurry to Ch'ang-gan; but as the
business which he had in hand was important, he went south to the
Capital;(14) and at an interview with the masters (there) exhibited
the Sutras and the collection of the Vinaya (which he had procured).

After Fa-hien set out from Ch'ang-gan, it took him six years to reach
Central India;(15) stoppages there extended over (other) six years;
and on his return it took him three years to reach Ts'ing-chow. The
countries through which he passed were a few under thirty. From
the sandy desert westwards on to India, the beauty of the dignified
demeanour of the monkhood and of the transforming influence of the Law
was beyond the power of language fully to describe; and reflecting how
our masters had not heard any complete account of them, he therefore
(went on) without regarding his own poor life, or (the dangers to be
encountered) on the sea upon his return, thus incurring hardships and
difficulties in a double form. He was fortunate enough, through
the dread power of the three Honoured Ones,(15) to receive help and
protection in his perils; and therefore he wrote out an account of his
experiences, that worthy readers might share with him in what he had
heard and said.(15)

It was in the year Keah-yin,(16) the twelfth year of the period E-he
of the (Eastern) Tsin dynasty, the year-star being in Virgo-Libra,
in the summer, at the close of the period of retreat, that I met the
devotee Fa-hien. On his arrival I lodged him with myself in the winter
study,(17) and there, in our meetings for conversation, I asked him
again and again about his travels. The man was modest and complaisant,
and answered readily according to the truth. I thereupon advised him
to enter into details where he had at first only given a summary, and
he proceeded to relate all things in order from the beginning to the
end. He said himself, "When I look back on what I have gone through,
my heart is involuntarily moved, and the perspiration flows forth.
That I encountered danger and trod the most perilous places, without
thinking of or sparing myself, was because I had a definite aim,
and thought of nothing but to do my best in my simplicity and
straightforwardness. Thus it was that I exposed my life where death
seemed inevitable, if I might accomplish but a ten-thousandth part of
what I hoped." These words affected me in turn, and I thought:--"This
man is one of those who have seldom been seen from ancient times to
the present. Since the Great Doctrine flowed on to the East there has
been no one to be compared with Hien in his forgetfulness of self and
search for the Law. Henceforth I know that the influence of sincerity
finds no obstacle, however great, which it does not overcome, and
that force of will does not fail to accomplish whatever service it
undertakes. Does not the accomplishing of such service arise from
forgetting (and disregarding) what is (generally) considered as
important, and attaching importance to what is (generally) forgotten?"

NOTES

(1) No. 1122 in Nanjio's Catalogue, translated into Chinese by
Buddhajiva and a Chinese Sramana about A.D. 425. Mahisasakah means
"the school of the transformed earth," or "the sphere within which the
Law of Buddha is influential." The school is one of the subdivisions
of the Sarvastivadah.

(2) Nanjio's 545 and 504. The Agamas are Sutras of the hinayana,
divided, according to Eitel, pp. 4, 5, into four classes, the first or
Dirghagamas (long Agamas) being treatises on right conduct, while the
third class contains the Samyuktagamas (mixed Agamas).

(3) Meaning "Miscellaneous Collections;" a sort of fourth Pitaka. See
Nanjio's fourth division of the Canon, containing Indian and Chinese
miscellaneous works. But Dr. Davids says that no work of this name is
known either in Sanskrit or Pali literature.

(4) We have in the text a phonetisation of the Sanskrit Kundika, which
is explained in Eitel by the two characters that follow, as="washing
basin," but two things evidently are intended.

(5) See chap. xvi, note 23.

(6) At his novitiate Fa-hien had sought the refuge of the "three
Precious Ones" (the three Refuges {.} {.} of last chapter), of which
the congregation or body of the monks was one; and here his thoughts
turn naturally to the branch of it in China. His words in his heart
were not exactly words of prayer, but very nearly so.

(7) In the text {.} {.}, ta-fung, "the great wind,"=the typhoon.

(8) They had got to the south of the Shan-tung promontory, and the
foot of mount Lao, which still rises under the same name on the
extreme south of the peninsula, east from Keao Chow, and having the
district of Tsieh-mih on the east of it. All the country there is
included in the present Phing-too Chow of the department Lae-chow. The
name Phing-too dates from the Han dynasty, but under the dynasty
of the After Ch'e {.} {.}, (A.D. 479-501), it was changed into
Ch'ang-kwang. Fa-hien may have lived, and composed the narrative
of his travels, after the change of name was adopted. See the
Topographical Tables of the different Dynasties ({.} {.} {.} {.} {.}),
published in 1815.

(9) What these vegetables exactly were it is difficult to say; and
there are different readings of the characters for them. Williams'
Dictionary, under kwoh, brings the two names together in a phrase, but
the rendering of it is simply "a soup of simples." For two or three
columns here, however, the text appears to me confused and imperfect.

(10) I suppose these men were really hunters; and, when brought before
Fa-hien, because he was a Sramana, they thought they would please him
by saying they were disciples of Buddha. But what had disciples of
Buddha to do with hunting and taking life? They were caught in their
own trap, and said they were looking for peaches.

(11) The Chinese character here has occurred twice before, but in a
different meaning and connexion. Remusat, Beal, and Giles take it as
equivalent to "to sacrifice." But his followers do not "sacrifice"
to Buddha. That is a priestly term, and should not be employed of
anything done at Buddhistic services.

(12) Probably the present department of Yang-chow in Keang-soo; but
as I have said in a previous note, the narrative does not go on so
clearly as it generally does.

(13) Was, or could, this prefect be Le E?

(14) Probably not Ch'ang-gan, but Nan-king, which was the capital of
the Eastern Tsin dynasty under another name.

(15) The whole of this paragraph is probably Fa-hien's own conclusion
of his narrative. The second half of the second sentence, both in
sentiment and style in the Chinese text, seems to necessitate our
ascribing it to him, writing on the impulse of his own thoughts, in
the same indirect form which he adopted for his whole narrative. There
are, however, two peculiar phraseologies in it which might suggest
the work of another hand. For the name India, where the first (15)
is placed, a character is employed which is similarly applied nowhere
else; and again, "the three Honoured Ones," at which the second (15)
is placed, must be the same as "the three Precious Ones," which we
have met with so often; unless we suppose that {.} {.} is printed in
all the revisions for {.} {.}, "the World-honoured one," which
has often occurred. On the whole, while I accept this paragraph as
Fa-hien's own, I do it with some hesitation. That the following and
concluding paragraph is from another hand, there can be no doubt.
And it is as different as possible in style from the simple and
straightforward narrative of Fa-hien.

(16) There is an error of date here, for which it is difficult to
account. The year Keah-yin was A.D. 414; but that was the tenth year
of the period E-he, and not the twelfth, the cyclical designation of
which was Ping-shin. According to the preceding paragraph, Fa-hien's
travels had occupied him fifteen years, so that counting from A.D.
399, the year Ke-hae, as that in which he set out, the year of his
getting to Ts'ing-chow would have been Kwei-chow, the ninth year of
the period E-he; and we might join on "This year Keah-yin" to that
paragraph, as the date at which the narrative was written out for
the bamboo-tablets and the silk, and then begins the Envoy, "In the
twelfth year of E-he." This would remove the error as it stands at
present, but unfortunately there is a particle at the end of the
second date ({.}), which seems to tie the twelfth year of E-he to
Keah-yin, as another designation of it. The "year-star" is the planet
Jupiter, the revolution of which, in twelve years, constitutes
"a great year." Whether it would be possible to fix exactly by
mathematical calculation in what year Jupiter was in the Chinese
zodiacal sign embracing part of both Virgo and Scorpio, and thereby
help to solve the difficulty of the passage, I do not know, and in the
meantime must leave that difficulty as I have found it.

(17) We do not know who the writer of the Envoy was. "The winter study
or library" would be the name of the apartment in his monastery or
house, where he sat and talked with Fa-hien.