Xuanzang • Xiyu ji

[ix-xxii]

INTRODUCTION

Samuel Beal

The progress which has been made in our knowledge of Northern Buddhism during the last few years is due very considerably to the discovery of the Buddhist literature of China. This literature (now well known to us through the catalogues already published, e.g. Beal 1876; Nanjio 1883) contains, among other valuable works, the records of the travels of various Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who visited India during the early centuries of our era. These records embody the testimony of independent eyewitnesses as to the facts related in them, and having been faithfully preserved and allotted a place in the collection of the sacred books of the country, their evidence is entirely trustworthy.

It would be impossible to mention seriatim the various points of interest in these works, as they refer to the geography, history, manners, and religion of the people of India. The reader who looks into the pages that follow will find ample material for study on all these questions. But there is one particular that gives a more than usual interest to the records under notice, and that is the evident sincerity and enthusiasm of the travelers themselves. Never did more devoted pilgrims leave their native country to encounter the perils of travel in foreign and distant lands; never did disciples more ardently desire to gaze on the sacred vestiges of their religion; never did men endure greater sufferings by desert, mountain, [x] and sea than these simple-minded earnest Buddhist priests. And that such courage, religious devotion, and power of endurance should be exhibited by men so sluggish, as we think, in their very nature as the Chinese, this is very surprising, and may perhaps arouse some consideration.

Buddhist books began to be imported into China during the closing period of the first century of our era. From these books the Chinese learned the history of the founder of the new religion, and became familiar with the names of the sacred spots he had consecrated by his presence. As time went on, and strangers from India and the neighborhood still flocked into the Eastern Empire, some of the new converts (whose names have been lost) were urged by curiosity or a sincere desire to gaze on the mementoes of the religion they had learned to adopt, to risk the perils of travel and visit the western region. We are told by Yijing, one of the writers of these Buddhist records who lived about 670 CE, that 500 years before his time twenty men, or about that number, had found their way through the province of Sichuan to the Mahabodhi Tree in India, and for them and their fellow countrymen a maharaja called Srigupta built a temple. The establishment was called the "Tchina Temple." In the days of Yijing it was in ruins. In the year 290 CE, we find another Chinese pilgrim called Zhu Zixing visiting Khotan; another called Fa-ling shortly afterwards proceeded to North India, and we can hardly doubt that others unknown to fame followed their example. At any rate, the recent accidental discovery of several stone tablets with Chinese inscriptions at Bodh Gaya, on two of which we find the names of the pilgrims Jiyi and Heyun, the former in company "with some other priests," shows plainly that the sacred spots were visited from time to time by priests from China, whose names indeed are unknown to us from any other source, but who were [xi] impelled to leave their home by the same spirit of religious devotion and enthusiasm which actuated those with whom we are better acquainted.

The first Chinese traveler whose name and writings have come down to us is the sakyaputra ("mendicant disciple") Faxian. He is the author of the records which follow in the pages of the present Introduction. His work, the Fo guo ji (Travels) was first known in Europe through a translation made by Abel Rémusat (Faxian1836). But Klaproth claimed the discovery of the book itself from the year 1816, and it was he who shaped the rough draft of Rémusat's translation from chapter twenty-one of the work in question to the end (Julien, in Huili and Yancong 1853: ix, n.2). Of this translation nothing need be said in this place; it has been dealt with elsewhere. It will be enough, therefore, to give some few particulars respecting the life and travels of the pilgrim, and for the rest to refer the reader to the translation which follows.

Faxian (400 CE)

In agreement with early custom, the Chinese mendicant priests who adopted the Buddhist faith changed their names at the time of their leaving their homes (ordination), and assumed the title of sakyaputra ("son of Sakya"). So we find among the inscriptions at Mathura the title sakya bhikshunyaka (or sakya bhikshor) added to the religious names of the different benefactors there mentioned. The pilgrim Faxian, therefore, whose original name was Gong, when he assumed the religious title by which he is known to us, took also the appellation of shi (i.e. sakyaputra). He was a native of Wuyang, of the district of Pingyang (mod. Linfen), in the province of Shanxi. He left his home and became a sramanera at three years of age. His [xii] early history is recorded in the work called Gaoseng Zhuan (Biographies of Famous Monks) written during the time of the Liang Dynasty, belonging to the Xiaofamily (502-507 CE) But so far as we are now concerned, we need only mention that he was moved by a desire to obtain books not known in China, and with that aim set out in company with other priests (some of whom are named in the records) from Chang'an, 399 CE, and after an absence of fourteen years returned to Nanjing where, in connection with Buddhabhadra (an Indian sramanera, descended from the family of the founder of the Buddhist religion), he translated various works and composed the history of his travels. He died at the age of eighty-six.

Faxian's point of departure was the city of Chang'an in Shanxi; from this place he advanced across the Long District (or Mountains) to the fortified town of Chang-yeh in Gansu; here he met with some other priests, and with them proceeded to Dunhuang, a town situated to the south of the Bulongji River (39°30´N/95°E). Thence with four companions he pushed forward, under the guidance, as it seems, of an official, across the Desert of Lop to Shan-shan (mod. Qiemo), the probable site of which is marked in the map accompanying the account of Prejevalsky's journey through the same district (according to this map, 38°N/87°E). Shan-Shan corresponds with the Cherchen of Marco Polo. Faxian tells us that Buddhism prevailed in this country, and that there were about 4,000 priests. The country itself was rugged and barren. So Marco Polo says, "The whole of this province is sandy, but there are numerous towns and villages" (1854: ch.38). The Venetian traveler makes the distance from the town of Lop five days' journey. Probably Faxian did not visit the town of Shan-shan, but after a month in the kingdom turned to the northwest, apparently following the course of the Tarim, and after fifteen days arrived in the kingdom of Wuyi. This kingdom seems [xiii] to correspond to Kara-shahr (mod. Yanqi), near Lake Tenghiz (mod. Bo-si-teng Hu), and is the same as the A-qi-ni of Xuanzang (i.17). Prejevalsky took three days in traveling from Kara-moto to Korla, a distance of about 42 miles (1879:50), so that the fifteen days of Faxian might well represent in point of time the distance from Lop Nur to Kara-shahr. Our pilgrims would here strike on the outward route of Xuanzang. It was at this spot they fell in with their companions Pao-yun and the rest, whom they had left at Dunhuang. These had probably traveled to Kara-shahr by the northern route, as it is called, through Kamul to Pidshan and Turfan; for we read that while Faxian remained at Kara-shahr, under the protection of an important official, some of the others went back to Kao-chang (Turfan), showing that they had come that way.

From Kara-shahr Faxian and the others, favored by the liberality of Kung-sün (who was in some way connected with the Prince of Ts'in), proceeded southwest to Khotan (mod. Hetian). The route they took is not well ascertained; but probably they followed the course of the Tarim River and of the Khotan River. There were no dwellings or people on the road, and the difficulties of the journey and of crossing the rivers "exceeded power of comparison." After a month and five days they reached Khotan. This country has been identified with Li-yul of the Tibetan writers. There is some reason for connecting this "Land of Li" with the Lichchhavis of VaiŚālī. It is said by Csoma Korösi "that the Tibetan writers derive their first king (about 250 BCE) from the Litsabyis or Lichavyis" (Hardy 1860:236). The chief prince or ruler of the Lichchhavis was called the "great lion" or "the noble lion" (Müller 1879:258).

This is probably the explanation of Maha-lí, used by Spence Hardy as "the name of the king of the Lichawis" (1860:282). Khotan would thus be the land of the [xiv] Lion People (Siṁhas). Whether this be so or not, the polished condition of the people and their religious zeal indicate close connection with India, more probably with Bactria. The name of the great temple, a mile or two to the west of the city, called the Navasaá¹…ghārāma (or royal "New Temple,") is the same as that on the southwest of Balkh, described by Xuanzang (i.44); and the introduction of VaiŚravana as the protector of this monastery, and his connection with Khotan, the kings of that country being descended from him (ii.309), indicate a relationship, if not of race, at least of intercourse between the two kingdoms. After witnessing the car procession of Khotan, Faxian and some others (for the pilgrims had now separated for a time), advanced for twenty-five days towards the country of Tseu-ho, which, according to Klaproth, corresponds with the district of Ying-ji-sha, from which there is a caravan route due south into the mountain region of the Congling (Pamir). It was by this road they pursued their journey for four days to a station named Yu-hwui, or, as it may also be read, Yu-fai; here they kept their religious fast, after which, journeying for twenty-five days, they reached the country of Jie-cha. I cannot understand how either of the last-named places can be identified with Ladakh. Yu-hwui is four days south of Tseu-ho; and twenty-five days beyond this brings the pilgrims to the country of Jie-cha, in the center of the Congling Mountains.

Nor can we, on the other hand, identify this kingdom of Jie-cha (the symbols are entirely different from those used by Xuanzang for Kashgar, ii.306) with that of the "Kossaioi" of Ptolemy, the "Khasas" of Manu, and the "Khasakas" of the Vishṇu Purāṇa. These appear to have, been related to the Cushites of Holy Scripture.

[xv] Advancing for a month across the Congling Range towards India, the pilgrims reached the little country of Duoli (i.e., the valley of Dārail in the Dard country). This valley is on the right or western hank of the Indus (73°44´E) and is watered by the Daril River. Still advancing southwest for fifteen days, they strike the Indus (or probably the Swāt River), crossing which, they enter on the kingdom of Udyāna, where they found Buddhism in a flourishing condition. Concerning this country and its traditions, we have ample records in Xuanzang (i.119). Here then we may leave Faxian; his farther travels may be followed by the details given in his own writings, and to these we refer the reader.

SONG YUN (518 CE)

This pilgrim was a native of Dunhuang, in what is sometimes called Little Tibet (39°30´N/95° E). He seems to have lived in a suburb of the city of Luoyang (or 'Henan City'), called Wanyi. He was sent, 518 CE, by the Empress of the Northern Wei dynasty, in company with Huisheng, a bhikshu of the ? Shungli Temple of Luoyang, to the western countries to seek for books. They brought back altogether one hundred and seventy volumes or sets of the Great Development series. They seem to have taken the southern route from Dunhuang to Khotan, and thence by the same route as Faxian and his companion across the Congling (Pamir) Mountains. The Yanda (Ephthalites) were now in possession of the old country of the Yuezhi, and had recently conquered Gandhāra. They are described as having no walled towns, but keeping order by means of a standing army that moved here and there. They used felt (leather) garments, had no written character, nor any knowledge [xvi] of the heavenly bodies. On all hands it is plain the Yanda were a rude horde of Turks who had followed in the steps of the Xiongnu; they were, in fact, the Ephthalites or Huns of the Byzantine writers: "In the early part of the sixth century their power extended over Western India, and Cosmas tells us of their king Gollas who domineered there with a thousand elephants and a vast force of horsemen" (Yule, in Wood 1872: xxvii). Song Yun also names the power of the king whom the Yanda had set up over Gandhāra. He was of the Lae-lih Dynasty (or 'man of Lae-lih'), which may perhaps be restored to Lāra. According to Xuanzang (ii.260, 266) the northern Lāra people belonged to Valabhī, and the southern Lāra to Malāva. It was one of these Lāra princes the Yanda had set over the kingdom of Gandhāra. It may have been with the Gollas of Cosmas that the Chinese pilgrims had their interview. At any rate, he was lording it over the people with seven hundred war-elephants, and was evidently a fierce and oppressive potentate.

The Yanda, according to Song Yun, had conquered or received tribute from more than forty countries in all, from Die-luo in the south to Lae-lih in the north, eastward to Khotan, westward to Persia. The symbols Die-luo probably represent Tīrabhukti (mod. Tirhut), the old land of the Vá¹›ijjis. The Vá¹›ijjis themselves were in all probability Scythian invaders, whose power had reached so far as the borders of the Ganges at Patna, but had there been checked by AjātaŚatru. They had afterwards been driven northeast to the mountains bordering on Nepal. The Yanda also extended their power so far as this, and northward to Lae-lih (i.e. Malāva). As these conquests had been achieved two generations before Song Yun's time, we may place this invasion of India therefore about 460 CE.

The notices of the country of Udyāna by Song Yun [xvii] vie with those found in Xuanzang for abundance of detail and legendary interest. It is singular that the supposed scene of the history of Vessantara, "the giving king" of Xuanzang and the "Biluo" of Song Yun, should be placed in this remote district. The Vessantara Jātaka (so called) was well known in Sri Lanka in Faxian's time (ch.XXXVIII); it forms part of the sculptured scenes at Amarāvatī and Sānchi; it is still one of the most popular stories among the Mongols. How does the site of the history come to be placed in Udyāna? There are some obscure notices connected with the succession of the Maurya (or Mōriya) sovereigns from the Śākya youths who fled to this district of Udyāna, which may throw a little light on this subject. The Buddhists affirm that AŚōka belonged to the same family as Buddha, because he was descended from Chandragupta, who was the child of the queen of one of the sovereigns of Mōriyanagara. This Mōriyanagara was the city founded by the Śākya youths who fled from Kapilavastu; so that whatever old legends were connected with the Śākya family were probably referred to Udyāna by the direct or indirect influence of AŚōka, or by his popularity as a Buddhist sovereign. But, in any case, the history of Udyāna is mixed up with that of the Śākya family, and Buddha himself is made to acknowledge Uttarasēna as one of his own kinsmen (i.131). We may suppose then that these tales did actually take their rise from some local or family association connected with Udyāna, and found their way thence into the legends of other countries. Hence while we have in the Southern account mention made of the elephant that could bring rain from heaven, which was the cause of Vessantara's banishment, in the Northern accounts this is, apparently, identified with the peacock (mayūra) that brought water from the rock (i.126). But the subject need not be pursued farther in this place; it is sufficient to note the fact that [xviii] many of the stories found in the Northern legends are somehow or other localized in this pleasant district of Udyāna. Song Yun, after reaching so far as Peshāwar and Nagarahāra, returned to China in the year 521 CE.

XUANZANG (621 CE)

This illustrious pilgrim was born in the year 603 CE, at Qinliu in the province of Henan, close to the provincial city. He was the youngest of four brothers. At an early age he was taken by his second brother, ?ZhangziChang-tsi, to the eastern capital, Luoyang. His brother was a monk belonging to the Jing-tu Temple, and in this community Xuanzang was ordained at the age of thirteen years (becoming a novice, or Śramaṇēra). On account of the troubles which occurred at the end of the dynasty of Sui, the pilgrim in company with his brother sought refuge in the city of Chengdu, the capital of the province of Sichuan, and here at the age of twenty he was fully ordained as a bhikshu (or 'priest'). After some time he began to travel through the provinces in search of the best instructor he could get, and so came at length to Chang'an. It was here, stirred up by the recollection of Faxian and ?JiyanChi-yen, that he resolved to go to the western regions to question the sages on points that troubled his mind. He was now twenty-six years of age. He accordingly set out from Chang'an in company with a priest of Qin-zhou of Gansu and, having reached that city, rested there. Thence he proceeded to Lanzhou, the provincial city of Gansu. He then advanced with a magistrate's escort to Liangzhou (mod. Wuwei), a prefecture of Gansu, beyond the river. This city was the entrepôt for merchants from Tibet and the countries east of the Congling Mountains; and to these Xuanzang explained the sacred books and revealed his purpose of going to the Kingdom of the Brāhmaṇs to seek for the Law. By them [xix] he was amply provided with means for his expedition, and, notwithstanding the expostulation of the governor of the city, by the connivance of two priests he was able to proceed westward as far as Guazhou, a town about ten miles to the south of the Hu-lu River, which seems to be the same as the Bulongji.

From this spot, going north in company with a young man who had offered to act as his guide, he crossed the river by night, and after escaping the treachery of his guide, came alone to the first watchtower. Five of these towers, at intervals of 100 li, stretched towards the country of I-gu (mod. Hami). We need not recount the way in which the pilgrim prevailed on the keepers of the first and fourth tower to let him proceed; nor is it necessary to recount the fervent prayers to Guanyin (i.e. AvalōkitēŚvarā Bōdhisattva) and his incessant invocation of the name of this divinity. Suffice it to say, he at last reached the confines of Hami, and there halted. From this place he was summoned by the prince of Gao-chang (Turfan), who, after vainly attempting to keep him in his territory, remitted him to A-qi-ni (Yanqi) from which he advanced to Kucha (Kuche). Here the narrative in the pages following carries us on through the territory of Kucha to Baicheng (in the Aksu district), from whence the pilgrim proceeds in a northerly direction across the Icy Mountains (Muzart, mod. Tian Shan) into the well-watered plains bordering on the Qing Lake (mod. Ysyk-köl); he then proceeded along the fertile valley of the Suye River to the town of Talas, and thence to Nujkend and Tashkent.

It is not necessary to follow the pilgrim's route farther than this, as the particulars given in the translation following, and the notes thereto, will sufficiently set forth the line of his advance. Xuanzang returned from his Indian travels across the Pamir and through Kashgar and the Khotan districts. He had been away from China since 629 CE; he returned 645 CE. He brought back with him: [xx]

There are many interesting particulars given in the Life of Xuanzang by Huili, which need not be named here, respecting the work of translation and the pilgrim's death at the age of sixty-five. They will be fully set forth in the translation of that memoir, which it is hoped will follow the present volumes (Beal ZZZ).

We will simply add, that of all the books translated by Xuanzang, there are still seventy-five included in the collection of the Chinese Tripiá¹­aka. The titles of these books may be seen in the catalogue prepared by Mr. Binyiu Nanjio (1883: coll.436, 436).

BUDDHIST LITERATURE IN CHINA

Although it was known that there were copies of translations of the Buddhist Tripiá¹­aka in the great monasteries in China, no complete set of these books had been brought to England until the Japanese Government furnished us with the copy now in the India Office Library in the year [xxi] 1875. Respecting these books I will extract one passage from the report which was drawn up by direction of the Secretary of State for India:

The value of the records of the "Chinese pilgrims" who visited India in the early centuries of our era, and the account of whose travels is contained in this collection, is too well understood to need any remark. I regret that none of the books referred to by M. Stanislas Julien, in his introduction to the Vie de Hiouen Thsang, and which he thought might be found in Japan, are contained in this collection; but there is still some hope that they may be found in a separate form in some of the remote monasteries of that country, or more probably in China itself (Beal 1876:1).

To that opinion I still adhere. I think that if searching inquiry were made at Henan City (Luoyang) and its neighborhood, we might learn something of books supposed to be lost. And my opinion is grounded on this circumstance, that efforts which have been made to get copies (in the ordinary way) of books found in the collection of the Tripiá¹­aka have failed, and reports furnished that such works are lost. M. Stanislas Julien himself tells us that Dr. Morrison, Sr., reported that the Xiyu ji (the work here translated) could not be procured in China. And such is the listlessness of the Chinese literati about Buddhist books, and such the seclusion and isolation of many of the Buddhist establishments in China, that I believe books may still exist, or even original manuscripts, of which we know nothing at present. It would be strange if such were not the case, considering what has taken place in respect of fresh discoveries of fragments or entire copies of MSS of our own sacred scriptures in remote monasteries of Christendom. In conclusion, I desire to express the debt I owe, in the execution of this and other works, to the learning and [xxii] intimate knowledge of the Chinese language possessed by M. Stanislas Julien.

I should not have attempted to follow in his steps had his own translation of the Xiyu ji been still procurable. But as it had long been out of print, and the demand for the book continued to be urgent, I have attempted to furnish an independent translation in English of the Chinese pilgrim's travels.

I am very largely indebted to James Burgess, LL.D., for assistance in carrying these volumes through the press. His close acquaintance with Buddhist archaeology and literature will give value to many of the notes which appear on the pages following, and his kind supervision of the text and preparation of the index attached to it demand my thanks and sincere acknowledgments.

I am also under great obligations to Colonel Yule, C.B., and to Dr. E. Host, for their ever-ready help and advice, especially during my visits to the Library of the India Office.

I have not overlooked the remarks of various writers who have honored me by noticing my little book Buddhist Pilgrims (Beal 1869). I venture, however, to hope that I have by this time established my claim to be regarded as an independent worker in this field of literature. I have not therefore quoted instances of agreement or disagreement with the writers referred to; in fact, I have purposely avoided doing so, as my object is not to write a chapter of grammar, but to contribute towards the history of a religion; but I have suffered no prejudice to interfere with the honesty of my work.

I shall now proceed to the translation of the travels of Faxian and Song Yun, referring the student to the original edition of my Buddhist Pilgrims for many notes and explanations of the text, which want of space forbids me to reproduce in these volumes.

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