Da Tang Xiyu Ji

^{(Records of Regions to the West of the Tang Empire, 618-907 CE)}

Translated by Imperial Command by Xuanzang, Doctor of the Three Piṭakas
Edited by Bianji, śramaṇ of the Da zong chi Temple

PREFACE
Zhang Yue

^[i.1]When of yore the precious hair-circle shed forth its flood of light, the sweet dew was poured upon the Great Thousand (Worlds, or 'Chiliochosm'), the golden mirror displayed its brightness, and a fragrant wind was spread over the earth; then it was known that he had appeared in the three worlds ^[i.2] who is rightly named the lord of the earth. His brightness, indeed, dwells in the four limits (of the universe), but his sublime model was fixed in the middle of the world. Whereupon, as the Sun of wisdom declined, the shadow of his doctrine spread to the East, the grand rules of the emperor diffused themselves afar, and his imposing laws reached to the extremities of the West.

There was in the temple of “great benevolence” a doctor of the Three Piṭakas called Xuanzang. His common name was Chen Shi. His ancestors came from Ying Chuan; the emperor Xuan held the scepter; reigning at Hua Zhu, he opened the source. The great Shun entertained the messengers as he laid on Li Shan the foundation of his renown. The three venerable ones distinguished themselves during the years of Ji. The Six Extraordinary (Events) shone during the Han period. In penning odes there was one who equaled the clear Moon; in wandering by the way there was one who resembled the brilliant stars—(his illustrious ancestors) like fishes in the lake, or as birds assembled before the wind, by their choice services in the world served to produce as their result an illustrious descendant.

The Master of the Law under these fortunate influences came into the world. In him were joined sweetness and virtue. These roots, combined and deeply planted, produced their fruits rapidly. The source of his wisdom ('reason') was deep, and wonderfully it increased. At his opening life he was rosy as the evening vapors and ^[i.3] (round) as the rising Moon. As a boy ('collecting-sand age') he was sweet as the odor of cinnamon or the vanilla tree. When he grew up he thoroughly mastered the Dan and Su; the Nine Borders were filled with ('bore') his renown, the Five Prefectures (or 'palaces') together resounded his praise.

At early dawn he studied the true and the false, and through the night shone forth his goodness; the mirror of his wisdom, fixed on the true receptacle, remained stationary. He considered the limits of life, and was permanently at rest (in the persuasion that) the vermilion ribbon and the violet silken tassels are the pleasing bonds that keep one attached to the world; but the precious car and the red pillow, these are the means of crossing the ford and escaping the world. Wherefore he put away from him the pleasures of sense, and spoke of finding refuge in some hermit retreat. His noble brother Changjie was a Master of the Law, a pillar and support of the school of Buddha. He was as a dragon or an elephant (or 'dragon-elephant') in his own generation, and, as a falcon or a crane, he mounted above those to come. In the court and the wilderness was his fame exalted; within and without was his rknown spread. Being deeply affectionate, they loved one another, and so fulfilled the harmony of mutual relationship ('parentage'). The Master of the Law was diligent in his labor as a student; he lost not a moment of time, and by his studies he rendered his teachers illustrious, and was an ornament to his place of study. His virtuous qualities were rightly balanced, and he caused the perfume of his fame to extend through the home of his adoption. Whip raised, he traveled on his even way; he mastered the Nine Divisions of the books, and swallowed (Lake) Meng; he worked his paddles across the dark ford; he gave his attention to ^[i.4] ('looked down upon') the Four Vēdas, while finding Lu small.

From this time he traveled forth and frequented places of discussion, and so passed many years, his merit completed, even as his ability was perfected. Reaching back to the beginning, when the Sun and Moon first lit up with their brightness the spiritually (created) world, or, as Zi Yun, with his kerchief suspended at his girdle, startled into life (developed) his spiritual powers, so in his case the golden writing gradually unfolded itself. He waited for the autumn car, yet hastened as the clouds; he moved the handle of jade for a moment, and the mist-crowds were dispersed as the heaped-up waves. As the occasion required, he could use the force of the flying discus or understand the delicate sounds of the lute used in worship.

With all the lame of these acquirements, he yet embarked in the boat of humility and departed alone. In the land of Xuan Yuan he first broke down the boasting of the iron-clad stomach; in the village of Bing-luo in a moment he exhibited the wonder of the floating wood. Men near and afar beheld him with admiration as they said one to another, “Long ago we heard of the eight dragons of the family of Xun, but now we see the double wonder (Ji) of the Gate of Chen. Wonderful are the men of Ru and Ying.” This is true indeed! The Master ^[i.5] of the Law, from his early days till he grew up, pondered in heart the mysterious principles (of religion). His fame spread wide among eminent men.>

At this time the schools were mutually contentious; they hastened to grasp the end without regarding the beginning; they seized the flower and rejected the reality; so there followed the contradictory teaching of the North and South, and the confused sounds of "Yes" and "No," perpetual words! On this he was afflicted at heart, and fearing lest he should be unable to find out completely the errors of translations, he purposed to examine thoroughly the literature of the perfume elephant, and to copy throughout the list of the dragon palace.

With a virtue of unequalled character, and at a time favorable in its indications, he took his staff, dusted his clothes, and set off for distant regions. On this he left behind him the dark waters of the Ba River; he bent his gaze forwards; he then advanced right on to the Congling Mountains. In following the courses of rivers and crossing the plains he encountered constant dangers. Compared with him Bowang went but a little way, and the journey of Faxian was short indeed. In all the districts through which he journeyed he learnt thoroughly the dialects; he investigated throughout the deep secrets (of religion) and penetrated to the very source of the stream. Thus he was able to correct the books and transcend ^[i.6] (the writers of) India. The texts being transcribed on palm leaves, he then returned to China.

The Emperor Tai Zong, surnamed Wen Huang Di, who, held the golden wheel and was seated royally on the throne, waited with impatience for that eminent man. He summoned him therefore to the green enclosure, and, impressed by his past acquirements, he knelt before him in the yellow palace. With his hand he wrote proclamations full of affectionate sentiments; the officers of the interior attended him constantly; condescending to exhibit his illustrious thoughts, he wrote a preface to the sacred doctrine of the Tripiṭaka, consisting of 780 words. The present emperor (Gao Zong) had composed in the spring pavilion a sacred record consisting of 579 words, in which he sounded to the bottom the stream of deep mystery and expressed himself in lofty utterances. But now, if he (Xuanzang) had not displayed his wisdom in the wood of the cock, nor scattered his brightness on the peak of the vulture, how could he (the emperor) have been able to abase his sacred composition in the praise of the ornament of his time?

In virtue of a royal mandate, he (Xuanzang) translated 657 works from the original Sanskrit (Fan). Having thoroughly examined the different manners of distant countries, the diverse customs of separate people, the various products of the soil and the class divisions of the people, the regions where the royal calendar is received, and where the sounds of moral instruction have come, he has composed in twelve books the Da Tang Xi Yu Ji. Herein he has collected and written down the most secret principles of the religion of Buddha, couched in language plain and precise. It may be said, indeed, of him, that his works perish not.