AFTER TWO YEARS TAKES SHIP FOR CHINA. DISASTROUS PASSAGE TO JAVA; AND
THENCE TO CHINA; ARRIVES AT SHAN-TUNG; AND GOES TO NANKING. CONCLUSION
OR L’ENVOI BY ANOTHER WRITER.
Fâ-Hien abode in this country two years; and, in addition (to his
acquisitions in Patna), succeeded in getting a copy of the
Vinaya-pitaka of the Mahisasakah (school);(1) the Dirghagama and
Samyuktagama(2) (Sûtras); and also the Samyukta-sanchaya-pitaka;(3)—all
being works unknown in the land of Han. Having obtained these Sanskrit
works, he took passage in a large merchantman, on board of which there
were more than 200 men, and to which was attached by a rope a smaller
vessel, as a provision against damage or injury to the large one from
the perils of the navigation. With a favourable wind, they proceeded
eastwards for three days, and then they encountered a great wind. The
vessel sprang a leak and the water came in. The merchants wished to go
to the small vessel; but the men on board it, fearing that too many
would come, cut the connecting rope. The merchants were greatly
alarmed, feeling their risk of instant death. Afraid that the vessel
would fill, they took their bulky goods and threw them into the water.
Fâ-Hien also took his pitcher(4) and washing-basin, with some other
articles, and cast them into the sea; but fearing that the merchants
would cast overboard his books and images, he could only think with all
his heart of Kwan-she-yin,(5) and commit his life to (the protection
of) the church of the land of Han,(6) (saying in effect), “I have
travelled far in search of our Law. Let me, by your dread and
supernatural (power), return from my wanderings, and reach my
resting-place!”
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, (Fâ-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.
Fâ-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. Fâ-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 Fâ-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 (Fâ-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 Fâ-Hien to act as
interpreter and question them. Fâ-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
(Fâ-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, Fâ-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
Sûtras and the collection of the Vinaya (which he had procured).
After Fâ-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
Fâ-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 Sûtras 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 Pâli 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 Fâ-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. Fâ-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
Fâ-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. Rémusat, 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 Fâ-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 Fâ-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 Fâ-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, Fâ-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 Fâ-Hien.