A Record Of Buddhistic Kingdoms - Being An Account By The Chinese Monk Fa-hien Of His Travels In India And Ceylon (a.d. 399-414) By James Legge
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2. If There Were Ever Another And Larger Account Of Fa-Hien's Travels
Than The Narrative Of Which A Translation Is Now Given, It Has Long
Ceased To Be In Existence.
In the Catalogue of the imperial library of the Suy dynasty (A.D. 589-
618), the name Fa-hien occurs four times.
Towards the end of the last
section of it (page 22), after a reference to his travels, his labours
in translation at Kin-ling (another name for Nanking), in conjunction
with Buddha-bhadra, are described. In the second section, page 15, we
find "A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms;" - with a note, saying that it
was the work of the "Sramana, Fa-hien;" and again, on page 13, we have
"Narrative of Fa-hien in two Books," and "Narrative of Fa-hien's
Travels in one Book." But all these three entries may possibly belong
to different copies of the same work, the first and the other two
being in separate subdivisions of the Catalogue.
In the two Chinese copies of the narrative in my possession the title
is "Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms." In the Japanese or Corean
recension subjoined to this translation, the title is twofold; first,
"Narrative of the Distinguished Monk, Fa-hien;" and then, more at
large, "Incidents of Travels in India, by the Sramana of the Eastern
Tsin, Fa-hien, recorded by himself."
There is still earlier attestation of the existence of our little work
than the Suy Catalogue. The Catalogue Raisonne of the imperial library
of the present dynasty (chap.
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