[4] Chang K'een, a minister of the emperor Woo of Han (B.C. 140-87),
is celebrated as the first Chinese who "pierced the void," and
penetrated to "the regions of the west," corresponding very much to
the present Turkestan. Through him, by B.C. 115, a regular intercourse
was established between China and the thirty-six kingdoms or states of
that quarter; - see Mayers' Chinese Reader's Manual, p. 5. The memoir
of Chang K'een, translated by Mr. Wylie from the Books of the first
Han dynasty, appears in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute,
referred to already.
[5] Less is known of Kan Ying than of Chang K'een. Being sent in A.D.
88 by his patron Pan Chao on an embassy to the Roman empire, he only
got as far as the Caspian sea, and returned to China. He extended,
however, the knowledge of his countrymen with regard to the western
regions; - see the memoir of Pan Chao in the Books of the second Han,
and Mayers' Manual, pp. 167, 168.
[6] Where and when? Probably at his first resting-place after crossing
the Indus.
[7] This may refer to Sakyamuni's becoming Buddha on attaining to
nirvana, or more probably to his pari-nirvana and death.
[8] As king P'ing's reign lasted from B.C. 750 to 719, this would
place the death of Buddha in the eleventh century B.C., whereas recent
inquirers place it between B.C. 480 and 470, a year or two, or a few
years, after that of Confucius, so that the two great "Masters" of the
east were really contemporaries. But if Rhys Davids be correct, as I
think he is, in fixing the date of Buddha's death within a few years
of 412 B.C. (see Manual, p. 213), not to speak of Westergaard's still
lower date, then the Buddha was very considerably the junior of
Confucius.
[9] This confirms the words of Eitel, that Maitreya is already
controlling the propagation of the faith.
[10] The Chinese characters for this simply mean "the great scholar or
officer;" but see Eitel's Handbook, p. 99, on the term purusha.
[11] "The precious Buddha," "the precious Law," and "the precious
Monkhood;" Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; the whole being equivalent to
Buddhism.
[12] Fa-hien thus endorses the view that Buddhism was introduced into
China in this reign, A.D. 58-75. The emperor had his dream in A.D. 61.
CHAPTER VIII
WOO-CHANG, OR UDYANA. MONASTERIES, AND THEIR WAYS. TRACES OF BUDDHA.
After crossing the river, (the travellers) immediately came to the
kingdom of Woo-chang,[1] which is indeed (a part) of North India. The
people all use the language of Central India, "Central India" being
what we should call the "Middle Kingdom." The food and clothes of the
common people are the same as in that Central Kingdom.
