Quellenkunde zur indischen Geschichte bis 1858

12. Chinesische Quellen


von Alois Payer

mailto:payer@payer.de


Zitierweise / cite as:

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Quellenkunde zur indischen Geschichte bis 1858. -- 12. Chinesische Quellen. -- Fassung vom 2008-05-09. -- http://www.payer.de/quellenkunde/quellen12.htm            

Erstmals publiziert: 2008-05-05

Überarbeitungen: 2008-05-09 [Ergänzungen]

Anlass: Lehrveranstaltung FS 2008

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0. Übersicht



1. Einleitung


Obwohl es vermutlich auch andere chinesiche Quellen zu indischer Geschichte gibt, sind für den nicht des Chinesischen Kundigen vor allem die Berichte der chinesischen Pilger zu den  Stätten des Buddhismus erschlossen. Deshalb beschränkt sich dieses Kapitel der Quellenkunde auf diese Quellen. Es wäre aber dringend erwünscht, dass auch die übrigen Quellen erschlossen würden.


2. Übersicht über die Berichte chinesischer buddhistischer Pilger / von Samuel Beal (1884)



Abb.: Die Reiseroute Faxian's (法顯)

[Quelle der Abb.: Faxian (法顯) <ca. 337 - 422> ; Sòngyún (宋雲) <6. Jhdt.>: Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun, Buddhist pilgrims, from China to India (400 A.D. and 518 A.D.) / translated from the Chinese by Samuel Beal. -- London : Trübner, 1869. -- lxxiii, 208 S. ; 19 cm. -- Vor S. 1]


Abb.: Die Reiserouten Xuánzàng's (玄奘)

[Quelle der Abb.: Cunningham, Alexander <1814 - 1893>: The ancient geography of India. -- London : Trübner, 1871. -- 501 S. : Ill.  -- Vor Titelblatt]

"INTRODUCTION.

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)1 contains, amongst 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 eye-witnesses 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.

1 Catalogue of the Chinese Buddhist Tripiṭaka, by Samuel Beal; Catalogue of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka, by Bunyiu Nanjio.

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 travellers themselves. Never did more devoted pilgrims leave their native country to encounter the perils of travel in foreign 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, [S. 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 neighbourhood 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 I-tsing [義淨, 三藏法師義淨 635-713] (one of the writers of these Buddhist records), who lived about 670 A.D., that 500 years before his time twenty men, or about that number, had found their way through the province of Sz'chuen [四川] to the Mahābodhi tree in India, and for them and their fellow-countrymen a Mahārāja called Śrīgupta built a temple. The establishment was called the "Tchina Temple." In I-tsing's days it was in ruins. In the year 290 A.D. we find another Chinese pilgrim called Chu Si-hing visiting Khotan [和闐] ; 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 Buddha Gaya,2 on two of which we find the names of the pilgrims Chi-I and Hoyun, 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 [S. xi] impelled to leave their home by the same spirit of religious devotion and enthusiasm which actuated those with whom we are better acquainted. 

2 See J. R. A. S., N.S., vol. xiii. pp. 552-572.

The first Chinese traveller whose name and writings have come down to us is the Śākyaputra Fa-hian [Faxian; 法顯];. He is the author of the records which follow in the pages of the present Introduction. His work, the Fo-kwo-ki [Foguo ji; 佛囯记/佛國記], was first known in Europe through a translation3 made by M. Abel Rémusat. But Klaproth claimed the discovery of the book itself from the year 1816,4 and it was he who shaped the rough draft of Rémusat's translation from chap. xxi. of the work in question to the end. 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.

3 Foĕ kouĕ ki, Paris 1836.
4
Julien's Preface to the Vie de Hiouen Thsang, p. ix. n. 2.

SHIH FA-HIAN [Faxian; 法顯].

A.D. 400.

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 Śākyaputras, sons or mendicants of Śākya. So we find amongst the inscriptions at Mathurā5 the title Śākya Bhikshunyaka or Śākya Bhīkhshor added to the religious names of the different benefactors there mentioned. The pilgrim Fa-hian, therefore, whose original name was Kung, when he assumed the religious  title by which he is known to us, took also the appelation of Shih or the Śākyaputra, the disciple or son of Śākya. He was a native of Wu-Yang, of the district of Ping-Yang, in the Province of Shan-si [Shanxi, 山西]. He left his home and became a Śrāmaṇera at three years of age. His [S. xii] early history is recorded in the work called Ko-sang-chuen, written during the time of the Liang dynasty [梁朝], belonging to the Suh family (502-507 A.D.) 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 [長安], A.D. 399, and after an absence of fourteen years returned to Nankin [Nanjing, 南京], where, in connection with Buddhabhadra (an Indian Śramaṇa, 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.

5 Arch Survey of India, vol. iii pp. 37, 48; also Professor Dowson, J.R.A.S., N.S., vol. v, pp 182ff.

Fa-hian's point of departure was the city of Chang'an [長安] in Shen-si [Shaanxi, 陕西]; from this place he advanced across the Lung district (or mountains) to the fortified town of Chang-yeh in Kan-suh [Gānsù, 甘肅] ; here he met with some other priests, and with them proceeded to Tun-hwang [Dūnhuáng, 敦煌市], a town situated to the south of the Bulunghir river, lat. 39° 30' N., long. 95° E. Thence with four companions he pushed forward, under the guidance, as it seems, of an official, across the desert of Lop to Shen-shen [且末县], 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, it is situated in lat. 38 K, and long. 87 E. It corresponds with the Cherchen of Marco Polo. Fa-hian tells us that Buddhism prevailed in this country, and that there were about 4000 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."6

The Venetian traveller makes the distance from the town of Lop five days' journey. Probably Fa-hian did not visit the town of Cherchen, but after a month in the kingdom turned to the north-west, apparently following the course of the Tarim [塔里木河], and after fifteen days arrived in the kingdom of Wu-i or Wu-ki. This kingdom seems [S. xiii] to correspond to Karshar or Karasharh [焉耆], near the Lake Tenghiz or Bagarash, and is the same as the 'O-ki-ni of Hiuen Tsiang.7 Prejevalsky took three days in travelling from Kara-moto to Korla, a distance of about 42 miles,8 so that the fifteen days of Fa-hian might well represent in point of time the distance from Lake Lob to Karasharh. Our pilgrims would here strike on the outward route of Hiuen Tsiang. It was at this spot they fell in with their companions Pao-yun and the rest, whom they had left at Tun-hwang. These had probably travelled to Karasharh by the northern route, as it is called, through Kamil or Kamul to Pidshan and Turfan [تۇرپان‎, 吐魯番]; for we read that whilst Fa-hian remained at Karasharh, under the protection of an important official, some of the others went back to Kao-chang (Turfan), showing that they had come that way.

6 Marco Polo, cap. xxxviii.
7
Vol. i. p. 17.
8
Prejevalsky's Kulja, p. 50

From Karasharh Fa-hian and the others, favoured by the liberality of Kung sün (who was in some way connected with the Prince of Ts'in), proceeded south-west to Khotan [Hotan, خوتەن‎, 和田]. The route they took is not well ascertained ; but probably they followed the course of the Tarim and of the Khotan rivers. 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.9 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 B.C.) from the Litsabyis or Lichavyis.10 The chief prince or ruler of the Lichchhavis was calles the "great lion" or "the noble lion."11 This is probably the explanation of Maha-li, used by Spence Hardy as "the name of the king of the Lichawis."12 Khotan would thus be the land of the [S. xiv] lion-people (Siṃhas). Whether this be so or not, the polished condition of the people and their religious zeal indicate close connection with India, more probably with Baktria. The name of the great temple, a mile or two to the west of the city, called the Nava-saṅghārāma, or royal "new temple," is the same as that on the south-west of Balkh [بلخ], described by Hiuen Tsiang;13 and the introduction of Vaiśravaṇa as the protector of this convent, and his connection with Khotan, the kings of that country being descended from him,14 indicate a relationship, if not of race, at least of intercourse between the two kingdoms.

9 Rockhill.
10
Manual of Buddhism, p. 236, n.
11
Sac. Bks. of the East, vol. xix. p. 258
12
Manual of Buddhism, p. 282

13
Vol. i. p. 44.
14
Inf., vol. ii. p. 309.

After witnessing the car procession of Khotan, Fa-hian 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 Yangi-hissar, from which there is a caravan route due south into the mountain region of the Tsung-ling. 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 Kie-sha. I cannot understand how either of the last-named places can be identified with Ladakh.15 Yu-hwui is four days south of Tseu-ho;16 and twenty-five days beyond this brings the pilgrims to the country of Kie-sha, in the centre of the Tsung-ling mountains. Nor can we, on the. other hand, identify this kingdom of Kie-sha (the symbols are entirely different from those used by Hiuen Tsiang, ii. p. 306, for Kashgar) with that of the Kossaioi of Ptolemy, the Khaśas of Manu, and the Khaśākas of the Vishṇu Purāṇa.17 These appear to have been related to the Cushites of Holy Scripture. [S. xv.]

15 See Laidlay's note, Fa-hian, p. 26, n. 6, and Wood's Oxus (Yule's introduction), p. xl. n. 2.
16
So we read in Fa-hian's text.
17
See Eitel, Handbook, s.v. Khacha; Laidlay's Fa-hian, p. 31.

Advancing for a month across the Tsung-ling range towards India, the pilgrims reached the little country of To-li, that is, the valley of Dārail in the Dard country. This valley is on the right or western bank of the Indus, long. 73° 44' E., and is watered by a river Daril.18 Still advancing south-west for fifteen days, they strike the Indus (or probably the Swat river [دریائے سوات], 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 Hiuen Tsiang, Book iii. (p. 119). Here then we may leave Fa-hian; his farther travels may be followed by the details given in his own writings, and to these we refer the reader.

18 Vide infra, p. 134, n. 37.

SUNG YUN [Sòngyún, 宋雲].

A.D. 518.

This pilgrim was a native of Tun-hwang [Dūnhuáng, 敦煌市], in what is sometimes called Little Tibet, lat. 39° 30' N., long. 95° E. He seems to have lived in a suburb of the city of Lo-yang [Luòyáng, 洛陽] (Honan-fu) called Wan-I. He was sent, A.D. 518, by the Empress of the Northern Wei [北魏] dynasty, in company with Hwui Săng, a Bhikshu of the Shung-li temple of Lo-yang, 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 Tun-hwang [Dūnhuáng, 敦煌市] to Khotan [Hotan, خوتەن‎, 和田], and thence by the same route as Fa-hian and his companion across the Tsung-ling mountains. The Ye-tha (Ephthalites [Hephthaliten, 嚈噠人]) were now in possession of the old country of the Yue-chi [Yuèzhī , 月氏], 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 [S. xvi] of the heavenly bodies. On all hands it is plain the Ye-tha were a rude horde of Turks who had followed in the steps of the Hiung-nu [Xiōngnú, 匈奴] ; they were, in fact, the Ephthalites [εφθαλιτοι] 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."19 Sung-yun also names the power of the king whom the Ye-tha had set up over Gandhāra. He was of the Lae-lih dynasty, or a man of Lae-lih, which may perhaps be restored to Lāra. According to Hiuen Tsiang,20 the northern Lāra people belonged to Valabhī, and the southern Lāras to Mālava. It was one of these Lāra princes the Ye-tha 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.

19 Yule, Wood's Oxus, xxvii.
20
Vol. ii. pp. 260, 266, notes 56, 71.

The Ye-tha, according to Sung-yun, had conquered or received tribute from more than forty countries in all, from Tieh-lo in the south to Lae-lih in the north, eastward to Khotan, westward to Persia. The symbols Tieh-lo probably represent Tīrabhukti, the present Tirhut, the old land of the Vṛijjis. The Vṛijjis themselves were in all probability Skythian 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 north-east to the mountains bordering on Nepāl.21 The Ye-tha also extended their power so far as this, and northward to Lae-lih, i.e., Mālava. As these conquests had been achieved two generations before Sung-yun's time, we may place this invasion of India therefore about A.D. 460.

21 V. de St. Martin, Mémoire, p. 368.

The notices of the country of Udyāna by Sung-yun [S. xvii] vie with those found in Hiuen Tsiang for abundance of detail and legendary interest. It is singular that the supposed scene of the history of Vessantara, "the giving king" of Hiuen Tsiang and the Pi-lo of Sung-yun, should be placed in this remote district. The Vessantara Jātaka (so called) was well known in Ceylon in Fa-hian's time;22 it forms part of the sculptured scenes at Amaravatī [అమరావతి] and Sañchī [साँची] ; it is still one of the most popular stories amongst 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 Moriya 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 Aśoka 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 Moriyanagara. This Moriyanagara 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 Aśoka, 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 Uttarasena as one of his own kinsmen.23 We may suppose then that these tales did actually take their rise 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.24 But the subject need not be pursued farther in this place; it is sufficient to note the fact that [S. xviii]

22 Fa-hian, cap. 38.
23
Inf., vol. i. pp. 131f.
24
Inf., vol. i. p. 126.

many of the stones found in the Northern legends are somehow or other localised in this pleasant district of Udyāna. Sung-yun, after reaching so far as Peshāwar [پښور] and Nagarahāra [heute: Jalālābād / جلال اباد], returned to China in the year A.D. 521.

HIUEN TSIANG [Xuánzàng, 玄奘].

A.D. 629.


Abb.: Xuánzàng, 玄奘
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia, Public domain]

This illustrious pilgrim was born in the year 603 A.D., at Ch'in Liu, in the province of Ho-nan [Hénán, 河南], close to the provincial city. He was the youngest of four brothers. At an early age he was taken by his second brother, Chang-tsi, to the eastern capital, Lo-yang [Luòyáng, 洛陽]. His brother was a monk belonging to the Tsing-tu [Jingtu, 淨土寺] temple, and in this community Hiuen Tsiang was ordained at the age of thirteen years.25 On account of the troubles which occurred at the end of the dynasty of Sui [Suí cháo, 隋朝], the pilgrim in company with his brother sought refuge in the city of Shing-tu [Chéngdū, 成都], the capital of the province of Sz'chuen [Sìchuān, 四川], 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 [Cháng'ān, 長安]. It was here, stirred up by the recollection of Fa-hian and Chi-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 Tsing-chau of Kan-suh [Gānsù, 甘肅], and having reached that city, rested there. Thence he proceeded to Lan-chau [Lánzhōu, 蘭州], the provincial city of Kan-suh. He then advanced with a magistrate's escort to Liang-chau, a prefecture of Kan-suh, beyond the river. This city was the entrepôt for merchants from Tibet and the countries east of the Tsung-ling mountains ; and to these Hiuen Tsiang explained the sacred books and revealed his purpose of going to the kingdom of the Brāhmaṇs to seek for the law. By them [S. 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 Kwa-chau, a town about ten miles to the south of the Hu-lu river, which seems to be the same as the Bulunghir.

25 That is, became a novice or Śrāmaṇera.

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 watch-tower. Five of these towers, at intervals of 100 li [], stretched towards the country of I-gu (Kamul [Kumul, قۇمۇل‎, 哈密]. 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 Kwan-yin [guānyīn, 觀音] and his incessant invocation of the name of this divinity. Suffice it to say, he at last reached the confines of I-gu, and there halted. From this place he was summoned by the prince of Kao-chang (Turfan) [تۇرپان‎,  吐魯番], who, after vainly attempting to keep him in his territory, remitted him to 'O-ki-ni, that is, Karasharh [焉耆], from which he advanced to Kuche [Kucha, Kùchē, كۇچار, 庫車] Here the narrative in the pages following carries us on through the territory of Kuche to Bālukā, or Bai, in the Aksu [Ākèsù, ئاقس , 阿克蘇] district, from whence the pilgrim proceeds in a northerly direction across the Icy Mountains (Muzart [木扎尔特]) into the well-watered plains bordering on the Tsing Lake (Issykkul) [Ысыккөл]; he then proceeded along the fertile valley of the Su-yeh river (the Chu or Chui) [Чу, Чүй, Шу] to the town of Taras, and thence to Nujkend and Tāshkand [Тошкент, Ташкент].

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.

Hiuen Tsiang returned from his Indian travels across the Pāmīr [Памир,帕米爾高原] and through Kashgār [قەشقەر; 喀什] and the Khotan [خوتەن‎, 和闐] districts. He had been away from China since A.D. 629; he returned A.D. 645. He brought back with him -- [S. xx]

  1. Five hundred grains of relics belonging to the body (flesh) of Tathāgata.

  2. A golden statue of Buddha on a transparent pedestal.

  3. A statue of Buddha carved out of sandal-wood on a transparent pedestal. This figure is a copy of the statue which Udāyana, king of Kauśāmbī, had made.

  4. A similar statue of sandal-wood, copy of the figure made after Buddha descended from the Trayastriṃśas heaven.

  5. A silver statue of Buddha on a transparent pedestal.

  6. A golden statue of Buddha on a transparent pedestal.

  7. A sandal-wood figure of Buddha on a transparent pedestal.

  8. One hundred and twenty-four works (sūtras) of the Great Vehicle.

  9. Other works, amounting in the whole to 520 fasciculi, carried by twenty-two horses.

There are many interesting particulars given in the "Life of Hiuen Tsiang" by Hwui-lih [Huili, 慧立], 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.

We will simply add, that of all the books translated by Hiuen Tsiang, there are still seventy-five included in the collection of the Chinese Tripiṭaka. The titles of these books may be seen in the catalogue prepared by Mr. Bunyiu Nanjio [Nanjō Bunyū, 南条文雄], coll. 435, 436.

BUDDHIST LITERATURE IN CHINA.

Although it was known that there were copies of translations of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka 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 [S. 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. Stas. 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."26

26 Beal's Catalogue, p. 1.

To that opinion I still adhere. I think that if searching inquiry were made at Honan-fu and its neighbourhood, 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 Tripiṭaka have failed, and reports furnished that such works are lost. M. Stas. Julien himself tells us that Dr. Morrison, senior, reported that the Si-yu-ki (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 [S. xxii] intimate knowledge of the Chinese language possessed by M. Stas. Julien.

I should not have attempted to follow in his steps had his own translation of the Si-yu-ki 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. Rost, 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 honoured me by noticing my little book (Buddhist Pilgrims), published in 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 Fa-hian and Sung-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."

[Quelle: Xuánzàng (玄奘) <603 - 664>:  Si-yu-ki : Buddhist records of the Western World. / translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (A.D. 629), by Samuel Beal [1825 - 1889]. -- London : Trübner, 1884. -- 2 vol ; 21 cm. -- (Trübner's Oriental series). -- Originaltitel: 大唐西域記. -- Vol 1, S. ix - xxii]


3. Übersetzungen


Faxian (法顯) <ca. 337 - 422>


Faxian (法顯) <ca. 337 - 422>: Foĕ Kouĕ Ki; ou, Relation des royaumes bouddhiques: voyage dans la Tartarie, dans l’Afghanistan et dans l’Inde, exécuté, à la fin du IVe siècle, par Chy̆ Fă Hian. Traduit du chinois et commenté par Abel Rémusat [1788 - 1832]. Ouvrage posthume, rev., complété, et augm. d’éclaircissements nouveaux par MM. Klaproth [1783 - 1835] et Landresse [1800 - 1862]. --  Paris : Imprimerie royale, 1836.  -- lxvi, 424 S. : Ill. , 32 cm. -- Originaltitel: 法顯傳


Abb.: Titelblatt

Faxian (法顯) <ca. 337 - 422> ; Sòngyún (宋雲) <6. Jhdt.>: Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun, Buddhist pilgrims, from China to India (400 A.D. and 518 A.D.) / translated from the Chinese by Samuel Beal. -- London : Trübner, 1869. -- lxxiii, 208 S. ; 19 cm. -- Inhalt: Records of Buddhist countries / by Chi Fah Hian of the Sung dynasty -- The mission of Hwui Seng and Sung Yun to obtain Buddhist books in the west / translated from the 5th section of the History of the temples of Lo-Yang (Honan Fu)

Faxian (法顯) <ca. 337 - ca. 422>: A record of Buddhistic kingdoms, being an account by the Chinese monk Fâ-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist books of discipline / translated and annotated with a Corean translation of the Chinese text by James Legge [1815 - 1897]. --  Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1886. -- xv, 123, 45 S. ; 23 cm. -- Originaltitel: 佛囯记/佛國記. -- Online: enthalten in: http://www.archive.org/details/chineseliteratur00londrich. -- Zugriff am 2008-05-05


Xuánzàng (玄奘) <603 - 664>


Xuánzàng (玄奘) <603 - 664>:   Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales, traduits du sanscrit en chinois, en l’an 648, par Hiouen-thsang, et du chinois en français par m. Stanislas Julien [1797 - 1873]  ... -- Paris : L’Imprimerie impériale, 1857-1858. -- 2 vol. ; 23 cm. -- (Voyages des pèlerins bouddhistes ; II-III)


Abb.: Titelblatt

Xuánzàng (玄奘) <603 - 664>:  Si-yu-ki : Buddhist records of the Western World. / translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (A.D. 629), by Samuel Beal [1825 - 1889]. -- London : Trübner, 1884. -- 2 vol ; 21 cm. -- (Trübner's Oriental series). -- Originaltitel: 大唐西域記. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/siyukibuddhistre01hsuoft ; http://www.archive.org/details/siyukibuddhistre02hsuoft. -- Zugriff am 2005-05-05

Ausgewählte Kapitel aus dieser Übersetzung siehe:

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Quellenkunde zur indischen Geschichte bis 1858. -- 12. Chinesische Quellen. -- 1. Zum Beispiel: Xuanzang (玄奘) <603 - 664>: Buddhist records of the Western world (大唐西域記), book II. -- http://www.payer.de/quellenkunde/quellen121.htm

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Quellenkunde zur indischen Geschichte bis 1858. -- 12. Chinesische Quellen. -- 2. Zum Beispiel: Xuanzang (玄奘) <603 - 664>: Buddhist records of the Western world (大唐西域記), book VIII/IX. -- http://www.payer.de/quellenkunde/quellen122.htm

Xuanzangs Leben und Werk / [Hui-li (慧立) ; Yan-cong (彦悰)]. Hrsg. von Alexander Leonhard Mayer und Klaus Röhrborn. -- Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz. -- 24 cm. -- (Veröffentlichungen der Societas Uralo-Altaica ; Bd. 34). -- Originaltitel: Da-Tang-daci'ensi-Sanzang-fashi-zhuan ( 大唐大慈恩寺三藏法師傳). -- Teilw. zugl.: Tübingen, Univ., Diss. A. L. Mayer, 1989


Zu: 1. Zum Beispiel: Xuanzang (玄奘) <603 - 664>: Buddhist records of the Western world (大唐西域記), book II.