English
My poem is as follows :— i ‘My loving father and mother! You protected me in the past ages. 2i2 . A RECORD OF BUDDHIST P&ACTICES. XL. You brought and entrusted me in my boyhood to the care of these intelligent teachers. You did this, suppressing your love and grief, while _ I was still a helpless child. Whilst taking lessons, I practised from time to time what I had learnt. I rooted my character in the soil of good admonitions and rules. The two teachers? were to me as sun and moon giving light. Their virtues may be compared to those of the Yin and Yang (i.e. “the positive and negative principles that pervade nature ”).° The point of my sword of wisdom was sharpened by them. And by them also my body of the Law was nourished. They were never tired in their personal instruction. Sometimes they taught me through- out the whole night, taking no sleep; sometimes for the whole day, without any food.. The most gifted man looks often as if he is possessed of no special talent, and yet such a man’s wisdom is too deep to be gauged by us. Such men were my teachers. ‘Light disappeared from the Mount Tai (his two teachers left T'ai Shan, see the beginning of this chapter). Virtue was hidden in the riverside of Ch'i (the two teachers came to Chi, and settled there; one died in Ch'i). The sea of wisdom was in them vast, and stretched far. The grove of meditation flourished luxuriantly. Their styles of com- position were very elegant; their power of mental abstraction very wonderful. “Grind, but you cannot reduce the mass, Dye,,but you cannot make it black®.” On the eve of his departure from this world, my teacher (Shan-yii) showed a strange sign. A curious example was manifested when the bird listened to a man’s reading*. While I was still young, one (Shan-yii) passed away‘, leaving the other (Hui-hsi) behind. Whatever meritorious deeds I may have accomplished, I offer as masses for the deceased. To one I would repay after his death the benefits conferred on me during his lifetime. To the other may I be able to requite his kindness in his lifetime, though I be far separated from him. May we meet each other some day in order that we may prolong our happiness. ‘May I receive their instryction at each successive birth, in order to secure Final Liberation. I hope that my charity may ifcrease to a mountain-height by the practice of righteousness, 1 Shan-yii and Hui-hsi. ? ed BB. * P. 205 above. * P, 204 above. SUCH ACTIONS ARE UNPRECEDENTED. 213 ‘ Deep as the depth of a lake be my pure and calm meditation. Let me look for the first meeting under the Tree of the Dragon Flower 1, when I-hear the deep rippling voice of the Buddha Maitreya. Passing through the four modes of birth®, I would desire to perfect my mind, and thus fulfil the three long Kalpas (ages) required for Buddhahood.’ Fearing lest my readers should think my statement about the literary power of my teacher groundless, I shall give a specimen of his style. Once on the fifteenth day of the second month (this day was kept up as the day of Nirvaza)*, priests and laymen crowded to the South Hill— where (Séng-) Lang the Dhyana-master resided (T‘ai Shan). They visited the strange objects of the ‘Heavenly Well?’ and ‘Celestial Granary ¢,’ and worshipped at the holy niche and the sacred temple. There they performed a grand ceremony of worship and almsgiving. About this time all the literary men in the dominion of the king of Ch'i assembled there, each having oceans of writings and mountains of literature at his command. They, were all vying fot distinction *, and boasting of their excellent character®, It was proposed that they should compose a poem celebrating the statue of the deceased Lang and his temple, and they unanimously put my teacher Hui-hsi forward to compose the same. He accepted the offer without hesitation. * Tree of the dragon-flower, meaning a N&ga-tree. There is a belief that the coming “Buddha Maitreya will be born in Ketumati and gain Buddhahood under a Naga-tree, after the manner of Sakyamuni, who gained Buddhahood under the Bodhi-tree, * Four modes of birth, i.e. (1) birth from the womb, (2) from eggs, (3) from moisture, (4) miraculous birth. See Pp. 3 note, above. * In Buddhaghosa’s Samanta-pasAdika it is said: ‘ Visdkh4-punnamadivase pakisasamaye parinibbute Bhavagati.’ The corresponding passage of the Chinese translation of Buddhaghosa’s introduction has ‘ The Buddha having entered Nir- vana early in the morning of the rgth lay of the 2nd month.’ See Oldenberg, Vinaya-pi/akam, iii, p. 283 ; and my additional note to p- 14, at the end. * See p. 207, note 3, above. * Lit. ‘like an awl in a sack.’ * Lit, “having a precious stone in a box.’ 214 A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. RL, Tt seemed just as if the flowing stream had stirred up its waves and helped him while he was writing on the walls. He did not stop for a moment, but continued writing with fluent pen. He finished without delay the composition, which needed no addition or correction. His poem was as follows :— ‘In great brightness shone the Sage of old. Far and wide as the ocean was his excellent counsel spread. A lonely valley was his resort, and here was his residence, Good fortune smiled upon him to no purpose. Vast and desolate are the mountains and rivers through eternity. Men and generations pass away with the passing ages. Spiritual knowledge alone can fathom the problem of non-existence. What else do we see but the picture of the old Sage left behind ?’ Having seen this poem of my teacher, the whole assembly of literary men were of one mind in greatly admiring it. Some deposited their pens on a branch of a pine-tree, whilst others threw their inkpots down the side of a rock. They said: ‘Si Shih! (name of a woman whose beauty was regarded as idéal) has shown her face; how can Mu Mo? (name of an ugly woman who served the Yellow Emperor) make her appearance?’ There were many clever men present, but none was able to compete with the rhyméts. The rest of miy teacher’s works are separately collected. I, I-tsing, respectfully send greeting to all the venerable friends of the Great Chou’, with whom I used to hold light conversation (Vahya-kath4) or discuss the sacred Law (Dharma-kath4), with some of whom I made acquaintance when I was young, while others became bosom friends in .* BG it. “WR FE ? kK Fi: ‘Great Chou,’ meaning ‘China,’ for the reign of the usurper queen (a. D. 690-704) was called ‘Chou’ (not ‘Chou,’ a. p. 951-960). The supposition that the occasional notes in I-tsing’g texts are by a later hand, because the notes use the words ‘ Chou-yuen,’ KA —s ive. the ‘language of Chou,’ must be given up at once when we see that J-tsing himself uses the name ‘ Chou’ for ‘ China,’ Compare p. 7 note, above; and also Chavannes, Memoirs of I-tsing, p. 203, note to p. 36. © SUCH ACTIONS ARE UNPRECEDENTED, 215 middle age; the more gifted of these became spiritual teachers, but many insignificant men were among them. In the forty chapters of the present work I have treated only of important matters, and what I have recorded is customary at the present time among the teachers and pupils of India. My record rests distinctly on the words of the Buddha, and is not evolved from my own mind. Our life passes swiftly like a rapid tiver. We cannot prognosticate in the morning what will happen in the evening. Thus fearing lest I may not be able to see you and state these things to you in person, I send the record and present it to you before my return. Whenever you have time to spare, pray study the matter recorded in the book, and thus you may approach my heart. All that I state is in accordance with the Seeeheenne aes (School) and no other. Again I address you in rhyme as follows :— ‘The good doctrine of our master have I respectfully recorded. Oh, that great and gracious counsel ! All rests on the noble teaching of the Buddha; I cannot say that my humble intellect has sought it out. I may not have any chance of a personal meeting with you. Thus I send on my record to you beforehand. I shall be happy if you find this work worth keeping. Let it even accompany you in your carriage. Let the word of a humble man even such as myself be accepted. Following in the footprints of sages of a hundred past generations, I sow the beautiful seed for thousands of years to come. My real hope and wish is to represent the Vulture Peak! in the Small Rooms? of my friends, and to build a second Ragagrvzha City in the Divine Land of China.’ Gridhrakiva near Ragagrzha, now called Sailagiri. ? Name of a peak of the mountain Sung in Honan where many of his friends lived. I-tsing perhaps uses this name in both senses. & Names OF THE Books WHICH ARE REFERRED TO IN I-ts1nc’s Works, BUT NOT FOUND IN THE INDIA Orrice COLLECTION. Ba Fy BB. The ‘ Record of the West,’ ive. India. Si-fang-chi. See p. 49, note 2, above, and folio 25, vol. i, Nan- hai-ki-kwei-nei-fa-kwhan (sic), No. 1492 (India Office copy). ‘ 2, py Fy + fi fH. The save pitts Ten Virtuous Men of the a fang-shih-teh-ch‘uan. ne af at above, and folio 11°, vol. iv, of Nan-hai-ki-kwei-nei-fa-whan (sic), No. 1492 (India Office copy). 3. HY Ay BR The ‘ Record of the Madhyadesa.’ _ Chung-fang-lu. See Chavagnes, Memoirs of the Eminent Priests = who visited India during the T‘ang Dynasty, by I-tsing, p. 88 ; and folio 18%, vol. i, of Ta-than-si-yu- kin-fa-kao-san-kwhan (sic), No. 1491 (India Office copy). All the above seem to have been I-tsing’s own works. They may be found in some of the Buddhist libraries of China, Korea, or Japan. ADDITIONAL NOTES. ++ Tothe Map. Transfer Lasa to the Gulf of Cambay, according to the note ‘to p.9 below. Page 2, note 2, Lieh-tge says in his work, bk. i, p.