Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms

by Hien Fa

Overview

"Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms-Being an account by the Chinese monk Fa-hsien of travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist books of discipline" is a classic Buddhist/Chinese history text by Fa Hien. The present work consists of three parts: the Translation of Fa-hien's Narrative of his Travels; copious Notes; and the Chinese Text of a copy from Japan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781774419120
Publisher:	Whispering Pines Press
Publication date:	06/07/2021
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Faxian (337 CE – c. 422 CE) was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled by foot from China to India, visiting sacred Buddhist sites in Central, South and Southeast Asia between 399 and 412 to acquire Buddhist texts. He described his journey in his travelogue, A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms (Foguo Ji ???).

Other transliterations of his name include Fa-Hien and Fa-hsien.

In 399 CE, Faxian set out with nine others to locate sacred Buddhist texts.[2] He visited India in the early fifth century. He is said to have walked all the way from China across the icy desert and rugged mountain passes. He entered India from the northwest and reached Pataliputra. He took back with him Buddhist texts and images sacred to Buddhism. He saw the ruins of the city when he reached Pataliputra.

Faxian's visit to India occurred during the reign of Chandragupta II. He is also renowned for his pilgrimage to Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha (modern Nepal). However, he mentioned nothing about Guptas. Faxian claimed that demons and dragons were the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka.

In particular, the ability to obtain copies of books on Theravada and pure Buddhism from Sri Lanka, as well as the knowledge gained from discussions with eminent scholars maha thera on Sri Saddharma, is the most significant source of knowledge gained during the visit.

On Faxian's way back to China, after a two-year stay in Ceylon, a violent storm drove his ship onto an island, probably Java.[4] After five months there, Faxian took another ship for southern China; but, again, it was blown off course and he ended up landing at Mount Lao in what is now Shandong in northern China, 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of the city of Qingdao. He spent the rest of his life translating and editing the scriptures he had collected.