A 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

Going on from this to the south, for eight yojanas, (the travellers) came to the city of Sravasti(1) in the kingdom of Kosala,(2) in which the inhabitants were few and far betwe...

Several times during my long residence in Hong Kong I endeavoured to read through the “Narrative of Fâ-Hien;” but though interested with the graphic details of much of the work,...

Fâ-Hien abode in this country two years; and, in addition (to his acquisitions in Patna), succeeded in getting a copy of the Vinaya-pitaka of the Mahisasakah (school);(1) the Di...

The country originally had no human inhabitants,(1) but was occupied only by spirits and nagas, with which merchants of various countries carried on a trade. When the traffickin...

From this they proceeded south-east for eighteen yojanas, and found themselves in a kingdom called Sankasya,(1) at the place where Buddha came down, after ascending to the Traya...

Yu-teen is a pleasant and prosperous kingdom, with a numerous and flourishing population. The inhabitants all profess our Law, and join together in its religious music for their...

Less than a yojana to the east from this brought them to the city of Kapilavastu;(1) but in it there was neither king nor people. All was mound and desolation. Of inhabitants th...

Going west for sixteen yojanas,(1) he came to the city He-lo(2) in the borders of the country of Nagara, where there is the flat-bone of Buddha’s skull, deposited in a vihâra(3)...

After travelling for seventeen days, a distance we may calculate of about 1500 le, (the pilgrims) reached the kingdom of Shen-shen,(1) a country rugged and hilly, with a thin an...

Fâ-Hien had been living in Ch’ang-gan.(1) Deploring the mutilated and imperfect state of the collection of the Books of Discipline, in the second year of the period Hwăng-che, b...

Going southwards from Gandhara, (the travellers) in four days arrived at the kingdom of Purushapura.(1) Formerly, when Buddha was travelling in this country with his disciples,...

East from this city ten yojanas, (the travellers) came to the kingdom of Vaisali. North of the city so named is a large forest, having in it the double-galleried vihâra(1) where...

Having crossed the river, and descended south for a yojana, (the travellers) came to the town of Pataliputtra,(1) in the kingdom of Magadha, the city where king Asoka(2) ruled....

South of the city seven le there is a vihâra, called the Maha-vihâra, where 3000 monks reside. There had been among them a Sramana, of such lofty virtue, and so holy and pure in...

From this place, after travelling to the west for four yojanas, (the pilgrims) came to the city of Gaya;(1) but inside the city all was emptiness and desolation. Going on again...

From this place they travelled south-east, passing by a succession of very many monasteries, with a multitude of monks, who might be counted by myriads. After passing all these...

Fâ-Hien(1) returned (from here) towards Pataliputtra,(2) keeping along the course of the Ganges and descending in the direction of the west. After going ten yojanas he found a v...

General Cunningham says: “The Christians number about 270 millions; the Buddhists about 222 millions, who are distributed as follows:—China 170 millions, Japan 25, Anam 14, Siam...

When king Asoka, in a former birth,(1) was a little boy and played on the road, he met Kasyapa Buddha walking. (The stranger) begged food, and the boy pleasantly took a handful...

The travellers went on to the south-west for fifteen days (at the foot of the mountains, and) following the course of their range. The way was difficult and rugged, (running alo...

Out from the old city, after walking over 300 paces, on the west of the road, (the travellers) found the Karanda Bamboo garden,(1) where the (old) vihâra is still in existence,...

(11) Sariputtra (Singh. Seriyut) was one of the principal disciples of Buddha, and indeed the most learned and ingenious of them all, so that he obtained the title of {.} {.}, “...

(The travellers) went on from this to the south-east for nine yojanas, and came to a small solitary rocky hill,(1) at the head or end of which(2) was an apartment of stone, faci...

Going on twelve yojanas, still to the east, they came to the city of Kusanagara,(3) on the north of which, between two trees,(4) on the bank of the Nairanjana(5) river, is the p...

From Varanasi (the travellers) went back east to Pataliputtra. Fâ-Hien’s original object had been to search for (copies of) the Vinaya. In the various kingdoms of North India, h...

From this (the travellers) went westwards towards North India, and after being on the way for a month, they succeeded in getting across and through the range of the Onion mounta...

Entering the valley, and keeping along the mountains on the south-east, after ascending fifteen le, (the travellers) came to mount Gridhra-kuta.(1) Three le before you reach the...

It happened that the king of the country was then holding the pancha parishad, that is, in Chinese, the great quinquennial assembly.(1) When this is to be held, the king request...

East from Buddha’s birthplace, and at a distance of five yojanas, there is a kingdom called Rama.(1) The king of this country, having obtained one portion of the relics of Buddh...

Four yojanas on from this place to the east brought the travellers to the confluence of the five rivers.(1) When Ananda was going from Magadha(2) to Vaisali, wishing his pari-ni...

South from this 200 yojanas, there is a country named Dakshina,(1) where there is a monastery (dedicated to) the bygone Kasyapa Buddha, and which has been hewn out from a large...

When the processions of images in the fourth month were over, Sang-shao, by himself alone, followed a Tartar who was an earnest follower of the Law,(1) and proceeded towards Kop...

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 I...

In that country also Buddhism(1) is flourishing. There is in it the place where Sakra,(2) Ruler of Devas, in a former age,(3) tried the Bodhisattva, by producing(4) a hawk (in p...

Following the course of the Ganges, and descending eastwards for eighteen yojanas, he found on the southern bank the great kingdom of Champa,(1) with topes reared at the places...

Having stayed there till the third month of winter, Fâ-Hien and the two others,(1) proceeding southwards, crossed the Little Snowy mountains.(2) On them the snow lies accumulate...

Fifty le to the west of the city bring (the traveller) to a town named Too-wei,(1) the birthplace of Kasyapa Buddha.(1) At the place where he and his father met,(2) and at that...

(The travellers), going on from this three le to the south, came to a mountain named Gurupada,(1) inside which Mahakasyapa even now is. He made a cleft, and went down into it, t...

Seven days’ journey from this to the east brought the travellers to the kingdom of Takshasila,(1) which means “the severed head” in the language of China. Here, when Buddha was...

The travellers, going downwards from this towards the east, in five days came to the country of Gandhara,(1) the place where Dharma-vivardhana,(2) the son of Asoka,(3) ruled. Wh...

Going on from this to the south-east for three yojanas, they came to the great kingdom of Sha-che.(1) As you go out of the city of Sha-che by the southern gate, on the east of t...

Fâ-Hien stayed at the Dragon vihâra till after the summer retreat,(1) and then, travelling to the south-east for seven yojanas, he arrived at the city of Kanyakubja,(2) lying al...

After they had crossed the river, there was a country named Pe-t’oo,(1) where Buddhism was very flourishing, and (the monks) studied both the mahayana and hinayana. When they sa...