歷代三寶紀 4.196

4.196

右二十一部。合六十三卷。月支國沙門支婁迦讖。亦直云支讖。桓靈帝世建和歲至中平年。於洛陽譯。河南清信士孟福張蓮等筆受。而舊譯云胡般泥洹者。未詳胡字。竊觀上代有經已來賢德筆受。每至度語無不稱云譯胡為漢。胡乃西國邊俗。漢是東方。一號且九州地喚於西方總言天竺故漢書言身毒國也身毒即天竺。有中天竺。即佛生處天竺地也。有東有西有南有北。故云五天。而彼五天目此東國總言脂那。或云真丹或作震旦。此蓋取聲有楚夏耳。若當稱漢。漢止劉氏。前漢後漢兩代一號。後漢禪魏。魏弱三分致有吳蜀。魏雖吞蜀還復禪晉。自晉統馭十割九州地各有主。譯經依處人處既異翻則不同。須依帝王稱謂甄別。今為此錄悉依正之。又胡既是西域邊俗。類此氐羌蠻夷㺐獠。何有經書。乃云胡語。創標胡語模楷世間誰之過歟。佛生天竺。彼土士族婆羅門是總稱為梵。梵者清淨承胤光音。其光音天梵之最下。劫初成就水竭地乾下食地肥。身體麁重不能飛去。因即生人。緣本祖宗故稱為梵。是以應作梵語梵書。漢語譯經人未剃落。魏朱士行創首出家服法為僧猶稱俗姓。吳晉相踵弗革其風。逮自符秦有釋道安。獨拔當時居然超悟。道俗欽仰眾若稻麻。云既剃除紹繼釋種子而異父豈曰相承。今者出家宜悉稱釋。及後經至翻四阿含。其文果云。四姓出家同一釋種。眾咸歎伏（四姓者。一剎帝利。此是王種。二婆羅門。是高行人。三毘舍。如此土士民。四首陀。為卑下。如此皂隸）然安正當晉秦之世。刊定錄目刪注群經。自號彌天楷模季葉。猶言譯胡為秦。有五失本三不易。此亦崑山一礫未盡美焉。但上代來有胡言處。今錄並以梵字代之。庶後哲善言得其真正者也。

The above twenty-one works, comprising sixty-three rolls, were translated by the śramaṇa Lokakṣema (Zhi Loujiachen, also simply called Zhi Chen) of the Yuezhi kingdom, from the Jianhe era of the reign of Emperor Huan to the Zhongping era of Emperor Ling, in Luoyang. The upāsakas Meng Fu, Zhang Lian, and others of Henan served as scribes. Now, as to the old translation being termed Hu banniuan: the character hu is not properly understood. I observe that ever since scriptures appeared in ancient times, when worthy and virtuous masters served as scribes, whenever they reached the translation of language, they inevitably called it 'translating Hu into Chinese (Han)'. Now, 'Hu' refers to the frontier customs of the western states, whereas 'Han' is the designation for the Eastern realm. Furthermore, throughout the nine provinces, the western regions are collectively called Tianzhu; thus the Book of Han refers to the kingdom of Shendu, and Shendu is Tianzhu. There is Central Tianzhu, which is the land of Tianzhu where the Buddha was born; there are East, West, South, and North, hence called the Five Tianzhu. And those Five Tianzhu collectively call this eastern realm Zhina, or Cīnasthāna, or Zhendan; this is merely a difference of pronunciation between Chu and Xia. If one must speak of 'Han', Han belongs solely to the Liu clan; the Former Han and Later Han bore the single designation for two eras. The Later Han abdicated to Wei; Wei was weak and divided into three, leading to Wu and Shu. Though Wei swallowed Shu, it in turn abdicated to Jin. Ever since the Jin ruled, the land of the nine provinces has been divided up, each part having its own master. When sūtras were translated, depending on the place, as both the people and the localities differed, the renderings were not uniform. One must make distinctions based on the imperial reigns and titles. Now, in compiling this catalogue, I have corrected them all accordingly. Moreover, since Hu refers to the frontier customs of the Western Regions, akin to our Di, Qiang, Man, Yi, Gua, and Lao, what scriptures could they have had that one should speak of 'Hu language'? Who was at fault for initially setting up the term 'Hu language' as a standard for the world? The Buddha was born in Tianzhu. The gentry and brahmins of that land are collectively designated as Fan (Brahmā). 'Fan' means pure, deriving descent from the Ābhāsvara [Heaven]. The Ābhāsvara Heaven is the lowest among the Brahmā heavens. At the beginning of the kalpa, when the waters receded and the earth dried up, [beings from that heaven] came down and consumed the earth's sap; their bodies grew coarse and heavy so that they could not fly away, and they subsequently gave birth to humans. Because of their primal origin and ancestry, they are called Fan. Therefore, one ought to speak of the Fan language and Fan script. In the translation of scriptures into Chinese, monks had not yet shaved their heads; in the Wei dynasty, Zhu Shixing was the first to leave home, put on the Dharma robes, and become a monk, yet he still retained his secular surname. Wu and Jin followed one another without changing this custom. Until the Fu Qin dynasty, there arose Shi Dao'an, who alone stood preeminent in his time and was markedly enlightened. Monastics and laity admired him, crowding like rice and hemp. He stated: 'Having shaved our heads and continued the lineage of the Śākya clan, how can we be said to inherit the lineage if the sons bear a different surname from the father? Today, all who leave home should take the name Shi.' Later, when sūtras arrived and the four Āgamas were translated, the text indeed stated: 'When the four castes leave home, they share the single Śākya clan.' Everyone sighed in admiration. (The four castes are: first, Kṣatriya, the royal caste; second, Brāhmaṇa, those of elevated conduct; third, Vaiśya, akin to the gentry and common people of this land; fourth, Śūdra, the lowly, akin to menial servants.) However, Dao'an lived right during the Jin and Qin dynasties, established catalogues, and abridged and annotated various sūtras, styling himself 'Mitai' (Vast as Heaven) and serving as a model for later generations, yet he still spoke of 'translating Hu into Qin', and formulated the five losses of the original and the three difficulties. This was merely a single pebble from Mount Kunlun, not yet wholly consummate. Therefore, wherever the word Hu appeared since antiquity, this catalogue replaces it throughout with the word Fan, in the hope that later wise men of good speech may attain the genuine standard.