歷代三寶紀 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

1.1

Presented by Fei Zhangfang, translation scholar and subject, in the seventeenth year of Kaihuang.

The first section of the Imperial Chronology describes the Tathāgata’s descent and birth in Shendu, which corresponded in this Cīnasthāna to the era of the Ji Zhou dynasty. As the era has receded ever further into the past and human generations have become jumbled, pointing out and recounting them leads to frequent confusion regarding what came before and after. Now, I first compile the sexagenary cycle above to weave together the ancient and the modern, and below I arrange the imperial chronologies to set in order the epochs, hoping that the abdication of thrones and the rise of hegemons will appear as clear as in a mirror before one’s eyes, and that the shifts of markets and courts will be observed as though within the palm of one's hand. Thereafter, I examine how the benevolence of the various rulers nurtured their epochs, and how the transformation of the Buddhadharma flowed at the opportune times, responding to circumstances to save beings. The Buddhist scriptures and the Confucian teachings agree in their underlying principles and secretly coincide, so that it may truly be said that the divine presence descended upon the Five Indias and the auspicious omens reached the Nine Provinces. Ji Chang's mother, Tai Si, had a dream of a great man, and being moved thereby gave birth to Chang. He had the visage of a dragon and the eyebrows of a tiger, was ten feet tall, and had four breasts on his chest. His state bordered on the Western Rong, yet his governance reached toward the east. A red sparrow descended with good fortune, and he changed [his state's] name to Zhou, being posthumously named King Wen. He made Feng his capital, buried exposed skeletons, and the whole world submitted to him. Hence Confucius said: “How magnificent was King Wen's virtue! He transformed without taking action.” When it came to his son Fa, King Wu, he launched a punitive expedition against Zhou, and moved the capital to the Hao capital. When meeting someone suffering from heatstroke on the road, he stepped down from his carriage to fan him; he humbled himself and held lightly the [pride of] ten thousand chariots, while cherishing the myriad common folk as his children. Therefore Xunzi said: “When King Wu lived, the world sang; when he died, the Four Seas wept.” When it reached the nineteenth ruler, King Zhuang (Tuo), in his tenth year—which was the seventh year of Duke Zhuang in the Lu Spring and Autumn Annals, summer, fourth month, the night of the xinmao day—the fixed stars did not appear, and in the middle of the night stars fell like rain. According to examination, this was precisely the time when the Tathāgata was born in the royal palace. (Former worthies and masters who calculated the year of the Buddha’s birth had differing long and short estimates. Calculating the Buddha's birth from the Record of Faxian, it would correspond to the twenty-sixth year, jiawu, of Wu Yi of the Yin dynasty; from then to the present seventeenth year of Kaihuang, dingsi, it has already been 1,681 years. Relying on the śramaṇa Fashang’s reply to the queries of the kingdom of Goguryeo, it would correspond to the twenty-fourth year, jiayin, of King Zhao (Xia), the fifth ruler of the Former Zhou; from then to the present dingsi year, it is 1,486 years. He cited the Alternative Biography of King Mu, the Son of Heaven, as evidence, stating that Xia's son Man succeeded to the throne, and King Mu heard that the Buddha was born in Kapilavastu, whereupon he traveled west and did not return. Relying on the Record of the Semblance and True [Dharma], it corresponds to the forty-eighth year, wuwu, of King Ping (Yijiu), the seventeenth ruler of the Former Zhou; from then to the present dingsi year, it is 1,323 years. Relying on the calculations made by the Later Zhou śramaṇa Shi Dao'an using Kumārajīva's chronology and a stone pillar inscription, it corresponds to the fifth year, yichou, of King Huan (Lin), the eighteenth ruler of the Former Zhou; from then to the present dingsi year, it is 1,225 years. Relying on the dots marked by the holy assembly after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, obtained by Zhao Boxiu when he met the Vinaya Master Hongdu at Mount Lu in the first year of Datong of the Liang, it would correspond to the second year, jiaxu, of King Zhending (Liang), the twenty-ninth ruler of the Former Zhou; from then to the present dingsi year, it is almost 1,061 years. Only this is the closest. According to the Tripiṭaka teachings and the Samantapāsādikā, why did the Buddha not cross over women [initially]? It was out of respect for the Dharma. The true Dharma was to last a thousand years; because women were crossed over, five hundred years were deducted, but through the establishment and observance of the eight gurudharmas, it was restored to a full thousand years. Thereafter, the semblance Dharma would also last a thousand years, and the final Dharma would last ten thousand years. For five thousand years, one may study the three knowledges and attain the four fruits. From six thousand years onward, one who studies cannot attain the Way. After ten thousand years, the scriptures and characters will vanish naturally of themselves, with only shaved heads and the wearing of kāṣāyas remaining. In the age of the true Dharma, the flavor of the Mahāyāna is pure; reaching the semblance age, its flavor becomes somewhat diluted; if one enters the final Dharma, then there is no Mahāyāna. Slaves and bondservants leave home, defiling pure conduct; evil kings govern the world and impose taxes on monks and nuns. At present, this is not yet the case. Because the transition between the true and semblance [Dharma] has not yet gone deep, the triratna is flourishing anew and the Mahāyāna is widely propagated. How could we have already entered the final Dharma?)

1.3

Now, following sūtras such as the Lalitavistara and the [Buddhacarita-]benxing [jing] to cross-check the Lu history, I casually present a single corner to respectfully transmit it to future philosophers, hoping to proclaim the sacred traces and the skillful means they relied upon. On the eighth day of the fourth month in the ninth year of King Zhuang, guisi, the Buddha manifested in the form of a white elephant, descending from Tuṣita to the right flank of Queen Māyā, the principal consort of the great King Śuddhodana of the city of Kapilavastu in Central Tianzhu. At that time, shadows of the various devas secretly guarded and escorted him into the womb, concealed from worldly eyes so that few knew. In the second month, the middle month of spring, of the tenth year, on the night of the eighth day when the Puṣya asterism conjoined, he was born from the right flank beneath the plakṣa tree in the Lumbinī grove. As the signs of his birth were clearly manifest, the Lalitavistara therefore says: “He radiated a vast great light, illuminating the three-thousandfold world,” which is what the Zuo Commentary describes as: “The fixed stars did not appear, and the night was bright.” The Ruiying jing says: “Comets appeared below to attend upon the prince’s birth,” and hence the Zuo Commentary states: “Stars fell like rain.” The Benxing jing says: “The empty sky was without clouds, and rain fell naturally,” and Mr. Du's commentary notes: “Presumably at that time there were no clouds”; the Zuo Commentary also says: “Falling along with the rain.” However, the calendar of the Ji Zhou took the eleventh month as the start of the year; what it calls the fourth month is actually the fifth day, xinmao, of the second month at present, and the Lu history is in error. When the śramaṇa Dao'an composed the Treatise on the Two Teachings, he used the Ji calendar to calculate and it still matched the eighth day; he only mistook the time of birth for the year of attaining the Way, which caused the Buddha's era to be thirty years too distant. In the first year of King Xi, gengzi, the Buddha was seven years old, and rode a goat cart to go to the hall of study. In the fourth year, guimao, at age ten, he tested his strength against his peers of the Śākya clan. In the third year of King Hui, dingwei, at age fourteen, he petitioned his father the king to go out on an excursion; passing through the eastern city gate, he saw a sick person and returned. In the sixth year, gengxu, at age seventeen, he took Yasodharā as his consort. In the eighth year, renzi, at age nineteen, at midnight on the eighth day of the fourth month, he leaped over the city wall and left home. (The Sūtra of the Twelve Excursions says that the Buddha left home at age twenty. The twenty-fourth fascicle of the Ekottarika-āgama says: “I was twenty-nine years of age when I left home because I wished to save people,” and also says: “At age twenty, I studied among the non-Buddhists.” The Dīrgha-āgama also says he left home at age twenty-nine. Calculating according to the general rule, the Tathāgata remained in the world for seventy-nine years; if he left home at twenty-nine and attained the Way at thirty-five, the period during which he transformed beings would have been only forty-five years. Yet the Chanyao jing says: “Throughout his single life, Śākyamuni taught and transformed sentient beings for forty-nine years.” Most sūtras state that he left home at nineteen; I now take this as correct. If he left home at twenty-nine and attained the Way at thirty-five, there are few sūtras [that say this]. Moreover, to say that he studied among the non-Buddhists for twenty years would mean that he only attained the Way at age fifty, which we know to be erroneous.) In the nineteenth year, guihai, at age thirty, on the eighth day of the second month when the bright morning star appeared, he was fully awakened and attained the unsurpassable Way. (In the lower fascicle of the Parinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Buddha told Ānanda: “Since I attained the Way, my years have naturally reached forty and nine. A Buddha is difficult to behold; only after one hundred and forty million years will there be a Maitreya.” The Chanyao says: “The Tathāgata's attainment of the Way was forty-nine years; this is of one single flavor.” Fascicle five of the Dīrgha-āgama says: the Buddha told Subhadra: “It has already been fifty years since I attained Buddhahood.”) For forty-nine years he dwelt among gods, humans, dragons, and spirits in the world, preaching the Dharma and transforming them, causing each to attain liberation and realize the four fruits; those who went against the stream of existence were as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and those who escaped the three evil paths to be born among gods and humans were beyond count. When his karmic conditions with sentient beings had ended, the Buddha entered parinirvāṇa in the latter part of the night on the fifteenth day of the second month in the fourth year of King Kuang, renzi, in the city of Kuśinagara in Central Tianzhu. From then until the present seventeenth year of Kaihuang, dingsi, it has been 1,205 years since the Eye of the World was extinguished. (The Nirvāṇa Sūtra and the Samantapāsādikā both say the fifteenth day of the second month. The Sūtra on the Bodhisattva Dwelling in the Womb says he entered nirvāṇa on the eighth day of the second month, and also says that his initial birth, attaining the Way, and up to his parinirvāṇa were all on the eighth day of the fourth month. Former worthies and older translations all say that it ought to be the second month. The reason for this is that Rājagṛha is three thousand li away from the city of the state of Kuśinagara. Only on the seventh day after the Buddha's extinction was the jhāpita performed, after which the disciples dispersed. Only then did Kāśyapa head towards Rājagṛha for the summer retreat to compile the repository of the Dharma. The great assembly he led, both the wise and the dull, all arrived at Rājagṛha before the screening and selection could take place; it would have been impossible to reach that location on the very same day. Furthermore, the other sūtras all say that parinirvāṇa occurred at midnight; only the Samantapāsādikā alone says it was at dawn. When sūtras explain the parinirvāṇa, the timing signifies a specific meaning: to demonstrate that sentient beings are separated from the Sun of the Buddha, it must take place during the watches of the night. If it were in the first watch of the night, when dawn is still far off, it would signify that the next Buddha would only appear in the world after a very long time; if at midnight, the distance is precisely balanced; if in the latter watch of the night, a Buddha would appear soon. Since Maitreya will only appear after a hundred million years, yet not in a different kalpa, midnight is the most fitting.)

1.4

The Aśokāvadāna says: One hundred and sixteen years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, the king of Jambudvīpa named Aśoka arose in Eastern Tianzhu and ruled from the city of Pāṭaliputra. He collected the Buddha's relics and dispersed them to erect eighty-four thousand stūpas throughout Jambudvīpa, wishing to make them completely ubiquitous. Those recorded in the Indian accounts may be stated in brief; within Cīnasthāna, in its capitals, cities, around the Yangzi and Han rivers, and east and west of the Guanlong region, they exist everywhere. That time corresponded to the twenty-sixth year, dingwei, of the reign of King Jing of the Zhou. From King Wu to King Nan, there were thirty-nine kings over 884 years, with capitals at Feng, Hao, Luoyi, and Chengzhou, totaling four different locations. King Zhaoxiang of the Ying [clan of Qin], in his fifty-second year of reign, destroyed the Zhou and proclaimed the Qin dynasty. He renamed the Hao capital Xianyang and established his capital there. Reaching the fourth ruler, the First Emperor (Zheng), in his twenty-sixth year, he swept away and eliminated the Six States; in his twenty-seventh year, he abolished the Nine Provinces and divided the world into thirty-six commanderies; in his thirty-fourth year, all classic texts were burned, with only medical, divinatory, and agricultural arts exempt from the burning; everything else was reduced to ashes. For this reason, the sacred teachings and wondrous traces of the Zhou dynasty, as well as the relic stūpas erected by King Aśoka, were cut off from transmission, and none know what became of them. Moreover, during the time of the First Emperor, there were eighteen worthies including the śramaṇas Shi Lifang and others who brought scriptures to propagate the transformation. The First Emperor would not comply and consequently imprisoned Lifang and the others. In the night, a sixteen-foot-tall vajra-being came, broke open the prison, and released them; the First Emperor was terrified and bowed his head in apology. Across four rulers and forty-nine years, it was destroyed by the Han. Beginning with the first year of King Wu of Zhou, yimao, and ending with the year of the downfall of the Second Emperor of Qin, jiawu, during this period there were 933 years and forty-two rulers. Sixteen kings of the Zhou spanned 453 years before the Buddha's appearance, which are named but not recorded. Beginning from King Zhuang when the Tathāgata was born in the world down to the beginning of the Han, the years are recorded chronologically: twenty-six rulers across 481 years. These are gathered together as the Records of the Zhou and Qin Eras, making clear how the Buddhist vehicle responded to conditions and its teachings reached the East.

1.5

King Zhuang of Zhou (fifteen years; only six years are included in the record here, during which the Buddha was born). King Xi (five years). King Hui (twenty-five years). King Xiang (thirty-three years). King Qing (six years). King Kuang (six years; in the second month of the fourth year, the Buddha entered nirvāṇa). King Ding (twenty-one years). King Jian (fourteen years). King Ling (twenty-seven years). King Jing (twenty-five years). King Jing (forty-three years; in the twenty-sixth year, King Aśoka erected the eighty-four thousand stūpas). King Yuan (eight years). King Zhending (twenty-eight years). King Kao (fifteen years). King Weilie (twenty-four years). King An (twenty-six years). King Lie (seven years). King Xian (forty-eight years). King Shenjing (six years). King Nan (fifty-nine years).

1.6

King Zhaoxiang of Qin (five years). King Xiaowen (one year). King Zhuangxiang (three years). The First Emperor (thirty-seven years). The Second Emperor (three years). The Son of the First Emperor (forty-six days).

1.7

Zhou: [Year] (jiawu), [reign of] King Zhuang, [named] Tuo. (In the tenth year, on the eighth day of the second month, Śākyamuni Tathāgata descended spiritually to be born into the palace of King Śuddhodana in the city of Kapilavastu, in the realm of Central Tianzhu. At this time, a radiance shone everywhere, illuminating the three-thousand-great-thousandfold world in universal brightness. This corresponds to the time recorded in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals and the Zuo zhuan when 'the fixed stars did not appear and the night was bright'.) [Year] (yiwei), 11. [Year] (bingshen), 12. [Year] (dingyou), 13. [Year] (wuxu), 14. [Year] (jihai), 15.

1.8

[Year] (gengzi), King Xi, [named] Huqi, 1st [year]. (Fascicle 3 of the Lalitavistara states: 'Crown Prince Siddhārtha, at the age of seven, rode in a goat-cart to the schoolhouse to attend a master named Xuanyou.' This corresponds to this year.) [Year] (xinchou), 2. [Year] (renyin), 3. [Year] (guimao), 4. (The Sūtra of Past and Present Causes and Effects states: 'When Crown Prince Siddhārtha was ten years old, he competed in strength and skills with five hundred Śākya youths of the same age.' This corresponds to this year.) [Year] (jiachen), 5.

1.9

[Year] (yisi), King Hui, [named] Lang, 1st [year]; the Buddha was twelve years old. [Year] (bingwu), 2. [Year] (dingwei), 3. (Fascicle 1 of the Ru ying benqi jing states: 'When the Prince reached the age of fourteen, he asked his father the King for permission to go on an excursion. Reaching the eastern gate of the city, he saw a sick person and returned.' This corresponds to this year.) [Year] (wushen), 4. [Year] (jiyou), 5. [Year] (gengxu), 6. (Fascicle 1 of the Ru ying benqi jing states: 'When the Prince was seventeen years of age, the King took a consort for him named Qiuyi (Gopā).' This corresponds to this year.) [Year] (xinhai), 7. [Year] (renzi), 8. (He leaped over the city wall and left home. Fascicle 1 of the Ru ying benqi jing states: 'When the Prince reached the age of nineteen, in the middle of the night on the eighth day of the fourth month, a deva clasped hands through the window and addressed him, saying: "It is time to depart!" He then ordered his horse and set out.' This agrees with the Sūtra of Past and Present Causes and Effects. This corresponds to this year.) [Year] (guichou), 9. [Year] (jiayin), 10. [Year] (yimao), 11. [Year] (bingchen), 12. [Year] (dingsi), 13. [Year] (wuwu), 14. [Year] (jiwei), 15. [Year] (gengshen), 16. [Year] (xinyou), 17. [Year] (renxu), 18. (The Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra states: 'The Bodhisattva, having completed six years of austerities, on the sixteenth day of the second month in spring, reflected internally that he must obtain superior food before attaining awakening. A deva manifested two maidens and caused them to boil sixteenfold milk-rice to offer him. On the morning of the twenty-third day of the second month, he begged for the food and ate it.') [Year] (guihai), 19. (The Buddha first attained the Way. Fascicle 6 of the Lalitavistara states: 'At the appearance of the morning star, the Bodhisattva suddenly attained great awakening.' It also says: 'He left home at nineteen and attained the Way at thirty; his work completed and his aim fulfilled, all was greatly illumined.' This corresponds to this year. The Shi'er you jing states: 'From the eighth day of the fourth month to the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the Buddha sat beneath the tree, counting this as one year.') [Year] (jiazi), 20. (The second year. In the Deer Park, he preached the Dharma for Ājñātakauṇḍinya and the others. Fascicle 21 of the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya states: 'The Buddha thought to preach the Dharma for Udraka Rāmaputra, but a son of heaven addressed him, saying: "He passed away yesterday."' ) [Year] (yichou), 21. (The third year. He preached the Dharma for the three brothers Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa and converted their disciples, making a total of a thousand monks.) [Year] (bingyin), 22. (The fourth year. On the summit of Mount Gayā—that is, Mount Gayāśīrṣa—he preached the Dharma for the various nāgas and spirits.) [Year] (dingmao), 23. (In the fifth year, Śāriputra was a brāhmaṇa. Seeing the Buddha's disciple the monk Aśvajit, he asked, 'What Way [do you follow]?' He replied, 'I am a disciple of the Buddha,' and expounded it extensively for him; [Śāriputra] attained the first fruit. He returned to report to Maudgalyāyana, and together they went to the Buddha's abode. Śāriputra, possessing superior wisdom, attained arhatship after seven days; Maudgalyāyana attained it only after fifteen days.) [Year] (wuchen), 24. (The sixth year. The elder Sudatta and Crown Prince Jeta together built a vihāra for the Buddha, with twelve stūpa-monasteries, seventy-two lecture halls, three thousand six hundred rooms, and five hundred pavilions. All these were built by Sudatta; Jeta only erected the gate-tower buildings.) [Year] (jisi), 25. (The seventh year. In the Goyānīya park, he preached the Pratyutpanna-samādhi Sūtra for the eight persons including the Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla.)

1.10

[Year] (gengwu), King Xiang, [named] Zheng, 1st [year]. (The eighth year. The Buddha was in the Willow Mountain preaching the Dharma for the younger brother of the King of the Gandharvas, who attained the Way. The Buddha was thirty-seven years old.) [Year] (xinwei), 2. (The ninth year. He preached the Dharma for Aṅgulimāla in the Defiled Marsh.) [Year] (renshen), 3. (The tenth year. He returned to the realm of Magadha to preach the Dharma for King Puṣya.) [Year] (guiyou), 4. (The eleventh year. Beneath the Tree of Terror, he preached the Benqi jing for Maitreya; that is, sūtras such as the Xiuxing benqi jing.) [Year] (jiaxu), 5. (The twelfth year. He returned to his country of birth to preach the Dharma for the Śākyas; eighty-four thousand persons attained the path of the srotāpanna. The Shi'er you jing gives this account. Fascicle 8 of the Lalitavistara states: 'The King dispatched a brāhmaṇa named Udāyin to invite the Buddha to return, sending word saying: "Since our long parting twelve years have passed, and I long to see you."') [Year] (yihai), 6. [Year] (bingzi), 7. [Year] (dingchou), 8. [Year] (wuyin), 9. (Fascicle 1 of the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra states: 'When the Tathāgata had attained the Way for only sixteen years, knowing that the Bodhisattvas were capable of upholding the Mahāyāna treasury of the Dharma, he preached the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra within the Great Jewel Chamber between the realms of desire and form.' This corresponds to this year.) [Year] (jimao), 10. [Year] (gengchen), 11. [Year] (xinsi), 12. [Year] (renwu), 13. [Year] (guiwei), 14. [Year] (jiashen), 15. [Year] (yiyou), 16. [Year] (bingxu), 17. [Year] (dinghai), 18. [Year] (wuzi), 19. [Year] (jichou), 20. [Year] (gengyin), 21. [Year] (xinmao), 22. [Year] (renchen), 23. [Year] (guisi), 24. [Year] (jiawu), 25. [Year] (yiwei), 26. [Year] (bingshen), 27. [Year] (dingyou), 28. [Year] (wuxu), 29. [Year] (jihai), 30. [Year] (gengzi), 31. [Year] (xinchou), 32. [Year] (renyin), 33.

1.11

[Year] (guimao), King Qing, [named] Chen, 1st [year]; the Buddha was seventy years old. [Year] (jiachen), 2. [Year] (yisi), 3. [Year] (bingwu), 4. [Year] (dingwei), 5. [Year] (wushen), 6.

1.12

[Year] (jiyou), King Kuang, [named] Ban, 1st [year]; the Buddha was seventy-six years old. [Year] (gengxu), 2. [Year] (xinhai), 3. [Year] (renzi), 4. (The Buddha was seventy-nine years old. In the fourth year of King Kuang, during the final watch of the night on the fifteenth day of the second month, he entered nirvāṇa between the twin śāla trees at the Birthplace of the Mallas in the city of Kuśinagara in Central Tianzhu.) [Year] (guichou), 5. [Year] (jiayin), 6.

1.13

[Year] (yimao), King Ding, [named] Yu, 1st [year]; 4 years since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa. [Year] (bingchen), 2. [Year] (dingsi), 3. [Year] (wuwu), 4. [Year] (jiwei), 5. [Year] (gengshen), 6. [Year] (xinyou), 7. [Year] (renxu), 8. [Year] (guihai), 9. [Year] (jiazi), 10. [Year] (yichou), 11. [Year] (bingyin), 12. [Year] (dingmao), 13. [Year] (wuchen), 14. [Year] (jisi), 15. [Year] (gengwu), 16. [Year] (xinwei), 17. [Year] (renshen), 18. (More than twenty years after the Tathāgata's parinirvāṇa, the elder Kāśyapa upheld the Dharma treasury and entrusted it to Ānanda, and only then entered extinction. This is drawn from the Xiangfa zhengji.) [Year] (guiyou), 19. [Year] (jiaxu), 20. [Year] (yihai), 21.

1.14

[Year] (bingzi), King Jian, [named] Yi, 1st [year]; 25 years since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa. [Year] (dingchou), 2. [Year] (wuyin), 3. [Year] (jimao), 4. [Year] (gengchen), 5. [Year] (xinsi), 6. [Year] (renwu), 7. [Year] (guiwei), 8. [Year] (jiashen), 9. [Year] (yiyou), 10. [Year] (bingxu), 11. [Year] (dinghai), 12. [Year] (wuzi), 13. [Year] (jichou), 14.

1.15

[Year] (gengyin), King Ling, [named] Xiexin, 1st [year]; 39 years since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa. [Year] (xinmao), 2. [Year] (renchen), 3. (Twenty years after Kāśyapa's extinction, Ānanda upheld the Dharma treasury, and then entrusted it to Madhyāntika before finally entering extinction. This also is drawn from the Xiangfa zhengji.) [Year] (guisi), 4. [Year] (jiawu), 5. [Year] (yici), 6. [Year] (bingshen), 7. [Year] (dingyou), 8. [Year] (wuxu), 9. [Year] (jihai), 10. [Year] (gengzi), 11. [Year] (xinchou), 12. [Year] (renyin), 13. [Year] (guimao), 14. [Year] (jiachen), 15. [Year] (yisi), 16. [Year] (bingwu), 17. [Year] (dingwei), 18. [Year] (wushen), 19. [Year] (jiyou), 20. [Year] (gengxu), 21. (In the eleventh month, on the gengzi day, Confucius was born in Lu; this was the twenty-second year of Duke Xiang.) [Year] (xinhai), 22. [Year] (renzi), 23. (After Madhyāntika's extinction, Śāṇavāsa upheld the Dharma treasury, likewise for twenty years, and entrusted it to Upagupta before entering extinction.) [Year] (guichou), 24. [Year] (jiayin), 25. [Year] (yimao), 26. [Year] (bingchen), 27.

1.16

[Year] (dingsi), King Jing, [named] Gui, 1st [year]. (Prince Jizha of Wu came to the court and requested to view the music of Zhou; 66 years since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa.) [Year] (wuwu), 2. [Year] (jiwei), 3. [Year] (gengshen), 4. [Year] (xinyou), 5. (Han Xuanzi of Jin came in person to examine the books held by the Grand Scribe.) [Year] (renxu), 6. [Year] (guihai), 7. [Year] (jiazi), 8. [Year] (yichou), 9. [Year] (bingyin), 10. (Confucius inquired about the rites with Lao Dan.) [Year] (dingmao), 11. [Year] (wuchen), 12. [Year] (jisi), 13. [Year] (gengwu), 14. [Year] (xinwei), 15. [Year] (renshen), 16. (After Śāṇavāsa's extinction, Upagupta upheld the Dharma treasury, likewise for twenty years, and entrusted it to Dhītika—also named Śīlananda—before entering extinction.) [Year] (guiyou), 17. [Year] (jiaxu), 18. [Year] (yihai), 19. [Year] (bingzi), 20. [Year] (dingchou), 21. [Year] (wuyin), 22. [Year] (jimao), 23. [Year] (gengchen), 24. [Year] (xinsi), 25.

1.17

(Renwu) King Jing's (Gai) 1st year (the 91st year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Guiwei) 2; (Jiashen) 3; (Yiyou) 4; (Bingxu) 5; (Dinghai) 6; (Wuzi) 7; (Jichou) 8; (Gengyin) 9; (Xinmao) 10; (Renchen) 11 (After Upagupta passed away, Śīlananda maintained the treasury of the Dharma for one hundred years. This was the beginning of the second century, and Dhītika was of sharp intelligence and wisdom, attaining the path of an arhat in three days; he delivered altogether one billion two hundred million people to attain the path); (Guisi) 12; (Jiawu) 13; (Yiwei) 14; (Bingshen) 15; (Dingyou) 16; (Wuxu) 17; (Jihai) 18; (Gengzi) 19; (Xinchou) 20; (Renyin) 21; (Guimao) 22 (Confucius departed from Wei; Zilu became steward to the Ji lineage); (Jiachen) 23; (Yisi) 24 (Confucius went to Chen); (Bingwu) 25; (Dingwei) 26 (The *Aśokāvadāna* states: "One hundred and sixteen years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, he arose in eastern Tianzhu, ruled from Pāṭaliputra, governed Jambudvīpa as an iron-wheel-turning king, greatly made the Buddhadharma flourish, and erected 84,000 stūpas." It corresponds to this year); (Wushen) 27; (Jiyou) 28; (Gengxu) 29; (Xinhai) 30; (Renzi) 31; (Guichou) 32; (Jiayin) 33; (Yimao) 34; (Bingchen) 35 (Confucius went from Chen to Wei); (Dingsi) 36 (Confucius was summoned to return and establish the Six Classics; he was sixty-eight years old; this was the 11th year of Duke Ai of Lu); (Wuwu) 37; (Jiwei) 38; (Gengshen) 39 (In the 14th year of Duke Ai of Lu, in the second month, a lin was captured; Confucius ceased writing from this point); (Xinyou) 40; (Renxu) 41 (Confucius died; he was seventy-three years old; the Lu chronicle *Chunqiu* had Confucius cease writing and ended with the capture of the lin in the gengshen year, totaling two hundred and forty-two years; his disciples further extended it by two years to the time of his death); (Guihai) 42; (Jiazi) 43.

1.18

(Yichou) King Yuan's (Ren) 1st year (the 134th year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Bingyin) 2; (Dingmao) 3; (Wuchen) 4; (Jisi) 5; (Gengwu) 6; (Xinwei) 7; (Renshen) 8.

1.19

(Guiyou) King Zhending's (Jie) 1st year (Zuo Qiuming's chronicle of the *Chunqiu*; this year was the 142nd year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Jiaxu) 2; (Yihai) 3; (Bingzi) 4; (Dingchou) 5; (Wuyin) 6; (Jimao) 7; (Gengchen) 8; (Xinsi) 9; (Renwu) 10; (Guiwei) 11; (Jiashen) 12; (Yiyou) 13; (Bingxu) 14; (Dinghai) 15; (Wuzi) 16; (Jichou) 17; (Gengyin) 18; (Xinmao) 19; (Renchen) 20; (Guisi) 21; (Jiawu) 22; (Yiwei) 23; (Bingshen) 24; (Dingyou) 25; (Wuxu) 26; (Jihai) 27; (Gengzi) 28.

1.20

(Xinchou) King Kao's (Wei) 1st year (the 170th year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Renyin) 2; (Guimao) 3; (Jiachen) 4; (Yisi) 5; (Bingwu) 6; (Dingwei) 7; (Wushen) 8; (Jiyou) 9; (Gengxu) 10; (Xinhai) 11; (Renzi) 12; (Guichou) 13; (Jiayin) 14; (Yimao) 15.

1.21

(Bingchen) King Weilie's (Wu) 1st year (the 185th year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Dingsi) 2; (Wuwu) 3; (Jiwei) 4; (Gengshen) 5; (Xinyou) 6; (Renxu) 7; (Guihai) 8; (Jiazi) 9; (Yichou) 10; (Bingyin) 11; (Dingmao) 12; (Wuchen) 13; (Jisi) 14; (Gengwu) 15; (Xinwei) 16; (Renshen) 17; (Guiyou) 18; (Jiaxu) 19; (Yihai) 20; (Bingzi) 21; (Dingchou) 22 (the Nine Tripods shook); (Wuyin) 23; (Jimao) 24 (one edition has Wu reigning for thirty-one years).

1.22

(Gengchen) King An's (Jiao) 1st year (the 210th year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Xinsi) 2; (Renwu) 3; (Guiwei) 4; (Jiashen) 5; (Yiyou) 6; (Bingxu) 7; (Dinghai) 8; (Wuzi) 9; (Jichou) 10; (Gengyin) 11; (Xinmao) 12; (Renchen) 13; (Guisi) 14; (Jiawu) 15; (Yiwei) 16; (Bingshen) 17; (Dingyou) 18; (Wuxu) 19; (Jihai) 20; (Gengzi) 21; (Xinchou) 22; (Renyin) 23; (Guimao) 24; (Jiachen) 25; (Yisi) 26.

1.23

(Bingwu) King Lie's (Xi) 1st year (the 236th year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Dingwei) 2; (Wushen) 3; (Jiyou) 4; (Gengxu) 5; (Xinhai) 6; (Renzi) 7.

1.24

(Guichou) King Xian's (Bian) 1st year (the 243rd year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Jiayin) 2; (Yimao) 3; (Bingchen) 4; (Dingsi) 5; (Wuwu) 6; (Jiwei) 7; (Gengshen) 8; (Xinyou) 9; (Renxu) 10; (Guihai) 11; (Jiazi) 12; (Yichou) 13; (Bingyin) 14; (Dingmao) 15; (Wuchen) 16; (Jisi) 17; (Gengwu) 18; (Xinwei) 19; (Renshen) 20; (Guiyou) 21; (Jiaxu) 22; (Yihai) 23; (Bingzi) 24; (Dingchou) 25; (Wuyin) 26; (Jimao) 27; (Gengchen) 28; (Xinsi) 29; (Renwu) 30; (Guiwei) 31; (Jiashen) 32; (Yiyou) 33; (Bingxu) 34; (Dinghai) 35; (Wuzi) 36; (Jichou) 37; (Gengyin) 38; (Xinmao) 39; (Renchen) 40; (Guisi) 41; (Jiawu) 42; (Yiwei) 43; (Bingshen) 44; (Dingyou) 45; (Wuxu) 46; (Jihai) 47; (Gengzi) 48.

1.25

(Xinchou) King Shenjing's (Ding) 1st year (the 291st year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Renyin) 2; (Guimao) 3; (Jiachen) 4; (Yisi) 5; (Bingwu) 6.

1.26

(Dingwei) King Nan's (Dan) 1st year (the 297th year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Wushen) 2; (Jiyou) 3; (Gengxu) 4; (Xinhai) 5; (Renzi) 6; (Guichou) 7 (King Zhaoxiang of Qin was enthroned); (Jiayin) 8; (Yimao) 9; (Bingchen) 10; (Dingsi) 11; (Wuwu) 12; (Jiwei) 13; (Gengshen) 14; (Xinyou) 15; (Renxu) 16; (Guihai) 17; (Jiazi) 18; (Yichou) 19 (The *Sarvāstivāda Record* states: "The bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa was born more than three hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa into a Brahmin clan of eastern Tianzhu. Leaving household life, he defeated various non-Buddhists and composed the *Mahālaṅkāra-śāstra* in several hundred verses, greatly propagating the Buddha's teaching." There is a separate biography recording this, and it is calculated to fall at this time); (Bingyin) 20; (Dingmao) 21; (Wuchen) 22; (Jisi) 23; (Gengwu) 24; (Xinwei) 25; (Renshen) 26; (Guiyou) 27; (Jiaxu) 28; (Yihai) 29; (Bingzi) 30; (Dingchou) 31; (Wuyin) 32; (Jimao) 33; (Gengchen) 34; (Xinsi) 35; (Renwu) 36; (Guiwei) 37; (Jiashen) 38; (Yiyou) 39; (Bingxu) 40; (Dinghai) 41; (Wuzi) 42; (Jichou) 43; (Gengyin) 44; (Xinmao) 45; (Renchen) 46; (Guisi) 47; (Jiawu) 48; (Yiwei) 49; (Bingshen) 50; (Dingyou) 51; (Wuxu) 52; (Jihai) 53; (Gengzi) 54; (Xinchou) 55; (Renyin) 56; (Guimao) 57; (Jiachen) 58; (Yisi) 59.

1.27

Qin: (Bingwu) King Zhaoxiang's [reign as king of the whole realm] 1st year (he deposed King Nan of Zhou to commoner status; the 356th year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Dingwei) 2; (Wushen) 3; (Jiyou) 4; (Gengxu) 5.

1.28

(Xinhai) King Xiaowen's (Zhu) 1st year (the 361st year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa up to this point).

1.29

(Renzi) King Zhuangxiang's (Zichu) 1st year (son of Xiaowen; he ruled for three years; the 362nd year since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa); (Guichou) 2; (Jiayin) 3.

1.30

(Yi-mao) First year of First Emperor Zheng (son of Zhuangxiang; reigned thirty-seven years; Lü Buwei served as counselor-in-chief; 365 years since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa). (Bing-chen) Year 2. (Ding-si) Year 3. (Wu-wu) Year 4. (Ji-wei) Year 5. (Geng-shen) Year 6. (Xin-you) Year 7. (Ren-xu) Year 8 (enfeoffed Lao Ai as Marquis of Changxin). (Gui-hai) Year 9 (the capping year; executed Lao Ai and exiled his family to Shu). (Jia-zi) Year 10 (Lü Buwei dismissed as counselor-in-chief; moved the Queen Dowager to the Southern Palace; later Li Si was employed). (Yi-chou) Year 11 (exiled Lü Buwei to Henan). (Bing-yin) Year 12. (Ding-mao) Year 13. (Wu-chen) Year 14. (Ji-si) Year 15. (Geng-wu) Year 16. (Xin-wei) Year 17 (in this year Han was destroyed, and its territory was made Yingchuan Commandery). (Ren-shen) Year 18. (Gui-you) Year 19. (Jia-xu) Year 20. (Yi-hai) Year 21. (Bing-zi) Year 22 (in that year Wei was destroyed, and its territory was established as Liang Commandery). (Ding-chou) Year 23. (Wu-yin) Year 24 (in this year Chu was destroyed, Jiangdong was pacified, and Kuaiji Commandery was established). (Ji-mao) Year 25 (in this year Yan was destroyed, and Zhao was also destroyed). (Geng-chen) Year 26 (in this year Qi was destroyed; the six states were swallowed up into a single realm; he thereupon established himself as Emperor, revised the calendar, and took the hai-establishing month as the start of the year). (Xin-si) Year 27 (named the Yellow River the 'Virtuous Water'; named the common people the 'Black-Headed People'; divided the realm into thirty-six commanderies and unified writing and axle widths). (Ren-wu) Year 28 (toured eastward and ascended Mount Tai to perform the feng and shan sacrifices, carving stone to record achievements; encountered a great storm; dispatched the Xu clan to the sea to seek the three divine mountains; had a thousand men dive into the Si River seeking the Zhou tripods, but did not obtain them). (Gui-wei) Year 29. (Jia-shen) Year 30 (changed the la sacrifice to Jiaping; once went on an incognito night outing to Lan Pond, where he encountered bandits and was in dire peril; [his guard] Wuzi struck and killed them, and thus he escaped). (Yi-you) Year 31. (Bing-xu) Year 32 (dispatched Meng Tian leading two hundred thousand men north to strike the Hu, take the Ordos region, and construct the Great Wall). (Ding-hai) Year 33 (skirting the river up to the Yin Mountains, established forty-four counties, using the river as a barrier, stretching from Lintao to the Liao River). (Wu-zi) Year 34 (banished crooked prison officials to assist in constructing the Great Wall; Li Si memorialized to burn the various classics and records and bury the Confucian scholars alive). (Ji-chou) Year 35. (Geng-yin) Year 36. (Xin-mao) Year 37.

1.31

(Ren-chen) First year of Second Generation Emperor Huhai (son of the First Emperor; 402 years since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa; reigned three years). (Gui-si) Year 2. (Jia-wu) Year 3 (the First Emperor's grandson Ziying was enthroned; after forty-six days, he was destroyed by the Han; 404 years since the Buddha entered nirvāṇa).

1.32

Record of the Three Jewels of the Kaihuang Era, Fascicle 1 (Imperial Annals, Part One: Zhou and Qin).

Linked texts (1)

歷代三寶紀 — Classical Chinese