[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [佛祖統紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035) › 35.27 # 佛祖統紀 35.27 佛祖統紀 35.27 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [35.27](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.35.27) 初帝聞西域有神其名曰佛。因遣使之天竺。求其道得其書及沙門以來。其書大氐以虛無為宗。貴慈悲不殺。以為人死精神不滅。隨復受形。生時所行善惡皆有報應。故所貴修練精神以至為佛。善為宏闊勝大之言。以勸誘愚俗。精於其道者。號曰沙門。於是中國始傳其術圖其形像。而王公貴人。獨楚王英最先好之（通鑑引西域傳及楚王英傳注）范曄西域傳。論曰。佛道神化興自身毒。而西漢方志莫有稱焉（禮記文武之政。布在方冊。注方版出策簡也。漢張蒼為御史。主柱下方書。又云。謹連其事於左方。皆木今言方志。志於木方也）張騫但著地多暑濕乘象而戰。班超唯列其奉浮圖不殺伐。而精文善法導幸之功靡所傳述。子聞之後說。其國殷乎中土。玉燭和氣靈聖之所降集。賢懿之所挺生。神迹詭異。則理絕人區。感驗明顯。則事出天外。而騫超無聞。豈非道閉往運而數開叔葉乎（云云）。 > Earlier, the Emperor heard that there was a spirit in the Western Regions whose name was the Buddha. He thereupon sent envoys to Tianzhu to seek his way, obtaining his books and bringing back śramaṇas. His books generally take emptiness and non-being as their principle and value compassion and not killing. They hold that when a person dies the spirit is not annihilated, but subsequently assumes another physical form; the good and evil deeds performed during life all have their retribution. Therefore, what they value is cultivating and refining the spirit to become a Buddha. They excel at grand, broad, and magnanimous words to persuade and guide the ignorant masses. Those skilled in this way are called śramaṇas. Thereupon this teaching began to be transmitted and his image painted in China; among kings, dukes, and nobles, Liu Ying, Prince of Chu, was the very first to take pleasure in it (The Zizhi tongjian cites the "Treatise on the Western Regions" and the note to the "Biography of Liu Ying, Prince of Chu"). Fan Ye's commentary in the "Treatise on the Western Regions" states: "The spiritual transformation of the Buddhist way arose in Shendu, yet the geographical records of the Western Han did not mention it (The Book of Rites says: 'The governance of King Wen and King Wu is laid out on the wooden tablets and bamboo slips'; the commentary says that fāng means wooden tablets, cè means bamboo slips. In the Han, Zhang Cang was an Imperial Censor, in charge of the fāng-writings beneath the pillars; it also says: 'respectfully attach the matter to the left fāng'; both are wood, hence now called fāngzhì, recorded upon wooden tablets). Zhang Qian only noted that the land was humid and hot, and that they rode elephants into battle; Ban Chao only listed their honoring the Futu and not killing, yet the efficacy of their refined writings and good Dharma in guiding people to happiness was not transmitted. What I have heard later describes that country as more prosperous than the Central Lands, where the harmonious qi of the jade balance causes divine spirits to descend and congregate, and where the worthy and fine are born. Its miraculous traces are strange and extraordinary, so their principle transcends the human realm; its resonant verifications are clear and manifest, so their affairs emerge beyond heaven. Yet Qian and Chao had heard nothing of them—was it not that the Way was closed in past eras, and destiny unfolded only in later times?" (and so forth). > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 35.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.35.26) - [Next: 35.28](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.35.28) - [Up: 35](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.35) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035~en-mt.35.27) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [佛祖歷代通載](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.5.66) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.35.27](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.35.27) · Pramāṇa