佛祖統紀 32.22

32.22

The commentary says: The continent of Jambudvīpa, in the west, is the Five Indias. It is the realm ruled by the flying Wheel-turning Kings; this is the lineage of Brahmā. In the east is Cīnasthāna, transformed by august sovereigns, King Wen, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius; this is the country of noble persons (junzi). In the north are the Di tribes, the homeland of the Xianyun, Xiongnu, and Hu barbarians. The bounded domains are distinctly separated; one must not refer to the Brahmans as Hu and thereby create confusion. Old expressions like 'Hu kneeling' (kneeling on one knee), 'Hu scriptures', 'Hu-Han', and 'old Hu' are all unfounded talk and unworthy of use. Where the sūtras mention varying numbers of kingdoms and cities, it is because partition and unification have differed across past and present. Just as in this land there were eighteen hundred states under the Zhou, over seventy in the Spring and Autumn period, seven under the Qin, three under the Wei, and sixteen under the Jin—sometimes partitioned, sometimes united, the states were not one, yet in summary they never went beyond this single realm. Moreover, as for the differences between Chinese and Sanskrit across various sūtras: Kumārajīva translated 'Hénghé' (Gaṅgā) while Master Xuanzang wrote 'Jìngjiā'; Kumārajīva wrote 'Xūmí' (Sumeru) while Xuanzang wrote 'Sūmílú'. People commonly point to Kumārajīva's translations as erroneous, but this assertion cannot be considered definitive. This is because the local pronunciations queried by the Dharma-seeking monks differed between central and peripheral regions, and there were changes over time, yet what they signify in reality is one and the same. Just as in this land names of places and things shift in pronunciation between north and south and their expressions vary; and just as this land is identical as Cīnasthāna, yet its designations differed across the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Jin—how could one fix what is right and wrong between past and present? If one can comprehend this meaning, then the differences between Chinese and Sanskrit can naturally be understood in one's mind.