續高僧傳 4.7.2

4.7.2

自此境東方入葱嶺。 嶺據贍部洲中。 南接雪山北至熱海。 東漸烏鎩西極波斯。 縱廣結固各數千里。 冬夏積雪氷巖崖險。 過半已下多出山葱。 故因名焉。 昔人云。 葱嶺停雪。 即雪山也。 今親目驗。 則知其非。 雪山乃居葱嶺已南。 東西亘海。 南望平野。 北達叢山。 方名葱嶺。 又東山行。 經於十國二千餘里。 至達摩悉鐵帝國。 境在山間。 東西千六百里。 南北極廣不踰四五里許。 臨縛芻河從南而來不測其本。 僧寺十餘。 有一石像上施金銅圓蓋。 人有旋遶蓋亦隨轉。 豈由機巧莫測其然。 又東山行近有千里達商彌國。 東至大川廣千餘里。 南北百餘里絕無人住。 川有龍池。 東西三百南北五十。 其池正在大葱嶺內。 贍部洲中最高地也。 何以明之。 池出二河。 其西流者至達摩悉鐵國與縛芻河合。 自此以西。 水皆西流。 其東流者至佉沙西界與徙多河合。 自此已東水皆東流。 故分二河各注兩海故知高也。 河出大鳥卵如𭽎許。 案條支國大卵如甕。 豈非斯耶。 又東五百至朅盤陀國。 北背徙多河。 即經所謂悉陀河也。 東入鹽澤。 潛於地中。 涌於積石。 為東夏河矣。 其國崇信佛法。 城之東南三百餘里。 大崖兩室各一羅漢現入滅定七百餘年。 鬚髮漸長。 左近諸僧年別為剃。 又東千餘里方出葱嶺至烏鎩國。 城臨徙多。 西有大山崖自崩墜。 中有僧焉。 冥目而坐。 形甚奇偉。 鬚髮下垂至於肩面。 問其委曲乃迦葉佛時人矣。 近重崩崖沒於山內。 奘至斯國。 與象別行先度雪河。 象晚方至。 水漸汎漲。 不悉山道。 尋嶺直下。 牙衝岸樹。 象性凶獷反拔却頓。 因即致死。 悵恨所經已越山險將達平壤不果祈願。 東過踈勒乃至沮渠。 可千餘里。 同伴五百皆共推奘為大商主。 處位中營四面防守。 且自沮渠一國。 素來常鎮十部大經。 各十萬偈。 如前所傳。 國寶護之不許分散。 今屬突厥。 南有大山。 現三羅漢入滅盡定。 東行八百達于遁國。 地惟沙壤寺有百餘。 僧徒五千並大乘學。 城西山寺佛曾遊踐。 有大石室。 羅漢入定。 石門封掩。 初奘既度葱嶺。 先遣侍人。 齎表陳露達國化也。 下勅流問令早相見。 行達于遁。 以象致死所齎經像交無運致。 又上表請尋下別勅。 令于遁王給其鞍乘。 既奉嚴勅駝馬相連至于沙州。 又蒙別勅。 計其行程酬雇價直。 自爾乘傳二十許乘。 以貞觀十九年正月二十四日。 屆于京郊之西。 道俗相趨屯赴闐𨶮。 數十萬眾如值下生。 將欲入都。 人物諠擁取進不前。 遂停別館。 通夕禁衛。 候備遮斷停駐道旁。 從故城之西南至京師朱雀街之都亭驛二十餘里。 列眾禮謁動不得旋。 于時駕幸洛陽。 奘乃留諸經像送弘福寺。 京邑僧眾競列幢帳助運莊嚴。 四部諠譁又倍初至。 當斯時也復感瑞雲現于日北團圓如蓋。 紅白相映當于像上顯發輪光。 既非遶日同共嗟仰從午至晡。 像入弘福方始歇滅。 致使京都五日四民廢業七眾歸承。 當此一期。 傾仰之高終古罕類也。 奘雖逢榮問獨守館宇坐鎮清閑。 恐陷物議故不臨對。 及至洛濱特蒙慰問。 并獻諸國異物。 以馬馱之。 別勅引入深宮之內殿。 面奉天顏。 談敘真俗無爽帝旨。 從卯至酉不覺時延。 迄于閉鼓。 上即事戎旃。 問罪遼左。 明旦將發。 下勅同行。 固辭疾苦。 兼陳翻譯。 不違其請。 乃勅京師留守梁國公房玄齡。 專知監護。 資備所須一從天府。 初奘在印度聲暢五天。 稱述支那人物為盛。 戒日大王并菩提寺僧。 思聞此國。 為日久矣。 但無信使。 未可依憑。 彼土常傳。 贍部一洲四王所治。 東謂脂那。 主人王也。 西謂波斯。 主寶王也。 南謂印度。 主象王也。 北謂獫狁。 主馬王也。 皆謂四國藉斯以治。

From the east of this territory one enters the Congling (Pamir Mountains). The range occupies the center of Jambudvīpa, adjoining the Snowy Mountains to the south, reaching the Hot Sea to the north, sloping eastward to Wucha, and terminating westward at Persia. In both breadth and length, it forms a rugged barrier extending for several thousand li. Snow accumulates in both winter and summer, and its icy cliffs are perilous. Below mid-slope, wild mountain onions grow in abundance, hence its name. Men of old said: 'The snow that rests on Congling means it is the Snowy Mountains.' Now, having verified it in person, one knows that this is not so. The Snowy Mountains lie to the south of Congling, stretching east and west to the sea, facing the level plains to the south, and reaching the clustered mountains to the north; only then is it named Congling. Traveling east through the mountains again for over two thousand li across ten countries, one arrives at the country of Dharmasthiti (Damositidi). Its territory lies amid the mountains, sixteen hundred li from east to west, and at its widest barely four or five li from north to south. It borders the Vakṣu (Oxus) River, which flows from the south, though its source is unknown. There are over ten monasteries. In one, there is a stone image with a circular gilt-bronze canopy placed above it; when people circumambulate it, the canopy rotates in unison. One cannot fathom whether this is by mechanical ingenuity or by what means. Traveling east through the mountains again for nearly a thousand li, one arrives at the country of Śāmbī (Shangmi). Eastward one reaches a great valley over a thousand li wide and over a hundred li from north to south, utterly uninhabited. In the valley is a dragon lake, three hundred [li] from east to west and fifty [li] from north to south. This lake lies precisely within the Great Congling, the highest point in Jambudvīpa. How is this known? Two rivers issue from the lake. The one flowing west reaches Dharmasthiti and merges with the Vakṣu River; west of this, all waters flow west. The one flowing east reaches the western border of Kaśgar (Qasha) and merges with the Sītā River; east of this, all waters flow east. Thus, dividing into two rivers that each pour into two seas, its high elevation is known. By the river are large birds whose eggs are the size of jars. According to the records of the country of Tiaozhi, there are large eggs like urns; would this not be them? Moving east for another five hundred li, one reaches the country of Kabadha (Qiepantuo). To the north it backs onto the Sītā River, which is the Xituo River mentioned in the sūtras. Flowing east into the salt marsh, it sinks underground, gushes forth at Jishi, and becomes the Yellow River of the eastern Xia. This country reveres and believes in the Buddhadharma. Over three hundred li southeast of the city, there are two chambers on a great cliff, each housing an arhat who entered the meditative absorption of cessation over seven hundred years ago. Their hair and beards have grown gradually longer, and the monks of the vicinity shave them year by year. Going east for over a thousand li, one finally leaves Congling and arrives at the country of Wucha. The city borders the Sītā River. To the west is a great mountain whose cliff collapsed of itself. Within it was a monk sitting with closed eyes, of extraordinary and majestic physique, his beard and hair hanging down to his shoulders and face. When questioned in detail, he turned out to be a man of Kāśyapa Buddha's time. Recently, another collapse of the cliff buried him inside the mountain. When [Xuan]zang arrived in this country, he traveled apart from the elephant, first crossing the Snow River. The elephant arrived late, when the waters had gradually swollen. Not knowing the mountain paths, it went straight down the ridge, its tusks striking against a riverside tree. Being wild and unruly by nature, it jerked back in fright, tumbled down, and died on the spot. Xuanzang was grieved that having traversed mountain perils and being about to reach the level plains, his wishes were thus thwarted. Passing east through Shule (Kashgar) and continuing to Juqu, a distance of about a thousand li, his five hundred companions all elected Xuanzang as their great caravan leader. Stationing himself in the center of the camp, he kept watch on all four sides. Moreover, this single country of Juqu had from of old guarded ten great scriptures, each of a hundred thousand verses; as previously transmitted, the state protected them as national treasures and did not permit them to be dispersed. It is now subject to the Turks. To the south is a great mountain, where three arhats currently dwell in the meditative absorption of cessation. Traveling east for eight hundred li, one reaches the country of Khotan (Yutian). The soil is purely sandy and loamy, and there are over a hundred monasteries with five thousand monks, all studying the Mahāyāna. In the mountain monastery west of the city, the Buddha once walked. There is a great stone chamber where an arhat entered meditation, its stone door sealed shut. Earlier, when Xuanzang had crossed Congling, he first dispatched an attendant to carry a memorial reporting his arrival and seeking to communicate with the imperial court. An imperial decree was issued inquiring after him and ordering an early audience. Having reached Khotan, because the elephant had died and the scriptures and images he carried could not be transported, he submitted another memorial requesting assistance. Soon a separate imperial decree was issued instructing the king of Khotan to provide him with mounts and saddles. Having received this strict imperial order, camels and horses were lined up one after another all the way to Shazhou. He was further granted a separate imperial decree providing that the hire and wages for the entire journey be calculated and disbursed. From then on, traveling by post-relays with some twenty carriages, he arrived west of the capital suburbs on the twenty-fourth day of the first month in the nineteenth year of Zhenguan (645). Clergy and laity rushed out together, flocking and crowding the roads, hundreds of thousands of people gathering as if encountering the descent of Maitreya. As he was about to enter the capital, the crowds were so clamorous and packed that he could make no headway. Consequently, he lodged at a separate hostel. Guards kept watch throughout the night, stationed to clear the route and maintain order along the roadside. From southwest of the old city to the Duting Relay Station on Zhuque Street in the capital, a distance of over twenty li, the gathered crowds stood in rows to pay homage, so thick that none could turn around. At that time, the imperial carriage had departed for Luoyang. Xuanzang left the scriptures and images to be conveyed to Hongfu Monastery. The monastic assembly of the capital vied with one another to display banners and canopies to assist in the magnificent procession; the tumult of the fourfold assembly was double that of his first arrival. At that very moment, auspicious clouds again manifested north of the sun, round as a canopy, red and white reflecting upon each other, projecting radiant wheels of light directly above the images. As it was not encircling the sun, everyone gazed up and sighed in admiration from noon until late afternoon. Only when the images entered Hongfu Monastery did it finally fade away. For five days, the four classes of commoners in the capital abandoned their occupations, and the sevenfold assembly took refuge and paid reverence. At this juncture, the height of devotion and admiration was rarely paralleled in antiquity. Although Xuanzang met with glorious imperial favor, he kept alone to his lodgings, abiding in quiet seclusion. Fearing that he might provoke public gossip, he declined to meet with visitors. When he arrived on the banks of the Luo River, he received special imperial inquiries of solace, and he presented rare items from the various countries packed on horseback. A special imperial decree led him into the inner halls of the deep palace, where he came face to face with the imperial countenance. They conversed on both the ultimate and the conventional without deviating from the Emperor's intentions; from the morning hour of mao to the evening hour of you, neither noticed the passing of time, continuing right until the closing drums. The Emperor was then setting out on a military campaign to punish crimes east of the Liao River. Intending to depart the next morning, he issued a decree asking Xuanzang to accompany him. Xuanzang firmly declined on account of illness and infirmity, while also pleading his translation work. The Emperor did not override his request, and decreed that Fang Xuanling, the Duke of Liang and Regent of the Capital, should take sole charge of supervising and protecting him, providing all necessary supplies directly from the imperial treasury. Earlier, when Xuanzang was in India, his fame resonated through the Five Indias. When he praised China's people and culture as magnificent and flourishing, the great king Śīlāditya and the monks of the Bodhi Monastery had long yearned to hear of this land; yet lacking trustworthy envoys, they had no means to rely upon. In that land, it is commonly transmitted that the single continent of Jambudvīpa is governed by four kings: the east is called Zhina (China), ruled by the King of Men; the west is called Persia, ruled by the King of Treasures; the south is called India, ruled by the King of Elephants; and the north is called Xianyun (the nomads), ruled by the King of Horses. All say that these four countries govern by relying on these assets.