續高僧傳 4.7.2

4.7.2

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.