釋迦方志 1.3

1.3

惟夫大唐之有天下也將四十載。淳風洽而澆俗改。文德修而武功暢。故使青丘丹穴之候。並入堤封。龍砂雁塞之區。聿遵聲教。英髦稽首。顯朝宗之羽儀。輸賝奉贄。表懷柔之盛德。然則八荒內外前史具舒。五竺方維由來罕述。豈非時也。雖復周穆西狩止屆昆丘。舜禹南巡不踰滄海。秦皇畫野近袤臨洮。漢武封疆關開鐵路。厥斯以降遐討未詳。所以崆峒問道局在酒泉之地。崑崙謁聖。實惟玉門之側。至於弱水洞庭。三危九隴。煙然龍勒。沙障黎河。具曆夏書。咸圖雍部。及博望之尋河也。創聞大夏之名。軒皇之遊夢也。初述華胥之國。貳師之伐大宛。定遠之開鐵門。由余入秦。日磾仕漢。聲榮覆於葱嶺。帝德亘於耆山。赫奕皇華其徒繁矣。而方土所記人物所宜。風俗之沿革。山川之卓詭。雖陳之油素略無可紀。豈不以經途遼遠。遊詣之者希乎。以事討論縱有傳說。皆祖行人信非躬覩。相從奔競虛為實錄。何以知其然耶。故積石河源西瞻赤縣。崑崙天柱東顧神州。鳴砂以外咸稱胡國。安用遠籌空傳緗簡。是知身毒之說重譯臻焉。神異等傳斷可知矣。自佛教道東榮光燭漢。政流十代年將六百。輶軒繼接備盡觀方。百有餘國咸歸風化。莫不梯山貢職望日來王。而前後傳錄差互不同。事迹罕述稱謂多惑。覆尋斯致宗歸譯人。昔隋代東都上林園。翻經館沙門彥琮著西域傳一部十篇。廣布風俗略於佛事。得在洽聞失於信本。余以為八相顯道三乘陶化。四儀所設莫不逗機。二嚴攸被皆宗慧解。今聖迹靈相。雜沓於華胥。神光瑞影。氤氳於宇內。義須昌明形量動發心靈。泉貞觀譯經嘗參位席。傍出西記具如別詳。但以紙墨易繁閱鏡難盡。佛之遺緒釋門共歸。故撮綱猷略為一卷。貽諸後學序之云爾。

Now, the Great Tang has possessed the world for nearly forty years. Pure customs spread and decadent habits are reformed; civil virtue is cultivated and military achievements flourish. Thus, the lands of the green hills and the vermilion grottos have both been brought within the borders; the regions of the dragon sands and the wild-goose passes obediently comply with the civilising influence. Outstanding talents bow their heads, displaying the ceremonial insignia of paying court; they offer treasures and present tribute, manifesting the great virtue of embracing and pacifying [distant peoples]. Thus, both within and beyond the eight wildernesses, previous histories have expounded in full; yet the quarters of the Five Indias have from of old been rarely described. Could this not be a matter of the times? Even though King Mu of Zhou hunted in the west, he reached only as far as the Kunlun hills; though Shun and Yu toured in the south, they did not cross the vast ocean. The First Emperor of Qin drew borders extending in close breadth only to Lintao; Emperor Wu of Han opened frontiers with passes clearing the Iron Route. From then on, distant investigations were not detailed. For this reason, inquiring after the Way at Kongtong was confined to the region of Jiuquan; paying homage to the sage at Kunlun was truly only beside the Yumen Pass. As for the Weak Water and Lake Dongting, the Three Perils and the Nine Hills, the smoky beacon of Longle, and the sand barriers of the Li River, all are fully chronicled in the Documents of Xia, and all are charted in the province of Yong. When the Marquis of Bowang sought the river, the name of Bactria was first heard; when the Yellow Emperor journeyed in dream, the state of Huaxu was initially recounted. The General of Ershi struck Dayuan; the Marquis of Dingyuan opened the Iron Gate. Youyu entered Qin; Jin Midi served the Han. Their fame and glory spread over the Pamir mountains; the imperial virtue reached the Vulture Peak. Glorious were the imperial emissaries, and their retinues were numerous! Yet the records of local lands, the customs suited to the people, the historical changes in manners, and the marvels of mountains and rivers—though recorded on silk—offered almost nothing worthy of note. Is this not because the journeys were far and those who visited were few? Sifting through the facts, even when there were tales, they all traced back to travellers and were certainly not seen with one's own eyes; following and vying with one another, falsehoods were taken for authentic records. How do we know this to be so? Thus, gazing westward toward the Red District from the source of the River at Jishi, or looking eastward toward the Divine Continent from the celestial pillar of Kunlun, all beyond the Singing Sands is called barbarian lands; what use is far-fetched calculation, transmitting empty words on yellowed bamboo? From this we know that accounts of Shendu were only reached through repeated translation, and texts such as the Tales of the Divine and Extraordinary can certainly be judged accordingly. Since the Buddhist teachings travelled east, their glorious light has illuminated the Han. Through ten dynasties, the transmission has lasted nearly six hundred years. Light carriages have continuously connected, thoroughly observing every quarter; more than a hundred states have submitted to the transforming influence, scaling mountains to offer tribute and turning toward the sun to pay homage to the king. Yet earlier and later transmissions and records conflict and differ: holy traces are rarely described, and designations cause much confusion. Upon tracing back the cause of this, the fault lies with the translators. Formerly, under the Sui dynasty at the Translation Bureau of the Shanglin Garden in the Eastern Capital, the śramaṇa Yancong composed the Records of the Western Regions in one work of ten chapters. It extensively laid out local customs but was sparing on Buddhist matters; it succeeded in broad hearing, but fell short of the faithful root. In my humble view, the eight aspects manifest the path, the three vehicles refine and transform; what is established by the four postures invariably accords with capacities, and what is covered by the two adornments all takes wise understanding as its ancestor. Now, the holy traces and spiritual forms crowd into the realm of Huaxu; the divine radiance and auspicious shadows suffuse the universe. It is necessary to elucidate the shapes and measures to arouse the mind and spirit. In the Zhenguan era, I once joined the ranks of the translation bureau; the Western Records that were separately produced contain full details. But because paper and ink easily become verbose and mirror-like scrutiny is hard to exhaust, and because the legacy of the Buddha is what the assembly of Śākya together takes refuge in, I have therefore epitomised the main outline into a concise single roll to pass on to future students, introducing it as such.