釋迦方志 2.78

2.78

自文字之興庖犧為始。暨至唐運曆代可紀而聞矣。秦周已前。人尚純素情不逮遠。故使通𨉯止約神州。漢魏以後文字廣行。能事欝興博見彌遠。故象胥載庇[葶-丁+呆]街斯立。踰空桑而歷昆丘。度雞田而跨鳥穴。龍文污血之驥。雖絕域而可追。明珠翠羽之珍。乃天涯而必舉。窮兵黷武。誠大宛之勞師。擁節泥海。信王命之遐弊。及顯宗之感瑞也創開仁化之源。奉信懷道自斯漸盛。或慨生邊壤投命西天。或通法揚化振策東宇。或躬開教迹不遠尋經。或靈相舊規親往詳閱。斯之多舉並歸釋宗。故總別之用開神略始於前漢。至我大唐。前後通數使之往返將二十許。且張騫尋河本惟凡俗。然創開佛名則釋化之漸也。故亦通敘求法之例。今搜括傳記條序使途。列其前後顯然有據。

From the rise of written records, Pao Xi was the beginning, down to the Tang dynasty, the successive reigns can be chronicled and heard. Before the Qin and Zhou, people still valued simplicity, and their aspirations did not reach far; thus communication was restricted only to the Divine Land [of China]. After the Han and Wei, writing became widespread, capable undertakings flourished, and broad vision extended ever farther. Therefore, interpreters were appointed and embassies to the four borders were established. They crossed Kongsang and passed through the Kunlun hills; they traversed the Chicken Field and spanned Bird Cave. Coursers with dragon patterns and blood-stained sweat could be sought out however remote the borderlands; treasures of bright pearls and kingfisher plumes were invariably brought from the edges of the heavens. To exhaust arms and indulge in warfare was truly to exhaust the troops for Dayuan; to hold the imperial tally across muddy seas was surely to wear oneself out from afar for the royal command. But when Xianzong was moved by the auspicious sign, the fountainhead of benevolent transformation was first opened; venerating faith and cherishing the Way grew ever more flourishing from this time. Some, lamenting that they were born in a frontier land, cast their lives toward the Western Heavens; some, spreading the Dharma and proclaiming conversion, raised their staffs toward the Eastern Realm. Some personally opened the teaching traces, traveling far in search of scriptures; some, seeking the sacred signs and old models, personally went to examine them in detail. Most of these great endeavors returned to the Śākya lineage. Thus, the divine strategic opening of general and separate paths began in the Former Han; coming down to our Great Tang, the total number of envoys who have journeyed to and fro approaches twenty. Moreover, Zhang Qian's tracing of the Yellow River was fundamentally a secular affair; yet by first opening the name of the Buddha, it was the start of the Śākya conversion. Therefore, we also recount in general the cases of seeking the Dharma. Now, scouring the biographies, we arrange the routes of the missions in order, listing their predecessors and successors with clear evidence.