On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c2.1

v1.c2.1

As will be seen from Dr. Bushell's obituary notice of Thomas Watters, republished from the *Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society* for 1901 at the end of those few words of preface, Mr. Watters left behind him a work, ready for the press, on the travels of Yüan-Chwāng in India in the 7th Century A. D. The only translation into English of the *Travels* and the *Life* of Yüan-Chwāng, the one made by the late Mr. Beal, contains many mistakes. As Mr. Watters probably knew more about Chinese Buddhist Literature than any other European scholar, and had, at the same time, a very fair knowledge both of Pali and Sanskrit, he was the very person most qualified to correct those mistakes, and to write an authoritative work on the interpretation of Yüan-Chwāng's most interesting and valuable records. The news that he had left such a work was therefore received with eager pleasure by all those interested in the history of India. And Mr. F. F. Arbuthnot, who had so generously revived our Oriental Translation Fund, was kind enough to undertake to pay for the cost of publishing the work in that series. I was asked by the Council to be the editor, and was fortunate enough to be able to receive the cooperation of Dr. S. W. Bushell C. M. G., late medical officer attached to our embassy at Peking.