It is said in the end that after his return to China, he went to the
capital (evidently Nanking), and there, along with the Indian Sramana
Buddha-bhadra, executed translations of some of the works which he had
obtained in India; and that before he had done all that he wished to do
in this way, he removed to King-chow (in the present Hoo-pih), and died
in the monastery of Sin, at the age of eighty-eight, to the great sorrow
of all who knew him. It is added that there is another larger work
giving an account of his travels in various countries.
Such is all the information given about our author, beyond what he has
himself told us. Fa-hien was his clerical name, and means "Illustrious
in the Law," or "Illustrious master of the Law." The Shih which often
precedes it is an abbreviation of the name of Buddha as Sakyamuni, "the
Sakya, mighty in Love, dwelling in Seclusion and Silence," and may be
taken as equivalent to Buddhist. He is sometimes said to have belonged
to "the eastern Tsin dynasty" (A.D. 317-419), and sometimes to "the
Sung," that is, the Sung dynasty of the House of Liu (A.D. 420-478). If
he became a full monk at the age of twenty, and went to India when he
was twenty-five, his long life may have been divided pretty equally
between the two dynasties.
If there were ever another and larger account of Fa-hien's travels than
the narrative of which a translation is now given, it has long ceased to
be in existence.
Pages:
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223