In the catalogue of the imperial library of the Suy dynasty (A.D.
589-618), the name Fa-hien occurs four times. Towards the end of the
last section of it, after a reference to his travels, his labors in
translation at Kin-ling (another name for Nanking), in conjunction with
Buddha-bhadra, are described. In the second section we find "A Record of
Buddhistic Kingdoms"--with a note, saying that it was the work of "the
Sramana, Fa-hien"; and again, we have "Narrative of Fa-hien in two
Books," and "Narrative of Fa-hien's Travels in one Book." But all these
three entries may possibly belong to different copies of the same work,
the first and the other two being in separate subdivisions of the
catalogue.
In the two Chinese copies of the narrative in my possession the title is
"Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms." In the Japanese or Corean recension the
title is twofold; first, "Narrative of the Distinguished Monk, Fa-hien";
and then, more at large, "Incidents of Travels in India, by the Sramana
of the Eastern Tsin, Fa-hien, recorded by himself."
There is still earlier attestation of the existence of our little work
than the Suy catalogue. The "Catalogue Raisonne" of the imperial library
of the present dynasty mentions two quotations from it by Le Tao-yueen, a
geographical writer of the dynasty of the Northern Wei (A.D. 386-584),
one of them containing eighty-nine characters, and the other two hundred
and seventy-six; both of them given as from the "Narrative of Fa-hien.
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