I say nothing of earlier traces of Buddhism which are supposed to occur in Chinese books. Whatever they may amount to, we look in vain in them for evidence of any Chinese translations of Buddhist books before the time of the Emperor Ming-ti; and what concerns us at present is, not the existence or the spreading of Buddhism towards the north and east long before the beginning of the Christian era, but the existence of Buddhist books, so far as it can be proved at that time by the existence of Chinese translations the date of which can be fixed with sufficient certainty.
In the following remarks on the history of these translations I have had the great advantage of being able to use the Annals of the Sui Dynasty (589-618), kindly translated for me by Professor Legge. In China the history of each dynasty was written under the succeeding dynasty from documents which may be supposed to be contemporaneous with the events they relate. The account given in the Sui Chronicles of the introduction of Buddhism and Buddhist works into China is said to be the best general account to be found in early Chinese literature, and the facts here stated may be looked upon as far more trustworthy than the notices hitherto relied upon, and collected from Chinese writers of different dates and different localities. I have also had the assistance of Mr. Bunyiu Nanjio, who compared the names of the translators mentioned in the Sui Annals with the names as given in the K'ai-yuen-shih-kiao-mu-lu (Catalogue of the Buddhist books compiled in the period K'ai-yuen [A. D. 713-741]); and though there still remain some doubtful points, we may rest assured that the dates assigned to the principal Chinese translators [pg 191] and their works can be depended on as historically trustworthy.
With regard to the period anterior to Ming-ti, the Sui Chronicles tell us that after an investigation of the records, it was known that Buddhism had not been brought to China previously to the Han dynasty (began 206 B. C.), though some say that it had long been spread abroad, but had disappeared again in the time of the Khin[75] (221-206 B. C.). Afterwards, however, when Kang-khien was sent on a mission to the regions of the West (about 130 B. C.), he is supposed to have become acquainted with the religion of Buddha. He was made prisoner by the Hiungnu (Huns),[76] and, being kept by them for ten years, he may well have acquired during his captivity some knowledge of Buddhism, which at a very early time had spread from Cabul[77] towards the north and the east.
In the time of the Emperor Âi (B. C. 6-2) we read that Khin-king caused I-tsun to teach the Buddhist Sûtras orally, but that the people gave no credence to them. All this seems to rest on semi-historical evidence only.
The first official recognition of Buddhism in China dates from the reign of the Emperor Ming-ti, and the following account, though not altogether free from a [pg 192] legendary coloring, is generally accepted as authentic by Chinese scholars: “The Emperor Ming-ti, of the After Han dynasty (58-75 A. D.), dreamt that a man of metal (or golden color) was flying and walking in a courtyard of the palace. When he told his dream in the Court, Fu-î said that the figure was that of Buddha. On this the Emperor sent the gentleman-usher Tsâi-yin and Khin-king (who must then have been growing old) both to the country of the great Yueh-ki[78] and to India, in order to seek for such an image.”
An earlier account of the same event is to be found in the Annals of the After (or Eastern) Han dynasty (25-120 A. D.). These annals were compiled by Fan-yeh, who was afterwards condemned to death as a rebel (445 A. D.). Here we read[79] (vol. 88, fol. 8 a seq.): “There is a tradition that the Emperor Ming-ti (58-75 A. D.) dreamt that there was a giant-like man of golden color,[80] whose head was refulgent. The Emperor wanted his retainers to interpret it. Then some said, ‘There is a god (or spirit) in the West who is called Fo, whose height is sixteen feet, and of golden color.’ Having heard this, the Emperor at once sent messengers to Tien-ku (i. e. India), to inquire after the doctrine of Buddha. Subsequently, copies of the image of Buddha were drawn in the middle country (i. e. China).”
The emissaries whom the Emperor Ming-ti had sent to India obtained a Buddhist Sûtra in forty-two sections, and an image of Buddha, with which and the Shâmans Kâsyapa Mâtaṅga and Kû-fa-lan, they [pg 193] returned to the East. When Tsâi-yin approached (the capital), he caused the book to be borne on a white horse, and on this account the monastery of the White Horse was built on the west of the Yung gate of the city of Lo to lodge it. The classic was tied up and placed in the stone house of the Lan tower, and, moreover, pictures of the image were drawn and kept in the Khing-yüan tower, and at the top of the Hsien-kieh hill.
Here we seem to be on terra firma, for some of the literary works by Kâsyapa Mâtaṅga and Kû-fa-lan are still in existence. Kâsyapa Mâtaṅga (or, it may be, Kâsya Mâtaṅga[81]) is clearly a Sanskrit name. Mâtaṅga, though the name of a Kandâla or low-caste man, might well be borne by a Buddhist priest.[82] The name of Kû-fa-lan, however, is more difficult. Chinese scholars declare that it can only be a Chinese name,[83] yet if Kû-fa-lan came from India with Kâsyapa, we should expect that he too bore a Sanskrit name. In that case, Kû might be taken as the last character of Tien-kû, India, which character is prefixed to the names of other Indian priests living in China. His name would be Fâ-lan, i. e. Dharma + x, whatever lan may signify, perhaps padma, lotus.[84]
M. Feer,[85] calls him Gobharana, without, however, giving his authority for such a name. The Sutra of the forty-two sections exists in Chinese, but neither in Sanskrit nor in Pâli, and many difficulties would be removed if we admitted, with M. Feer, that this so-called Sûtra of the forty-two sections was really the work of Kâsyapa and Kû-fa-lan, who considered such an epitome of Buddhist doctrines, based chiefly on original texts, useful for their new converts in China.
It is curious that the Sui Annals speak here of no other literary work due to Kâsyapa and Kû-fa-lan, though they afterwards mention the Shih-ku Sûtra by Kû-fa-lan as a work almost unintelligible. In the Fan-i-ming-i-tsi (vol. iii. fol. 4 b), mention is made of five Sûtras, translated by Kû-fa-lan alone, after Kâsyapa's death. In the K'ai-yuen-shih-kiao-mu-lu catalogue of the Buddhist books, compiled in the period K'ai-yuen (713-741 A. D.), vol. i. fol. 6, four Sûtras only are ascribed to Kû-fa-lan:—