who is rightly named the lord of the earth. His brightness, indeed, dwells in the four limits (of the universe), but his sublime model was fixed in the middle of the world. Whereupon, as the sun of wisdom declined, the shadow of his doctrine spread to the East, the grand rules of the emperor[1] diffused themselves afar, and his imposing laws reached to the extremities of the West.
There was in the temple of "great benevolence" a doctor of the three Piṭakas called Hiuen Tsiang.[2] His common name was Chin-shi. His ancestors came from Ing-chuen;[3] the emperor Hien[4] held the sceptre; reigning at Hwa-chau,[5] he opened the source. The great Shun entertained the messengers as he laid on Li-shan[6] the foundation of his renown. The three venerable ones distinguished themselves during the years of Ki.[7] The six extraordinary (events) shone during the Han period. In penning odes there was one who equalled the clear moon; in wandering by the way there was one who resembled the brilliant stars—(his illustrious ancestors) like fishes in the lake, or as birds assembled before the wind, by their choice services in the world served to produce as their result an illustrious descendant.
The master of the law under these fortunate influences came into the world. In him were joined sweetness and virtue. These roots, combined and deeply planted, produced their fruits rapidly. The source of his wisdom (reason) was deep, and wonderfully it increased. At his opening life he was rosy as the evening vapours and
- ↑ The emperor T'ai-tsung of the T'âṅg dynasty (a.d. 627-649).
- ↑ I adopt this mode of spelling for reasons stated in the introduction. He is generally known from Julien's French version as "Hiouen Thsang." Mr. Mayers (Reader's Manual, p. 290) calls him Huan Chwan; Mr. Wylie, Yuén-Chwàng; and the name is also represented by Hhüen-Chwâṅg.
- ↑ Yu-cheu, in the province of Honan.—Jul.
- ↑ That is, Hwang Ti (b.c. 2697), otherwise called Hien-yuen-shi.
- ↑ Hwa-chau was an island of the kingdom of Hwa-siu, where Fo-hi fixed his court.—Jul.
- ↑ For Shun and Li-shan consult Mayers under Shun (op. cit. No. 617).
- ↑ I.e., under the reign of the Chau, whose family name was K'i.—Jul.
world of forms (Rûpadkâtu), the world without forms (Arûpadhâtu). Julien. But here it simply means "in the world."
