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 himself has told us. Fa-Hsien 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. It 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.

2. If there were ever another and larger account of Fa-Hsien's travels
than the narrative of which a translation is now given, it has long
ceased to be in existence.

In the Catalogue of the imperial library of the Suy dynasty
(A.D. 589-618), the name Fa-Hsien occurs four times. Towards the end of
the last section of it (page 22), after a reference to his travels,
his labours in translation at Kin-ling (another name for Nanking), in
conjunction with Buddha-bhadra, are described. In the second section,
page 15, we find "A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms;"--with a note,
saying that it was the work of the "Sramana, Fa-Hsien;" and again, on
page 13, we have "Narrative of Fa-Hsien in two Books," and "Narrative
of Fa-Hsien'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 subjoined to this translation, the title is twofold; first,
"Narrative of the Distinguished Monk, Fa-Hsien;" and then, more at
large, "Incidents of Travels in India, by the Sramana of the Eastern
Tsin, Fa-Hsien, recorded by himself