A Record Of Buddhistic Kingdoms Being An Account By The Chinese Monk Fa-Hien Of His Travels In India And Ceylon (A.D. 399-414)

Nothing of great importance is known about FaHien in addition to what may be gathered from his own record of travels. Several times during the author?s long residence in Hong Kong he endeavoured to read through the narrative of FaHien; but though interested with the graphic details of much of the work, its columns bristled so constantly now with his phonetic representations of Sanskrit words, and now with his substitution for them of their meanings in Chinese characters; and he was moreover, so much occupied with his own special labours on Confucian classics, that his success was far from satisfactory. It is one of the most important source for reconstructing the life and conditions of the times. Though brief, his account of the general characteristics and tendencies of Gupta imperial administration is very valuable. Likewise, the account also gives a fair deal of information on the religious usages and practices and is invaluable for the graphic information it provides about Buddhism in India, Central Asia and Ceylon. Equally interesting and useful is the thrilling account of the perilous seavoyage to SouthEast Asia and his journey through Central Asia to India. Among the places visited by the FaHien are Khotan, Skardu, Crossings of the Indus, Udyana, Gandhara, Takshashila, Peshawar, Nagara, Mathura, Kosala, Kapilavastu, Vaishali, Rejagriha, Gaya, Patna and Ceylon. The book contains 40 chapters and nine illustrations with a drawing. This book is a reprint of the 1886 edition.