his concluding
sentence, and so frequently occurring throughout the narrative,
has occasioned no little dispute among previous translators. In the
imperial thesaurus of phraseology (P'ei-wan Yun-foo), under {.}, an
example of it is given from Chwang-tsze, and a note subjoined that {.}
{.} is equivalent to {.} {.}, "anciently and now."

CHAPTER VII

CROSSING OF THE INDUS. WHEN BUDDHISM FIRST CROSSED THE RIVER FOR THE
EAST

The travellers went on to the south-west for fifteen days (at the foot
of the mountains, and) following the course of their range. The
way was difficult and rugged, (running along) a bank exceedingly
precipitous, which rose up there, a hill-like wall of rock, 10,000
cubits from the base. When one approaches the edge of it, his eyes
become unsteady; and if he wished to go forward in the same direction,
there was no place on which he could place his foot; and beneath where
the waters of the river called the Indus.(1) In former times men had
chiselled paths along the rocks, and distributed ladders on the face
of them, to the number altogether of 700, at the bottom of which there
was a suspension bridge of ropes, by which the river was crossed, its
banks being there eighty paces apart.(2) The (place and arrangements)
are to be found in the Records of the Nine Interpreters,(3) but
neither Chang K'een(4) nor Kan Ying(5) had reached the spot.

The monks(6) asked Fa-Hsien if it could be known when the Law of Buddha
first went to the east. He replied, "When I asked the people of those
countries about it, they all said that it had been handed down by
their fathers from of old that, after the setting up of the image of
Maitreya Bodhisattva, there were Sramans of India who crossed this
river, carrying with them Sutras and Books of Discipline. Now the
image was set up rather more than 300 years after the nirvana(7) of
Buddha, which may be referred to the reign of king P'ing of the Chow
dynasty.(8) According to this account we may say that the diffusion of
our great doctrines (in the east) began from (the setting up of)
this image. If it had not been through that Maitreya,(9) the great
spiritual master(10) (who is to be) the successor of the Sakya, who
could have caused the 'Three Precious Ones'(11) to be proclaimed so
far, and the people of those border lands to know our Law? We know
of a truth that the opening of (the way for such) a mysterious
propagation is not the work of man; and so the