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114
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[APRIL, 1901.
great importance. The conversion of the Yue-tchi is involved, and this conversion dominates the history of Buddhism. It marks a new phase.
To solve the difficulties of the text, M. Specht called to his aid the redaction given in three works later than the San-kouo-tchi, and dated respectively in the 9th, 10th, and 12th century. M. Lévi has discovered four new citations in works of the 7th century. Their testimony is weighty, as they are not far from the epooh when the existence of the Wei-leao was still attested; the annotations of the San-kouo-tchi belong in fact to the 6th century. The original still existed, or the tradition regarding it was still solid and precise.
The four new citations given by M, Lévi are from : -
1. The Koang-houng-ming-tai by Tao-sinen (founder of the Vinaya school in China), compiled 650-667 (K).
2. The 1'si-cha-nen-pou-ing-pai-siu-tang-cheu by Yen-ts'oung, in 662 (T). 3 and 4. The Pien-tcheng-loen by Fa-lin, between 624 and 640 (T and P').
These foor citations, K, T, P and P', all differ from the San-kouo-tchi. They also differ among themselves.
The following translation shows the variations: - "The abridgment of the Wei, in the "chapter on the Countries of the West, says : - The king of Lin-i had no son. He therefore "sacrificed to the Buddha. His wife Mo-ye (Māyā) saw & white elephant in & dream and “became pregnant. And & son was born to her. He came out from her right side, and came "to the world spontaneously. He had a roll of hair [chignon) at the top of the head; shaking " the earth he was able to walk seven paces. As he had the appearance of a Buddha, and as - he had been obtained thanks to a sacrifice to the Baddha, they gave to the prince the name " of Buddha. In the kingdom of Lin-i: T, P', K) there was a holy man named Cha-liu. (Here " is what they tell of him : P', K.) Being very aged, he had wbite hair and resombled Lao"tzeu. Constantly he instructed the people (the men :T, P, K) on the subject of the Buddha. " If heaven sent a calamity on men, if for example they had not sons, he bound them to " practise the penances and the observanoes of the Buddha, and to part with what they "Possessed in order to redeem their faults. It is not long ago, the Yellow-Caps, on seeing that "he had an entirely white face, have substituted for this Cha-lia the designation of Lao-tan; "they have been able in security to cheat and deceive China. In the time of Ngai-ti of the " First Han in the period Yuen-cheon : T), Ts'in King went (was sent: T', P, K) to the king"dom of the Yue-tchi. Their king ordered his son, the heir presumptive, to communicate "(80 in the four texts, not receive ") orally the holy books of Buddha (to King: T, P', K). "On returning into China, that which he reported of Buddha was in sam altogether in "accordance with the books of the Tao. (And it is thas that the doctrine of the books of the "Buddha camo early among the First Han : T, P, K)."
In order to fix the text of this important passage, the redaction cited in the San-kouo-tchi is also given. The following is a translation from the French :
"Kingdom of Lin-eul. The sacred books of the Baddha say: - The king of this kingdom " begot the Buddha. The Buddha was heir presumptive. His father was called Sie-t'eou "(Suddhödana); his mother Mo-ye (Māyā). The Buddha had the body and the garment of "yellow colour, the roll of hair [chignon] blue like blue silk, the breast blue, the hair "[of the body) red like copper. First Máyā saw in a dream a white elephant and she became * pregnant; afterwards she brought forth a child. He came out in being born from the right "side of his mother and he bad a knot. Shaking the earth, he was able to walk seven paces. "This kingdom is in India; the capital is the centre of India.
" Moreover, there is a holy man named Cha-liu. Formerly, the first year of the period Jouen-cheon of Ngai-ti of the Han, King-lou, titular student of the imperial college, was “sent on a mission among the Great Yue-tchi ; having received them orally, he preserved
