The aivernative title is "Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms." The work hag been translated several times and once before indeed by Professor Giles (in 1877), Tt is evidently a record which has a great appeal for him, as it must have for all students of Buddhism and of China. The! present translation has attempt: ed to correct all the errors ~of the, former ones, and, with ext] periotico of the painstaking work of Professor Giles, one cannot doubt that as a translation is aq nearly perfect as an English red cord may be. There is a map the end of the book which clean ly shows the course of the "stu: [mendous journey" of Farhsicn and his friends. The object of tha] journey and ity intended scope is shown in the first paragraph of was ab OWang-an, he was Trwod by ibe inpettoc tata of the Buddhist Disciples; and accordingly in the, second yean of the period Hong-shih," thd chi-has year of the cycle (A.
200), ho entered into, an agreo{ mont. with Hai-ching, Pao cheng, Hui-ying, Hui-wei_ and others to go together to India and try to obtain these Rules.
Their tremendous journey. byj
simple language, a, journey which, Jand "and sea is. Yecordod int Giles snys ili "his short Intro} duction, was ''a supremely dan. gerous expedition, in the glow of which the journeys of St. Pavl. _|melt into insignificance.""
For Ferhsien, the hero of this adventure and the rcorda of his own, travels, practically, walked "from. Cotitral Chinal across the desert of Gobi, over the Hindu Kush, and throu India down to the mouth of the and returned by" sey a Hoogly, where ho took shir
manifold hair-breadth to China, ringing with hint what he went forth to socure—books of the Butdhist Canon!
and images of Buddhist deities", The fascination that has led he Giles to re-translate the work is easily understood, It is an
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.