After Fa-hien set out from Ch’ang-gan, it took him six years to reach Central India; stoppages there extended over six years; and on his return it took him three years to reach Ts’ing-chow.  The countries through which he passed were a few under thirty.  From the sandy desert westwards on to India, the beauty of the dignified demeanor of the monkhood and of the transforming influence of the Law was beyond the power of language fully to describe; and reflecting how our masters had not heard any complete account of them, he therefore went on without regarding his own poor life, or the dangers to be encountered on the sea upon his return, thus incurring hardships and difficulties in a double form.  He was fortunate enough, through the dread power of the three Honored Ones, to receive help and protection in his perils; and therefore he wrote out an account of his experiences, that worthy readers might share with him in what he had heard and said.

[Footnote 1:  What these vegetables exactly were it is difficult to say; and there are different readings of the characters for kwoh, brings the two names together in a phrase, but the rendering of it is simply “a soup of simples.”]

[Footnote 2:  It is likely that these men were really hunters; and, when brought before Fa-hien, because he was a Sramana, they thought they would please him by saying they were disciples of Buddha.  But what had disciples of Buddha to do with hunting and taking life?  They were caught in their own trap, and said they were looking for peaches.]

THE SORROWS OF HAN

[Translated into English by John Francis Davis]

INTRODUCTION

“The Sorrows of Han” is considered by Chinese scholars to be one of the largest tragedies in the whole range of the Chinese drama, which is very voluminous.  Although, properly speaking, there are no theatres in China, the Chinese are passionately fond of dramatic representations.  Chinese acting is much admired and praised by travellers who are competent to follow the dialogue.  The stage is generally a temporary erection improvised in a market-place, and the stage arrangements are of the most primitive character; no scenery is employed, and the actors introduce themselves in a sort of prologue, in which they state the name and character they represent in the drama.  They also indicate the place where they are in the story, or the house which they have entered.  Yet the Chinese stage has many points in common with that of Ancient Greece.  It is supported and controlled by government, and has something of a religious and national character, being particularly employed for popular amusement in the celebration of religious festivals.  Only two actors are allowed to occupy the stage at the same time, and this is another point in common with the early Greek drama.  The plots or stories of the Chinese plays are simple and effective, and Voltaire is known to have taken the plot of a Chinese drama, as Moliere took a comedy of Plautus, and applied it in writing a drama for the modern French stage.  “The Sorrows of Han” belongs to the famous collection entitled “The Hundred Plays of the Yuen Dynasty.”  It is divided into acts and is made up of alternate prose and verse.  The movement of the drama is good, and the denouement arranged with considerable skill.