T. W. RHYS DAVIDS, F. B. A.; LL.D.; PH.D. AND S. W. BUSHELL, M.D.; C. M.G. VOL. II. WITH TWO MAPS AND AN ITINERARY BY VINCENT A. SMITH. LONDON ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY 22 ALBEMARLE STREET KAPILAVASTU. "From this" (that is apparently, the neighbourhood of Śrāvasti) the pilgrim continued his journey, he tells us, and going southeast for above 500 li he came to the Kapilavastu country. This he describes as above 4000 li (about 800 miles) in circuit, and as containing more than ten deserted cities all in utter ruin. The "royal city", (that is, the district of the capital) Yuan-chuang adds, was such a complete waste its area could not be ascertained. But the solid brick foundations of the "Palace city", within the "Royal city", still remained, and were above fifteen li in circuit. As the district had been left desolate for a very long time it was very sparsely inhabited. The country was without a sovereign, each city having its own chief; the soil was fertile and farming operations were regular; the climate was temperate, and the people were genial in their ways. There were remains of above 1000 Buddhist monasteries; and near the "Palace city" was an existing monastery with above 30 (in the D text 3000) inmates, adherents of the Sammatiya School. There were two Deva-Temples, and the sectarians lived pell-mell. It is remarkable that while all the texts of the Records here give 500 li as the distance from Sravasti to Kapilavastu, the texts of the Life give 800 li, the direction being the same; the Fang-chih agrees with the Records. Then the Life does not mention the "more than ten deserted cities all in utter ruin", but it tells us that "the tu-ch'êng (B), that is, the other cities for above 1000 i (in D 10 li) were all utterly ruined". Here again also the Life and the Records use the term "Palace city" to denote the walled city of the district called the capital. The word chiêng means city and city-wall, and it was the wall of the city which was made of brick as to its foundations and was fifteen li in circuit. The numbers which Yuan-chuang gives for the ruined ΑΙ |
