Yetgeul › Da Tang Xiyu Ji (Great Tang Records on the Western Regions) › Book 3

The Country of Bannucuo半笯嗟國

Da Tang Xiyu Ji (Great Tang Records on the Western Regions) 大唐西域記 · Xuanzang · compiled by Bianji · 646 (Tang, 20th year of the Zhenguan era) · 2 passages · 145 Chinese characters · reading time 0.6 min

Da Tang Xiyu Ji (Great Tang Records on the Western Regions) Book 3 The record Xuanzang laid before Emperor Taizong of the Tang after seventeen years of walking through the Western Regions and India, a hundred and thirty-eight countries in all. It is the stuff from which Journey to the West was made, but what stands here is not monsters — it is the compass and the climate and the speech and the faith of one country after another. The road runs two hundred years after Faxian and eighty years before Hyecho.

半笯嗟國周二千餘里,山川多,疇隴狹。穀稼時播,花果繁茂,多甘蔗,無蒲萄。庵沒羅果、烏淡跋羅、茂遮等果,家植成林,珍其味也。氣序溫暑,風俗勇烈。裳服所制,多衣氎布。人性質直,淳信三寶。伽藍五所,並多荒圮。無大君長,役屬迦濕彌羅國。城北伽藍少有僧徒,伽藍北有石窣堵波,寔多靈異。

The country of Bannucuo is more than two thousand li around. Mountains and streams are many, and the ridges of the fields are narrow. Grain is sown in its season, and flowers and fruits are luxuriant. Sugarcane is plentiful, and there are no grapes. Anmoluo fruit, wudanbaluo, maozhe and other fruits are planted house by house until they make forests, and their taste is held precious. The climate is warm and hot, and the customs are brave and fierce. In making their clothing they use cotton cloth for the most part. The people are plain and straight by nature, and they believe in the Three Jewels with a generous heart. There are five monasteries, and most of them are overgrown and fallen down. There is no great ruler, and the country is bound in service to the country of Jiashimiluo. In the monastery north of the city there are a few monks, and north of the monastery there is a stone stupa, which truly has many numinous wonders.

從此東南行四百餘里,至曷邏阇補羅國。

From here, going southeast more than four hundred li, one comes to the country of Heluoshebuluo.

Interlinear notes 1

北印度境。

It lies within North India.