Faxian zhuan 法顯傳 [Account of Faxian], written by pilgrim Faxian 法顯 (337–422), records in detail his vārska (summer retreat)on a pilgrimage from China to India. In total, his account records 8 instances of vārska along the journey from the Chinese capital Chang’an to India by land and his return to Qingzhou 青州 in Shangdong province of China from India by a maritime route. Faxian only recorded 8 instances of vārska over the 15 years of his whole pilgrimage. This means that there were no records of vārska during the other 7 years when he was in the capital Pātaliputra of Magadha, Tāmralipti in India and Sri Lanka—the real Buddhist kingdoms in the West in Faxian’s eyes. When he stayed in the Buddhist monastery in Madyadewa (Central India) and Sri lanka, Faxian did not record his vārska activities (xiazuo 夏坐). Only when he left Central India and Sri Lanka and started his journey did he begin to record the vārska. Why did he do so? The author does not think this is a random move, and that there must be some special methods and goals behind this activity. In this paper the author interprets the phenomenon of both recorded and non-recorded vārska in the Fanxian zhuan and points out the aim, use, and how it reflected the situation that Buddhist Sila disseminated and complied with the Buddhist samgha in China.
