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61-636: The Dà zhìdù lùn was translated into Chinese by the Kuchean monk Kumārajīva (344–413 CE) and his Chinese team. The colophon to this work claims it is written by the Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna (c. 2nd century), but various scholars such as Étienne Lamotte have questioned this attribution. According to Hans-Rudolf Kantor, this work was "fundamental for the development of the Chinese Sanlun , Tiantai , Huayan , and Chan schools ." The DZDL survives only in

122-399: A book, it is understandable for an audio book, as it is assumed the listener wants to hear the author's opinion, and the listener who needs to check the details may refer to the text. Occasionally, an abridged audio book will be advertised as "abridgement approved by the author," which would imply that the original work's author has reviewed the trimmed down version of the work and agrees that

183-455: A collection of 130 stories and anecdotes extracted from the text. Kucha Kucha or Kuche (also: Kuçar , Kuchar ; Uyghur : كۇچار , Кучар; Chinese : 龜茲 ; pinyin : Qiūcí , Chinese : 庫車 ; pinyin : Kùchē ; Sanskrit : 𑀓𑀽𑀘𑀻𑀦 , romanized :  Kūcīna ) was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along

244-579: A kind of Mahāyāna encyclopedia for East Asian Buddhist thought, similar to the status of the Abhisamayalamkara in Tibetan Buddhism . Traditionally, it is held that the text is by the Indian Madhyamaka philosopher Nagarjuna. Against the traditional attribution of the work to Nagarjuna, Étienne Lamotte as well as Paul Demiéville , concluded that the author must have been a Buddhist monk of

305-510: A long time, Kucha was the most populous oasis in the Tarim Basin. As a Central Asian metropolis, it was part of the Silk Road economy, and was in contact with the rest of Central Asia, including Sogdia and Bactria , and thus also with the cultures of South Asia, Iran, and the coastal areas of China. The main population of Kucha was part of the ancient population of the Tarim Basin known as

366-566: A part of the text was by Nagarjuna, it also included many "additions or insertions by Kumārajīva." The Chinese scholar Yin Shun meanwhile, argues for the traditional attribution to Nagarjuna. In a recent study, Po-kan Chou has argued that the DZDL is a product of the editorship of Sengrui (352?-436?), Kumārajīva's student, co-translator and amanuensis . The text is primarily Mahayana and explains basic Mahayana doctrines such as Prajñāpāramitā , and

427-645: Is Ku-sien . Transcriptions of the name Kushan in Indic scripts from late antiquity include the spelling Guṣān , and are reflected in at least one Khotanese Tibetan transcription. The forms Kūsān and Kūs are attested in Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat 's 16th-century work in Chaghatai , the Tarikh-i Rashidi . Both names, as well as Kos , Kucha , Kujar etc., were used for modern Kucha. For

488-559: Is Indian, with some differences. They excel other countries in their skill in playing on the lute and pipe. They clothe themselves with ornamental garments of silk and embroidery... There are about one hundred convents in this country, with five thousand and more disciples. These belong to the Little Vehicle of the school of the Sarvastivadas . Their doctrine and their rules of discipline are like those of India, and those who read them use

549-406: Is a condensing or reduction of a book or other creative work into a shorter form while maintaining the unity of the source. The abridgement can be true to the original work in terms of mood and tone , capturing the parts the abridging author perceives to be most important; it could be a complete parody of the original or it could fall anywhere in between, generally capturing the tone and message of

610-456: Is a widely accepted view among modern scholars. Lamotte also remarked on the internal evidence of the text which shows that its author was likely from a region that was within the Kushan Empire . Hikata Ryusho however argues that there is an ancient nucleus of material in this text that could be attributed by Nagarjuna (as well as a large amount of later accretions). R. Hikata argued that while

671-491: Is most common in textbooks, usually lengthy works in complicated fields like engineering or medicine . Abridged versions of popular textbooks are published to be used as study aids or to provide enough surface information for the reader to become familiar with the material but not have a full understanding of it or its full scope. Plays, notably by Shakespeare , have very often been heavily abridged for television to fit them into ninety-minute or two-hour time slots. (The same

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732-417: Is the opposite of abridged. A common example is an unabridged dictionary . Abridgement is most often used to adapt a book or film into a narrated audio version. Because books written for adults are generally meant to be read silently to oneself, which is usually much faster than reading aloud, most books can take between 20 and 40 hours to read aloud. Because many audio book listeners are looking to listen to

793-453: Is true of long classical ballets such as the two-and-a-half hour Sleeping Beauty , which has almost never been performed complete on television.) It was done more often in the past than it is now (such as in Hallmark Hall of Fame from the 1950s to about 1970). With the advent of such noncommercially-sponsored PBS anthologies such as Great Performances , Live from Lincoln Center and

854-475: The BBC Television Shakespeare plays, there is now less pressure to cram a play lasting at least three hours, such as Hamlet , into a two-hour time slot. An abridged series is a fanmade parody that uses video footage from a television series—oftentimes Japanese animation —which is usually filled with comedic redubbing. They are called "abridged" series because episodes are usually not as long as

915-724: The Kushan of Indic scripts from late antiquity. While Chinese transcriptions of the Han or the Tang imply that Küchï was the original form of the name, Guzan or Küsan is attested in the Tibetan Annals ( s.v. ), dating from 687 CE. Old Uyghur and Old Mandarin transcriptions from the Mongol Empire support the forms Küsän / Güsän and Kuxian / Quxian respectively, instead of Küshän or Kushan . Another, cognate Chinese transliteration

976-530: The Kuśiññe language also seems to have been spoken there. While written in a Central Asian Brahmi script used typically for Indo-Iranian languages , the Tocharian languages (as they became known by modern scholars) belong to the centum group of Indo-European languages, which are otherwise native to Southern and Western Europe . The precise dating of known Tocharian texts is contested, but they were written around

1037-721: The Parthian An Shigao , the Yuezhis Lokaksema and Zhi Qian , or the Indian Zhú Shuòfú ( 竺朔佛 ). Around 150 CE, Chinese power in the western territories receded, and the Tarim Basin and its city-states regained independence. Kucha became very powerful and rich in the last quarter of the 4th century CE, about to take over most of the trade along the Silk Road at the expense of the Southern Silk Road, which lay along

1098-574: The Sarvāstivāda or Mulasarvāstivāda school from Northwest India, learned in Abhidharma , who later converted to Mahāyāna and Madhyamaka and then composed "a voluminous exegetical treatise which is like a Mahāyāna reply to the Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma". This is because the Abhidharma and Vinaya material found in this text coincides with that of the north Indian Sarvāstivāda tradition. This

1159-554: The Silk Road . Lively scenes of Kuchean music and dancing can be found in the Kizil Caves and are described in the writings of Xuanzang . "[T]he fair ladies and benefactresses of Kizil and Kumtura in their tight-waisted bodices and voluminous skirts recall—notwithstanding the Buddhic theme—that at all the halting places along the Silk Road , in all the rich caravan towns of the Tarim, Kucha

1220-684: The Ta-chih-tu lun , are primarily directed against the Vaibhasikas of the Sarvastivadin School." The DZDL contains 90 chapters ( p'in ) in 100 rolls ( kiuan ). It comprises two series of chapters, according to Lamotte the first series of 52 chapters (Taisho. 1509, p. 57c-314b) "appears to be an integral version of the Indian original" while the second series of 89 chapters (Taisho. 1509, p. 314b-756c) seems to be an abridgement . The content of

1281-535: The Tocharians , and Kuchans spoke an Indo-European language known as Kuchean Tocharian . The Tocharians are associated with the earlier Afanasievo culture , a population derived from the ancient North Eurasians . Chinese sources from the 2nd century BCE mentioned Wusun populations with blue eyes and red hair in the area of the Ili River to the northwest of Kucha. Chinese official and diplomat Zhang Qian traveled

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1342-736: The Xiongnu to the north and the Han Chinese to the east. In 74 CE, Chinese troops started to take control of the Tarim Basin with the conquest of Turfan . In the first century CE, Kucha resisted the Chinese and allied itself with the Xiongnu and the Yuezhi against the Chinese general Ban Chao . Even the Kushan Empire of Kujula Kadphises sent an army to the Tarim Basin to support Kucha, but they retreated after minor encounters. In 124, Kucha formally submitted to

1403-411: The 630s described Kucha at some length, and the following are excerpts from his descriptions of Kucha: The soil is suitable for rice and grain... it produces grapes, pomegranates and numerous species of plums , pears , peaches , and almonds ... The ground is rich in minerals- gold , copper , iron , and lead and tin . The air is soft, and the manners of the people honest. The style of writing

1464-473: The 6th to 8th centuries CE (although Tocharian speakers must have arrived in the region much earlier). Both languages became extinct before circa 1000 CE. Scholars are still trying to piece together a fuller picture of these languages, their origins, history and connections, etc. The kingdom bordered Aksu and Kashgar to the west and Karasahr and Turpan to the east. Across the Taklamakan Desert to

1525-577: The Chinese city were barracks for 500 soldiers out of a garrison he estimated to total about 1500 men, who were armed with old Enfield rifles "with the Tower mark." Kucha is now part of Kuqa, Xinjiang . It is divided into the new city, which includes the People's Square and transportation center, and the old city, where the Friday market and vestiges of the past city wall and cemetery are located. Along with agriculture,

1586-506: The Chinese court, and by 127 China had conquered the whole of the Tarim Basin. Kucha became a part of the Western protectorate of the Chinese Han dynasty , with China's control of the Silk Road facilitating the exchange of art and the propagation of Buddhism from Central Asia. The Roman Maes Titianus visited the area in the 2nd century CE, as did numerous great Buddhist missionaries such as

1647-507: The Chinese translation of 100 scrolls made by the Kuchean monk Kumārajīva from 402 to 406 CE. According to the primary sources, the Indic text consisted of 100,000 gāthās (lines), or 3,200,000 Sanskrit syllables, which was condensed by Kumārajīva by two-thirds to obtain the 100 scrolls of the Chinese translation. Kumārajīva translated the first 34 scrolls in full, and abridged the rest of the material. It

1708-537: The Kuchean monk and translator Kumarajiva (344–413 CE), himself the son of a man from Kashmir and a Kuchean mother. The southern kingdoms of Shanshan and the Jushi Kingdom (now Turfan and Jiaohe ) asked for Chinese assistance in countering Kucha and its neighbour Karashar . The Chinese general Lü Guang was sent with a military force by Emperor Fu Jian (357–385) of the Former Qin (351–394). Lü Guang obtained

1769-527: The Uighur domination, the Kingdom of Kucha gradually became Turkic-speaking . Kuśiññe was completely forgotten until the early 20th century, when inscriptions and documents in two related (but mutually unintelligible) languages were discovered at various sites in the Tarim Basin. Conversely, Tocharian A, or Ārśi was native to the region of Turpan (known later as Turfan) and Agni (Qarašähär; Karashar), although

1830-518: The Uyghur kingdom of Qocho . The extensive ruins of the ancient capital and the Subashi Temple (Chinese Qiuci ), which was abandoned in the 13th century, lie 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of modern Kucha. Francis Younghusband , who passed through the oasis in 1887 on his journey from Beijing to India , described the district as "probably" having some 60,000 inhabitants. The modern Chinese town

1891-414: The actual story or focus of the book in order to make its audible reading time shorter. A fully abridged audio book can span as little as 4 hours for a book that would span 20 hours unabridged. The easiest content of a fiction book to edit out is back story that is often provided for characters or story elements that help support the reality of the story for the reader but fails to provide any narrative to

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1952-499: The area westward to visit Central Asia, during the 2nd century BCE, stopping at Kucha. Chinese chronicles recount that Princess Xijun , a Han princess married to the king of the Wusun , had a daughter who was sent to the Han court in 64 BC, but when the daughter stopped at Kucha on the way, she decided to marry the king of Kucha instead. According to the Book of Han (completed in 111 CE), Kucha

2013-736: The cash coins produced in Kucha predate the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) and that the native production of coins stopped sometime after the year 621 when the Wu Zhu cash coins were discontinued in China proper . The coinage of Kucha includes the "Han Qiu bilingual Wu Zhu coin" (漢龜二體五銖錢, hàn qiū èr tǐ wǔ zhū qián ) which has a yet undeciphered text belonging to a language spoken in Kucha. (Names are in modern Mandarin pronunciations based on ancient Chinese records) Abridgement An abridgement (or abridgment )

2074-416: The city also manufactures cement , carpets, and other household necessities in its local factories. There are several significant archaeological sites in the region which were investigated by the third (1905–1907, led by Albert Grünwedel ) and fourth (1913–1914, led by Albert von Le Coq ) German Turfan expeditions . Those in the immediate vicinity include the cave site of Achik-Ilek and Subashi. Kucha

2135-616: The city of Kucha was regarded by Han Chinese as one of the Four Garrisons of Anxi : the "Pacified West", or even its capital. During a few decades of domination by the Tibetan Empire , in the late 7th century, Kucha was usually at least semi-independent. In the 8th and 9th centuries, Uyghurs increasingly migrated into the area. After the destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate by Kyrgyz forces in 840, Kucha became an important center of

2196-560: The city were numerous. Kucha is well known as the home of the great fifth-century translator monk Kumārajīva (344–413). A monk from the royal family known as Boyan travelled to the Chinese capital, Luoyang , from 256 to 260. He translated six Buddhist texts into Chinese in 258 at China's famous White Horse Temple , including the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra , an important sutra in Pure Land Buddhism . Po-Śrīmitra

2257-757: The empire of Fu Jian crumbled against the Eastern Jin , and he established a principality in Gansu , bringing Kumarajiva together with him. Kucha ambassadors are known to have visited the Chinese court of Emperor Yuan of Liang in his capital Jingzhou in 516–520 CE, at or around the same time as the Hepthalite embassies there. An ambassador from Kucha is illustrated in Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang , painted in 526–539 CE, an 11th-century Song copy of which has survived. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited Kucha and in

2318-586: The entirety of the work, and the abridged version is more often preferred by those who want just a quick and entertaining way to follow the story. On the radio (for example, in British Radio 4 programmes as Book of the Week , Book at Bedtime , and Go 4 It for children), books are almost always abridged and so if someone were trying to read along with the book, one would find it much more difficult than on an audio book. A shortened form of literary work in which

2379-579: The first series, which has been translated by Etienne Lamotte (Fr.) and Karma Migme Chodron (Eng.) is as follows: One third of this work was translated by Etienne Lamotte as Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse . This translation is regrettably replete with mistakes. An English translation from Lamotte's French was completed by Gelongma Karma Migme Chodron as "The Treatise on the Great Virtue of Wisdom". Bhiksu Dharmamitra has also translated sections of this work into English, including chapters 17-30 and

2440-439: The information in a book more quickly and because of the high cost associated with recording and distributing 40 hours of audio, audio book versions of novels are often produced in an abridged version. Some party, usually an editor for the book's publishing company, goes through the text of the book and removes elements, notations, references, narratives and sometimes entire scenes from a book that could be considered superfluous to

2501-545: The intention or narrative of the story has not been lost or that no vital information has been removed. In many cases, an audio book for a popular title is available in both an abridged and unabridged version, but the abridged version often is released first and almost always costs significantly less than the unabridged version. Often, the two versions are produced independently of each other and may have different narrators. Unabridged versions of books are popular among those with poor eyesight or reading skills who wish to appreciate

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2562-494: The major themes of the original are kept occurs in books for faster and easier reading. The Signet Classics Abridged Works are notable examples of abridgment; the Signet Classics Bible, for example, is 40 percent shorter than the 850,000-word King James Version . Although well-known passages in abridged works are often left intact, editors may remove "repetition, rhetoric and redundancy" from a complete work. Until roughly

2623-408: The mason approached the king to ask for permission to marry the princess, the king was appalled and vehemently against the union. He told the young man he would not grant permission unless the mason carved 1000 caves into the local hills. Determined, the mason went to the hills and began carving in order to prove himself to the king. After three years and carving 999 caves, he died from the exhaustion of

2684-484: The mid-19th century, the act of abridgment was widely regarded as fair use and was among the most frequently abused loopholes in British and American copyright law. However, by the 1870s, international outcry from authors and publishers alike prompted legislatures to consider revisions to end the "very unreasonable" principle. While increasingly uncommon, some books are published as abridged versions of earlier books, which

2745-595: The northern edge of what is now the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin and south of the Muzat River . The former area of Kucha now lies in present-day Aksu Prefecture , Xinjiang , China . Kuqa town is the county seat of Aksu Prefecture's Kuqa County . Its population was given as 74,632 in 1990. The history of toponyms for modern Kucha remains somewhat problematic; however, it is clear that Kucha, Kuchar (in Turkic languages ) and Kuché (modern Chinese), correspond to

2806-430: The original author but falling short in some manner or subtly twisting their words and message to favor a different interpretation or agenda. A written work may be abridged to make it more accessible to a wider audience; for example, to make an adaptation of it as an audio book or a television show , to make a more convenient companion to an already-established work or to create a shorter reference version. Unabridged

2867-826: The other bodhisattva paramitas , but also includes much Sarvastivada Abhidharma , Jataka and early Buddhist content. As noted by Lamotte, "the Treatise cites, at length or in extracts, about a hundred sūtras of the Lesser Vehicle ; the majority are borrowed from the Āgama collections". It also cites various Mahayana sutras , such as the Lotus Sutra and the Vimalakirti Sutra , the Dasabhumika Sutra, Gandavyuha Sutra, as well as various Jataka stories and Avadana literature. According to Akira Hirawaka, "The arguments of

2928-505: The other plays a Chinese jiegu (an Indian-style drum). The music of Kucha, along with other early medieval music, was transmitted from China to Japan during the same period and is preserved there, somewhat transformed, as gagaku or Japanese court music. Following its conquest by the Tang dynasty in the early 7th century, during Emperor Taizong's campaign against the Western Regions ,

2989-412: The same originals... About 40 li to the north of this desert city there are two convents close together on the slope of a mountain... Outside the western gate of the chief city, on the right and left side of the road, there are erect figures of Buddha, about 90 feet high. A specific style of music developed within the region and "Kuchean" music gained popularity as it spread along the trade lines of

3050-448: The south was Khotan. The Kizil Caves lie about 70 kilometres (43 mi) northwest of Kucha and were included within the rich fourth-century kingdom of Kucha. The caves claim origins from the royal family of ancient Kucha, specifically a local legend involving Princess Zaoerhan, the daughter of the King of Kucha. While out hunting, the princess met and fell in love with a local mason . When

3111-501: The southern edge of the Tarim Basin . According to the Jinshu , Kucha was highly fortified, had a splendid royal palace, as well as many Buddhist stupas and temples: There are fortified cities everywhere, their ramparts are three-fold, inside there are thousands of Buddhist stupas and temples (...) The royal palace is magnificent, glowing like a heavenly abode". Culture flourished, and Indian Sanskrit scriptures were being translated by

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3172-403: The southern side of the desert. According to the Book of Jin , during the third century there were nearly one thousand Buddhist stupas and temples in Kucha. At this time, Kuchanese monks began to travel to China. The fourth century saw yet further growth for Buddhism within the kingdom. The palace was said to resemble a Buddhist monastery, displaying carved stone Buddhas, and monasteries around

3233-545: The story itself. For example, a passage such as "John sped away in his automobile, a red 1967 Mustang he'd purchased from a junkyard and spent most of his college years restoring with his father" could be abridged to "John sped away in his automobile, a red 1967 Mustang" or, if context permits, simply "John sped away." In a nonfiction piece, the most commonly abridged details are references, charts, details and facts that are used to support an author's claim. While it would be unprofessional or irresponsible to omit such details from

3294-534: The surrender of Karashar and conquered Kucha in 383 CE. Lü Guang mentioned the powerful armour of Kucha soldiers, a type of Sasanian chainmail and lamellar armour that can also be seen in the paintings of the Kizil Caves as noted in the Biography of Chinese General Lü Guang : "They were skillful with arrows and horses, and good with short and long spears. Their armour was like chain link; even if one shoots it, [the arrow] cannot go in." Lü Guang soon retired and

3355-453: The work. The distraught princess found his body, and grieved herself to death, and now, her tears are said to be current waterfalls that cascade down some of the cave's rock faces. From around the third or fourth century Kucha began the manufacture of Wu Zhu (五銖) cash coins inspired by the diminutive and devalued Wu Zhu's of the post-Han dynasty era in Chinese history . It is very likely that

3416-454: Was about 700 square yards (590 m ) with a 25 feet (7.6 m) high wall, with no bastions or protection to the gateways, but a ditch about 20 feet (6.1 m) deep around it. It was filled with houses and "a few bad shops". The "Turk houses" ran right up to the edge of the ditch and there were remains of an old city to the south-east of the Chinese one, but most of the shops and houses were outside of it. About 800 yards (730 m) north of

3477-464: Was an important Buddhist center from Antiquity until the late Middle Ages. Buddhism was introduced to Kucha before the end of the 1st century, however it was not until the 4th century that the kingdom became a major center of Buddhism , primarily the Sarvastivada , but eventually also Mahayana Buddhism during the Uighur period. In this respect it differed from Khotan , a Mahayana-dominated kingdom on

3538-498: Was another Kuchean monk who traveled to China from 307 to 312 and translated three Buddhist texts. A second Kuchean Buddhist monk known as Po-Yen also went to Liangzhou (modern Wuwei, Gansu , China ) and is said to have been well respected, although he is not known to have translated any texts. The language of Kucha, as evidenced by surviving manuscripts and inscriptions, was Kuśiññe (Kushine) also known as Tocharian B or West Tocharian, an Indo-European language. Later, under

3599-521: Was renowned as a city of pleasures, and that as far as China men talked of its musicians, its dancing girls, and its courtesans." Kuchean music was very popular in Tang China , particularly the lute, which became known in Chinese as the pipa . For example, within the collection of the Guimet Museum , two Tang female musician figures represent the two prevailing traditions: one plays a Kuchean pipa and

3660-581: Was the largest of the "Thirty-six Kingdoms of the Western Regions ", with a population of 81,317, including 21,076 persons able to bear arms. The Kingdom of Kucha occupied a strategic position on the Northern Silk Road, which brought prosperity, and made Kucha a wealthy center of trade and culture. During the Later Han (25–220 CE), Kucha, with the whole Tarim Basin , became a focus of rivalry between

3721-438: Was translated by Kumārajīva, working together with his student Sengrui , who "stopped writing, argued for the right translation," and "checked his translation against the original for the entire day" as well as with the Qin emperor Yao Xing (366–416 CE). The DZDL became a central text for the East Asian Sanlun ( J. Sanron) or Madhyamaka school and also influenced all the major schools of Chinese Buddhism . The DZDL acted as

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