Dōng Dù Jì 東度記
Record of the Eastern Crossing by 久久老人 (撰)
About the work
Dōng Dù Jì 東度記 (Record of the Eastern Crossing) is a Buddhist vernacular novel (fójiào xiǎoshuō 佛教小說) attributed to the pen name “Jiǔjiǔ Lǎorén” 久久老人 (“The Long-Long Old Man”), whose identity is unknown. The title alludes to the historical Bodhidharma’s (Dámó 達摩) legendary “eastern crossing” from India to China to transmit the Buddha-dharma. The novel is structured in two or more volumes of numerous chapters, tracing a narrative that begins with the establishment of a Buddhist assembly in South India and moves through the journey and activities of Buddhist missionaries — including an unnamed “Honored One” (Zūnzhě 尊者) and his disciples — as they travel through a fantasized landscape evangelizing, overcoming Taoist and demonic opponents, and converting sinners. The table of contents reveals the 26+ chapters examined, with episode titles depicting encounters with demons, magicians, merchants, monks, and wayward desires.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
Dōng Dù Jì belongs to the genre of Buddhist-themed vernacular fiction (alongside Xīyóu Jì 西遊記 and its imitations, and works like Xīyáng Jì 西洋記 and Nán Hǎi Guānyīn Quánzhuàn 南海觀音全傳). It fictionalizes the transmission of Buddhism from India to China, drawing on hagiographic traditions centered on the Chán patriarchs. The chapter titles name Bodhidharma (Dámó 達摩), the “Twenty-seventh patriarch” (二十七祖), and “Yuántōng” 元通, a fictional disciple figure, suggesting the narrative culminates in the founding of the Chinese Chán lineage. The subplot involving the comic figure of “Fēngmó” 風魔 (“Wind-Demon”), whose farcical interventions punctuate the missionary narrative, is a structural device reminiscent of the Sūn Wùkōng 孫悟空 episodes in Xīyóu Jì.
The pen name “Jiǔjiǔ Lǎorén” does not appear in standard catalogs. The novel is not in the Sìkù quánshū. Its style suggests late Míng or early Qīng composition (ca. 1620–1720); the thematic emphasis on Chán transmission and the romanticization of the Bodhidharma legend is consistent with popular Buddhist literature of this period. No author attribution beyond the pen name is established.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.