According to traditional Buddhist historiography, the text known as the *Sutra of Forty-Two Sections* is attributed to the collaborative efforts of two Indian monks, Kāśyapa Mātaṅga (often rendered in Chinese as Jiaye Moteng) and Dharmaratna (Zhu Falan). These figures are remembered as pioneering transmitters of the Buddha’s teachings to the Chinese cultural sphere, and their names have become emblematic of the earliest phase of Dharma transmission to the East. The tradition presents them not merely as translators, but as those who compiled this collection of brief, aphoristic teachings attributed to the Buddha. In this way, the sutra is seen as a carefully arranged gateway, offering a distilled sampling of the Dharma suited to a new audience and a new land.

The time of this work’s appearance is likewise preserved in traditional accounts with a notable degree of specificity. It is said that the sutra was first translated into Chinese in the year 67 CE, during the Eastern Han dynasty under the reign of Emperor Ming. This date has come to symbolize the formal arrival of Buddhism in China, and the *Sutra of Forty-Two Sections* is often regarded, on this basis, as the first Buddhist scripture rendered into Chinese. Within this narrative, the translation stands as a watershed moment, marking the opening of a long and intricate dialogue between Indian Buddhist thought and Chinese philosophical and religious sensibilities.