The file we used is located in the Internet Archive here.
Below is the Chinese preface of this Dharmapada:
FA-KHEU-KING TSU.
(Cod. I.)
PREFACE TO THE SŪTRA CALLED FA-KHEU.
(Law-verses. Dhammapada.)[From the Chinese.]
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The verses called Dhammapada (Tan-poh) are selections from all the Sūtras. The expression Tan means law, and the word poh means verse or sentence. These are various editions (or arrangements) of this Dhammapada Sūtra. There is one with 900 verses, another with 700, and another with 500. Now the word for verse, or Gāthā, signifies an extract from the Scriptures arranged according to metre. These are the words of Buddha himself, spoken as occasion suggested, not at any one time, but at various times, and the cause and end of their being spoken is also related in the different Sutras. Now Buddha, the All-wise, moved by compassion for the world, was manifested in the world, to instruct men and lead them into the right way. What he said and taught has been included in twelve sorts of works. There are, however, other collections containing the choice portion of his doctrine, such, for instance, as the four works known as the Āgamas. After Buddha left the world, Ānanda collected a certain number of volumes, in each of which the words of Buddha are quoted, whether the Sūtra be large or small, with this introductory phrase, “Thus have I heard.” The place where the sermon was preached is also given, and the occasion and circumstances of it. It was from these works that the Shamans, in after years, copied out the various Gāthās, some of four lines, some of six lines, and attached to each set a title according to the subject therein explained. But all these verses, without exception, are taken from some one or other of the accepted Scriptures, and therefore they are called Law-verses (or Scripture extracts), because they are found in the Canon.
Now the common edition used by people generally is the one with 700 Gāthas. The meaning of these Gāthās is sometimes very obscure (deep), and men say that there is no meaning at all in them. But let them consider that as it is difficult to meet with a teacher like Buddha, so the words of Buddha are naturally hard of explanation. Moreover, all the literature of this religion is written in the language of India, which widely differs from that of China — the language and the books, in fact, are those of the Devas (Heaven). So to translate them faithfully is not an easy task.
The present work, the original of which consisted of 500 verses, was brought from India in the third year of the reign of Hwang-wu (A.D. 223), by Wai-chi-lan, and, with the help of another Indian called Tsiang-im, was first explained, and then translated into Chinese. On some objection being made as to the inelegance of the phrases employed, Wai-chi-lan stated “that the words of Buddha are holy words, not merely elegant or tasteful, and that his Law is not designed to attract persons by its pleasing character, but by its deep and spiritual meaning.”
Finally, the work of translation was finished, and afterwards 13 additional sections added, making up the whole to 752 verses, 14,580 words, and headings of chapters, 39.