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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s3.t12: Caotang Temple

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s3.t12

Language
English

Caotang Temple

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Caotang Temple (Caotang Vihar) is one of the most time-honoured temples in China and also the earliest Translation Institute Buddhist Scriptures in the history of Chinese Buddhism. It is situated about 15 km from the south of the Qin town, Hu County, Shaanxi province.

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The temple was originally known as Da Temple. In the Hongshi third year of the later Qin Dynasty (401 CE), Emperor Yaoxing invited Kumarajiva, an eminent monk from the Western Regions (Han Dynasty term for the area west of Yumenguan including what is now Xinjiang and parts of Central Asia) to Chang’an and arranged him to live in the temple to translate Buddhist scriptures. From then on, the temple was named Caotang Temple. Later, the temple experienced rise and fall with the change of dynasties and its name was also changed several times. After 1949 CE, the Chinese government, along with the Japanese Buddhist societies, frequently granted funds to restore it thus allowing the temple to gradually expand into the size it is seen today.

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Caotang Temple had close ties with Kumarajiva, a prominent Buddhist master in the history of Chinese Buddhism and also an eminent and extraordinary translator of Buddhist scriptures. He was skilled in both Sanskrit and Chinese and translated 94 Buddhist scriptures in 425 volumes in his entire life. Ji Zang, an eminent monk in the early stage of Tang Dynasty, created the Three Treatise School on the principle of three shastras - *Madhyamaka Shastra*, *Sata-shastra* and *Dvadashamukha Shastra*, all translated by Kumarajiva and honoured him as the ancestor of Three Treatise School. Caotang Temple was a place where Kumarajiva once conducted translation work and was, therefore, known as the ancestral Chamber of the Three Treatise School.

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Portrait of Kumarajiva

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The dagoba of Tripitaka Dharma Master Kumarajiva in the Yaoqin period is the most valuable historical relics in Caotang Temple. According to a legend, after Kumarajiva passed away and was cremated, his body was burned into ashes but his tongue was not damaged. His disciple collected his *Sarira* and established a dagoba in memory of him. However, the current dagoba was not the original one but built during Tang Dynasty.

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(*Xue Keqiao*)

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