Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s3.t12.2

v1.c7.s3.t12.2

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.