Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s4.t2.34

v1.c7.s4.t2.34

Kumārajīva’s reputation spread to the central plains. At that time, an eminent monk, Dao An, was in Chang’an and wanted to meet Kumārajīva and interpret Buddhism doctrines with him. So every time he discussed with Fu Jian, the monarch of Former Qin, he would urge him to send an envoy to invite him. In February of the 17th Jianyuan year of Former Qin (381 CE), the kings of Shanshan and Qianbu came to ask Fu Jian to send troops to conquer west. In September the following year, Fu Jian sent Valiant Cavalry General Lu Guang and others to lead 70,000 soldiers to fight Qiuci, Yanqi and other countries in the west and instructed him to promptly send Kumārajīva into the border after conquering Qiuci. In the 20th Jianyuan year (384 CE), Lu Guang conquered Qiuci and seized Kumārajīva, but did not know of his honoured status, and bullied him and teased him as a mortal since he was young. He even forced Kumārajīva to marry the princess of Qiuci. Kumārajīva though firmly refused, was repeatedly asked and forced to drink and be shut in a secret chamber with the princess, eventually suffering the loss of integrity. Kumārajīva bore all these sorts of indignities calmly. The former Qin fell apart after the Battle of Feishui (383 CE). Two years later, Fu Jian was killed by Yao Chang. After Lu Guang returned with the troops to Liangzhou and knew about it, he established a regime by himself with the army and reigned in the corner. He didn’t follow Buddhism and just treated Kumārajīva as a necromancer who was good at predicting disasters and abnormalities and foretelling lucks and misfortunes. Although Kumārajīva was able to come in and out of the imperial court, he served only as an advisor. Though he was not able to expand Buddhism, Kumārajīva managed to learn Chinese in Liangzhou and attentively read the Chinese ancient classics and history books, paving the way for future work of translating sutras.