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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s4.t3: Chinese Personalities

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s4.t3

Language
English

Contents

Chinese Personalities

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Liu Ying

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Liu Ying (about 26-71 CE) was the King of Chu and a Buddhist believer in Eastern Han Dynasty. He was the son of Liu Xiu (5 BCE-57 CE), Emperor Guangwu of Han. His biography was recorded in *Scroll 72, Book of Eastern Han History*. In the 15^th year of Jianwu (39 CE), he was conferred the title of Duke of Chu, awarded as King of Chuin in the 17^th year and acquired his own fief in the 28^th year. Since his mother, Madam Xu, was not favoured in Emperor Liu Xiu’s eyes, Liu Ying’s fief was the smallest and weakest. When Emperor Ming of Han Liu Zhuang was the crown prince, Liu Ying was friendly to him and relied on him. Liu Zhuang also liked Liu Ying and he repeatedly granted rewards to Liu Ying after he became the Emperor. In the 13^th year of Yongping (70 CE), Liu Ying was reported that he associated with necromancers, intended to conspire against the Emperor and should be beheaded. But Emperor Ming remembered his former friendship, took back Liu Ying’s fief and downgraded him to Jingxian, Danyang (present-day Jingxian, Anhui), where he was granted with a small fief of Tangmu Town with 500 tenants. Unfortunately, in April of the next year, Liu Ying committed suicide in Danyang (present-day in Xuanzhou City, Anhui).

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Liu Ying had errantry when he was young, made friends with warriors and knights. He loved learning about studies of Emperor Huang and Lao Tzu in his later life, fasted and sacrificed for pagoda. In the eighth year of Yongping (65 CE), Emperor Ming sent out an imperial decree that all criminals condemned to die could be atoned by paying silks. As the King of Chu, Liu Ying asked his counsellor to pay tributes

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Chuwang Ying

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of 30 pieces of silks for atone his mistakes. Emperor Ming of Han declared: “King of Chu reads teachings of Emperor Huang and Lao Tzu and advocates kindness of pagoda. He cleaned himself and abstained from meat and alcohol for three months and made vows to the Heaven. What sin does he have and what confession should he make? Return the tributes back to him and sumptuous dinner of lay Buddhists and *sramanas*.” This declaration was spread to all kingdoms. The academic circle thinks that the recording about Liu Ying is the earliest prove about Buddhism being missionised in China. It is said that Emperor Ming of Han dreamed a golden man, stood tall and there was light above his head. The next day, Emperor Ming asked his chancellors about his dream. Someone said: “There is an immortal in the west named Buddha who is six Chinese inches tall and golden.” King of Chu, Liu Ying, began to believe Buddha’s teaching. Emperor Huan of Han was fond of divinities and sacrificed to Buddha and Lao Tzu many times. Firstly, only a few people believed in Buddha but gradually, Buddhism flourished. And Buddhism was spread in China.

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(*Tan Jie*)

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Zuo Rong

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Zuo Rong (195 CE), born in Danyang (present-day Xuanzhou, Anhui), was a Buddhist in late Eastern Han Dynasty. He once gathered hundreds of people to go to his townsman Tao Qian, head of government in Xuzhou, for shelter. Tao Qian appointed him to supervise the grain transportation in Guangling (present-day in Yangzhou, Jiangsu), Xiapi (present-day in Weining, Jiangsu) and Pengcheng (present-day in Xuzhou, Jiangsu), and assigned him the head of Xiapi. According to *Liu Yao Biography* in volume IV of the *History of the Three Kingdoms*, after becoming appendage to Tao Qian, Zuo Rong indulged his subordinates slaughtering and robbed goods transported in three counties as his own. "Then he began to build a Buddha temple. The Buddha was cast with copper for body and decorated with gold, with bright and beautiful dressing and nine copper discs. Beneath were pavilions with the capacity of holding over 3,000 people to learn Buddhist texts. The temple admired many people who were interested in Buddhism around the county or other counties and altogether over 5,000 people came there. There was food and drink in every ceremony of washing figures of Buddha. People who came to visit or eat food were as many as 10,000. The cost can be calculated as hundreds of millions. This is the earliest record of building Chinese Buddhist statues in temple. This suggests that there had been group chanting of Buddhist believers in Yangze river and Huai river region. and there were scenes of ceremony of washing figures of Buddha and giving food. The reason that Zuo Rong believed Buddhism was affected by Liu ying, king of Chu, who was a Buddhism believer, and whose feud was in the Yangze River and Huai River region. Therefore, Buddhism had influence in the region. Through building Buddhist temples and Buddha statues, Zuo Rong tried to attract believers and gather people to recite sutras, in order to gain himself fame. And he also promoted Buddhism in the public by providing food and drinks and exempting believers’ corvee, expanding the influence of Buddhism.

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(*Tan Jie*)

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Zhu Shixing

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Zhu Shixing (203-282 CE) was a Buddhist monk of Wei in the three kingdoms. He was born in Yingchuan (its seat of local government was in Yangzhai, present-day Yuzhou, Henan) with the alternate names of Zhu Zixing and Zhu Shiheng. There was a biography in Volume 4 of *Eminent Monks* by Huijiao in Liang Dynasty. His *dharma* name was Eight Commandments which was believed to be the origin of the name of one of the chief characters in famous Chinese classical novel *Journey to The West*. Zhu Shixing had great dreams and aspirations in his juvenile and intended to get rid of vulgar world. After becoming a monk, he focussed on sutras and scriptures. When he taught *Dao Hang Bo Ruo Jing* (ie *Astasahashrika Prajnaparamita Sutra*) in Luoyang, he sighed with emotion that the translation did not explain all the truth of *dharma*, so he sworn to travel to the west for the *Perfection of Wisdom Sutra*. He started off from Yongzhou (present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi) in fifth year of Emperor Ganlu (260 CE) in Wei of the three kingdoms. He passed Liusha and arrived at Khotan (present-day Khotan, Xinjiang), where there was many Indian immigrants and was popular with Buddhism. In Khotan, he made a copy of *Perfection of Wisdom Sutra* in Sanskrit with 90 chapters and over 6,00,000 words. He intended to send back the Sanskrit version to Luoyang by his disciples but was thwarted by Hinayana believers who believed that this *sutra* was not the formal *sutra* of Buddhism and submitted written complaint to the King of Khotan, requiring that this sutra should be forbidden to be introduced to China. In order to prove that the Sanskrit version can be introduced to China, Zhu Shixing threw the sutra into fire and the sutra was burnt but undamaged. Everyone was shocked and believed that it was divine. In the third year of Emperor Taikang (282 CE) of Western Jin

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Zhu Shixing

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Dynasty, Zhu Shixing sent back his disciple Furutan (Fa Rao) back to Luoyang with *Perfection of Wisdom Sutra*. The first year of Emperor Yuankang (291 CE) of Western Jin Dynasty, Khotan's *Sramana* Wuruocha and Henan's lay Buddhist Zhu Shulan translated it into Chinese ie *Fang Guang Ban Ruo Jing* with 20 volumes. Zhu Shixing stayed in Khotan and died of an illness at the age of 80 in an alien land. During his lifetime he wrote the *Han Record* in one volume.

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Zhu Shixing initiated three First in the history of Chinese Buddhism. He was the first monk from Chinese mainland areas to accept *bhiksuni*, also the first to teach sutras (*Dao Hang Bo Ruo Jing*), and to travel to the west for further study of Buddhism. He set a good example to Faxian, Xuanzang and the others for travelling west for further study of Buddhism.

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(Tan Jie)

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Dharmaraksha

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Dharmaraksa (about 231-308 or 239-316 CE) was a monk-translator in Western Jin Dynasty and was also known as Dunhuang Bodhisattva.

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He was born into Yuezhi family in Dunhuang. At the age of eight, he became a monk and adopted the name of his master, an Indian monk named Zhu Gaozuo. He was said to be clever, with an extraordinary memory, able to recite 10,000 words a day, learned and well-read. He was kind, studious and never minded secular praise or disapproval. During the reign of Emperor Wudi of Jin (265-290 CE), Chinese Buddhists only cared about constructing temple statues and overlooked introducing *Mahayana* scriptures. Seeing this, he went westward with his master and dedicated himself to translating Mahanaya texts found in the Western Regions. It is said that during the trip he had become proficient in 36 languages. He came back from the Western Regions with a great number of Buddhist texts and worked diligently to translate them along the way from Dunhuang to Chang'an. From 266-308 CE, for over 40 years, he had been preoccupied with translation, "taken as his mission to introduce Buddhism and devoted his life to sutra translation in a tireless manner". He also built a temple in Chang'an and his proselytising was very popular and attracted thousands of followers. During the reign of Emperor Huidi of Jin, political instability rose and people were displaced. Dharmaraksa, already an old man, went eastward to avoid chaos and came to Mianchi and died there shortly afterwards at the age of 78. He translated many sutras and his major works include the following: *Jataka* (five books), *Lalitavistara* (eight books), *Guangzan Jing* (10 books), *Zheng Fahua Jing* (10 books), *Foshuo A Wei Yue Zhi Zhe Jing* (three books), *Dasabhūmika-sūtra* (five books), *Dengmu Pusa Suowen Sanmei Jing* (six books), *Du Shi Pin Jing* (six books), *Wenshu Shili Foshi Yanjing Jing* (two books), *Foshuo Ruhuang Sanmei Jing* (two books), *Dengji Zhongde Sanmei Jing* (three books), *Da Ai Jing* (eight books), *Baonǚ Suowen Jing* (four books), *Foshuo Wuyan Tongzi Jing* (two books), *A Cha Mo Pusa Jing* (seven books), *Xianjie Jing* (eight books), *Chixin Fantian Suowen Jing* (four books), *Foshuo Xuzhen Tianzi Jing* (four books) and *Xiuxing Daodi Jing* (seven books).

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The *Jataka* translated by Dharmaraksa Later generations thought highly of his contribution to spread Buddhism. Dao An, an eminent monk in East Jin Dynasty, said, "Dharmaraksa, a *bodhisattva*, for his teachings and works, worthy our profound esteem...... and provides the mass with a ladder to enlightenment." Sengyou also said, "It is due to the efforts of Dharmaraksa that Buddhist sutras become widely circulated in China." Unlike his predecessors, Dharmaraksa, instead of arbitrary deletions, strove to be faithful to the original text as likely as possible, and as Dao An said, "his translations were unpolished and made as they originally were," however, "though not elegant, they are still great and fluent.” He was assisted by Nie Chengyuan and Nie Daozhen (father and son). Nie Chengyuan was talented, dedicated and methodical, and in addition to assigned dictation, he also helped paraphrase and produce more fluent and elegant translations. Nie Daozhen was good at writing and Sanskrit and quite helpful for Dharmaraksa. Zhu Fashou, Chen Shilun, Sun Bohu, Yu Shiya and the like were also involved in the work of translation, dictation and proofreading. But his translations vary with style and complexity and sometimes language, obviously because these works were produced over a long period of time, in different places and with different participants. His works, though retranslated later on, still have an important value of reference. Dharmaraksa was a prolific translator. According to *Chu San Zang Ji Ji* compiled by Seng You, altogether, he translated 154 sutras and 309 books. This figure was enlarged later on, and in Tang Dynasty, *Kaiyuan Shijiao Lu* recorded 175 sutras and 354 books, with 91 sutras and 208 books extant. Lv Cheng, a modern scholar, considered this number to be 74 sutras and 177 books while the recent estimate by Tong Wei indicated 97 sutras and 211 books.

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Jātaka Tales translated by Zhu Fahu

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(*Ge Weijun*)

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Daoan

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Daoan (312-385 CE) was a monk of East Jin Dynasty. His surname before becoming a monk was Wei. His hometown was Fuliu of Chang Shan (present-day Ji County in Hebei Province) and was born in a family of Confucian scholars. His parents passed away early and was brought up by his cousin Kong. He became a monk when he was 12 and his master let him do farm work since his appearance was ugly. Three years later, he was asked to read Buddhist sutra. He could recite it over in one night that showed his superb memory. After receiving full ordination, he was allowed to travel around and study. He arrived in Yedu and entered Zhong Temple. Here he was taught by Fo Tucheng and was appraised by him. Fo Tucheng lectured on Buddhism sutra, and Dao An was required to repeat it once again for the monks, who looked down on him due to his unattractive appearance. But Dao An talked with keen words and repeatedly solved others’ doubts and the people at that time said, “The monk with dark skin and unattractive appearance, Dao An, surprised the others”.

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Later, he went to Hu Ze (present-day Jin County in Shanxi) and then to Feilong hill, Taihang Mountains Heng Mountains and built a tower temple there. Dao An came back to Ye Du when he was 45-years-old and lived in Shoudu Temple with hundreds of disciples. At the time Shi Hu died, Ran Min started rebelling. Da An moved to Qiankou Hill situated to the west then led followers to Wangwu and Rulin hills (present day Shanxi). Within 15 years after Fo Tucheng passed away (348 CE), Dao An and his disciples moved between Hebei and Shanxi areas, they practised *dhyana* and lectured on Buddhism. Later, they crossed the river to Luhun (present-day Song County in Henan) to avoid wars, lived in seclusion and studied further. At this moment, the disciples who followed Dao An included Fa Tai, Hui Yuan and more than 500 people.

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Shortly after Dao An arrived in Lu Hun, Murong family invaded Henan. Dao An led the followers

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Daoan

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south and he led Fa Tai to Yang Zhou, Fa He to Sichuan, and led his disciple, Hui Yuan, and other 400 people to cross the river at night. They arrived in Xiangyang (present-day Xiang Yang in Hubei) in the third year of Xingning of Emperor Shuai (365 CE). The general Heng Huo guarding Jiangling invited Dao An to move there while Zhu Xu who guarded Xiang Yang also invited Dao An to come back. Dao An lived in Xiang Yang for 15 years, he stayed at white horse temple first. Because the temple was too narrow to accommodate more people, with the support of grandees, they set up Tan Xi Temple, where a five-floor tower and a copper Buddha figure of six Zhang (a unit of length, one Zhang is about 3.33 m) were built. The Emperor of Pre-Qin Dynasty, Fu Jian, had known his reputation and despatched messengers with foreign gold Buddha figures, gold statues, Maitreya figures etc.

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During this period, a celebrity named Xi Zaochi wrote letters to further friendly relations and Gao Ping and Xi Chao also sent letters of greeting. Dao An frequently lectured *Fang guang po ruo sutra* every year here. In the fourth year of Taiyuan of Emperor Wu (379 CE), Fu Pi captured Xiang Yang, and Dao An was sent to Chang’an (present-day Xi’an in Shaan Xi). It is said that Fu Jian told to his governor Quan Yi that, “I acquired Xiang Yang by hundreds of thousands of army, but only got one-and-a-half persons.” One person meant Dao An, a half person, referred to Xi Zaochi. Dao An read books extensively and was good at writing articles and the junior scholars in Chang’an attached themselves to his reputation. Fu Jian ordered the scholars who had doubts to learn from Dao An who translated *Buddhism sutra* in Chang’an and wrote *The Theory of Reality* which was later lost. There is now only the catalogue reserved in volume 12 of *Tripitaka Records*. He had also composed *Catalogue of Comprehensively Sorting out Buddha Sutras* which is not available now. Tokiwa Daijo in Japan wrote the recovery catalogue for *Catalogue of Comprehensively Sorting out Buddha Sutras*. On February 8, the 10ᵗʰ year of Taiyuan of Emperor Wu (385 CE), Dao An passed away without any illness when he was 74. He was buried in Wu Ji Temple.

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Dao An made a great contribution to Chinese Buddhism which can specifically be seen in the following areas: firstly, he devoted himself to the study of *Prajna Sutras*. The theory of *Ben wu faction* that he founded was one of the most influential factions in *Six schools and seven factions of Prajna study* in East Jin Dynasty. It improved the process of sinicisation of Buddhism. Secondly, he reviewed the existing translated versions and annotated and translated the classics. He developed “five-missing, three-no easy” and other scientific judgment methods for translation. His *Catalogue of Comprehensively Sorting out Buddha Sutras* was the first Buddha Sutra Catalogue in the history of Buddhism in China. Thirdly, he managed monk groups and formulated normative ritual regulations such as methods of purification, seat arrangement and sutra lecture; methods of diet and preaching for six periods daily and methods of Busa assigning repentance. He was thus the founder of temple regulations in Chinese Buddhism. He unified the surname Shi, regulating the surnames of monks and nuns sharing the same surname - Shi and were the offspring of Shakyamuni which is the unified regulation for the surname of monks and nuns in the areas of Han nationality and has been followed since then.

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(*Tan Jie*)

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Zhidun

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Zhidun (314～366 CE) was a monk of Eastern Jin Dynasty. His courtesy name was Daolin. People later called him Zhi Gong or Lin Gong to show respect. He was also known as Zhi Xing. His surname before becoming a monk was Guan. His hometown was Chenliu (present-day Kaifeng City in Henan) or Lin lu at the east of Yellow River (Lin County in Henan).

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He was born in a Buddhist family, turned a refugee and lived in the south of Yangtze River during his childhood. In the capital of Jiankang, he kept in touch with celebrities like Wang Meng from Taiyuan and Yin Rong from Chen Prefecture and was highly appreciated. He lived in seclusion in Yuhang hill, researched *Asahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra* and other classics, translated *Vaipulya Sutra* and *Saddharmapundarika Sutra* in the first year of XianKang (335 CE). He became a monk when he was 25. Metaphysics prevailed in Wei and Jin dynasties, Buddhist monks also joined in discussion. Zhi Xun was proficient in Buddhism and understood the theories of Lao Tse and Chuang-Tzu well. He travelled with Xie An, Wang Qia, Liu Hui, Yin Hao, Xu Xun, Xi Chao, Sun Chao, Heng Yanbiao, Wang Jingren, He Cidao, Wang Wendu, Xie Changxia and Yuan Yanbo. He used to discuss *Chuang Tse’s Carefree Journey* with Liu Xizhi and others in White Horse Temple and provided new interpretations, and all these scholars gasped in admiration. After he came back to Wu area, he set up Zhishan Temple. Later, he intended to go to Shan county.

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When he went through Kuaiji, he came across Wang Xizhi. As invited by Wang Xizhi, he presented the article about *Carefree Journey*, which expressed new understandings with gorgeous rhetoric and literary talent. Wang Xizhi opened his mind and admired Zhi Dun’s opinions and talent. Wang Xizhi invited Zhi Dun to live in Lingjia Temple. Later Zhi Dun preached at Xiao Lingli Temple of Wozhou in Shan County (present-day Sheng County in Zhejiang province). Hundreds of monks listened and learnt from him. He moved to Shicheng Hill, set up Qiguang Temple. He lived and devoted himself in the Temple. Then he went to Shanyin and lectured Vimalakirti-nirdesa-sutra, Zhi Dun was Master and Xu Xun was his assistant. They questioned and answered and studied Buddhist principles. Zhi Dun went to the capital after being invited by an imperial order during the period of Emperor Ai of Jin Dynasty. He lived in Dong'an Temple and lectured on *Asahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra*, both court people and commoners heartily admired his lectures. Three years later, he came back to Shan county and passed away at the age of 53. Xi Chao wrote biography for him, Yuan Hong composed and inscribed laudatory words on an inscription, Zhou Tanbao made the memorial essay for him and Sun Chao compared Zhi Dun to Xiang Ziqi (ie Xiang Xiu, philosopher and litterateur at Wei-Jin dynasties) in his *Theory of Moral and Distinguished Men*.

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Selected works of Zhi Dun

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Zhi Dun wrote *Theory of Ji se you xuan, Explanation that form itself is emptiness* and others, all of which were lost. His two works were reserved in volume 8 of *Tripitaka Records*. He was good at cursive clerical script, fond of raising fine horses, his works and articles were handed down from ancient times and the present *Guang hongming collected works* included about 20 ancient poems of him. It was recorded in eight volumes in the anthology, *Annals of Sui Dynasty Sutra Records*, with the note of 13 volumes as recorded in Liang Dynasty; in *Annals of Tang Dynasty Art and Literature Record*, it was recorded as 10 volumes till the Qing Dynasty. Both *Record of Reading and diligent Studying* and *Bibliography of Shu Gu Hall* recorded as two volumes, from which it shows that the book had been lacked or missed for a long time. At present, two volumes of *Collected Works of Zhi Dun* in Shaowu Xu's version from Guangxu Period of Qing Dynasty is attached with one volume of supplement.

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Zhi Dun was the representative of Chinese Buddhism at Wei and Jin dynasties. "Faction of Ji Se" that he founded and "Faction of Entity" of Dao'an and Daoqian, "Faction of Heat Emptiness" of Zhi Mindu were the factions that had greatest impact in "Six Schools and Seven Factions" of Prajna study in East Jin Dynasty. He had profound research on *Prajna*, his representative works *Theory of Ji se you xuan* has been lost, a few words and phases are recorded in *Zhao Lun Shu* which reads, "I believe that form itself is emptiness". It is emptiness not because the form is distinguished, this is what I mean; the nature of the form is emptiness although it exists. Such as, cognition is the action from the heart, when the thinking is finished, cognition will distinguish." or shown in the introduction *"The Profound Meaning of Sutra"* of *"Notes of Madhyamaka Shastra"* which said, "The nature of the form is that the form doesn't exist separately, its nature is emptiness. 'Cognition' is the action from the heart, when the thinking is finished, cognition' will distinguish"; or shown in the introductory remarks *Collected Works of Zhi Dun Chapter of Wonderful View of New Account of the Tales of the World Literary Papers* which reads "the nature of the form is that the form is not spontaneous, doesn't exist separately, the nature of the form is emptiness although it exists. Therefore, the form is still the emptiness." He researched *The Ten Bhumi*, stood for arising epiphany at the seventh Bhumi, the ones above the seventh Bhumi still needed further studying, he was one of the six scholars of "little epiphany" at East Jin Dynasty. He emphasised on spreading *dhyana* thought, endowed Dhyana with explanation of sinicisation. And he also set up precept platform in Shi Cheng and Wo Zhou. Based on Indian Buddhism, Zhi Dun integrated local traditional culture to explain Buddhism sutra, his philosophy was in accordance with Lao Tse and Chuang, his style and charm were similar with speakers which made Buddhist principles easy to be understood and accepted by Chinese believers. Xi Chao commented Zhi Dun is "the only one that really interpreted Buddhism sutra clearly since hundreds of years, made the truth continue to inherit". The greatest contribution of Zhi Dun to Buddhism is that he made great efforts to let Buddhism become sinicisation and localisation.

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*(Tan Jie)*

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Fahe

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Fahe (319-397 CE) was an eminent monk and Buddhist scholar of Eastern Jin Dynasty. He was born in Jizhou County (Hebei Province) or according to some in Xingyang County (Henan Province). He and Daoan (314-385 CE) were taught by the same teacher when they were young. Fahe was always peaceful and quiet by nature and was famous for his modesty and courtesy. He was also good in presenting his position in a clear and firm manner, in summarising his theory and in solving puzzling questions. Around the middle of the 4^th^ century CE, the Shi Clan Rebellion (which resulted in Shi Le of the clan establishing the regime known as 'Later Zhao') broke out in northern China. Fahe, together with Daoan, fled to the south to avoid the war and fighting. In 365 CE, they arrived in Xinye (Henan Province), where Daoan divided his followers into several groups. Fahe led a part of the followers to go to Sichuan to develop and expand dharma, and many people in Eastern Sichuan and Southern Shaanxi were attracted by him to study Buddhism. In the fourth year of Taiyuan Period (379 CE), under the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of Eastern Jin Dynasty (373–396 CE), Fahe heard that Fu Pi, originally a high-ranking military officer in Emperor Aiping (384 CE) of Former Qin in the Sixteen Kingdoms period, conquered Xiangyang (Hubei Province) and captured Daoan and took him to Chang’an (Shaanxi Province) where Daoan was received with courtesy by Fu Jian, the Emperor of Former Qin Regime. Fahe then entered the central Shaanxi plain and resided in Yangping Temple of Luoyang. According to the records of volume 5 of *Biographies of Eminent Monks*, during the fifth year to sixth year of Taiyuan Period (380-381 CE), Fahe participated in the Meeting of Jinyugu (present-day Liubu Town, Licheng District, Ji'nan City, Shandong Province) and climbed one mountain with Daoan. On the mountaintop, he sighed mournfully, This mountain is so high but there are still many people who are willing to climb it and appreciate the beautiful scene from the top. If I just die here where can my spirit be found in nirvana? Daoan responded. Your Master, you have such intelligent attitude towards this life, why should you be afraid of your future life? If the wisdom and spirit of people cannot be enlightened that is truly what makes us sad about. After that Fahe began to assist Daoan to revise the translated Buddhist Sutras, “to explain and determine the pronunciation and writing as well as to attach meaning to the texts in detail”. Buddhist Sutras which Fahe undertook for revision include volume 30 or volume 20 of *Abhidharma Jñānaprasthana-śāstra* translated by Kashmir’s Samghadeva, volume 16 or volume 13 of *Abhidharmahṛdaya-śāstra*, volume 14 of *Vibhāùà-Abhidharma-śāstra*, volume 10, volume 12 or volume 14 of *Vasu-mitra-śātra* (aka Vasumitra) translated by Kophen Samghabhadra, volume 14, volume 15 or volume 19 of *Vibhāùàśāstra* (aka, Bing Po Sha Abhidharma, Guang Shuo), volume 3 or volume 5 of *Samgharakùasamgraha* (aka, Collections of *Samgharakùa*) as well as volume 41, volume 33 or volume 50 of *Ekottarikāgama* and volume 59 of *Madhyamàgama* translated by the monk, Dharmanandi of Tukhara. After Daoan died in 385 CE, Fahe went to Luoyang where he and Samghadeva re-translated parts of the new Buddhist Sutras which were printed previously and revised the errors. During the period of Emperor Yao Xing (394-415 CE) of Later Qin, Fahe went to the central Shaanxi plain again to develop and expand Buddha dharma there. Kumārajīva once composed some verses in his praise to give him as a present, one of which says, “Powerful heart is just like a high mountain which can cultivate wise and able morality, and this morality can bring advantages and benefit for the later generations forever. Although you are just like a bird standing on a lonely tree, the beautiful voice can echo to the clouds.” After that, Baron Jin Yao Xu of Later Qin invited Fahe to reside in Puban

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*Footprints of the Buddha, the Mahavihāra in Bodhgaya, India*

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(now Yongji City of Shanxi Province). Once, when he gathered the monks to explain and publicise Buddhist dharma, he told his followers that “there are so many sufferings and miseries in this world and it is happy to be dead”. He then freshened up his clothes, made respectful salute around the pagoda and then returned to his house. He died there at the age of 80.

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There are two main contributions of Fahe to the spread of Buddhism of China. First, he went to Sichuan to develop and expand Buddha dharma, which brought people in Sichuan so far unexposed to Buddhism to learn about dharma. This pioneering achievement led to rich and prosperous growth of Buddhism in Sichuan. Second, he went to Luoyang and re-translated parts of the newly-printed Buddhist Sutras together with Samghadeva, “after that, all of those Buddha Sutras gradually have correct translated editions.”

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*(Huang Xianian)*

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Faxian

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Faxian (342～423 CE) was an eminent monk of Eastern Jin Dynasty, a traveller and sutra translator.

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Life history

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Faxian, whose common family name was Gong, was born in Wuyang, Pingyang (southwest of present-day Linfen, Shanxi Province). Since there are many versions about his life, native place and place of birth, we follow the standard version. According to volume III of *Biography of Eminent Monk*, volume XV of *Record of Tripitaka* and *Record of Buddhism States* written by Faxian himself, he once had three elder brothers, all of whom had died at the age of seven or eight. In order to preserve his health and for his long life, his parents made him become an acolyte when he was only three and sent him to live in temple years later due to his illness. When he was 10, his father died and he rejected his uncle’s request of resuming commoner’s life. He accepted the complete percepts at the age of 20. Even at his young age, Faxian was tenacious, brave and intelligent. He once encountered a gang of robbers during harvesting grains with other tens of acolytes. While others escaped out of fear, he stayed on to reason with the robbers. Subsequently, due to his persuasion, robbers left without the grains. All the monks in the temple were surprised by his firmness and admired him.

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After accepting the complete percepts, Faxian studied hard and conscientiously but was often disappointed due to the lack of complete sutras. He, therefore, became determined to go to India to get Sanskrit sutras on percepts. In 399 CE, the third year of Long’an Period during Emperor An of Eastern Jin Dynasty, he set out from Chang’an to India to seek for Buddhist learning with his fellow students - Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying and Huiwei. They travelled through Hexi Corridor to Zhangye, where they met another five monks - Zhiyan, Huijian, Sengshao, Baoyun and Sengjing and went forward to Dunhuang together. They then passed across “Quick-sand” (ie Yardang desert) in two groups. Despite supplies from Li Hao, the prefecture

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*Faxian*

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chief of Dunhuang, the desolation, hot wind and other dangers made them loose directions. They, however, moved further without any consideration for survival by relying on the sun and piles of bones of the dead as signs of direction. Seventeen days later, they finally came out of the desert to Shanshan (present-day Ruoqiang of Xinjiang) and went on northwestward to the state of Wuyi (present-day Yanqi of Xinjiang) where the two groups of monks met, forming a new group of 11 people with the participation of Huida. However, they did not obtain sufficient supplies and support in the state of Yanqi, so Zhiyan, Huijian and Huiwei had to return towards Gaochang (present-day Turfan) to get their supplies replenished. Others however continued to move southwestward and trudged through desolation to Khotan (present-day Khotan of Xinjiang). The chief of Khotan accommodated Faxian and other people in a temple. Then, Huijing, Daozheng and Huida set

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*The ruins of the monastery of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. Faxian stayed here while transmitting the dharma.*

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out earlier to the state of Kashgar, (present-day Shule of Xinjiang) while Faxian and other people stayed for viewing the “Buddha Procession” organised by local temples. Later, Sengshao went directly to Kashmir with a local *Śramana* and left without leaving any trace of their whereabouts. Faxian and other people, however, went to the state of Kashgar to meet Huijing and others. Climbing over Pamir and going across rivers, they arrived successively in the state of Oddiyana in northern India (present-day Swat Valley in Pakistan), the state of Gandhara (present-day Pakistan), the state of Taksila (present-day Taxila of Pakistan) and the state of Fulousha (present-day Peshawar of Pakistan). By then, Huiying died of sickness. Faxian intended to go to central India for Buddhist sutras on percepts with Huijing and Daozheng while Huida, Baoyun and Sengjing returned to homeland. When Faxian and the people with him climbed southward over the Small Snow Mountain (present-day Sunaman Mountain in Afghanistan), Huijing died of illness during a cold storm, thus leaving only Faxian and Daozhang to trudge forward to central India.

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During his stay in central India, Faxian studied Sanskrit, collected sutras on percepts and went on pilgrimages to ancient Buddhist sites. He obtained *Mahasangha Vinaya* from Tian Wang Temple located in south of Asokan Tower in Pataliputra, the state of Magadha (present-day Patna of Bihar). He lived in Pataliputra with Daozheng for three years to study. While Daozheng decided to further stay there, Faxian was determined to take the collected Sanskrit sutras back to homeland. He went southward alone on a ship at the estuary of the Ganges River. After trudging his way to Simhaladvipa (present-day Sri Lanka), Faxian stayed there for two years, obtaining Sanskrit sutras such as *Mishasai* (*Mahāśāsakah*) *Percepts*, *Long Agama*, *Combined Agama* and *Combined Collections*, which were not found in China. Even up to present, there are places named after Faxian like Faxian Cave and Faxian Stone Village. On his way back eastward from there on a merchant’s ship, storms damaged the ship, leading to water leakage and loss of direction. People on the ship dropped things with them in panic while Faxian sat and prayed to Avalokitesvara in hope of protecting sutras and Buddha statues taken with him.

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*Faxian amidst the ruins at Anuradhapura*

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After drifting for 13 days, the damaged ship was drawn alongside an unknown island. People mended the ship and travelled on for another 90 days to Yavadipa Island (present-day Java of Indonesia), where Faxian went on another travel on a merchant’s ship to Guangzhou with Sanskrit sutras. He unfortunately once again encountered storm and turbulence. People on the ship were in anxiety and a Brahman even said that it was this Buddhist monk who had brought bad luck to them. The monk should, therefore, be sent off-board on a sea island. Thanks to the persuasion of Faxian’s sponsor, the people did not take any such action in the end. Owing to the cloudy weather, the ship, however, had not arrived in Guangzhou even 70 days later. Taking chance, people sailed the ship northeastward alongside the land. Ten days later, they realised that they had arrived at [Figure: The Hindi version of Faxian’s travelogue *Faxian zhuan*]

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Faxian’s Travels

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Laoshan Mountain in Qingzhou, Shandong Province (present-day Laoshan Mountain in Qingdao).

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After 14 years of travel, Faxian returned to his homeland finally on July 14, 412, the eighth year of Yixi Period. He arrived in Jiankang (present-day Nanjing of Jiangsu), the capital of Jin Dynasty, in the autumn of the second year (413 CE). He lived in Daochang Temple where he translated six volumes of *Maha Bonihuan Sutra*, two volumes of *Fangdeng Nihuan Sutra* (now missing), 40 volumes of *Mahasangha Vinaya*, one volume of *Percepts of Buddhist Monk Sengqi* (now missing), 13 volumes of *Combined Abhidharma Heart Sutra* (now missing) and one volume of *Combined Collections* together with Buddhabhadra, an Indian master, and sorted out six books of sutras, percepts and sermons, with 63 volumes in total. He died in Xinsi Temple in Jingzhou at the age of 86.

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Contribution

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The contributions of Faxian can be divided into three areas. Firstly, he brought back and translated the three of the five most important books on Buddhist percepts (*Mahasangha Vinaya*, *Sapoduo* [*Sarvastivāda-vinay*] *Percepts* and *Mishasai* [*Mahāśāsakāḥ*] *Percepts*) which played a significant role in the spread of Buddhism in China. Secondly, Faxian’s travel to seek dharma encouraged people of the later generations to undertake such trip for pilgrimage and study eg Xuanzang and Yijing in Tang Dynasty, who went to India to seek dharma. Praising Faxian, Yijing once said that, “in whole of China throughout since the ancient times, Master Faxian has been a pioneer in seeking dharma and Master Xuanzang in creating a formal path” (see the *Preface of Biographies of Eminent Monks Seeking Dharma in Tang Dynasty*). Faxian’s travels thus opened up communication with India for seeking the dharma and is of pioneering importance in the history of India-China cultural communication. Thirdly, travelling around various states, Faxian wrote his famous one volume on travel notes i.e., *Record of Buddhist States* (the full name is *Biography of Master Faxian Travelling Westward from Chang’an and Record of Travel in India*), in which he recorded what he saw and heard during the travel as well as noted the geography, transportation, religion, culture, product, customs and even social and economic conditions of over 30 countries in Central Asia, India and Southeast Asia. These materials are now precious historical sources to study ancient history, culture, geography and Buddhism in ancient Central and South Asia. The travel route of Faxian to India leaves a genuine real record of land route from Chang’an through the Western Regions to India as well as of the sea route from India to his way back to China. This is the earliest detailed record of such path and of significance in the history of transportation and marine navigation between China and South Asia.

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(Tan Jie)

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Huirui

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Huirui (355~439 CE) was a monk who was proficient in Buddhist scriptures in Liusong between East Jin Dynasty and Southern dynasties, once touring around southern India.

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According to volume VII of *Biographies of Eminent Monks*, volume II of *Local Records of Sakya* and volume XV of *Records by Monk You*, Huirui was born in Jizhou (present-day Hebei Province) and became a monk at a young age. He observed strictly the precepts and dedicated in touring for sutra study. Once when touring in the western Sichuan Province, he was detained by local people and forced to be a shepherd. Later, when a businessman and Buddhism believer passed through there, he found Huirui uncommon in appearance and sounded him out by query on Buddhist classics. Surprised at his proficiency, the businessman ransomed him to continue his cultivation. Thereafter, Huirui had been devoted himself in Buddhism, studied as he did before, and toured around. He once arrived in the southern India through western Sichuan Province. He was a disciple of the famous monk, Dao An, in his early time, and later stayed in Mount Lu for rest, and went to Chang’an with Dao Sheng, Hui Yan and Hui Guan to seek knowledge from Kumarajiva. Later, when he went to the Wuyi Temple in Jianye (present-day Nanjing in Jiangsu Province) to give his Buddhism preaches where he achieved reputation out of his mastering principles of Buddhism as well as incisive explanation. Liu Yikang, prince of Pengcheng in Southern Dynasties, requested Huirui again and again to be his master and wanted him to go to his palace. Huirui refused him for the same due to the rules of coming for studying instead of going for teaching, and Liu Yikang was so ashamed that he went to the temple for his monkhood. Being familiar with local customs, pronunciation and meaning, gloss for classics as well as local accents, Huirui was often consulted with by Xie Lingyun who was interest in principles of Buddhism and later wrote *The Fourteen Homophone Explanation* through listing respectively in Sanskrit and Chinese, on pronunciation and meaning of words and expressions in scriptures. Huirui died at 85, in the 16th year of Yuanjia Period (439 CE) during the reign of Emperor Wen of Song.

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Baoyun

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Bao Yun’s (372-449 CE) hometown was unknown and some said he was from Liangzhou (present-day Wu Wei of Gansu). At a young age, he became a monk. He was diligent in studying sutra with an ambition of reading numerous sutras. In early Long’an year of Eastern Jin Dynasty (397 CE), he went west to seek dhamma. Despite walking through quicksand and climbing up Snow Mountains and all kinds of dangers, he went ahead with his journey and met Faxian, Zhi Yan and others and finally arrived in India through the Kingdom of Khotan and other countries. He visited and saluted all Buddhist relics and spared no efforts in studying Sanskrit. He could understand the language and words of various Indian regions. After he returned, he came to study Chan Buddhism with Sangye Bhadra (refer to the note) in Chang’an (Xi’an of Shaaxi Province). Then soon afterwards, Bhadra was elbowed away by local monks to Mount Lu on the invitation of Hui Yuan. Baoyun also separated from his teacher and went east to Nanjing and settled down in Dojoji Temple. As he liked to live in seclusion, he moved to Liuheshan Temple. Remote and stark, the residents there were mostly robbers and thieves. Baoyun persuaded the residents to stick to goodness. As a result, most residents got rid of evil behaviour and obeyed Buddhism. In Yuanjia of Song Dynasty (424-453 CE), Śramana Hui Guan of Dojoji Temple was going to pass away and invited Baoyun to host the administrative affairs. Baoyun had to return but only after one year he went back to Liuheshan Temple again. In the 26ᵗʰ year of Emperor Yuanjia, Baoyun died in the temple at the age of 78. Baoyun was proficient in Sanskrit, “Baoyun’s translations were superior to all in Jiangzuo region”. Many prominent monks gathered in Liusong such as Sangye Bhadra, Sangha Rudravarman (Monk Kai) and others. They were invited by the celebrities to work on translating sutras and preaching in Sanskrit which Baoyun had initiated. Baoyun translated six volumes of *Righteous Sutra*, five volumes of *Buddhist Goodness Sutra*, two volumes of *Reborn Sutra* and two volumes of *Purity Samadhi*. He thus translated a total of four parts and 15 volumes. Baoyun also translated with Zhi Yan six volumes of *Lalitavistara Sutra*, one volume of *Four Heavenly Kings Sutra*, four volumes of *Broad Strictness Sutra*, totalling three parts and 11 volumes. His actions of going west for sutras and checking and translating sutras were respected and admired by the followers.

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(*Tan Jie*)

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Zhimeng

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Zhimeng (453 CE) was from Jingzhao, Xinfeng of Yongzhou (northeast of Lintong District, Xi’an, Shaanxi). He became a monk when young and learned Buddhism with all heart, consistently reciting sutras day and night. He heard from foreign Śramana that there were relics of Sakyamuni and sutras on equality and other areas in India, so he made up his decision to go there. In the sixth year of Emperor Hongshi of Yaoqin (403 CE), he invited 15 Śramanas overall to start from Chang’an. They passed through Yangguan, escaping from quicksand and travelled via Shanshan, Qiuci, Kingdom of Khotan and other countries where he also became familiar with the folk customs. When they came to Pamirs, nine of them retreated due to arduous conditions they encountered and one passed away during the journey. Only Zhimeng and the other four climbed over Snow Mountains and got through Xintou River (Sindhu/ Indus River), and finally arrived at Kashmir. In Saudi (present-day Taxila), Zhimeng met with Sutra Salivary Pot and Buddha’s bowl. In Kapilavastu, Zhimeng saluted to Buddha’s hair, Buddha’s teeth and other Buddha treasures such as bones, and visited the relics. Finally, he arrived at Asoka’s old capital, Hua Country (present-day Patna) where he paid a visit to Brahman Luo Yue of supreme wisdom and got one Sanskrit version of Nirvana and one Law for Monks and other Sanskrit sutras. In first year of Emperor Yuanjia of Song Dynasty (424 CE), Zhimeng decided to go back to China, his three partners had all died, leaving only him and Yunzhuan to return to Liangzhou (Wuwei of Gansu). In Liangzhou, Zhimeng translated 20 volumes of nirvana. In the 14ᵗʰ year of Emperor Yuanjia (437), Zhimeng went to Sichuan and wrote one volume of his travel journal to the west (not available now), describing the travelling experiences and folk customs he saw and heard of. Towards the end of Yuanjia year, Zhimeng passed away in Chengdu.

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Kang Falang

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Kang Falang (4th century CE) was a monk who travelled to India for Buddhist Sutra. His dates of birth and death are unknown. He was born in Zhongshan (present-day Henan Province or Ding County in Hebei Province). He became a monk when he was young and was strict in precepts. He and Zhu Faya taught the disciples by method of “comparison” ie to explain the Buddhist scriptures in combination of Chinese scriptures. He also discussed the scriptures with Dao’an and Fatai and all could seize the key points. He swore to travel to India to worship the Buddhist sites and seek the scriptures. So he invited four people, and they set off from Zhangye in Gansu Province, and crossed the quicksand westwards. The place was deserted after they had walked for three days. And then they saw an old temple with weeds springing up inside and there were two old rooms. There was one person in each room: one was chanting sutras, and the other one had dysentery. The sick person soiled the room, making it dirty and smelly. Though the two people lived next to each other, they did their own things and did not take care for each other. Falang felt deep sympathy and said to his partners, “We are all monks and are linked by sutras. It was alright if we didn’t know but how could we turn a blind eye if we meet this?” So they stayed there for a few days and took good care of the sick person. On the seventh day, there were fragrant flowers in the room everywhere and they knew that the immortal was coming. The monk who was chanting sutras said that Falang and his partners were very sincere and persuaded them that they didn’t need to travel to all the countries so far and only needed to continue to perform morality and not miss the chance and he also predicted that Falang would become the Exorcist in Cathay (China). The four partners no longer travelled to the west and only Falang went alone. He travelled all around to seek and study the scriptures. He then went back to Zhongshan and gave lectures to teach Buddhism and propagate sutras. There were hundreds of disciples. He was never heard of since then.

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Kang Falang was one of the disseminators of Chinese “comparison” Buddhism. This method was prevailing for a period but Dao’an thought that this method was against the true meaning of Buddhism, and didn’t allow his disciples to follow and this method then was abandoned afterwards. Kang Falang travelled to the west for Buddhist Sutra and taught Faxian when he came back which was earlier than Yuan Chwang spreading the Consciousness-only theory of Faxian and promoted the spread and communication of Faxian in China.

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(*Tan Jie*)

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Huisheng

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Huisheng (4th and 5th centuries CE) is a Chinese monk who travelled to India for Buddhist scriptures. In the winter of November, the first year of Emperor Shengui (518 CE), the monk in Chongli Temple named Bhikku Huisheng and Songyun from Dunhuang were ordered to go to Western Regions for Buddhist scripture. They started from the capital of Luoyang, went west and first arrived in Chiling (present-day Riyue Mountain, which is situated to the west of Xining in Qinghai Province) after crossing the quicksand/ desert they arrived at Tuyuhun Kingdom (near Boukha-ingol on the west bank of present-day Qinghai). It was a very difficult journey due to snow storms, flying sand and rolling pebbles all along the way.

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They arrived in Zuomo city (present-day Qiemo County of Xinjiang) via Shanshan city (present-day Shanshan of Xinjiang), and saw statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva. It was said that the statues were constructed by Lu Guang (337-399 CE) when he conquered Western Regions. Then they arrived in Hanme city (located in the east of present-day Keriya in Hotan, Xinjiang). There was a big temple in the south of the city with more than 300 monks in the temple as well as a 16 zhang (a unit of length, = 3.33 m) golden Buddha statue with a beautiful appearance. They also saw thousands of Buddhist pagodas hanging millions of streamers, and each had an era name.

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When they arrived in Khotan (near present-day Hotan, Xinjiang), they saw the king wearing a gold crown and women having good expertise in riding horses. The dead were cremated and the remains were put on the Buddhist temple. However, only the king was not cremated after death and put in the coffin, buried in the remote wild and a temple was built to offer sacrifice to him. There was a stupa and Pratyekabuddha boots in Khotan. In July, the second year of Shengui (519 CE), they came to Zhujubo (present-day Karghalik of Yecheng County in Xinjiang), the natives lived in the mountains and they did not kill animals. They fed on wheat flour

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[Figure: Remains of a Buddhist statue from Butkara, Swat Valley, Pakistan. Archaeologists believe that this is the Tuoluo monastery where the monks Huisheng and Songyu arrived in around 520 CE.]

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and only ate those animals that died from sickness or by accident. The customs and language were the same as Khotan and their character was the same as a Brahmin’s (ie India).

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In early August, they arrived at the border of Pantuo (present-day Puli County), climbed up Pamirs via Bomeng city (according to *Series of Han and Wei*) and Dulongchi. Along with dangerous cliffs, they were blocked with strong winds and snow for thousands of miles, and finally, arrived at the peak of the mountain.

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In September, they reached Bohe (present-day Hehan). The mountains were very high and the valleys were deep, the winds and snow were so strong that people and animals got together to be warm. In early October, they entered Hephthalites (ie Darouzhi, verified by Ding Qian, its capital now being Polk city). It was a powerful country to which more than 40 countries paid tribute. The king wore luxuriant clothes and sat on a golden bed. This country had good systems and rules, but the people did not believe in Buddhist doctrine. They killed animals and ate them.

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