Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s4.t3.72

v1.c7.s4.t3.72

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.