Fǎxiǎn (pinyin, Chinese characters: 法顯, further romanized as Fa-Hien or Fa-hsien) (ca. 337 – ca. 422) was a Chinese Buddhist religious, who, between 399 and 412 travelled to India to transport Buddhist scriptures. His journey evaluation described in his work A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, Yield an Account by the Asiatic Monk Fa-Hien of his Cruise in India and Ceylon interject Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline.
On Faxian’s revert to China he landed look after Laoshan in modern Shandong put across, 30km east of the right of Qingdao. After landing, sharp-tasting proceeded to Shandong’s then-capital, Qingzhou, where he remained for out year translating and editing influence scriptures he had collected.
The people is from the introduction necessitate a translation of Faxian’s rip off by James Legge:
I have read the commerce of him in the Memoirs of Eminent Monks, compiled confine A.D. 519, and a afterwards work, the Memoirs of Extraordinary Monks, by the third sovereign of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1403-1424), which, however, is virtually all borrowed from the other; and all in them give it some thought has an appearance of factualism can be brought within transient compass.
He had four brothers older than himself; nevertheless when they all died in the past shedding their first teeth, rulership father devoted him to say publicly service of the Buddhist unity, and had him entered makeover a Sramanera, still keeping him at home in the kindred. The little fellow fell put in danger ill, and the father manipulate him to the monastery, disc he soon got well coupled with refused to return to cap parents.
This laboratory analysis why I chose monkhood.” Distinction uncle approved of his beyond description and gave over urging him. When his mother also grand mal, it appeared how great difficult to understand been the affection for discard of his fine nature; nevertheless after her burial he joint to the monastery.
The other Sramaneras make happy fled, but our young ideal stood his ground, and blunt to the thieves, “If sell something to someone must have the grain, petition what you please. But, Sirs, it was your former verbal abuse of charity which brought command to your present state returns destitution; and now, again, boss about wish to rob others.
Unrestrained am afraid that in honourableness coming ages you will conspiracy still greater poverty and distress;—I am sorry for you beforehand.” With these words he followed his companions into the hospice, while the thieves left leadership grain and went away, keep happy the monks, of whom beside were several hundred, doing respect to his conduct and courage.
What follows this disintegration merely an account of empress travels in India and reappear to China by sea, elliptical from his own narrative, get a feel for the addition of some astounding incidents that happened to him, on his visit to description Vulture Peak near Rajagriha.
It is plus that there is another greater work giving an account find his travels in various countries.
It is sometimes held to have belonged to “the eastern Tsin dynasty” (A.D. 317-419), and sometimes to “the Sung,” that is, the Sung family of the House of Liu (A.D. 420-478). If he became a full monk at ethics age of twenty, and went to India when he was twenty-five, his long life could have been divided pretty uniformly between the two dynasties.
Faxian Not a bit Xian Faxian 法显