Lives of Great Monks and Nuns

LIVES OF GREAT MONKS AND NUNS
BDK English Tripiaka 76-III, IV, V, VI, VII
LIVES OF
GREAT MONKS AND NUNS
The Life of Avaghoa Bodhisattva
Translated from the Chinese of Kumrajva
(Taish Volume 50, Number 2046)
by Li Rongxi
The Life of Ngrjuna Bodhisattva
by Li Rongxi
Biography of Dharma Master Vasubandhu
Translated from the Chinese of Paramrtha
by Albert A. Dalia
Biographies of Buddhist Nuns
Translated from the Chinese of Baochang
by Li Rongxi
The Journey of the Eminent Monk Faxian
Translated from the Chinese of Faxian
by Li Rongxi
Numata Center
for Buddhist Translation and Research
2002
LIVES OF GREAT MONKS AND NUNS
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2002 by Bukky Dend Kykai and

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A Message on the Publication of the

English Tripiaka
The Buddhist canon is said to contain eighty-four thousand dierent
teachings. I believe that this is because the Buddhas basic approach
was to prescribe a dierent treatment for every spiritual ailment,
much as a doctor prescribes a dierent medicine for every medical
ailment. Thus his teachings were always appropriate for the particular suering individual and for the time at which the teaching was
given, and over the ages not one of his prescriptions has failed to
relieve the suering to which it was addressed.
Ever since the Buddhas Great Demise over twenty-ve hundred
years ago, his message of wisdom and compassion has spread throughout the world. Yet no one has ever attempted to translate the entire
Buddhist canon into English throughout the history of Japan. It is
my greatest wish to see this done and to make the translations available to the many English-speaking people who have never had the
opportunity to learn about the Buddhas teachings.
Of course, it would be impossible to translate all of the Buddhas
eighty-four thousand teachings in a few years. I have, therefore, had
one hundred thirty-nine of the scriptural texts in the prodigious
Taish edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon selected for inclusion
in the First Series of this translation project.
It is in the nature of this undertaking that the results are bound
to be criticized. Nonetheless, I am convinced that unless someone
takes it upon himself or herself to initiate this project, it will never
be done. At the same time, I hope that an improved, revised edition
will appear in the future.
It is most gratifying that, thanks to the eorts of more than a
hundred Buddhist scholars from the East and the West, this monumental project has nally gotten o the ground. May the rays of the
Wisdom of the Compassionate One reach each and every person in
the world.
NUMATA Yehan
Founder of the English
August 7, 1991
Tripiaka Project
Editorial Foreword
In January 1982, Dr. NUMATA Yehan, the founder of the Bukky
Dend Kykai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), decided to
begin the monumental task of translating the complete Taish edition of the Chinese Tripiaka (Buddhist canon) into the English language. Under his leadership, a special preparatory committee was
organized in April 1982. By July of the same year, the Translation
Committee of the English Tripiaka was ocially convened.
The initial Committee consisted of the following members: (late)
HANAYAMA Shy (Chairperson), BAND Shjun, ISHIGAMI Zenn,
KAMATA Shigeo, KANAOKA Shy, MAYEDA Sengaku, NARA Yasuaki,
SAYEKI Shink, (late) SHIOIRI Rytatsu, TAMARU Noriyoshi, (late)
TAMURA Kwansei, URYZU Ryshin, and YUYAMA Akira. Assistant
members of the Committee were as follows: KANAZAWA Atsushi, WATANABE Shgo, Rolf Giebel of New Zealand, and Rudy Smet of Belgium.
After holding planning meetings on a monthly basis, the Committee selected one hundred thirty-nine texts for the First Series of
translations, an estimated one hundred printed volumes in all. The
texts selected are not necessarily limited to those originally written
in India but also include works written or composed in China and
Japan. While the publication of the First Series proceeds, the texts
for the Second Series will be selected from among the remaining
works; this process will continue until all the texts, in Japanese as
well as in Chinese, have been published.
Frankly speaking, it will take perhaps one hundred years or more
to accomplish the English translation of the complete Chinese and
Japanese texts, for they consist of thousands of works. Nevertheless,
as Dr. NUMATA wished, it is the sincere hope of the Committee that
this project will continue unto completion, even after all its present
members have passed away.
It must be mentioned here that the nal object of this project is
not academic fulllment but the transmission of the teaching of the
vii
Editorial Foreword
Buddha to the whole world in order to create harmony and peace

among humankind. To that end, the translators have been asked to
minimize the use of explanatory notes of the kind that are indispensable in academic texts, so that the attention of general readers will
not be unduly distracted from the primary text. Also, a glossary of
selected terms is appended to aid in understanding the text.
To my great regret, however, Dr. NUMATA passed away on May 5,
1994, at the age of ninety-seven, entrusting his son, Mr. NUMATA Toshihide, with the continuation and completion of the Translation Project.
The Committee also lost its able and devoted Chairperson, Professor
HANAYAMA Shy, on June 16, 1995, at the age of sixty-three. After
these severe blows, the Committee elected me, Vice President of
Musashino Womens College, to be the Chair in October 1995. The Committee has renewed its determination to carry out the noble intention
of Dr. NUMATA, under the leadership of Mr. NUMATA Toshihide.
The present members of the Committee are MAYEDA Sengaku
(Chairperson), BAND Shjun, ISHIGAMI Zenn, ICHISHIMA Shshin,
KAMATA Shigeo, KANAOKA Shy, NARA Yasuaki, TAMARU Noriyoshi,
URYZU Ryshin, YUYAMA Akira, Kenneth K. Tanaka, WATANABE
Shgo; and assistant member YONEZAWA Yoshiyasu.
The Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research was
established in November 1984, in Berkeley, California, U.S.A., to
assist in the publication of the BDK English Tripiaka First Series.
In December 1991, the Publication Committee was organized at the
Numata Center, with Professor Philip Yampolsky as the Chairperson. To our sorrow, Professor Yampolsky passed away in July 1996.
In February 1997, Dr. Kenneth K. Inada became Chair and served
in that capacity until August 1999. The current Chair, Dr. Francis
H. Cook, has been continuing the work since October 1999. All of the
remaining texts will be published under the supervision of this Committee, in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee in Tokyo.
MAYEDA Sengaku
Chairperson
Editorial Committee of
the BDK English Tripiaka
viii
Publishers Foreword
The Publication Committee shares with the Editorial Committee the
responsibility of realizing the vision of Dr. Yehan Numata, founder
of Bukky Dend Kykai, the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism.
This vision is no less than to make the Buddhas teaching better
known throughout the world, through the translation and publication in English of the entire collection of Buddhist texts compiled in
the Taish Shinsh Daizky, published in Tokyo in the early part
of the twentieth century. This huge task is expected to be carried out
by several generations of translators and may take as long as a hundred years to complete. Ultimately, the entire canon will be available to anyone who can read English and who wishes to learn more
about the teaching of the Buddha.
The present generation of sta members of the Publication Committee includes Diane Ames, Marianne Dresser, Eisho Nasu, Koh
Nishiike, and Reverend Kiyoshi Yamashita, president of the Numata
Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, California.
The Publication Committee is headquartered at the Numata Center
and, working in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee, is
responsible for the usual tasks associated with preparing translations for publication.
In October 1999, I became the third chairperson of the Publication Committee, on the retirement of its very capable former chair,
Dr. Kenneth K. Inada. The Committee is devoted to the advancement
of the Buddhas teaching through the publication of excellent translations of the thousands of texts that make up the Buddhist canon.
Francis H. Cook
Chairperson
Publication Committee
ix
Contents
A Message on the Publication of the English Tripiaka
NUMATA Yehan
Editorial Foreword
MAYEDA Sengaku
Publishers Foreword
Francis H. Cook
v
vii
ix
Lives of Great Monks and Nuns

Translators Introduction
Li Rongxi
Text of The Life of Avaghoa Bodhisattva
5
9

Li Rongxi
Text of The Life of Ngrjuna Bodhisattva
17
21

Albert A. Dalia
Text of Biography of Dharma Master Vasubandhu
31
37

Contents
Li Rongxi
Text of Biographies of Buddhist Nuns
57
61
69

Li Rongxi
Text of The Journey of the Eminent Monk Faxian
157
163
Glossary
215
Bibliography
223
Index
225
A List of the Volumes of the BDK English Tripiaka (First Series)

xi


by
Li Rongxi
Avaghoa (cir. rst to second centuries C.E.) was a well-known

Buddhist poet, philosopher, and Mahayana theorist of India, and
is counted as the eleventh patriarch in the line of transmission of
the Dharma beginning with Mahkyapa. This concise Life of
Avaghoa Bodhisattva gives only a brief account of how he was
converted from Brahmanism to Buddhism by Prva but, according to the Record of the Origin of Transmitting the Dharma-piaka
(Fu-fa-zang-yin-yuan-zhuan, Taish 2058), his predecessor was
Prvas successor, Puyayaas.
In the history of the development of Buddhism, Avaghoa is
considered one of the founders of Mahayana Buddhism. The following eight texts, which are extant in Chinese translations in the
Taish edition of the Tripiaka, are attributed to him:
Buddhacaritakvya, ve fascicles, translated by Dharmaraka
(Taish 192).
Strlakra-stra, fteen fascicles, translated by Kumrajva (Taish 201).
Sutra of the Six Ways of Transmigration (agatikrik), one
fascicle, translated by Sryakrti (Taish 726).
Sutra of the Ten Evil Deeds (Daakualakarmapatha), one
fascicle, translated by Sryakrti (Taish 727).
Sutra of a Nirgrantha Inquiring into the Meaning of Non-ego
(Nairtmyaparipcch), one fascicle, translated by Sryakrti
(Taish 1643).
Mahynaraddhotpda-stra, two Chinese translations, one
by iknanda, one fascicle, (Taish 1666), and the other by Paramrtha, two fascicles, (Taish 1667).
Da-zong-di-xuan-wen-ben-lun, twenty fascicles, translated by

Paramrtha (Taish 1669).
Fifty Stanzas on Serving the Guru (Gurusevdharmapacadgth), one fascicle, translated by Sryakrti (Taish
1687).
Among these eight texts, the Buddhacaritakvya and the
Mahynaraddhotpda-stra are perhaps the most popular
among Mahayana Buddhists, although the authenticity of the latter text is a subject much debated by Buddhist scholars.
Besides being a Buddhist theorist with signicant inuence
on the development of Mahayana Buddhism, Avaghoa was also
the initiator of Buddhist chanting and hymn singing. In order to
propagate Buddhism, he wrote many melodious stanzas and songs,
which were said to be so sweet and pleasant to the ear that many
people were converted to Buddhism upon hearing them. It is still
the practice of Buddhist monks, in both Theravadin and Mahayana countries, to chant stanzas and hymns in praise of the Triple
Gem in their daily ceremonies and at special religious functions.
In the Biography of Dharma Master Vasubandhu (Taish
2049), included in this volume, Avaghoa is said to be a native of
Sketa in rvast. He was invited to Kamra (Kashmir) by Ktyyanputra to take part in the compilation of the Abhidharmavibh-stra (Taish 1546), which consisted of one million stanzas and was completed in twelve years under the auspices of King
Kanika.
THE LIFE OF AVAGHOA

BODHISATTVA
Translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by

Kumrajva, Tripiaka Master
of the Later Qin Dynasty (384417)
The Master, who was named Avaghoa Bodhisattva, was a disciple of Elder Prva. When Elder Prva, being deeply concerned
about the Buddha-Dharma, entered samdhi in order to contemplate who was competent to renounce the world and widely propagate the teachings of the Way so as to enlighten living beings,
he had a vision of a hermit heretic in Central India who was well
versed in worldly wisdom, eloquent in debate, and good at argumentation. The hermit announced, If there is any bhiku who can
hold debate with me, let him strike the gha (bell). If he cannot, he is not qualied to strike the gha in public and receive
oerings from the people.
Elder Prva then set out from Northern India with the intention of traveling to the city of kya in Madhyadea. On his way,
he met some rmaeras who joked with him, saying, Virtuous
Elder, let us carry your books for you. Then they took away his
books and teased him in various ways for no reason. Elder Prvas
countenance did not change and, with a placid mind, he took no
notice of their mischievous tricks.
One of the rmaeras, who was a well-learned person, discerned that the elder was a great and farsighted man and suspected that he was no ordinary person. He questioned the elder
and observed his behavior, and found that he never ceased in his
spiritual progress. [Elder Prvas] being was settled, his mind
was deep and far-reaching, and he never thought of trivial matters.
When all the rmaeras realized that the elder was a man of
great virtue and unfathomable magnanimity, they treated him
with doubled respect and served as his attendants in order to help
send him on his way.
Then Elder Prva disappeared by supernatural power. Upon
arriving in Central India, he stayed in a monastery. He asked the
bhikus, Why do you not strike the gha according to the
Dharma?
The bhikus said, Elder Mahallaka has a reason for not striking it.
183a22
183b
What is the reason? asked Prva.

The bhikus replied, There is a heretical recluse who is good
at argumentation. He announced that if none of the Buddhist
rmaeras in the country can debate with him, they should not
strike the gha in public to receive oerings from the people.
Because of this, we do not strike the gha.
Elder Prva said, Just strike the gha. If he comes, I will
deal with him.
Surprised at these words, the old bhikus were doubtful and
could not come to a decision. After assembling and discussing the
matter, they said, Let us strike the gha. If the heretic comes,
we will ask the elder to do whatever he pleases. Thus they struck
the gha.
The heretic appeared and asked, Why do you strike this piece
of wood today?
The bhikus replied, An elder ramaa came from the north
and struck the gha. It was not we who struck it.
The heretic said, Ask him to come. Then Elder [Prva] came
and met the heretic, who asked him, Do you intend to hold a
debate with me?
Yes, [Prva] replied.
The heretic said with a contemptuous smile, This elder bhiku
looks quite old and his words are nothing unusual. How can he
hope to hold a debate with me?
They then agreed to hold a debate in seven days time at that
spot, in the presence of the king, ministers, other great masters
of the Dharma, ramaas, and heretics.
On the night of the sixth day, Elder Prva entered samdhi
to contemplate what he should do. At dawn on the seventh day, a
great congregation assembled. [Prva] arrived rst and ascended
the high seat, looking more cheerful and pleasant than usual. The
heretic arrived later and took a seat at the front. He observed that
the ramaa had a peaceful countenance and a quiet and calm
demeanor and that his physical body possessed all the characteristics of a debater. He thought, Is this not a saintly bhiku, with
10
such a calm and pleasant presence and a physical body that has
all the characteristics of a debater? Today we shall have a splendid debate.
They rst discussed what punishment should be meted out to
the loser. The heretic said, The defeated person should have his
tongue cut o.
Elder Prva said, We must not do that. Let the defeated man
become the disciple of the victor. That would be a fair enough
agreement.
Yes, replied the heretic, who then asked, Who will speak
rst?
Elder Prva said, As I am advanced in age, have come from
a distant place, and took my seat here before you, I should speak
rst.
The heretic said, That is agreeable to me. I will refute whatever you may say.
Then Elder Prva said, We should make the country be at
peace, the great king enjoy a long life, and the land rich and happy
without any calamity.
The heretic remained silent, not knowing what to say. According to the rule, the one who was unable to respond lost the debate.
He submitted to becoming the elders disciple, had his head and
beard shaved, became a rmaera, and received full ordination.
Sitting alone at another place, he pondered, My brilliant talents
and deep knowledge have won me worldwide fame. How is it that
by a few words I was defeated and made a disciple? Thinking of
this, he was unhappy.
Elder [Prva] understood the heretics mind, and asked him
to come to his room. He demonstrated his supernatural power, performing various kinds of transformations. Then the heretic realized that his teacher was no ordinary person and was happy to be
subdued by him, thinking, It bets me to be his disciple.
The teacher said to him, It was not easy for you to have [developed] such brilliant talents, but you have not achieved the truth.
If you learn the Dharmas I have acquired, the [ve] organs
11
183c
(indriya), the [ve] powers (bala), the [seven factors of ] enlightenment (bodhyaga), and the [eightfold] path, and become endowed
with profound and elucidative eloquence and a clear understanding of the meaning of all doctrines, you will be unrivaled in all the
world.
Elder [Prva] then returned to his own country, while his disciple remained in Central India, where he became well versed in
various sutras and thoroughly mastered both Buddhist and nonBuddhist teachings. His matchless talents in debate won him the
respect and admiration of the four groups of Buddhist followers
(monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen), and the king of India held
him in great esteem.
Later on, the king of Minor Yuezhi in Northern India attacked
Central India and besieged it for a long time. The king of Central
India dispatched a letter that read, If you want anything from
me, I will give it to you. Why should you surround and aggravate
my people by staying here for such a long time?
The [Yuezhi king] replied, If you intend to surrender, send
me three crores of golden coins and I will spare you.
The king replied, I do not have even one crore of golden coins
in the whole of my country. How can I acquire three crores of golden
coins?
The [Yuezhi king] replied, You have two great treasures in
your country: one is the Buddhas almsbowl, and the other is an
eloquent bhiku. Give these to me, and they may be reckoned as
equivalent to two crores of golden coins.
The king said, I value these two treasures highly. I cannot
surrender them.
Then the bhiku preached the Dharma to the king, saying,
Nothing in the world is comparable to the edication of living
beings. The Way of the Buddha is deep and broad. It is meant to
save both oneself and others. Among the virtues of a great person, the salvation of others is the greatest. Worldwide edication
is dicult; a king can rule but one country. If you disseminate the
Way of the Buddha, you will be a king of the Dharma across the
12
four seas. That a bhiku should save people is not objectionable.

Merits exist in the mind, whether one is far or near. Be magnanimous and farsighted. Why should you look only at what is before
your eyes?
Because the king had always venerated the bhiku, he respectfully accepted his advice and handed him over to the envoy. After
the envoy of the king of Yuezhi returned to his own country, the
courtiers discussed the matter and said, It bets the king to venerate the Buddhas almsbowl. But it is too much to accept that a
bhiku is worth a crore of golden coins, when there are so many
bhikus everywhere under the sky.
The king ascertained that the bhiku was a well-learned person of superior ability and understanding who taught and beneted
the people in a broad and profound manner, and whose eloquent
preaching could edify even nonhuman beings. In order to remove
his courtiers doubts, he ordered that seven horses not be fed for
six days. On the morning of the sixth day, he assembled all Buddhist
and non-Buddhist ramaas of dierent schools and invited the
bhiku to preach the Dharma to them. All those who listened to
him became enlightened. The king tethered the horses in front of
the assembly and placed grass before them. Betel, which horses
like, was also placed in the fodder. With tears owing, the horses
listened to the [bhikus] preaching without any thought of eating
the fodder.
Thus everyone knew that the bhiku was no ordinary person.
Because even horses could understand his words, he was named
Avaghoa (Horse Cry) Bodhisattva. He propagated Buddhism
widely in Northern India to teach and benet all living beings. As
he knew well how to use expedient [means] to help people achieve
merit, he won the respect of the four groups of Buddhist followers.
All acclaimed that day as a day of merit.
End of The Life of Avaghoa Bodhisattva
13
184a

by
Li Rongxi
This text is a legendary account of the life of Ngrjuna, the wellknown Mahayana scholar and founder of the Mdhyamika school
of Buddhism in ancient India. A native of Southern India who lived
in the second half of the second century C.E., Ngrjuna exerted
a profound inuence on the development of Buddhism in his own
time and in later ages. His theory of the Middle Way (madhyamapratipad) explains the emptiness of all phenomena by the eight
negations. He taught that in time there is neither beginning nor
ending, neither permanence nor impermanence. And in space there
is neither identity nor dierence, neither coming nor going. Phenomenal existence is interpreted to be worldly truth, while according to superior truth, nothing really exists as an unchanging
entity.
The Middle Way avoids the two extreme views of total annihilation and eternal substantial existence. It emphasizes the doctrine of causal existence. Things appear to exist when a certain
composition of causes (hetu) and requisite conditions (pratyaya)
occurs, and things disappear upon the decomposition of their causes
and conditions.
Ngrjunas Mdhyamika-stra and Dvdaanikya-stra,
together with the ata-stra by his disciple and successor, ryadeva, are important texts for the exposition of the doctrines of the
Middle Way. On the basis of these three texts, the Sanlun (Three
Treatise) school was founded in China and later introduced to
Japan, where it was known as the Sanron school. Ngrjunas
Mahprajpramit-stra, a voluminous work expounding the
Mahprajpramit-stra, exerted a still greater inuence upon
several schools of Buddhism in China and Japan.
17
This legendary account of the life of Ngrjuna, said to have

been translated into Chinese by Kumrajva from 401 to 409 C.E.,
is actually the last part of Chapter Five of the Record of the Origin of Transmitting the Dharma-piaka, translated into Chinese
by Kekaya and Tanyao of the Northern Wei dynasty (386534).
Kumrajvas version is practically identical in wording with the
Record, and his translation of the Life of Deva Bodhisattva (ryadeva) contains a passage that is exactly the same, word for word,
with one in this account of Ngrjuna, except that the name
Ngrjuna is replaced by Deva. This arouses suspicion as to
whether this account of Ngrjuna and that of ryadeva are really
Kumrajvas translations. He could not possibly have written the
same episode about two dierent persons. Thus, the likely source
of the episode is the Record.
18
THE LIFE OF NGRJUNA

BODHISATTVA

Kumrajva, Tripiaka Master
of the Later Qin Dynasty (384417)
Ngrjuna Bodhisattva was born to a brahman family in Southern India. Endowed with unusual intelligence, he could understand
things without being told a second time. When still an infant, after
hearing brahmans chant the four Vedas, each consisting of forty
thousand stanzas with thirty-two syllables in each stanza,
Ngrjuna was able to recite them and understand their meaning. While a young man, his fame as an unparalleled prominent
person spread to many countries. He was well learned in such disciplines as astronomy, geography, divination, prophecy, and many
other arts and skills.
He had three close friends, all of whom were also prominent
persons of the time. They talked together, saying, We have learned
all the teachings in the world that may enlighten the mind and
reveal the truth. Now what else shall we do to amuse ourselves?
Indulgence in sensual pleasure would be a great enjoyment, but
how can we do this? We are merely brahmans and scholars, and
do not possess the inuence of noblemen or rajas. It is only through
the art of invisibility that we may perhaps enjoy these pleasures.
The four of them looked at one another in silent agreement, and
then went together to the home of a sorcerer to learn the art of
invisibility.
The sorcerer thought, These four brahmans are men of great
fame in the world and are used to looking down upon people in
contempt. For the sake of learning my art, they have condescended
to approach me. They are the most talented and brilliant people
in the world and know everything, except this humble art of mine.
If I teach my art to them, they will surely cast me aside and I will
not be able to control them anymore. I will give them the drug to
use without telling them what it is. When the drug is used up,
they will certainly come again and always serve me as their
teacher. So he gave each of them a blue pill and told them, Grind
these pills with water in a quiet place. When you smear your eyelids with the lotion, you will become invisible; no one will be able
to see you.
21
184a19
184b
As Ngrjuna was grinding the drug, he smelled its odor.

Through this he came to know its component ingredients and
quantities without the slightest mistake. He returned to the sorcerer and told him that the drug was composed of seventy ingredients, and described their exact quantities as prescribed in the
formula.
How do you know this? asked the sorcerer.
Why should I not know it, since the drug emits odors? replied
Ngrjuna.
The sorcerer was lled with admiration. It is unusual even
to hear about such people, much more to meet them in person.
There is nothing about my humble art that I should keep secret.
He then taught them all the skills of his art.
Having learned the [sorcerers] tricks, the four young men
enjoyed themselves with ease. They entered the kings palace frequently and disgraced all the palace beauties. After a hundred
days or so, some of the maids in the palace were found to be with
child. They were ashamed and reported the matter to the king to
ask his pardon. The king was greatly displeased and wondered
what evil spirit could have caused such strange things to happen.
The king summoned his wise ministers and discussed the matter with them. An old minister said, Such things may happen
under two circumstances: they are done either by a ghost or by a
sorcerer. Let us scatter ne grains of earth at the gates and post
sentries to keep watch, so as to check the movements of the transgressor. If it is a sorcerer, his footprints will be discovered and the
soldiers may arrest him. If it is a ghost, there will be no footprints,
but it can be gotten rid of by exorcism.
The gatekeepers were ordered to make preparations and discover the truth. As soon as they saw the footprints of four persons,
they reported the fact to the king, who summoned several hundred warriors to the palace and had all the gates closed. The warriors were ordered to hack and strike at the air with their weapons.
Three of the men were killed in this way. But Ngrjuna held his
22
breath and stood quietly near the king, as weapons were not allowed
to come within seven feet of the kings head.
At this moment Ngrjuna began to realize that lustful desire
was the root of suering and the source of all misfortunes. It ruins
ones virtue and endangers ones life. He then made a vow: If I
escape I will go to a ramaa to learn the way of renunciation.
After coming out of the palace, he went to a Buddha stupa in
the mountains, where he renounced his home and received ordination as a monk. He recited the whole Tripiaka in ninety days
and tried to obtain more scriptures, but was unable to get them
from any source.
Then he went into the Snow Mountains. There was a stupa
where an old bhiku lived, and he taught Ngrjuna the Mahayana scriptures. Ngrjuna gladly accepted and recited the scriptures with delight. Although he understood their substantial meaning, he could not obtain any concrete benet from them. So he
traveled to various countries in search of more scriptures. But he
could not nd anything anywhere in Jambudvpa. All heretics,
sts (writers of commentary), ramaas, and theoretical schools
were defeated by him.
A heretics disciple said to him, Sir, you [claim to be] an allknowing man of perfect knowledge. But you became a Buddhist
student. Being a student implies that you have something more
to learn. Do you have yet more to learn? If there is even a single
thing you do not know, then it is not true that you are a man of
perfect knowledge.
This remark rendered Ngrjuna speechless and he kept silent
in humiliation. Then he became arrogant and thought, There are
many dierent kinds of teachings in the world. The Buddhist scriptures that we have are wonderful, but by inference I know that
they are incomplete. Since they are incomplete, I may extend them
in an inferential way so as to enlighten later generations. It is neither contrary to theory nor will it cause any harm in practice.
What is the harm of doing so?
23
184c
After thinking the matter over, [Ngrjuna] decided to carry

this out. He established himself as a teacher of disciplinary rules,
and designed a new kind of garment that was slightly dierent
from those worn by the Buddhists, in order to remove peoples misunderstanding and to show that he did not accept the Buddhist
teachings. At a selected time on a chosen day, he asked his disciples to observe his new disciplinary rules and don the new garments.
Then he stayed alone in a quiet crystal chamber. Upon seeing
him like this, Mahnga Bodhisattva felt pity for him and took
him to his palace in the sea. There he opened his seven-treasure
store and seven-treasure cases and gave him many profound Vaipulya scriptures containing unlimited wonderful teachings.
Ngrjuna accepted the scriptures and read them. In ninety
days he became well versed in most of their contents and acquired
a deep understanding from which he gained substantial benet.
Perceiving this, the nga asked him, Have you read all the scriptures?
The scriptures you have in your cases are numberless, replied
Ngrjuna. It is impossible for me to read them all. What I have
read here is ten times more than what I have in Jambudvpa.
At other places there are many more scriptures than I have
in my palace, said the nga.
Ngrjuna then focused on a box of scriptures among many
that had been given, and attained [the stage of the bodhisattva
that is marked by] the understanding that all things have no origination. The nga then sent him to Southern India, where he propagated the Buddha-Dharma widely and subdued the heretics.
In order to expound Mahayana teachings in an extensive way,
he composed theoretical discourses (upadea) in a hundred thousand stanzas and wrote the Alakrabuddhamrga-stra in ve
thousand stanzas, the Mahmaitryupya-stra in ve thousand
stanzas, and the Mdhyamika-stra in ve hundred stanzas.
Through these texts the Mahayana teachings were widely disseminated in India. He also wrote the Abhaya-stra in a hundred
24
thousand stanzas, from which the Mdhyamika-stra was

extracted.
There was at that time a brahman who was an expert in the
arts of sorcery. Wishing to compete with Ngrjuna for supremacy
in sorcery, he said to the king of India, I can subdue this bhiku.
Your Majesty may test it.
The king said, You are most foolish. The brilliance of this
bodhisattva can compete with the light of the sun and the moon,
and his wisdom may be compared with the mind of the Buddha.
How can you be so arrogant as to dare to be disrespectful to him?
The brahman said, O king, you are a man of wisdom; why do
you feel I am inferior to him before testing this by reason?
On hearing these words, the king invited Ngrjuna to come
and sit with him in the audience hall early in the morning. The
brahman, who arrived later, recited incantations and produced
a large, clean pool in front of the audience hall. In the pool was a
thousand-petaled lotus ower on which the brahman sat. He challenged Ngrjuna, saying, You are sitting on the ground just like
an animal, and yet you are trying to argue with a person of great
virtue and wisdom who is sitting on a pure lotus ower.
Then Ngrjuna produced by magic a six-tusked white elephant that walked on the water in the pool and went toward the
lotus seat. The elephant uprooted the ower with its trunk and,
raising it high, dashed it on the ground. The brahman, who was
badly hurt, paid homage to Ngrjuna, saying, I overrated my
abilities and insulted you, great teacher! Please accept me with
pity and enlighten me to rid me of my ignorance.
The king of Southern India ruled over all the states. He was
a follower of heretical teachings and refused to see Buddhist
ramaas. All the people in his country, far and near, were under
his injunction [to adhere to his beliefs]. Ngrjuna thought that
if the root of a tree was not cut o, its branches would not wither.
Similarly, if the lord of men was not converted, the Dharma would
not spread.
25
185a
Now it was the rule of that country to employ hired men to be

royal guards to the king. Ngrjuna answered the [call for] enlistment to be the captain of the guards. Carrying a halberd on his
shoulder and marching in front of the ranks, he put the guards in
good order and held them under his control. Orders were carried
out without stringent compulsion and things were done without
being enforced by law. The king was delighted with him, and
inquired who he was. The attendants replied, This man answered
the enlistment to serve in the guards, but he takes no grain from
the royal granary, nor does he accept any pay in cash. He fullls
his duty prudently in an expert manner. We dont know what his
intentions and desires are.
The king summoned Ngrjuna and asked him, Who are you?
He replied, I am a man of perfect wisdom.
Greatly surprised, the king said, A man of perfect wisdom
appears in the world only very rarely. What is the proof of your
self-assessment?
Ngrjuna said, If you wish to know the truth of what I have
said, you may put a question to test me.
The king thought in his mind, As I am a lord of wisdom, a
great debater, it would not add anything to my fame even if I won
in the inquiry. But if I were to fail, it would be no small matter. If
I do not ask him a question, it would mean that I have been
defeated by him right away. Having hesitated for a long while,
the king had no choice but to ask, What are the devas doing now?
Ngrjuna replied, They are ghting with the asuras.
Upon hearing this answer, the king was like a man choking
on a piece of food, unable to swallow or spit out what is in his
mouth. He could not deny what Ngrjuna had said, as he could
not produce any evidence to counter it, nor could he set forth any
reason to admit Ngrjunas assertion.
Before the king could say anything, Ngrjuna again remarked,
What I have said is not a ction fabricated to win a debate. Wait
a moment, Your Majesty. There will soon be proof of my words.
26
As soon as these words had been spoken, shields, partisans,

and other weapons fell down from the sky, one after another. The
king said, Although shields, partisans, lances, and halberds are
tools of war, how can you be sure that they were being used by the
devas and asuras engaged in ghting?
Ngrjuna said, Explanations of empty words are not as good
as proof of facts. When he had said this, severed ngers and toes
along with ears and noses of asuras rained down from the air. He
also made the king, his ministers and subjects, and the brahmans
clearly see the warring parties ghting in the air.
Then the king paid homage to Ngrjuna and accepted his
teaching. The countless brahmans in the audience hall also shaved
o their tufts of hair and received full ordination.
There was a Hinayana teacher who always felt resentful and
jealous. When Ngrjuna was about to leave this world, he asked
the Hinayana teacher, Would you like me to stay in this world
for a long time? The teacher replied, Certainly not!
Ngrjuna then retired to a secluded chamber and did not
come out for an entire day. His disciples broke down the door and
found that he had discarded his corporeal body as a cicada exuviates its cocoon and departed from this world. It has been one hundred years since he passed away. In the various states of Southern India, temples were erected in his honor, just as the Buddha
was venerated.
His mother gave birth to him under an arjuna tree, so he was
named Arjuna. And because the nga helped him achieve the
Dharma, the word nga was prexed to his name. Hence he was
called Ngrjuna. (According to the Record of the Origin of Transmitting the Dharma-piaka, he was the thirteenth patriarch. With
the help of an elixir, he lived a long life of over two hundred years
in order to sustain the Buddha-Dharma. As mentioned in the
Record, he taught innumerable people.)
End of The Life of Ngrjuna Bodhistattva
27
185b
Biography of Dharma Master

Vasubandhu
Translated from the Chinese of Paramrtha
by
Albert A. Dalia
The Biography of Dharma Master Vasubandhu (Chinese: Po shu

pan tou fa-shih chuan), Taish 2049, is credited to the Chen
dynasty (557589 C.E.) Indian Tripiaka and Dharma Master Paramrtha (Chinese: Chen-ti; 499569 C.E.). Paramrtha was from a
brahman family in western India and is considered to be the most
important Indian translator in southern China during the Southern Dynasties period (520589 C.E.). He arrived in Canton in 546
and was welcomed in the Liang dynasty (502557) capital of Nanjing by Emperor Wu-ti two years later.
Paramrthas life in China covered a period of dynastic transition in southern China. It was an era marked by tremendous
social and intellectual upheaval. As new social and religious forces
played important roles in establishing the Chen dynasty, Paramrthas most signicant translations introduced the writings of
the Vijnavda/Yogcra (Idealist or Consciousness Only/
Yoga Practice) school of Indian Buddhism into China.
The historical dates of Vasubandhu, a central gure in the
development of Indian Vijnavda thought, have been the focus
of much controversy. In general, most scholars designate either
the fourth or fth century as the period of Vasubandhus life. Most
recently the evidence is being interpreted to favor the fth century. Even when narrowed down to the fth century, two sets of
dates have been proposed: either 400480 C.E. or 420500 C.E.
Recent Japanese scholarship seems to favor the former dates.
If the fth-century dates are accepted for Vasubandhu, then
the transmission of his works and the biography by Parmartha
represented fairly recent developments in Indian Buddhism.
Vasubandhus writings had an important impact on the Chinese
31
Buddhist Ti-lun and Pure Land teachings. Moreover, his Abhidharmakoa was a treasure for the Mahayana schools, as it systemized older Buddhist theories for them to draw on or to criticize.
Vasubandhus greatest inuence on Chinese Buddhism, however, was through his Vijnavda/Yogcra writings. One of the
most important schools of Chinese Buddhism, the Chan (Japanese: Zen) school, which arose during the Tang dynasty (618906
C.E.), was heavily inuenced by Vijnavda thought. Moreover,
in the second decade of the twentieth century, when Buddhism
was being revitalized in China, Vijnavda doctrines were at the
forefront of the intellectual debate between science and religion.
From its introduction in the sixth century to the present day,
Vijnavda thought has had a signicant inuence on Chinese
intellectual history.
Paramrthas biography of Vasubandhu introduced the
great Indian Buddhist master into the Chinese Buddhist tradition.
In later periods, Vasubandhu was raised to the status of a bodhisattva because of the respect he engendered among the Chinese.
This biography also provides information on the development of
Indian Buddhism during a crucial juncture in its history.
The text is written in a style that is fairly typical of Buddhist
biographical writing in China during Paramrthas lifetime. There
has been some speculation that the text was not actually written
by Paramrtha but memorized and later recited by him in China
and that the written record was compiled by his disciples. The
Southern Dynasties period in China was a time when popular
interest was piqued by the extraordinary, the mysterious, and
the magical. This preoccupation with the fantastic colored much
of intellectual life of this period, and Buddhism was a prime
source of such interest. Thus it is not unusual to nd Chinese
Buddhist biographical writing from this period lled with incredible stories. Paramrthas biography of Vasubandhu is no exception;
it is recorded with the same sense of the extraordinary that marks
the rest of Southern Dynasties literature.
32
Aside from treating the unusual as commonplace, the biography informs us that Vasubandhu was born in Peshawar in Gandhara (Gandhra), India. He was the second of three brothers,
among whom was another outstanding Mahayana Buddhist theoretician, Asaga. According to the biography, Vasubandhus older
brother Asaga persuaded him to turn his considerable talents to
the development of Mahayana Buddhism.
In following Vasubandhus career from one doctrinal confrontation to another, the reader will note the great emphasis that
Indian Buddhism of this period placed on exegesis and the formal
rules of logic and grammar. These arts were also passed on to the
Chinese during the Southern Dynasties period and continued to
develop along Chinese lines.
The biography concludes with Vasubandhus death at the age
of eighty in Ayodhy.
33
BIOGRAPHY OF DHARMA MASTER

VASUBANDHU

Paramrtha, Tripiaka Master (557598),
Chen-ti of the Chen Dynasty
Dharma Master Vasubandhu was a native of Puruapura, a country in Northern India. Purua means hero and pura means
land.
The genealogy of the deva Viu records that akra, the King
of Heaven, had a younger brother named Viu. akra sent him
to be king of Jambudvpa to suppress asuras. The deva Viu was
thus born in Jambudvpa as the son of King Vasudeva.
There was an asura named Indradamana. Indra is akras
name and damana means to suppress. This asura was often
in battle with akra, and had that name in order to claim that he
was able to defeat akra.
The Vykaraa-stra explains the word asura (evil pleasure) by saying that evil is pleasure for them, therefore this name
is used to describe them. Now, all the devas take pleasure in doing
good, but asuras always enjoy evil, so they have this name. They
may also be called non-gods.
This asura had a younger sister named Prabhvat. Prabh
means bright and vat means courtesan. This woman was
very attractive. Because the deva wanted to destroy the deva Viu,
he plotted to use his sister to deceive the deva. By means of sorcery, he darkened a place in Jambudvpa and stayed there, allowing no one to see him.
He ordered his sister to stay in a bright place, saying to her,
If any man desires to take you for his wife, you should say to him,
My brother is a great ghter. If you desire to take me for your
wife, you must contest with my brother. But if you are able to ght
him, then we can be married.
Later the deva Viu saw the woman at that bright place. His
heart took great delight in this, and he asked, Who are you?
She answered, I am an asura virgin.
The deva said, All asura women usually marry devas. Since
I am without a wife and you are also without a husband, I wish to
marry you now. Do I have your consent?
The woman answered according to her brothers previous
instructions. The deva said, You now care what becomes of me
37
188a11
188b
and for this reason you speak these words. You already love me.
How can I ignore that? I have great strength and am able to ght
your brother.
The woman then consented and they became husband and
wife. Later the asura went to the bright place. He asked the deva
Viu: You must explain why you abruptly took my younger sister to be your wife.
The deva answered, If I were not a hero, I would deserve blame
for taking your sister to be my wife. But I am a hero without a
wife, and your sister is a virgin without a husband. It is just for
this reason that I have chosen her. Why do you take oense?
The asura said, What ability do you have that you claim to
be a hero? If you are a hero, you will be able to ght me and win.
Then I will let my sister marry you.
The deva responded, If you do not believe me, then let us
resolve this.
Then they both grasped weapons and began cutting and stabbing each other.
The deva Viu had the Nryaa body, so cutting and
stabbing could not aect him. The deva cut o the asuras head,
but the head came back again. He cut o other parts of his
body, but each time the severed part returned to the asuras body
and, unharmed, reattached itself. From morning until evening
they cut and stabbed without rest, but the asura showed no signs
of dying and the devas strength was lessening. If they were to
go on ghting into the night, the asuras strength would become
even greater.
Prabhvat, fearing that her husband was not the equal of her
brother, picked a blue lotus ower, tore it, and threw each half to
opposite sides. Prabhvat ran back and forth between the two
halves. The deva then understood what she meant and grasped
the asuras body, tore it in two, and threw each half to opposite
sides. The deva then ran back and forth between them. As a result
of this, the asura died.
38
The asura had previously gone to an immortal and begged for

a boon, saying, I wish that if my body is cut into pieces, these
pieces shall return to their places and be restored.
The immortal had granted the asura this boon, and so from
then on, if he was cut or stabbed, he did not lose his life. However,
the immortal had wished to ensure that the deva would kill the
asura, so he had not given the asura the boon of regaining his life
should his body be cut into two separate halves. This, then, caused
his death.
The deva Viu showed his heroism in that region. Therefore,
because of all this, the name Land of the Hero was established
there.
This land had a national master, a brahman whose family
name was Kauika. He had three sons, all with the same name,
Vasubandhu. Vasu means heaven and bandhu means kin.
This was the custom in India for naming sons: they were all given
the same name, with additional names given to distinguish one
from another.
The youngest Vasubandhu left home life to join the Sarvstivdins and attained the fruit of arhatship. His other name was
Viricivatsa. Virici was his mothers surname and vatsa means
child or son. This kind of name could be applied to humans or
animals; thus, a calf could be called a vatsa, whereas [in China]
a calf is called a tu.
The eldest Vasubandhu was a person with the basic nature of
a bodhisattva. He also left home to join the Sarvstivdins. Later,
by practicing meditation, he attained freedom from desire. He then
contemplated the meaning of nyat, but was not able to gain
insight into it. He wanted to kill himself. While in samdhi the
arhat Piola saw this situation and came from his region in East
Videha to explain the Hinayana meditation on nyat [to
Vasubandhu]. By meditating in accordance with what the arhat
taught him, the eldest Vasubandhu at once gained insight into it.
39
188c
Although [the elder Vasubandhu] had attained the meditation on nyat of the Hinayana vehicle, his mind was still not at
peace. He thought, The truth should not end here. Because of
the extraordinary powers of that vehicle, he went to the Tuita
Heaven. There he inquired of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, who
explained the Mahayana meditation on nyat to him. Returning to Jambudvpa, he meditated as he had been taught and at
once attained enlightenment. At the time of his contemplation,
the earth moved with six kinds of vibrations. Because of his attainment of the Mahayana meditation on nyat, he adopted the
name Asaga. Asaga means without attachment.
Asaga then went up to the Tuita Heaven several times, questioning Maitreya about the meaning of the Mahayana sutras.
Maitreya extensively explained them. Asaga returned to Jambudvpa to explain it to the others, according to what he had
achieved. But many of those who heard [these teachings] did not
give rise to faith. Asaga then made a vow: I now wish to cause
all sentient beings to have faith in the Mahayana doctrine. I pray
that the great teacher will come down to Jambudvpa to explain
the Mahayana and cause all sentient beings to attain complete
faith in and understanding of the doctrine.
Just as Asaga had prayed for, Maitreya then came down at
night to Jambudvpa, emitted a bright light, and gathered a great
assembly of all those who had anity with him. At the Dharma
hall, Maitreya recited the Sutra of the Seventeen Bhmis (stages)
(Yogcrabhmi-stra). After reciting a portion, he expounded
on its meaning.
It took the nights of four months for Maitreya to nish expounding the Sutra of the Seventeen Bhmis. Although all the people
were together in the same hall listening to the Dharma, only
Dharma Master Asaga could get close to the Bodhisattva
Maitreya. The others listened only from a distance. So at night
they all listened to Maitreya teach the Dharma, and during the
day Dharma Master Asaga explained to the people what Maitreya
40
had expounded. Because of this, all the people heard and believed
in the Mahayana taught by the Bodhisattva Maitreya.
Dharma Master Asaga practiced the sunlight samdhi. He
practiced and studied as it had been explained to him, and he then
attained this samdhi. After he attained this samdhi, what he
could not previously understand became completely clear. All that
he had seen and heard was forever borne in his mind, without forgetting. He understood the meaning of the Avatasaka and of all
the other Mahayana sutras the Buddha had spoken in the past.
Maitreya, in the Tuita Heaven, explained the meaning of all the
Mahayana sutras to Dharma Master Asaga, who was able to penetrate the Dharma and recall all of it. Later, in Jambudvpa,
Dharma Master Asaga wrote commentaries on many great Mahayana sutras, explaining all the Mahayana teachings that the
Buddha had spoken.
The second Vasubandhu also left home to join the Sarvstivdins. He studied widely and learned much. He mastered all
the ancient literature. His spiritual ability was rened and bright,
without equal. His self-discipline was pure and lofty, dicult to
match. Since his brothers had other names, this Dharma master
was called simply Vasubandhu.
In the ve hundred years after the Buddhas nirvana, there
lived an arhat whose name was Ktyyanputra. His mothers surname was Ktyyan and he was named after her. He had previously left home [to follow] the Sarvstivdins. Originally an Indian,
he later traveled to the country of Kamra in northwestern India.
An assembly of ve hundred arhats and ve hundred bodhisattvas, working together with Ktyyanputra, compiled the
Sarvstivdin Abhidharma (commentary). It was arranged in the
eight granthas. Grantha means knot or section, to indicate
that dierent kinds of concepts are interrelated. Also it gathers
the concepts and prevents them from scattering; this is why it is
said to be a knot. Each kind of concept, however, has a denite
limit; this is why it is called a section. This composition is also
hailed as the Discourse to Unfold Wisdom (Jnaprasthna).
41
189a
By means of extraordinary powers and the power of the vows,

[the compilers] extensively proclaimed far and near, If any of you
have previously heard the Abhidharma spoken (by the Buddha),
then tell what you have retained, be it great or small. This
invitation enabled the devas, ngas, and yakas, including the
devas of the Akaniha Heaven, to come. All submitted the
Abhidharma they had heard from the Buddha, whether it was
brief, elaborate, or only one sentence or one gth (verse). From
these, Ktyyanputra, together with all the arhats and all the
bodhisattvas, then selected which concepts to include. If a concept
did not contradict the sutras and the Vinaya, they selected it and
inscribed it. If a concept was contradictory, they rejected it. They
then compiled these materials and grouped them according to the
concepts. For example, if a passage claried the concept of wisdom, it was placed in the wisdom grantha. If it claried the concept of samdhi, it was placed in the samdhi grantha. All the
rest were categorized in the same way.
The complete eight granthas had fty thousand gths. After
completion of the eight granthas, they wished to prepare a Vibh
to provide interpretation.
Bodhisattva Avaghoa, of Sketa in the country of rvast,
thoroughly understood the eight divisions of the Vykaraa, the
four Vedas and the Six Discourses upon them, and the Tripiakas
of the eighteen [Hinayana Buddhist] schools. His writings
were well regarded in all the colleges, and [his deportment] was
considered as in perfect accordance with the Vinaya. All others
emulated him.
Ktyyanputra sent a messenger to rvast, inviting Avaghoa to clarify the literary expression [of the Vibh]. When
Avaghoa arrived in Kamra, Ktyyanputra explained the
eight granthas in succession. Together with all the arhats and
bodhisattvas, they thoroughly examined and discussed the meanings. Once the meanings of the concepts were determined,
Avaghoa wrote it all down. It took twelve years to complete the
42
preparations for the Vibh. It consisted of one million gths.

Vibh means extensive explanation.
When the work was nished, Ktyyanputra set up a stone
inscription, which read, From now on, no one who has studied
this work shall be allowed to leave the country of Kamra. As for
the eight granthas and the Vibh, it is likewise forbidden to take
these compositions out of this country. They were afraid that the
other schools and the Mahayana would corrupt the true Dharma.
They reported the establishment of this proclamation to the king,
which the king approved.
The country of Kamra was surrounded by mountains on all
four sides like a fortress. There was only one gate from which to
enter or leave. The sages then, by the power of their vows, gathered all the yakas and had them guard the gate. All those who
desired to learn this Dharma would have no problem entering the
region of Kamra. The sages also, by the power of their vows,
made ve hundred yakas become almsgivers, so that those who
studied this Dharma had all their personal needs attended to and
lacked nothing.
The country of Ayodhy had a Dharma master named Vaasubhadra. He was intelligent and had great knowledge; he was able
to grasp anything he heard. He wanted to study the concepts of
the eight granthas and the Vibh and to spread them to other
countries.
Dharma Master Vaasubhadra took on the appearance of a
foolish madman and went to Kamra. He regularly attended the
great assembly to listen to the Dharma. He refrained from dignied deportment, speaking and laughing in a bizarre way. Sometimes in the assembly, while discussing the concepts of the Vibh,
he would then inquire about the biography of the Rmyana. All
the people treated him lightly and neither noted nor respected
him when they heard him speak.
In twelve years [Vaasubhadra] had heard the Vibh several times and was already well acquainted with the literatures
43
189b
meaning, reciting it all in his mind. Wishing to return to his native

land, he went to the gate of the city. All the yaka spirits sang in
a high voice, A great Abhidharma Master now wishes to leave
the country. Then they seized him and returned him to the assembly. The crowd examined and questioned him, but his speech was
confused and they could not communicate with him. The crowd
denounced him as a madman and chased him away.
Later Dharma Master Vaasubhadra once again went to the
gate, and all the spirits again sang the same command and pulled
him back. Consequently the king of the country heard of the matter. He ordered the great assembly to examine and question [Vaasubhadra] again. The crowd repeatedly did so, but, as previously,
they could not communicate with him. The Dharma master went
[to the gate] a third time, and again he was brought back. On the
fourth attempt, although all the spirits escorted him back, the
crowd did not examine and question him again and they ordered
all the yakas to chase him out of the country.
When the Dharma master reached his native land, he proclaimed to places far and near that all might hear and know: I
have already studied and grasped the complete meaning of
Kamras Vibh literature. All those who are able to study it
can come quickly to acquire it. Then the people assembled at that
place from the four directions like gathering clouds.
Dharma Master Vaasubhadra was already in his declining
years. He was afraid that he might not be able to nish transmitting that Dharma, so he urgently ordered all his disciples to
learn it quickly and to record it as soon as he preached it. He was
able to accomplish his work in time. When the masters in Kamra
heard that this Dharma had already spread to other regions, they
all sighed and lamented.
During the period about nine hundred years after the Buddhas
parinirva, there was a heterodox master named Vindhyavsa.
Vindhya is the name of a mountain. Vsa means to dwell.
The heretic dwelled on this mountain, and so he was named
thus.
44
There was a nga king named Vragaya who lived in a pond

below Mount Vindhya. The nga king understood thoroughly the
Skhya-stra. The heretic knew that the nga king had a good
understanding and wished to study under him. The nga king
manifested himself in the form of an immortal and dwelled in a
leaf hut. The heretic went to him there and expressed his desire
to study with him. The nga king assented.
The heretic plucked owers and put them in a large basket.
He carried the ower basket on his head and went to the nga
kings place. Each time he circled the nga king, he tossed a ower
as an oering, and as he threw it he composed a gth of praise.
When the nga king heard [a verse], he instantly refuted the meaning set out in the gth and then picked up the oered ower and
threw it out. Immediately the heretic bestowed another meaning
on the gth and threw the ower back to the nga king. In this
way he threw in the entire basket of owers and set forth the
meaning of all the gths [that had been refuted by the nga king].
The nga king admired his intelligence and agreed to expound
the Skhya-stra for him. He said to the heretic, After you
have nished receiving the treatise, be careful not to make changes
to it. The nga king said this because he feared the heretic might
be superior to him.
As the heretic received the treatise he simultaneously made
selections [from it]. He changed those places that were not in proper
order or where the language was not skillful or the meaning not
clear.
When the nga king had completed his explanation of the
whole treatise, the heretics composition was also nished, and he
then presented his composition to the nga king. When the nga
king saw that it was superior to the original, he became angry and
jealous. He said to the heretic, At the beginning I ordered you
not to make changes to my treatise. How could you make changes?
I ought to forbid the dissemination of what you have written.
The heretic replied, Master, originally you ordered me not to
make changes after the treatise was nished. You did not order
45
189c
190a
me not to make changes during the delivery of the treatise. I have

not disobeyed the masters instructions. Why should you rebuke
me? Now I request that the master grant me this boon: that this
treatise shall not be destroyed as long as my body is not decayed.
[The nga king] assented.
After the heterodox master received the treatise, his mind
became very haughty, cruel, and arrogant. He thought that these
teachings were the greatest, that nothing could surpass them.
Only kyamunis Dharma ourishes in this world, and all sentient beings say his Dharma is great. I must destroy it.
Then he entered the country of Ayodhy, beat the debating
drum with his head, and announced, I wish to have a debate with
someone. If I lose, then my head should be cut o. If [my challenger] loses, then he ought to pay with his head.
The king of the country was Vikramditya, whose name
means Rightly Enforcing Sun. When the king heard of this, he
summoned the heterodox master to question him. The heretic
said, The king is the countrys ruler; toward the ramaa and
the brahman his mind is without partiality. If there are some
who cultivate a teaching, you ought to examine if it is true or
false. I now wish [for you] to decide if the disciples of kyamuni
are superior or inferior. We must swear an oath on our heads.
The king listened and granted his permission.
The king sent people to ask all the Dharma masters within
the country, Who is able to equal this heterodox master? If there
is anyone who can equal him, he may debate him. At that time,
Dharma Master Manoratha, Dharma Master Vasubandhu, and
all those great Dharma masters had gone to other countries and
were not there. Manoratha means mind vow. Only Dharma
Master Buddhamitra, the teacher of Dharma Master Vasubandhu,
was in the country. Buddhamitra means akin to bodhi. This
Dharma master, although once a great expounder, was already
aged. His spirit was weak and his debating skills were in decline.
Dharma Master [Buddhamitra] said, My Dharmas great leaders
have all gone to foreign regions. The heretic is strong and arrogant
46
and I should not leave him be. It is right that I should handle this
matter myself.
The Dharma master then told the king of this. The king set a
date and gathered a great assembly in the debating hall. He ordered
the heterodox master and Dharma Master Buddhamitra to debate.
The heretic asked, ramaa, do you want to set forth a concept?
Or do you wish to refute one?
Dharma Master [Buddhamitra] answered, I am like the great
sea, there is nothing it cannot contain. You are like a lump of earth
that has been thrown into the sea and has sunk. So do as you like.
The heretic replied, The ramaa can set forth a concept and
then I will refute you.
The Dharma master set forth the concept of impermanence,
saying, All worldly phenomena are extinguished instantly. Why
is this so? The reason is that a moment later they cannot be seen.
He used all types of principles to establish this statement.
As soon as the heretic heard this, he could recite all of it out
loud. The heretic destroyed each principle one by one. He commanded the Dharma master to recite what he had heard. Dharma
Master Buddhamitra recited but could not get [the meaning]. The
heretic then told the Dharma master to redeem his own statements, and the Dharma master could not succeed in redeeming
them, either. Dharma Master Buddhamitra thereby lost. The
heretic said, You are of the brahman caste, and I am also of the
brahman caste; we are not permitted to kill. So you must og your
back to make it clear that I am superior. This was consequently
done.
The king awarded three lakas of gold to the heterodox master. The heterodox master took the gold and gave it to every person within the country. He returned to Mount Vindhya and entered
a stone cave. By means of magical powers, he summoned a female
yaka spirit named Dense Forest. From this female spirit he begged
a boon: I wish that after I die, my body shall change to rock and
shall never be destroyed. The female spirit promised him [the
boon]. He himself used a stone to seal the cave; within it he gave
47
190b
up his life and his body became a rock. [He did this] because of his
vow in which he had begged a boon from his master, the nga king,
So long as my body has not decayed, the Skhya treatise which
I have set forth will also not be destroyed. Therefore this treatise
is still extant to the present day.
Vasubandhu later returned. Hearing of the matter, he sighed
in remorse and anger that he had not met the heretic to subdue
and humble his arrogance, so as to wipe out [his own] teachers
shame. But the heretics body had already become stone. Heavens
Kin (Vasubandhu) became even more angry and melancholy. He
then composed the Paramrthasaptati to destroy the Skhya
treatise created by the heretic. From top to bottom, like roof tiles
collapsing, not one sentence was able to remain standing.
All the other heretics felt deep grief, as if their own lives were
destroyed. Although Vasubandhu did not nd their master, his
doctrine was already totally destroyed; there was nothing for its
branches to rely on. To wipe out a disgrace, this aair was settled.
The people all heard of this and were joyful. The king used three
lakas of gold to reward Dharma Master [Vasubandhu]. The
Dharma master divided this gold into three parts. In the country
of Ayodhy he raised three monasteries: a nunnery, a Sarvstivdin monastery, and a Mahayana monastery.
Thereafter, Dharma Master Vasubandhu set forth even more
strongly the right Dharma. Having already thoroughly comprehended the concepts of the Vibh, he then, for the benet of all
people, expounded on the concepts of the Vibh. He would expound
for a day and then compose one gth summarizing the concepts
he had spoken on during the day. He engraved the gth on a bronze
plate, then hung it on the head of a drunken elephant, striking a
drum and commanding, Who is able to refute this gths meaning? The one who is able to refute it should immediately come forward. In this way, one after another, he composed six hundred or
so consecutive gths, gathering together the concepts of the
Vibh. He summarized them all one by one, and consequently
48
no one was able to refute them. [These gths form] the verse section of the Abhidharmakoa.
After the gths were completed, [Vasubandhu] took fty catties of gold together with the gths and delivered them to all the
Vibh masters in Kamra. What they saw and heard greatly
delighted them. They said, Our correct Dharma has already been
broadly proclaimed. But the gths language was subtle and profound; it could not be completely understood. So they added another
fty catties of gold to the previous fty to make a hundred catties
of gold. They presented this to Dharma Master Vasubandhu, asking him to explain in prose the meaning of the gths. The Dharma
master then wrote a prose text to explain the gths, in which he
established all the concepts of the Sarvstivdins. For [those sections] he thought were improper, he used sutra division concepts
to refute them. The text was named the Abhidharmakoa-stra.
After this stra was complete, he sent it to the masters of Kamra,
who saw that [the text destroyed] some of the interpretations held
by them. They became worried and bitter.
Vikramdityas crown prince was named Blditya. Bla
means new and ditya means sun. The king had originally
ordered the crown prince to go to Dharma Master [Vasubandhu]
to receive the Vinaya. The kings wife left the home life and also
became the Dharma masters disciple. The crown prince later
became the king. Mother and son together invited the Dharma
master to dwell in the country of Ayodhy and receive their support. Dharma Master Vasubandhu accepted [the invitation].
The brother-in-law of King New Sun [Blditya] was a brahman priest named Vasurata. This heretic master could understand
the Vykaraa-stra. When Vasubandhu created the Koa-stra, this heretic tried to refute it by using the concepts of the
Vykaraa-stra, saying that the words and sentences set forth
by Dharma Master [Vasubandhu] contradicted the concepts of the
Vykaraa-stra. The heretic asked the Dharma master to defend
the Koa. If he failed, it would be destroyed. Dharma Master
49
190c
Vasubandhu replied, If I didnt understand the Vykaraa-stra, how could I understand the profound teaching?
Then Dharma Master [Vasubandhu] created a stra to refute
the concepts of the Vykaraa-stra. From beginning to end, all
thirty-two sections [of the Vykaraa-stra] were destroyed. The
Vykaraa-stra was therefore lost; only [Vasubandhus] Abhidharmakoa-stra still exists.
The king oered one laka of gold to the Dharma master, and
the kings mother oered him two lakas of gold. Dharma Master
Vasubandhu divided the gold into three parts. He built a monastery
in each [of the countries of ] the Land of the Hero, Kamra, and
Ayodhy.
The heretic became ashamed and angry and wished to suppress Dharma Master [Vasubandhu]. He sent a man to India to
ask Dharma Master Saghabhadra to come to Ayodhy and compose a treatise to refute the Koa-stra. Dharma Master [Saghabhadra] came and composed two treatises. One was the Samaya
of Light (Samayapradpik) treatise, which had ten thousand
gths. It set forth the concepts of the Vibh only. Samaya
means groups of concepts. The second treatise was called Following the Truth (Nyynusra), and it had one hundred twenty
thousand gths. It upheld the Vibh and refuted the Koa-stra. After he nished the treatises, he called Heavens Kin
(Vasubandhu) to have a face-to-face debate to decide the matter.
Heavens Kin knew that although [Saghabhadra] had refuted
the Koa-stra, he could not destroy it. So he declined the faceto-face debate, saying, I am now old, so do as you wish. I formerly
composed my treatise to refute the concepts of the Vibh. I did
not ask to have a face-to-face debate to decide the matter. You
have now composed your treatises; why should you call on me? A
wise person should know which is right and which is wrong.
Dharma Master [Vasubandhu] was already thoroughly versed
in the concepts of the eighteen [Hinayana] schools, and he had a
marvelous understanding of the Hinayana vehicle. He held fast
50
to the Hinayana and did not believe in the Mahayana, saying that
the Mahayana had not been spoken by the Buddha.
Dharma Master Asaga already saw that his brothers intelligence surpassed that of others. His knowledge was profound and
extensive. He was well versed in Buddhist and other principles.
[Asaga] feared [Vasubandhu] would compose a treatise that would
discredit the Mahayana.
Dharma Master Asaga, who was living in the Land of the
Hero, sent a messenger to Ayodhy to tell Vasubandhu: I am now
seriously ill. It is urgent that you come.
Heavens Kin (Vasubandhu) immediately returned to his native
land with the messenger. He saw his older brother and inquired
about the cause of his illness. His brother replied, My heart has
a serious illness. It is because of you [that this illness] arose.
Heavens Kin asked, How? Give me the reason.
His brother said, You do not believe in the Mahayana and
you are always attacking it and speaking ill of it. Because of these
bad actions, you will be forever lost in evil realms. I am grieved
and troubled. I will not survive for long.
When Heavens Kin heard this he was horried and alarmed.
He then asked his brother to expound the Mahayana. His brother
explained briey the essential concepts of the Mahayana. Dharma
Master [Vasubandhu] possessed clear intelligence and deep
insight, so he immediately comprehended that the Mahayana
principles surpassed those of the Hinayana. He then studied
the whole of the Mahayana concepts with his brother, and later
understood the matter as [Asaga] did. [Vasubandhu] thoroughly
attained the whole of [the Mahayana] and understood its meaning
clearly. He meditated on it from beginning to end, and his meditation reected the truth as it should be. Nothing was contradictory.
For the rst time [Vasubandhu] was convinced that the
Hinayana was inferior and the Mahayana superior. If there were
no Mahayana there could be no fruit of the triyna (three vehicles) way. Because he had formerly done evil by speaking ill of the
51
191a
Mahayana and did not believe in it, [Vasubandhu] was afraid that
due to this evil conduct he would fall into an evil realm. He deeply
reproached himself and desired to repent of his former errors.
He went to his brothers residence. He stated his ignorance
and said that he now wished to confess his former mistakes but
did not know by what means to gain pardon. [Vasubandhu] said,
Because of my tongue I formerly [gave rise to] slander. Now
I should cut out my tongue to atone for this oense.
[Asaga] said, You may have your tongue cut out a thousand
times, but you still will not be able to eradicate this oense. If you
really wish to eradicate your misdeeds, you ought to nd other
means.
Dharma Master [Vasubandhu] then asked his brother to
explain a method for eradicating his oense. His brother said, You
skillfully used your tongue to defame the Mahayana. If you desire
to eradicate this oense, then you ought to skillfully [use it] to
expound the Mahayana.
After the death of Dharma Master Asaga, Heavens Kin
(Vasubandhu) then started to write stras expounding Mahayana sutras such as the Avatasaka, the Nirvana, the Saddharmapuarka, the Prajpramit, the Vimalakrti[nirdea], and
the rmal[dev]sihanda. These Mahayana stras were all
written by Dharma Master [Vasubandhu]. He also wrote the
Vijaptimtratsiddhi and composed commentaries for Mahayana
stras such as the Mahynasagraha, the Nature of the
Ratnatraya (Buddhagotra-stra), and the Door of Nectar (Sukhvativyha).
The ideas and literary work in all his compositions are excellent and subtle. All those who read or hear them can do nothing
but have faith and seek [the Mahayana]. For this reason, all those
studying the Mahayana and the Hinayana in India and in the borderlands use what Dharma Master [Vasubandhu] wrote as the
basis of their study. There is not any teacher of a heretical sect of
any other Dharma master who, upon hearing Dharma Master
Vasubandhus name, would not be in awe and submit.
52
[Vasubandhu] died in the land of Ayodhy at the age of eighty.

Although his life was of this world, his true nature is dicult to
comprehend.
End of the Biography of Dharma Master Vasubandhu
53

Translated from the Chinese of Baochang
by
Li Rongxi
Contents
61

Fascicle One
Baochangs Preface
1. Jingjian of Bamboo Grove Nunnery in the Jin Dynasty
2. An Lingshou of Jian-xian Nunnery in the Spurious
Zhao Dynasty
3. Zhixian of the Western Nunnery in Si-zhou
4. Miaoxiang of North Mountain in Hong-nong
5. Kang Minggan of Jian-fu Nunnery
6. Tanbei of Northern Yong-an Nunnery
7. Huizhan of Jian-fu Nunnery
8. Sengji of Yan-xing Nunnery
9. Daoxing of the Eastern Nunnery in Lou-yang
10. Daorong of New Grove Nunnery
11. Lingzong of the Western Nunnery in Si-zhou
12. Zhi Miaoyin of Jian-jing Nunnery
13. Daoyi of Empress Hes Nunnery
Fascicle Two: The Song Dynasty
14. Huiguo of Jing-fu Nunnery
15. Fasheng of Jian-fu Nunnery
16. Huiyu of Niu-mu Nunnery in Jiang-ling
17. Daoqiong of Jian-fu Nunnery
18. Daoshou of Qi-huan Nunnery in Jiang-ling
19. Shi Xuanzao of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery in Wu
Prefecture
20. Shi Huiqiong of Nan-an Nunnery
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77
79
80
80
81
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84
85
86
89
90
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92
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21. Puzhao of Zhang-guo Nunnery in Nan-pi

22. Shi Huimu of the Nunnery of Zhu-ge Village in
Liang Prefecture
23. Fasheng of the Southern Nunnery in Wu County
24. Sengduan of Yong-an Nunnery
25. Guangjing of the Middle Nunnery in Guang-ling
26. Shanmiao of Shu Prefecture
27. Sengguo of Guang-ling
28. Jingcheng of Bamboo Grove Nunnery in
Dong-xiang in Shan-yang
29. Faxiang of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery in Wu Prefecture
30. Yeshou of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery
31. Fabian of Jing-fu Nunnery
32. Daozong of San-ceng Nunnery in Jiang-ling
33. Huijun of Zhu-yuan Nunnery
34. Baoxian of Pu-xian Nunnery
35. Fajing of Pu-xian Nunnery
36. Huiyao of Yong-kang Nunnery in Shu Prefecture
Fascicle Three: The Qi Dynasty
37. Fayuan of Zeng-cheng in Dong-guan
38. Tanche of Southern Yong-an Nunnery
39. Sengjing of Chong-sheng Nunnery
40. Sengmeng of Qi-ming Nunnery in Yan-guan
41. Miaozhi of Hua-yan Nunnery
42. Zhisheng of Jian-fu Nunnery
43. Senggai of Chan-ji Nunnery
44. Faquan of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery
45. Jinghui of Pu-xian Nunnery
46. Tanjian of Fa-yin Nunnery
47. Jinggui of Fa-yin Nunnery
48. Huixu of Ji-shan Nunnery
49. Chaoming of Qi-ming Nunnery in Qian-tang
50. Tangyong of Fa-yin Nunnery
51. Dele of Qi-xing Nunnery in Shan County
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Contents
Fascicle Four: The Liang Dynasty

52. Jingxiu of Chan-lin Nunnery
53. Sengnian of Chan-lin Nunnery
54. Tanhui of Chang-le Nunnery in Cheng-du
55. Feng of Lang-zhong Nunnery in the Illegal
Capital of Gao-chang
56. Huisheng of Xian-ju Nunnery of the Liang Dynasty
57. Jingxian of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery
58. Jingyuan of Zhu-yuan Nunnery
59. Jingxing of Zhu-yuan Nunnery
60. Shi Lingyu of Southern Jin-ling Nunnery
61. Sengshu of Xian-ju Nunnery
62. Miaoyi of Western Qing-yuan Nunnery
63. Shi Huihui of Le-an Nunnery
64. Shi Daogui of Di-shan Nunnery
65. Shi Faxuan of Zhao-ming Nunnery in Shan-yin
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59
Baochangs Bi-qiu-ni zhuan, or Biographies of Buddhist Nuns, is the

only compilation of biographies of Chinese Buddhist nuns (bhikus)
collected in one volume. The text consists of narratives about
sixty-ve nuns, starting with Jingjian and ending with Faxuan, and
spanning two hundred and three years, from 313 to 516 C.E. This was
during the Six Dynasties period (222589), a time when Buddhism
had rmly taken root in Chinese soil and was being disseminated
widely among the Chinese people.
Inuenced by the teachings of Buddhism, female devotees whose
piety was equal to that of their male counterparts began to emerge.
These devout women wished to engage themselves exclusively in the
practice of Buddhism as homeless almswomen. This was a natural
development as Buddhism spread in China. To become a nun in the
Buddhist tradition, however, had never been an easy undertaking.
The Buddha denounced unequal social systems, particularly the
age-old caste system of India. If not in a position to abolish the caste
system in society as a whole, he consistently preached and acted
against it within the scope of his ministry. The Buddha declared that
the nobility or crudeness of a person was not determined by birth but
by deeds, and he opened the door of his monastic order to any man,
regardless of his original caste. All were welcomed as members of the
sangha (monastic community), and enjoyed equal rights and status
therein.
Women, however, were not given the same privilege of taking
refuge in the Buddha. The Buddha did not overlook the importance
of women in society, and indeed praised them profusely on many occasions. And in fact female lay devotees played no small part in propagating the Buddhas teachings in his time, not only by implementing
61
the teachings but also through substantial material support of the

order of monks.
According to the literature the Buddha was initially quite
reluctant to grant permission to women to join the sangha. A number of texts, dating from around the rst century C.E., contain the
dire prediction that the presence of women in the sangha would
shorten the existence of Buddhism in the world by ve hundred
years.
The Buddhas aunt and foster mother, Mahprajpat, like
many other female members of the royal family, was converted to
the new faith by the force of the Buddhas personality and the profundity of his new teachings. But when she requested permisson
to join his sangha, he refused. nanda, the Buddhas cousin and
one of his chief disciples, intervened and appealed repeatedly on
behalf of the royal lady. Only then did the Buddha nally give his
consent for women to join the order.
However, he did so on the condition that they abide by the
Eight Points of Deference. This was a set of special rules for female
monastics, in addition to the regular disciplinary rules they were
required to observe, which were more stringent and numerous
than those required of their male counterparts in the order. The
women who insisted on joining the sangha thus showed true and
unshrinking determination.
The Eight Points stipulated that (1) a nun, even though a hundred years old, must stand up on seeing a Buddhist monk (bhiku),
however young or newly ordained, and salute him after preparing a seat for him; (2) she must never scold or slander a monk; (3)
she must not accuse a monk of faults or speak of his misdeeds,
though he may speak of hers; (4) a female novitiate (ikam),
having learned la (moral precepts), must receive full ordination
from monks; (5) if she commits an oense in the saghvaea
category (grave oenses that are punishable by temporary excommunication), a nun must make an open confession in the presence
of the twofold sangha (consisting of both monks and nuns) at the
fortnightly meeting; (6) a nun must ask a monk to be her preceptor
62
once every fortnight; (7) a nun must not spend the summer retreat
in the same place as the monks; and (8) after the conclusion of the
summer retreat, she must go to the monks to seek a confessor.
Regardless of the restrictive nature of these extra rules, Mahprajpat was overjoyed to accept them. She became the rst
Buddhist nun in the fourteenth year after the Buddhas enlightenment.
During the reign of King Aoka (r. ca. 265238 B.C.E. or
ca. 273232 B.C.E.), the nuns order, the bhiku sangha, was
transmitted from India to Sri Lanka by his son Mahendra Thera
and his daughter Saghamitr Ther. Sent by Aoka to propogate
Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Mahendra successfully fullled his mission by converting King Devnapiya Tissa (247207 B.C.E.) to
the new faith and establishing the bhiku sangha in Sri Lanka.
Princess Anul, a niece of the Sinhalese king, also desired to
join the order. Word was sent to Paliputra to dispatch competent nuns to Sri Lanka to ordain the princess and her retinue of
royal ladies. This was necessary because the Vinaya (monastic
rules) stipulated that monks alone, without the participation of
nuns, could not ordain novitiates as nuns. As a result of this invitation, Saghamitr and enough other qualied nuns to constitute a quorum were sent to Sri Lanka to ordain Princess Anul.
She became the countrys rst nun, and the nuns order was thus
established there.
In the mid-fth century C.E., the Sri Lankan bhiku sangha
was transmitted to China. The nuns sangha is still extant in China
at the present time, though it no longer exists in the country of
its origin. There were Buddhist nuns in China before the arrival
of the Sinhalese nuns in 429 C.E., but they were not considered
fully ordained as they had not received dual upasapad (higher
ordination) from both the monks and nuns sanghas, as required
by the Vinaya.
As seen in this text, Jingjian was the rst Chinese woman to
devote herself to religious life. She received the ten precepts from
a monk named Jnagiri sometime before 317 C.E., when he
63
returned to Kamra. However, at this stage of her career, Jingjian

is regarded not as a nun but as a daala observer, an observer
of the ten precepts. Having received the ten precepts did not make
her a rmaerik (properly ordained female novice).
During the Xian-kang period (335342) of the Jin dynasty
(265420), the Chinese monk Sengjian obtained a copy of the
Mahsghika-bhiku-karman, together with its Prtimoka
(rules for gaining emancipation), from the kingdom of the Yuezhi
people. These texts were translated into Chinese in the rst year
of Sheng-ping (357). With the aid of these Vinaya texts, a foreign
monk, Dharmagupta, built an altar for the full ordination of Chinese nuns. However, the Chinese monk Daochang objected to the
ordination ceremony, on the grounds that it was not in conformity with the rules laid down in the lanidna-stra.
So it was that Jingjian and three other Chinese women received
full ordination as nuns from a group of monks in a ceremony conducted aboard a boat on the Si River. (This event is reminiscent
of Sri Lankan custom; even today ordination ceremonies are often
performed on a boat anchored in the Kelaniya River, in front of
the Kelaniya Temple in the vicinity of Colombo.) This was the only
means through which the women could receive ordination at that
time, because there were no proper bhikus to complete the
requirements for a dual ordination ceremony. These requirements
were satised only when the Sinhalese nuns arrived in China in
429 C.E., and, in particular, by the second group of eleven Sinhalese
nuns headed by Ther Devasr, which arrived in the Chinese capital in 433 C.E.
Devasr and her group of Sinhalese nuns established the rst
true bhiku order in China, through a formal dual ceremony of
ordination performed in cooperation with the monks. This important event in the history of Buddhism is not only related in Chinese Buddhist works such as this Biographies of Buddhist Nuns
and other historical writings, but is also formally recorded in
authentic Chinese histories in clear and unequivocal language.
64
If Jingjian, the rst Chinese woman to receive full ordination

from monks alone, cannot be considered a proper nun, then the
nun Sengguo, ordained in the tenth year of Yuan-jia (433) by a
group of monks headed by Saghavarman from India and the
group of nuns headed by Devasr from Sri Lanka, was beyond
doubt the rst recipient of the valid lineage of the bhiku sangha
in China.
Baochang, the writer of this work, was a well-known Buddhist
monk-scholar. He was of peasant descent and became a monk at
the age of eighteen under the tutorship of the Vinaya master Sengyou (444518) of Jian-chu Monastery. There he studied Buddhist
texts as well as Confucian and Taoist philosophical works, and he
became a versatile scholar.
As a biographer, he is credited, besides the present text, with
the Biographies of Famous Monks (in thirty-one fascicles). An
accomplished cataloguer, he revised Sengsaos Catalogue of
Buddhist Texts of the Hua-lin Garden and compiled his own New
Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Texts (generally known as Baochangs Catalogue, in four fascicles). With the monk Sengmin of
Zhuang-yan Monastery, he compiled the Jing-l-yi-xiang (Classied Excerpts from the Sutra and Vinaya Piakas) in fty fascicles. He also took part in the translation work undertaken by
Saghapla, a monk from Fu-nan (Cambodia), who rendered a
number of Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Vimokamrga
in twelve fascicles.
Baochangs contribution through his literary eorts to the
dissemination of Buddhism in China earned him a record in a
separate section of Biographies of Eminent Monks, compiled by
Daoxuan of the Tang dynasty, in which details of his career are
described.
65
BIOGRAPHIES OF BUDDHIST NUNS

by Shi Baochang of the
Great Zhuang-yan Monastery
Fascicle One
Baochangs Preface
The mind of purity, lofty aspiration, unusual conduct, and exceptional morality is not only the embodiment of human nature, but
also serves as a high standard of virtue to encourage those who
are striving to reach the summit of moral integrity. Thus it is said
that one who endeavors to emulate the sage Yan Hui is a person
in the same category as the sage, just as a horse that aspires to
be a thoroughbred is itself a good stallion.
That is why the good reputations of persons with sublime
morality and brilliant character have never ceased to transmit
their fragrance from the past. Writers record their words for future
generations to read, and historians and biographers write down
their deeds to educate future generations. Therefore, it seems
impossible to forget their words, even if one were to try to do so.
In the past, when the Great Enlightened One was born in
Kapilavastu and the Sun of the Buddha shone over Jambudvpa,
all beings of the three realms took refuge in him and all creatures
of the four forms of birth adored him with respect. The tradition
of Buddhist nuns had its origin in Mahprajpat. There have
been nuns in successive generations who have either attained
the various stages of the bodhisattva vehicle or gained the fruit
of arhatship. Their names are listed in the Dharma-piaka as
conspicuously as the sun traveling across the sky.
Since the Buddha dissolved his shadow at Kuinagara and
ended his footsteps between the twin la trees, time has passed
incessantly, year after year. There has been degeneration and disorder. Faith and slander have become mixed up, and both faithful followers and slanderers appear and vanish from the world.
Due to disturbances caused by unworthy persons, the abstruse
teaching sank into oblivion after having been popular for a time.
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934b8
934c
The revival of the true Dharma after its downfall was the result
of the advocacy of wise and sagacious people.
After the Dharma of the Semblance Period had spread to the
East, Jingjian became the rst nun in China. For several hundred
years in succession, nuns of great virtue emerged one after the
other, such as Shanmiao and Jinggui, who practiced asceticism
very strictly, and Fabian and Sengguo, who fully realized the subtlety of meditation. Sengduan and Sengji had the determination
to be truthful and resolute in their faith, and the good reputations
of Miaoxiang and Faquan reached far and wide.
Such persons appeared without interruption. Being deep in
knowledge and of high virtue, they were persons of actualization,
resembling a complete piece of music commencing with the tingling of the bell and ending with the chiming of the ringing jade.
They were indeed the mainstay in the Period of Decadence, and
belonged to the four types of persons (i.e., monks, nuns, laymen,
and laywomen) to be depended upon in the time of degeneration.
With the passage of time, the pure disciplinary rules have
become somewhat inaccessible, but the virtuous deeds of these
nuns will be models for people for a thousand years to come. Yet
their deeds and the events of their lives had not been collected and
committed to paper in the form of a book, and I have felt regret
at this for many years. I started writing the present work by widely
collecting eulogistic compositions inscribed on slabs and making
an extensive search for notes and records. I made inquiries of erudite scholars and visited elderly people for information.
I have written full accounts of the lives of sixty-ve persons
who lived from the Sheng-ping period (357361) of the Jin dynasty,
up to the Tian-jian period (502519) of the Liang dynasty. In my
writing I did not aim at making superuous embellishments, but
tried my best to preserve the essential facts, so that those who
desire to gain emancipation may strive to attain to the same level
of morality as these virtuous persons. As I am a poor hand at writing and my knowledge is limited, there may be omissions and
oversights in my work. It is my hope that learned scholars will
supply any missing information.
70
1. Jingjian of Bamboo Grove Nunnery

in the Jin Dynasty
Jingjian was a native of Peng-cheng. Her original surname was
Chong, and her personal name was Lingyi. Her father, Dan, served
as governor of Wu-wei Prefecture.
Since childhood, Jingjian loved learning. She became a widow
early in life. As her family was poor, she often taught children of
noble families to play the Chinese zither and to read and write.
When she listened to the Dharma, she had faith in it with a feeling of joy, but there was no one from whom she could seek advice
and instruction.
She later met the ramaa Fashi, who was well learned in the
Buddhist scriptures. He had established a monastery at the western gate of the palace city during the Jian-xing period (313316)
of the Jin dynasty. Jingjian paid him a visit. When the monk
preached the Dharma to her she became awakened. Thinking that
she should try to acquire the benet of the Dharma while she was
still of sound mind and health, she borrowed some Buddhist texts
from [Fashi]. By reading these texts she came to understand the
gist of Buddhism.
One day she said to Fashi, As it is mentioned in the scriptures that there are monks and nuns, I wish to be ordained as a
nun.
Fashi said, In the Western Region there are male and female
sanghas, but in this land instruction about the sangha is incomplete.
Jingjian then said, Since they are said to be monks and nuns
(bhikus and bhikus), how can there be any dierence in their
instructions?
Fashi said, The foreigners said that the nuns have to observe
ve hundred disciplinary rules, and that must be the dierence.
But I will make an inquiry about it to the preceptor (updhyya).
The preceptor said, The disciplinary rules for nuns are generally the same [as those for monks], with only minor dierences.
71
They cannot be transmitted without a proper procedure. A female

novice (rmaerik), however, may receive the ten precepts from
a monk; but without a preceptress (updhyy), she would have
nobody to depend on in her religious life.
Jingjian then shaved her head and received the ten precepts
from the preceptor. Twenty-four ladies followed her example. They
constructed the Bamboo Grove Nunnery at the western gate of the
palace city. These female novices had no preceptress, so they sought
advice from Jingjian, who was competent to help them accomplish
deeds of virtue.
Jingjians preceptor was the ramaa Jnagiri, a native of
the country of Kamra in the Western Region. He was an intelligent man with a lenient and amiable nature, and was expert in
meditation and the recitation of Buddhist scriptures. He came to
China at the end of the Yong-jia period (307312) of the Jin
dynasty, and lived by begging alms. Whatever he said was for the
propagation of the Way, but the people of the time were so shallow in their faith that they did not ask him for instruction. In the
rst year of the Jian-wu period (317) [of the Jin dynasty], he
returned to Kamra. Later, when Buddhatuga came to China
and related Jnagiris virtuous deeds, the people regretted that
they had not studied under him.
Jingjian took in disciples and supported a group of nuns. She
was moderate and elegant in manner and had an upright character. Her sermons were instructive and persuasive, like wind bending the grass beneath it.
During the Xian-kang period of the Jin dynasty, ramaa
Sengjian obtained from the country of the Yuezhi the Mahsaghika-bhiku-karman and the Prtimoka. These texts were
translated into Chinese on the eighth day of the second month in
the rst year of the Sheng-ping period (357) at Luo-yang. The foreign ramaa Dharmagupta was asked to erect an ordination platform, but the Chinese ramaa Shi Daochang raised the objection,
on the basis of the lanidna-stra, that the platform was not
properly erected according to the Dharma.
72
So a boat was launched on the Si River, and Jingjian, together

with three other ladies, went up to the oating platform and
received full ordination as nuns from a group of monks. Jingjian
thus became the rst nun in the land of China.
On the day of the ordination, everyone present noticed an
unusual fragrance. They admired it and marveled at it, and
respected Jingjian all the more. She observed the Vinaya rules
strictly and never ceased in pursuing her studies. Although she
received many oerings from devotees, she distributed them to
others the moment she received them. She always looked after the
welfare of others before she would consider herself.
At the end of the Sheng-ping period, the same fragrance was
again noticed and simultaneously a red vapor was seen as a lady
holding owers of dierent colors descended from the air. Delighted
at the sight, Jingjian said to her fellow nuns, Look after yourselves well in the future. I am leaving you now. After saying
farewell to them, grasping their hands in hers, she ascended into
the air. The path she traveled on looked like a rainbow stretching
up to the sky. She was then seventy years old.
2. An Lingshou of Jian-xian Nunnery in

the Spurious Zhao Dynasty
An Lingshou, originally surnamed Xu, was a native of Dong-guan.
Her father, named Chong, served as Commander of External Troops
at the court of the insurgent Zhao (319352).
When she was young, Lingshou was intelligent and fond of
learning. Her talk was elegant and rened. She was of a tranquil
and desireless nature, taking no delight in worldly aairs. Quiet
and leisurely in manner, she took pleasure in the study of Buddhism
and did not wish to be married.
Her father said, You should be married. How can you be as
you are now?
Lingshou said, I x my mind on the way of karma, and I am
always thinking of the supermundane life. Neither blame nor
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935a
praise can change my mind, and I am self-sucient in honesty and

uprightness. Why must I conform to the morality of the Three Obediences before I may be considered [worthy] to keep the ethical
vows (precepts)?
Her father said, If you wish to gain benet for yourself alone,
how can you serve your parents at the same time?
Lingshou said, It is precisely for the purpose of saving all people and, needless to say, my parents, that I wish to engage myself
in the practice of the Way.
Chong consulted Buddhatuga about the matter. Buddhatuga said to him, Go back home and keep a pure fast for three
days, and then come again. Chong obeyed him.
Buddhatuga mixed some red paste with sesame oil, rubbed
it into the palm of Chongs right hand, and asked him to look at
it. He saw a Buddhist monk with features resembling his daughters preaching the Dharma to a great assembly. He described this
to Buddhatuga, who said, That was your daughters previous
incarnation: she was a monk working for the benet of others. Such
was her former life. If you comply with her wish, she will bring
glory and exaltation to all the six relations of your family and make
you rich and noble; and she may reach the other shore across the
great sea of the suering of rebirth.
After returning home, Chong granted his permission to Lingshou. She then cut o her hair and received ordination from both
Buddhatuga and the bhiku Jingjian, after which she founded
Jian-xian Nunnery. Buddhatuga gave her one piece of a sevenstriped robe made of cut-ower patches, presented to him by Shi
Le (r. 319333), together with a bathing jar in the shape of an elephants trunk.
Lingshou read various texts extensively and could recite whatever she read. Her thought was profound, and her spiritual
inuence reached far and wide. All the Buddhist devotees of the
time respected her. More than two hundred persons renounced
home life under her inuence, and thus ve more nunneries were
74
constructed. The devotees were not daunted by hard, painstaking

work, and all of them made spiritual achievements.
Shi Hu (r. 334349), out of respect to Lingshou, promoted her
father, Chong, to the post of Palace Attendant and also to Governor of Qing-he Prefecture.
3. Zhixian of the Western Nunnery

in Si-zhou
Zhixian, originally surnamed Zhao, was a native of Chang-shan.
Her father, named Zhen, served as magistrate of Fu-liu County.
Since her childhood, Zhixian was rened in behavior and chaste
in character. She donned the religious robe and perfectly observed
the disciplinary rules with a spirit of rectitude and profundity,
never cherishing any impure thought in her magnanimous mind.
The governor Du Ba, a devout believer in Taoism, hated the
Buddhists. He wanted to diminish the number of Buddhist monks
and nuns living in the monasteries and nunneries under his jurisdiction by putting them through an examination at a xed date.
The standard of the test was set so high that no ordinary person
could possibly pass it. The young monks and nuns were so frightened that they ed in fear. Zhixian alone had no fear and lived
with composure in her nunnery as usual.
On the day of the examination, all those assembled at the
Archers Hall outside the city were elderly people. Among the nuns,
Zhixian was the only person who was in the prime of life. Du Ba
rst put some questions to Zhixian and found that she was well
above the standard of the test. She was elegant in appearance and
spoke in a polished and eloquent manner. Du Ba harbored evil
intentions and forced Zhixian to stay alone with him. Having sensed
his ill purpose, Zhixian vowed not to violate the disciplinary rules
and resisted the governor with harsh words at the risk of her life.
Du Ba became furious and struck her with a knife, inicting more
than twenty wounds on her body. She fainted and fell to the ground.
When Du Ba had gone away, she recovered consciousness.
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935b
Since then Zhixian practiced Buddhism more strenuously and

lived an austere life, taking only vegetarian food. She had over a
hundred disciples, who were always in perfect harmony with her,
like water mixed with milk.
When Fu Jian illegitimately established himself as ruler (in
331), he heard of Zhixians fame and showed great respect for her.
He had an embroidered brocade robe made for her. It took three
years to complete the needlework, which was worth a million coins.
Afterward she lived at the Western Nunnery in Si-zhou, propagating the right Dharma and spreading faith in and the practice
of Buddhism.
During the Tai-he period (366370), when Zhixian was over
seventy years old, she still recited the Saddharmapuarka-stra
once every day and night. At her living quarters many birds used
to perch on the trees and whenever she took a walk in the open,
they always followed her, chirping and singing.
4. Miaoxiang of North Mountain

in Hong-nong
Miaoxiang, originally surnamed Zhang with the personal name of
Peihua, was a native of Hong-nong. Her father, Mao, had a rich
and prosperous family.
Miaoxiang studied the classics at an early age, and when she
was fteen she was married to Huangfu Kui of Bei-di, who was a
palace attendant to the crown prince. Huangfu Kui committed a
breach of propriety during his mourning period, and because of
this Miaoxiang scorned him and asked to end their marriage. She
also asked permission to renounce home and enter religious life.
Her father consented to both of her requests. She led a strenuous
and diligent life and lived as a vegetarian.
Miaoxiang concentrated her mind on learning the texts of wisdom and acquired a clear understanding of the characteristics of
the Dharma. She lived on North Mountain in Hong-nong, where
a forest faced a wild plain. With her many disciples, she took delight
76
in leading a leisurely and carefree life. She stayed for more than
twenty years at this secluded place, practicing asceticism more
and more earnestly as time went on. Whenever she preached the
Dharma to the people, she often feared that the listeners would
not concentrate their attention; she would exhort them even with
tears. Therefore, her instructions always brought great benet to
her audience.
In the Yong-he period (345356) of the Jin dynasty, the governor of Hong-nong invited her to attend a religious ceremony for
seven days. A layman in the assembly asked some questions about
Buddhism in an impolite way. Miaoxiang said to the man, with a
stern look, You are not only being arrogant toward me, but you
are also showing disrespect to an ocial of the state. How can you
be so imprudent as to misbehave in a public congregation? Then
the man withdrew from the assembly on the excuse of illness. All
the clergy and laypeople praised her.
Some time later she was laid up by sickness for some days. On
her deathbed she said with serenity to her disciples, Whoever is
born is bound to die, no matter whether he is poor or rich. I am
leaving you today. After saying this, Miaoxiang passed away.
5. Kang Minggan of Jian-fu Nunnery

Minggan, originally surnamed Zhu, was a native of Gao-ping. Her
family traditionally professed the great Dharma.
She was once captured by an intruder, one of an invading
enemy tribe, who intended to make her his wife. In spite of the
torture inicted on her, she was determined not to yield to the
insult. Thus she was deported to serve as a shepherdess. After ten
years, her desire to return home became more and more strong,
but she did not know the way homeward. She always meditated
on the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) and wished to
renounce secular life.
Then she encountered a monk, from whom she received the
ve precepts. The monk also gave her a copy of the Avalokite-
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935c
vara-stra, which she studied and recited day and night without
pause. Minggan wished to construct a ve-storied pagoda on her
return home, so she ed eastward though in great fear [at traveling alone]. At rst she did not know the way, but she continued
to go forward day and night. She came to a mountain where she
saw a tiger a few paces away from her. She was frightened at the
sight of the animal, but regained her composure a moment later.
Her wishes were to be fullled.
Minggan followed the tiger. After traveling for ten days, she
reached Qing-zhou. When she was about to enter a village, the
tiger disappeared. At Qing-zhou, she was again captured by Ming
Bolian. When news of this reached her home, her husband and son
came and retrieved her.
Her family, however, denied Minggans will and did not allow
her to practice asceticism. Only after three years of a hard life of
devotion could she engage wholeheartedly in the practice of meditation. She observed the Vinaya rules without blemish. Whenever she committed a minor oense, she would make a confession
for a whole morning and would not stop until she had experienced
an auspicious sign, such as seeing owers raining down from the
sky, hearing a voice in the air, witnessing a vision of the Buddha,
or having a good dream at night.
In her old age, Minggan was even more strict in her conduct.
The women north of the Yangzi River respected her as their teacher
and took refuge in her.
In the spring of the fourth year of the Yong-he period (348) in
the Jin dynasty, Minggan crossed the river with ten people, including Huizhan, to see He Chong, the Lord in Charge of Public Works.
He showed respect for her at their rst meeting. As there was no
nunnery in the capital at that time, He Chong oered his private
villa as a location for a nunnery. He asked Minggan what it should
be named.
Minggan replied, Now the four groups of Buddhist followers
are all present for the rst time in the capital of the great Jin
dynasty. What you, the donors, have performed is really a deed of
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blessedness. It may be named Jian-fu (Performing Blessedness)

Nunnery. The lord agreed to her suggestion.
Later she fell ill and passed away shortly after.
6. Tanbei of Northern Yong-an Nunnery

Tanbei, originally surnamed Tao, was a native of Jian-kang in
Dan-yang.
When she was young she had pure faith and wished to practice the true Dharma. Having neither an elder nor younger brother,
she lived alone with her mother, whom she served with respect
and lial piety. For this she won the commendation of her clansmen. When Tanbei reached marriageable age, she refused to accept
any betrothal gifts. Her mother could not act against her wishes
and allowed her to renounce secular life. After that she observed
the Vinaya rules strictly day and night without negligence.
Emperor Mu (r. 345362) of the Jin dynasty honored her with
deep respect. He often praised her, saying that the more one looked
at her, the more pleasant she appeared. He said to Empress Zhang,
(born He), Few nuns in the capital are comparable to Tanbei.
In the tenth year of Yong-he (354), the empress constructed a
nunnery for Tanbei in the Ding-yin Area and named it Yong-an
Nunnery (now known as Empress Hes Nunnery).
Tanbei taught the people in a modest and unassuming way
and never showed any sign of pride or arrogance. Her fame spread
widely day by day, and a group of three hundred persons ocked
to her from far and near. In the twenty-rst year of Tai-yuan (396),
she died at the age of seventy-three.
Her disciple, Tanluo, was witty, wise, and scrupulous and she
was well read in the scriptures and Vinaya texts. She was ordered
by imperial degree to succeed to the duties of her teacher, Tanbei.
In addition to the original houses, Tanluo constructed a four-storied pagoda, a lecture hall, and some other buildings of the nunnery. She also made an image of the reclining Buddha and built
a shrine hall for the worship of the seven Buddhas.
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936a
7. Huizhan of Jian-fu Nunnery

Huizhan, originally surnamed Hou, was a native of Peng-cheng.
She was a person of noble deportment, carried herself with dignity, and was unusually meticulous in her behavior. She had profound thoughts and a magnanimous spirit and regarded saving
others as her bound duty. She was a vegetarian and wore plain
garments, and she was happy leading a simple life.
Once Huizhan was traveling in a mountainous region, carrying some robes with her, when she encountered a group of bandits. They intended to strike her with their knives, but their hands
failed them. Then they asked Huizhan to give them the robes she
was carrying with her. She smiled merrily and said to them, You
gentlemen expected much more, but you have actually gotten so
little! So she also untied her new skirt under her robe and gave
it to the bandits. But the bandits declined the oer with thanks
and returned the robes to Huizhan. She traveled on, leaving the
robes behind.
In the second year of Jian-yuan (344) of the Jin dynasty,
Huizhan was ferried across the Yangzi River, and was greatly honored by He Chong, the Lord in Charge of Public Works, who invited
her to live at Jian-fu Nunnery.
8. Sengji of Yan-xing Nunnery

Sengji, originally surnamed Ming, was a native of Ji-nan. When
she was young, at the age of tying up her hair, she xed her mind
upon the Way and intended to renounce the world. But her mother
did not allow her to do so and secretly betrothed Sengji. The mans
engagement gifts were hidden away from her. She got wind of the
aair only when the date of the marriage ceremony was near. She
then began to fast, not taking even a drop of water. All her relatives begged her to take food, but she would not change her mind.
On the seventh day her mother called in the bridegroom, who
was a devout person. Seeing that his bride-to-be was near death,
80
he said to Sengjis mother, Every person has his or her own aspirations, and nobody has the right to suppress them.
Thereupon, her mother gave her consent and Sengji renounced
the world at the age of twenty-one. All her relatives, from both
the paternal and maternal sides of the family, came to pay tribute to her. They vied with one another in presenting precious and
beautiful gifts as well as oering delicious food to her. The governor of the district sent musicians for the occasion, and the magistrate of the prefecture attended the function in person. All the
clergy and laypeople remarked with admiration that this was an
unheard-of event.
Sengji observed the disciplinary rules with purity and studied the scriptures and Vinaya texts well. Her fame and status were
almost the same as that of the nun Tanbei. She was very close to
central authority and was expert in deliberating public aairs. For
this the Emperor Kang honored her highly.
In the second year of Jian-yuan (344), [Empress Kang], (born
Chu), built for Sengji the Yan-xing Nunnery at Tong-gong Lane
outside the gate of the city wall of the capital. Sengji lived in this
nunnery with over a hundred disciples. In managing the aairs
of the nunnery, she was just and fair and won the respect of both
the clergy and laypeople. She passed away in the rst year of Longan (397), at the age of sixty-eight.
9. Daoxing of the Eastern Nunnery

in Luo-yang
Zhu Daoxing, originally surnamed Yang, was a native of Tai-shan.
She was faithful and prudent person, and was never argumentative with others. When she was a novice priestess she always recited
Buddhist scriptures while she served the residents of the nunnery.
At the age of twenty, she could recite the Saddharmapuarkastra, the Vimalakrtinirdea-stra, and other scriptures.
After receiving full ordination, Daoxing undertook profound
studies to acquire the principles and the wisdom-avor of the
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936b
teachings of Buddhism. She was a vegetarian and led an ascetic

life, which became more and more austere as her age advanced.
She lived in the Eastern Nunnery in Luo-yang and was good at
theoretical discussion. She was particularly well versed in the
smaller version of the Mahprajpramit-stra. Daoxing valued the understanding of the teachings and would not engage in
rhetorical argument. All the Buddhist students of the whole prefecture regarded her as their teacher. She was the rst priestess
and lecturer on Buddhist scriptures in China.
During the Tai-he period of the Jin dynasty there was a woman
by the name of Yang Lingbian who had faith in Taoism and practiced exclusively the art of deep breathing. At rst she also had
quite a number of people following her with respect. But when
Daoxings way became popular, Yang Lingbians art ceased to
attract people and it passed out of existence.
On the pretext that they both belonged to the same clan, Yang
Lingbian got acquainted with Daoxing, and they exchanged visits frequently. But the woman actually bore a grudge against the
nun and waited for a chance to poison her. Later, she secretly put
a toxic substance in Daoxings food that caused the nun to suer
from an incurable illness. Daoxings disciples asked her to name
the house where she got the sickness. She said in reply, I know
the person well. But all this is due to my own karma from the past,
so you need not make any inquiries. Even if it could do me any
good, I would not tell you, and in any case it is of no use to do so.
Then she expired without revealing who had poisoned her.
10. Daorong of New Grove Nunnery

Daorong, a native of Li-yang, lived at Wu-jiang Nunnery. She was
strict and rigorous in observing the Vinaya rules and was good
at the art of divination, knowing beforehand fortune and misfortune. People alleged that she was a holy person. Emperor Ming
(r. 323326) of the Jin dynasty highly respected her. Once he placed
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some owers under her mat to test whether she was a saint or an
ordinary person. In truth, the owers did not wilt.
Before ascending the throne, Emperor Jianwen (r. 371372)
served his teacher, the Taoist master of Qing-shui. This master
was known in the capital by the name of Wang Puyang, and a
Taoist temple was built for him in the royal residence. Daorong
tried her best to edify the emperor-to-be, but he would not listen
to her. Later, whenever the maids-of-honor entered the Taoist temple, they always saw that the hall was full of celestial beings in
the form of Buddhist monks. The emperor-to-be suspected that
this was done by Daorong, but he was not sure of it.
After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, some crows made
a nest at the Tai-ji Palace, and he ordered Qu Anyuan to make a
divination about the event with the milfoil. The diviner said that
a woman teacher in the southwest could remove this abnormality. The emperor sent a messenger to invite Daorong from Wujiang Nunnery and discussed the matter with her.
Daorong said, The only thing to do is to fast and observe the
eight precepts for seven days. Then the abnormality will vanish
by itself. The emperor listened to her advice and lived an austere
life with a concentrated mind. In less than seven days, the crows
gathered together and carried the nest away.
Thereafter, the emperor deeply believed in Daorong with
respect and constructed a nunnery for her, providing her with all
the daily requisites. Because it was in a forest, the nunnery was
named Xin-lin (New Grove) Nunnery. He then served her with the
proprieties due to a teacher and professed the right Dharma. It
was through Daorongs eorts that the Way of the Buddha was
gloried during the Jin dynasty.
At the time of Emperor Xiaowu [of the Jin dynasty] (r. 373396),
Daorong was all the more honored and respected. During the Taiyuan period (376396) she suddenly disappeared, and nobody
knew where she had gone. The emperor ordered that her robes
and almsbowl be entombed, and that was why a grave stood beside
the nunnery.
83
11. Lingzong of the Western

Nunnery in Si-zhou
936c
Lingzong, originally surnamed Man, was a native of Jin-xiang in

Gao-ping. Since her childhood, she had pure faith and was praised
by the people of her native place. Her family encountered calamity
and misfortune, and she was captured by some invaders. She called
on the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha and recited the Chapter on
the Universal Gate [of the Saddharmapuarka-stra] with the
utmost sincerity. In order to plead for her release, she plucked out
her eyebrows, pretending to be ill with a noxious disease. Thus she
was set free.
Lingzong followed the road to return south. When she had
gone out of Ji-zhou, she was again pursued by a group of bandits.
She climbed a tree in the wood and meditated with a concentrated
mind. Her pursuers only looked ahead and did not raise their eyes
to look above, so they failed to nd her and soon dispersed.
Lingzong came down from the tree and proceeded on her way,
but she dared not go begging for food. At rst she did not feel hungry. She arrived at Meng Ford in the evening, but there was no
boat to ferry her across. In a state of fear and anxiety, she again
called on the Triple Gem. Suddenly she saw a white deer coming
from out of nowhere. It went down and waded across the stream,
raising a cloud of sand and dust without a splash or waves. Lingzong followed the deer and crossed the stream, just as if she were
walking on dry land, without getting wet. In this way she was able
to reach her home.
Lingzong again entered the religious life to undertake a profound study of Buddhism with an absorbed mind. She learned and
practiced the Way diligently with an earnest mind and read the
scriptures extensively. She comprehended their deep meaning and
grasped the essence of the Dharma.
Upon hearing her name, Emperor Xiaowu of the Jin dynasty
sent her a letter to convey his respects. Later, the people suered
from disease and many became impoverished. Lingzong used all
84
her available resources to relieve their suering and spared no

eort in collecting donations from the public no matter the distance [she had to travel] or the obstacles [she encountered]. She
aided those who needed support. A large number of people received
assistance and relied upon her, while she herself endured hunger
and toiled hard. Her body became emaciated.
One morning when she was seventy-ve, Lingzong suddenly
summoned her disciples and told them her dream of the previous
night. In the dream she saw a huge mountain, Mount Sumeru,
with lofty and extremely beautiful peaks that touched the sky and
were adorned with precious ornaments shining as brilliantly as
the sun. The drum of the Dharma sounded loudly, and the smoke
of fragrant incense pervaded the air. When she was told to go forward, she was startled and awoke from her sleep. Then she suddenly had an unusual feeling. It was not painful, but it caused her
to fall into a trance. Daojing, a fellow nun, remarked that [the land
in the dream] must have been the Land of Bliss. As they were talking, Lingzong passed away suddenly.
12. Zhi Miaoyin of Jian-jing Nunnery

Miaoyin, whose native place is unknown, had set her mind on the
Way since her childhood. She lived in the capital and was well
versed in both Buddhist and worldly learning. She was good at
writing literary compositions. Emperor Xiaowu of the Jin dynasty,
Premier Wang Dao of Kuai-ji, Meng Yi, and others all respected
her. She often discussed the writing of literary compositions with
the emperor as well as with the premier and other scholars at the
court. Owing to her brilliant talent, she enjoyed a high reputation.
In the tenth year of Tai-yuan (385), the premier built the Jianjing Nunnery for Miaoyin and appointed her abbess. She had a
following of over a hundred disciples. All the talented and skillful composition writers from within and outside the court
approached her to improve themselves. Thus she received a vast
amount of oerings and gifts and became a person of enormous
85
937a
wealth in the capital city. Both nobles and commoners served her
with deference, and every day more than a hundred horses and
carriages were parked at her gate.
When Wang Chen, the governor of Jing-zhou, died, Emperor
Liezong (r. 396398) intended to replace him with Wang Gong.
Huan Xuan, who was at Jiang-ling and had suered setbacks at
the hands of Wang Chen, heard that Wang Gong, whom he had
always feared, was coming to take the vacant post. Yin Zhongkan
was then a student of Wang Gong, and Huan Xuan knew that he
was weak in ability and easy to control; therefore Huan Xuan
wished to have him ll the vacancy. He sent a messenger to ask
Miaoyin to secure the governorship for Yin Zhongkan.
Before long Emperor Liezong asked Miaoyin, Now that post
at Jing-zhou is vacant, who should be appointed to ll it?
Miaoyin said in reply, As I am but a humble religious person,
how can I allow myself to discuss such secular matters? But I have
heard people both inside and outside the palace say that nobody
is more competent than Yin Zhongkan. He is a scrupulous and
thoughtful man, and both those qualities are needed in the regions
of Jing and Chu.
The emperor consented. Yin Zhongkan was appointed to ll
the vacancy left by Wang Chen. In this manner, Miaoyin was
inuential in the whole court and exercised authority within and
beyond the palace.
13. Daoyi of Empress Hes Nunnery

Daoyi, originally surnamed Jia, was a native of Lou-fan in Yanmen and a paternal aunt of Huiyuan. She was married to Xie Zhi,
a man of the same prefecture, who served as magistrate of Xunyang County and died at his post there.
Daoyi, who was then twenty-two years old, discarded all her
worldly burdens and donned the religious robe. She was clever,
intelligent, learned, and possessed a good memory. She recited the
Saddharmapuarka-stra and lectured on the Vimalakrti-nird-
86
ea-stra and the smaller version of the Mahprajpramitstra. She had an exceptional understanding of the subtle
meanings and the wonderful doctrines. She was strict in observing the Vinaya rules, and her manners were sublime and dignied.
Having heard that the scriptures and Vinaya texts were gradually being translated in the capital, where preaching meetings
were held continually, Daoyi went there at the end of the Tai-yuan
period of the Jin dynasty. She stayed at Empress Hes Nunnery.
She engaged wholeheartedly in the study of the Vinaya-piaka
and acquired full understanding of all of its details. She was always
humble and polite and never idle, even when she was alone in
seclusion. She wore coarse and inferior garments and carried her
religious sta and almsbowl by herself. As she was simple and
plain without aectation, both the clergy and laity held her in
high esteem.
When she was seventy-eight years old, Daoyi fell seriously ill.
But she remained deeply pious and never stopped her religious
recitations. Her disciples said to her, We hope that you will give
us messages by which we can rectify our defects.
Daoyi replied, It ill bets me to say anything. After saying
this, she expired.
End of Fascicle One of Biographies of Buddhist Nuns
87
Fascicle Two
The Song Dynasty
14. Huiguo of Jing-fu Nunnery

Huiguo, originally surnamed Pan, was a native of Huai-nan. She
always practiced austerities and never wore thick clothing made
of cotton. She paid special attention to the study of the Vinaya
and observed the disciplinary rules with perfect purity. Because
she was admired by both the clergy and laity, her good reputation
spread far and wide.
Chuan Hongren of Bei-di, the governor of Qing-zhou in the
Song dynasty (420479), highly appreciated her nobility and provided her with rich sustenance. In the third year of Yong-chu (422)
(Baochangs note: Tanzong said it was in the seventh year of Yuanjia [430], but Bhiku Hong-an, the abbess of the nunnery, showed
me the document for raising funds to build the nunnery, which
bears the date of the third year of Yong-chu.) the governor assigned
the land to the east of his residence for the construction of a vihra
and named it Jing-fu Nunnery, with Huiguo as the director. Whatever donations or gifts she received were turned over to the sangha.
The activities of the nunnery prospered; and all the residents, old
and young, heartily admired her.
Guavarman, a Buddhist monk of the Western Region, arrived
in the sixth year of Yuan-jia (429). Huiguo asked him, The nuns
of this land who have already received ordination did so without
a previous example. If we trace [the nuns lineage] back to Mahprajpat, her case may certainly serve us as a good precedent.
But is there any dierence after her time?
No dierence, replied Guavarman.
89
937b18
937c
Huiguo inquired again, According to the text of the Vinaya,

the preceptor who gives ordination under such circumstances is
considered to have committed an oense. How can you say that
there is no dierence?
The monk replied, He is regarded as having committed an
oense [only] if a female novice did not make preliminary studies
of the Vinaya for two years before her ordination in a place where
the nuns sangha existed.
Huiguo further asked, It may be allowed because formerly
there were no nuns in this country, but they were not absent in
Jambudvpa.
The monk said, According to the rules of the Vinaya, a quorum of ten monks is required for one to receive full ordination but,
in a remote place, ve persons may form a quorum to give ordination. This is because we must not do anything contrary to the
rules at places where the required conditions are available.
Huiguo asked again, How many li away is considered a frontier place?
The monk said, A place more than a thousand li away and
separated by mountains and sea is a frontier place.
In the ninth year (432), Huiguo and her disciples Huiyi, Huikai,
and others, ve persons in all, received full ordination anew from
Saghavarman. Huiguo observed the Vinaya rules with veneration and prudence, as if she were protecting her own head. She
died in the tenth year of Yuan-jia (433). She was more than seventy years of age.
Huiguos disciple Huikai was also well known at the time for
her moral integrity.
15. Fasheng of Jian-fu Nunnery

Fasheng, originally surnamed Nie, was a native of Qing-he. At
the time of the uprising in the state of Zhao, her family ed to Jinling. In the fourteenth year of Yuan-jia (437), she renounced home
and became a nun at Jian-fu Nunnery.
90
Being a person of talent and knowledge with intelligent comprehension, Fasheng behaved according to wise judgment. Living
in the capital as a refugee in her old age, she always cherished the
memory of her native home, even though the imperial capital was
prosperous and peaceful. Only by making a profound study of the
abstruse principles of religion was she able to dispel sorrow and
forget about her advanced age. Then she received the bodhisattva
precepts from the Venerable Ou of Dao-chang Monastery. During
the day she undertook discriminative studies, and in the evenings
she discussed and pondered over the doctrine.
After a number of years, Fasheng gradually became bright
and cheerful in sentiment. Although she was getting old, she
exceeded those who were in the prime of life. She always wished
to be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss, and told her fellow nuns,
Tanjing and Tanai, I engage in the practice of the Way with the
intention of being born in the Western Pure Land.
On the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month in the sixteenth
year (439), as Fasheng was worshiping the Buddha in the pagoda
in the evening, she became aicted by an illness which eventually turned out to be serious. At the rst watch of the night of the
last day in that month, when she was dozing in her bed, the Tathgata descended from the air with two bodhisattvas, discussing the
two vehicles. In an instant they came down, riding on fragrant
owers and clouds, with a large retinue to visit Fasheng in her
sickbed. A light shone brilliantly and was seen by the whole nunnery. All the residents came to ask her what the light was, and
she told them everything. As soon as she nished speaking,
Fasheng passed away. She was seventy-two years old.
This was related by Zhang Bian of Wu Prefecture, governor
of Yu-zhang, who always honored and respected the nun Fasheng.
16. Huiyu of Niu-mu Nunnery in Jiang-ling

Huiyu, a native of Chang-an, was diligent in cultivating good deeds
and well learned in both the scriptures and the Vinaya texts. She
91
938a
often traveled to edify people and passed through various districts

in the country. She would go whenever there was a chance, whether
or not it was the cold or hot season. She journeyed to the regions
of Jing and Chu in the south and stayed at Niu-mu Nunnery in
Jiang-ling. She recited the Saddharmapuarka-stra, the ragama[-samdhi]-stra, and other scriptures for ten days and gained
the benet of the Dharma. All the clergy and laity in the regions
to the west of the state of Tan paid homage to her. She never
stopped reading and studying the scriptures and commentaries.
In the tenth month of the fourteenth year of Yuan-jia (437),
Huiyu performed the seven-day self-mortication practice, vowing that through the sincere performance of this practice she would
become enlightened and see the Buddha after she left her body.
Also, she wished to see the Buddhas light within the seven-day
[period of the rite]. At midnight on the fth day, a spiritual ray
glowed brilliantly in the woods to the east of the nunnery. She
related this to the other residents, and all of them respected and
admired her more heartily. Afterward the abbess Fahong built a
meditation hall at the site where the ray had gleamed.
Formerly, when Huiyu was at Chang-an, she once saw a light
of a reddish-white color at the monastery built by the imperial
minister Xue. The light illumined the surrounding place and
dimmed after ten days. Later, on the eight day of the fourth month,
a monk of Liu-chong Monastery discovered a one-foot-tall golden
image of Maitreya at the place where the light had been seen.
17. Daoqiong of Jian-fu Nunnery

Daoqiong, originally surnamed Jiang, was a native of Dan-yang.
She was already well read in the classics and history when she
was a little more than ten years old. After receiving full ordination, she acquired a clear understanding of the Tripiaka and assiduously practiced asceticism. During the Tai-yuan period of the Jin
dynasty, the empress admired Daoqiongs lofty behavior and, for
the cultivation of meritorious deeds, [the empress] mostly depended
92
on Jian-fu Nunnery. Wealthy and noble ladies vied with one

another to associate with Daoqiong.
In the eighth year of Yuan-jia (431), Daoqiong made a large
number of images that were enshrined in various places. Two
golden images, complete with curtains and pedestals, were placed
at Peng-cheng Nunnery; one processional image of Maitreya with
a canopy and pearls was installed at Wa-guan Nunnery; two golden
images with accessory banners and canopies were placed at Southern Jian-xing Nunnery; and an image [of the reclining Buddha]
together with a shrine hall were constructed at Jian-fu Nunnery.
She also made a processional image of Samantabhadra for which
all of the oblatory utensils were ne and exquisite.
In the fteenth year of Yuan-jia (438), Daoqiong made a golden
image of Amityus. On the tenth day of the fourth month in that
year, that image emitted a ray from between its eyebrows, shining brightly with a golden hue in the nunnery. The clergy and
laypeople told one another about the event, and they all came to
pay their respects. Upon seeing the divine radiance, all were happy
and delighted.
With a legacy bequeathed by the late empress, Daoqiong
extended the southern part of the nunnery and constructed more
dormitories for the nuns.
18. Daoshou of Qi-huan Nunnery

in Jiang-ling
Daoshou, whose native place is unknown, was a person of peaceful and tranquil disposition. She was well known for her lial piety
and deference. Since childhood she observed the ve precepts and
never violated any of the rules.
During the Yuan-jia period (424453) her father died. Because
of her excessive grief in mourning, she suered from an ailment
which caused her neither pain nor itching but reduced her to a
jaundiced skeleton. For several years no treatment could cure her.
Then she made a vow that if she was cured of her disease, she
93
would renounce home to become a nun. After making this vow

she gradually recovered her health and so, in fullment of her
vow, she left secular life and went to live at Qi-huan Nunnery.
Daoshou surpassed all others in leading a diligent and ascetic
life and she recited the Saddharmapuarka-stra three thousand times. [When reciting the sutra] she often saw auspicious
signs of light. At midnight of the seventh day of the ninth month
in the sixteenth year of Yuan-jia (429), she witnessed a precious
canopy suspended in the air over that sutra.
19. Shi Xuanzao of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery

in Wu Prefecture
938b
Xuanzao, originally surnamed Lu and a native of Wu Prefecture,

was the daughter of An Gou, though in the Xuan-yan-ji [his] name
is given as An Xun. When she was over ten years old, she was
aicted with a serious disease. Despite all the good medicine she
had taken, her condition worsened day by day.
At that time, Shi Faji of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery told An Gou,
I am afraid her illness is caused by her own karma, and no medicine can cure it. According to Buddhist scriptures, those who are
in pain and in an emergency may be saved if they take refuge in
the Triple Gem, repent, and beg to be saved. If you and your daughter could discard incorrect practices and wash away delements
and impurities with your minds concentrated, she would be cured
of her illness.
An Gou accepted the advice and performed in his house the ceremony for worshiping Avalokitevara. With a pure mind and sincere intent, he and Xuanzao worshiped the bodhisattva with great
devotion. In spite of her illness, Xuanzao prostrated herself at the
shrine and kept her mind in uninterrupted concentration. After
seven days she suddenly saw, in the rst watch of the night, a golden
statue about one foot high that caressed her three times from head
to foot. Then she felt that her severe illness was cured in an instant.
Since she had personally experienced this supernatural sign, she
94
begged to renounce secular life and went to live at Tai-xuan-tai

Nunnery.
Xuanzao diligently recited the Saddharmapuarka-stra.
For thirty-seven years, she lived as a strict vegetarian and constantly xed her mind upon rebirth in the Tuita Heaven. In the
sixteenth year of Yuan-jia (439) of the Song dynasty, she went to
the capital to make copies of Buddhist scriptures. Where she went
afterward is unknown.
20. Shi Huiqiong of Nan-an Nunnery

Huiqiong, originally surnamed Zhong, was a native of Guang-zhou.
She devoted herself to the Way in a noble and unsullied manner
and never tasted sh or meat. When she was nearly eighty, she
was even more assiduous in performing religious deeds. She always
wore ramie or hemp cloth and never used silk or oss silk. Besides
taking charge of the nunnery, she engaged in preaching.
Originally Huiqiong lived at Nan-an Nunnery in Guang-ling.
In the eighteenth year of Yuan-jia (441), Lady Wang, the mother
of the heir apparent of the Prince of Jiang-xia of the Song dynasty,
presented Huiqiong with a parcel of land on which she built a convent named Southern Yong-an Nunnery. Later, in the twentysecond year (445), Xiao Chengzhi of Lan-ling erected a stupa in
a foreign style at the nunnery. In the fteenth year of Yuan-jia
(438), Huiqiong also constructed the Bodhi Nunnery, of which all
the halls, shrines, and other buildings were grand and beautiful.
She then went to live there and presented Southern Yong-an Nunnery to the Buddhist monk Huizhi.
In the twentieth year of Yuan-jia (443), while en route to Kuaiji with Meng Yi, Huiqiong passed away at Po-kang. She had
instructed her disciples, After my death my body need not be
buried. You may hire someone to cut it into pieces to feed to living
creatures. But when she died, her disciples could not bear to carve
up her remains. So they went to report the case to the magistrate
of Ju-rong County, who ruled that the corpse should be carried to
95
the mountains to allow birds and animals to feed on it by themselves.

For more than ten days, the body remained as it was before
and did not change its complexion. The magistrate asked the villagers to scatter some raw rice around the corpse. The birds ate
up all the rice at some distance from the body, but the grains near
it were left untouched. Upon hearing about this matter in the capital, Huiqiongs disciple Huilang rushed to the spot. She brought
the remains back and buried them on the hill in front of Gao-zuo
Nunnery. A stupa was erected over the grave.
21. Puzhao of Zhang-guo Nunnery

in Nan-pi
938c
Puzhao, originally surnamed Dong with the given name Bei, was
a native of An-ling in Bo-hai Prefecture. When she was young, she
adhered to moral principles. At the age of seventeen she renounced
home and lived at Zhang-guo Nunnery in Nan-pi. Later she journeyed with her teacher to Guang-ling to study at Jian-xi Vihra.
She devoted her mind to the practice of the Dharma and won the
praise of all the residents of the vihra. After the death of her
teacher Huizi, she dissociated herself from both rejoicing and
mourning activities and practiced austerities with unparalleled
strictness.
In the twelfth month of the eighteenth year of Yuan-jia (441)
of the Song dynasty, Puzhao fell ill because of excessive strain.
Although her condition was serious, she was still earnest in her
mind and kept her deep faith without deviating from her original
intention. She prayed sincerely day and night with a concentrated
mind. She could not get down from bed, so she worshiped on the
pillow, practiced repentance as usual, and also recited three
fascicles of the Saddharmapuarka-stra each day.
In the middle of the second month of the nineteenth year (442),
Puzhao suddenly fainted away. She recovered consciousness after
two meals time. She related that [in a dream] she had gone toward
96
the west and come upon a pagoda in the middle of the road, where
a monk was sitting in meditation with closed eyes. He was amazed
to see her and asked where she had come from. She answered the
monk and inquired of him how far it was from there to her nunnery. The monk replied that it was fty million li.
The road was covered with grass and there were people going
along it, but she recognized none of them. The wind blew the clouds
so that they were scattered high, the place was neat and clean,
and it was particularly bright toward the west. She intended to
proceed onward but the monk did not allow her. So she turned
back and then woke up abruptly. Seven days later, Puzhao died
at the age of twenty-ve.
22. Shi Huimu of the Nunnery of Zhu-ge

Village in Liang Prefecture
Huimu, originally surnamed Fu, was a native of Bei-di. Leaving
home at the age of eleven, she served Huichao as her teacher and
observed the minor precepts. She lived at the Nunnery of Zhu-ge
Village in Liang Prefecture. In the beginning she studied the larger
version of the Mahprajpramit-stra, of which she recited
two fascicles each day. She also read various other scriptures.
Her mother was old and sick and had lost all her teeth, so
Huimu chewed dried meat in order to feed her. Because her mouth
was impure, she did not receive full ordination, but at all she times
repented her own karma.
Huimu suddenly saw the ordination altar, and the sky turned
golden in color. When she raised her head to look up, she saw a
man in the south wearing a double silk garment entirely yellow
in color. He moved to and fro around Huimu and told her, I have
already given you ordination. Then he disappeared in an instant.
Huimu did not tell anyone of this event, and she experienced many
more strange phenomena like this one.
Huimus elder brother got wind of the matter and wished to
know more about it. He said to her, with false intimidation, You
97
have been practicing the Way for so many years, and yet you have
gained no benet at all. So let your hair grow and I will nd you
a husband. These words worried her, so Huimu told her elder
brother what she had seen. She then received full ordination.
On the eve of receiving ordination, she dreamed that a man
transmitted the Prtimoka to her orally. When she had been
ordained, she could recite the text after reading it twice.
During the Yuan-jia period of the Song dynasty, Huimu made
images of the Buddhas of the ten quarters and produced copies of
the Prtimokas and the Karmans of the four schools of the Vinaya
for distribution among the four groups of the Buddhist sangha.
23. Fasheng of the Southern Nunnery

in Wu County
939a
Fasheng left secular life when she was young, and lived at the
Southern Nunnery, or, as it was also called, the Eastern Nunnery,
in Wu County. She was well known for her modesty and honesty,
as well as for her prudence and assiduousness.
During the Yuan-jia period of the Song dynasty, Sima Long
of He-nei, the assistant magistrate of Pi-ling, encountered invaders
and was killed in battle. His wife (born Shan), who had lost her
parents long ago and had no children, was already an old woman.
She went to Wu Prefecture to seek shelter from Fasheng, who
received her as [she would] a relative. A hundred days later, the
woman fell sick and was ill for three years with a quite serious
condition. As Fasheng had no savings in reserve, she had to beg
for alms to sustain the woman and provide her with medical treatment. In doing this, she was undaunted by rain and heat, wind
and cold. The woman was cured of her illness, and Fasheng was
praised and esteemed by the people.
Later she traveled to the capital to study dhyna (meditation)
and the Vinaya, thereby gaining complete knowledge of mental
concentration and wisdom as well as probing into the profound
truth. In teaching her disciples, Fasheng was successful without
98
resorting to arrogant strictness. When she was active, it was not

to seek personal gain; and when she was inactive, she did not mean
to win fame by it. Her perfect attentiveness was only to help sentient beings.
When Fasheng reached the age of sixty, she was ill for some
time. She said she would not be able to recover her health. Her
relatives were surprised to hear this, and asked her why.
She replied, Yesterday I saw two monks who told me so. After
a moment she spoke again. Now I see two monks, not the two I
saw yesterday, with their right shoulders uncovered, holding owers in their hands and standing behind my sickbed. I see a Buddha
sitting on a lotus ower at a distance, whose light is shining upon
my body. After that Fasheng could not sleep at night and asked
others to repeat the Saddharmapuarka-stra. Late in the night,
when her breath became feeble, she asked others to stop repeating the scripture, but to chant the name of the Buddha while she
also did the same. When it was nearly daybreak, she passed away
with her countenance unchanged.
24. Sengduan of Yong-an Nunnery

Sengduan was a native of Guang-ling. Her family had professed
Buddhism for several generations, and all her sisters were devout
Buddhists. She vowed to leave secular life and refused to accept
any betrothal gift. As she was such a beauty, well known in her
native district, wealthy families ocked to her house to make marriage proposals. Her mother and elder brother promised to marry
her o to a certain man.
Three days before the wedding, Sengduan ed to a nunnery
in the night. The abbess lodged her in a separate room and provided her with what she needed. Sengduan asked for a copy of the
Avalokitevara-stra, which she memorized in two days time. She
worshiped with tears raining down, day and night, without cease.
Three days later, while she was worshiping the Buddhas image,
it spoke to her. Your betrothed is coming to the end of his life.
99
Just be diligent in your practice and do not worry. The next day,
the bridegroom was butted to death by a bull.
Sengduan was then free to leave home to observe the prohibitive rules with perseverance. She kept her mind empty and undisturbed in concentration and was reserved, as if she could not speak.
But when she engaged in analyzing the nature of name and reality, she would discourse eloquently without feeling tired. She read
the Mahparinirva-stra once every ve days.
In the tenth year of Yuan-jia (433), Sengduan traveled south
to the capital and lived at Yong-an Nunnery. She administered
the aairs of the nunnery with aection for all and treated everybody equally. Both old and young were pleased with her, and they
venerated her more with the passing of time.
In the twenty-fth year of Yuan-jia (448), when she was over
seventy years old, Sengduan died. Her disciples, Pujing and Puyao,
were renowned for their practice of asceticism. Both of them recited
the Saddharmapuarka-stra.
25. Guangjing of the Middle Nunnery

in Guang-ling
939b
Guangjing, whose original surname was Hu and given name Daobi,

was a native of Dong-gian in Wu-xing. While she was young, she
renounced home and went to live with her teacher at the Middle
Nunnery in Guang-ling.
During her youth, Guangjing was strict in her behavior. When
she grew up she practiced contemplative meditation. She refrained
from eating delicious food, and when she was about to receive the
major precepts, she gave up eating grains completely. She lived
on pine nuts for fteen years after receiving full ordination.
Although her intelligence remained sharp and bright, her physical strength diminished and she became feeble and exhausted.
Still she prayed sincerely in an acceptable manner and often labored
from morning to evening.
100
The monk Facheng said to her, Clothing and food are not
important matters in Buddhism. On hearing this advice, Guangjing resumed eating polished rice. Then she redoubled her eorts
and studied diligently without feeling tired. The number of people who followed her to learn the methods of contemplation was
always more than a hundred.
In the fth month of the eighteenth year of Yuan-jia (441),
Guangjing fell ill and said, I have abhorred and detested this body
of mine for quite a long time. Thereupon she repented both mentally and verbally while suering from illness. Her mind was calm
and lucid, and her spirit was cheerful and joyful. On New Years
Day of the nineteenth year (442), she fasted without taking any
food or drink and xed her mind on the Tuita Heaven uninterruptedly. She did so without cessation until the night of the eighteenth day of the fourth month, when an unusual fragrance and
strange visions lled the air. She passed away that night.
26. Shanmiao of Shu Prefecture

Shanmiao, originally surnamed Quyang, was a native of Fan
County. She renounced home while she was young. She was of
mild and amiable disposition, and seldom showed feelings of pleasure or displeasure. She never tried to acquire ne clothes or delicious food. She had a younger sister who was a widow and had
nobody to depend upon. So Shanmiao lodged her sister and her sisters young son in her room. Her sister often heard Shanmiao
lamenting that she was not born at the time of the Buddha. Whenever she made this remark, she would sob sorrowfully and her
tears owed incessantly.
The [two women] lived together for four or ve years, but the
younger sister never saw her elder sister take a meal. When the
younger sister cooked the food and called Shanmiao to eat with
her, Shanmiao would say that she had just taken her meal somewhere else, or that she was feeling indisposed and could not eat
anything.
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939c
In this way, they lived together for a number of years. The

younger sister became ashamed of herself and said, I am so unfortunate as to have lost my husband. Because I have no other relatives, my son and I have come to depend on my elder sister. I must
have made the place so squalid and untidy that my elder sister is
disgusted with it and will not eat with me. She said this with
tears in her eyes and then wished to leave.
Shanmiao held her hand and consoled her, saying, You do
not understand what I mean. Since I have had good opportunities
to obtain alms at some other place, why should I consume food at
home? Just stay here with an easy mind. I will make a long journey soon. You will have to look after this house and must not go
anywhere. When she heard these words, the younger sister gave
up the idea of going away.
Shanmiao then spun cotton into yarn to produce cloth and also
purchased several bushels of oil, which she stored in an earthen
jar that she placed in the courtyard. She said to her younger sister, I intend to perform meritorious deeds with this oil. Please
dont use it.
At midnight on the eighth day of the fourth month, Shanmiao
wrapped herself with cloth [in order] to burn her own body. When
the re reached her head, she asked her younger sister to call the
ceremonial leader to strike the bell. I am forsaking this life. Tell
all the nuns to come quickly to bid me farewell. When the nuns
arrived, alarmed, Shanmiao was not yet dead and said to them,
Each of you should work hard with diligence. The round of birth
and death is dreadful. Try to win emancipation from it, and dont
go around in transmigration. I have given up my body as an oering
twenty-seven times in my previous lives, and it is only in this life
that I will nally attain the result.
(Baochangs note: When I made inquiries of the local people,
some of them said that the immolation took place in the seventeenth year of Yuan-jia [440], while others said that it happened
during the Xiao-jian period [454456] or during the Da-ming
period [457464]. Accordingly, I record all these dates here.)
102
27. Sengguo of Guang-ling

Sengguo was originally surnamed Zhao and her given name was
Fayou. She was a native of Xiu-wu in Ji Prefecture. She had instinctive piety and faith that had been cultivated in her previous lives,
and her pure devotion was spontaneous. Even as a child at the
breast, she would not eat after midday. For this her parents praised
her and marveled at her. On reaching adulthood, she xed her
mind on one purpose. But because favorable circumstances were
intermingled with obstacles, she was able to leave secular life only
when she was twenty-seven years old.
Sengguo served as a teacher to the nun Huicong of Guangling. She observed the Vinaya rules with perseverance in a clear
manner, and practiced meditation in a faultless way. Each time
she entered samdhi, she would sit from dusk to dawn with her
spirit dwelling in a state of mental purity and her body as motionless as a withered tree. Yet shallow-minded people still doubted
her.
In the sixth year of Yuan-jia (428), a foreign shipowner named
Nandi traveled from the Land of the Lion (Sri Lanka) with some
nuns, who arrived in the capital of Song and stayed at Jing-fu
Nunnery. Some time later, they inquired of Sengguo, Have there
been any foreign nuns in this country before?
She replied, No.
Then they asked, Where did the Chinese nuns get both of the
two sanghas from whom to receive the full ordination?
Sengguo replied, They received the full precepts only from
the bhiku sangha, as an expedient means to arouse feelings of
the great importance [of becoming ordained] in their minds. In
this same way, Mahprajpat received ordination through accepting the Eight Rules of Veneration. Thus the ve hundred ladies
of the kya clan could have Mahprajpat as their preceptress.
This was an eminent precedent.
Even though Sengguo replied thus [to the nuns question], she
still had doubts in her own mind. So she inquired about the whole
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940a
matter from the Tripiaka master, who oered the same explanation. Then she asked further, May one receive full ordination
for a second time?
The master said, As la, samdhi, and praj are developed
from imperceptibility to prominence, it would be even better for
one to receive ordination again.
In the tenth year (433) the shipowner Nandi came again with
eleven nuns, Devasr and others, from the Land of the Lion. The
nuns who arrived earlier had by now mastered the Chinese language. Saghavarman was asked to mark the boundaries of a
chapter house at Nan-lin Monastery, in which more than three
hundred persons were reordained, one after another.
In the eighteenth year (441), when Sengguo was thirty-four,
she once sat in meditation for an entire day. The ceremonial leader
touched her and announced that she was dead. The functionaries
of the nunnery were surprised at the announcement, and they all
came to look into the matter. They saw that Sengguos body had
become cold and her esh sti, but she was still breathing faintly.
When they started to carry her away, she opened her eyes and
talked to them, smiling as usual. Thus the ignorant were convinced
of her spiritual attainment. It is not known what happened to her
afterward.
28. Jingcheng of Bamboo Grove Nunnery

in Dong-xiang in Shan-Yang
Jingcheng, originally surnamed Liu with the given name Sheng,
was a native of Qiao Prefecture. She observed the Vinaya rules in
a consummate and ascetic way, and chanted four hundred fty
thousand words of scriptures. Her nunnery was located in a wood
at the foot of a mountain, away from all noisy disturbances. She
could engage her mind in contemplative meditation, completely
free from worldly din and bustle.
Once a man lost his cow and searched for it everywhere. He
came to the mountain during the night and saw a re blazing over
104
the woods of the nunnery. But when he arrived at the place, there
was nothing there at all.
There was a tiger that always followed Jingcheng wherever
she went. When she sat in meditation, it crouched beside her. When
any of the nuns in the nunnery committed a fault without making a confession in time, the tiger would become furiously angry,
but it would be pleased once the confession was made.
Later, when Jingcheng left the mountain for a short time, she
met on the way a woman from Bei-di, who casually exchanged
greetings with her as if they were old acquaintances. This woman,
who had the surname Qiu and the given name Wenjiang, was originally from Bo-ping. She was by nature fond of the BuddhaDharma. Having heard that the Way was thriving in the south,
she had come to the southern region when the pass opened for
travel. She then renounced secular life and practiced austerities
with Jingcheng. Both of them refrained from eating grain,
living only on sesame seeds and millet.
The fame [of the two women] reached the capital of a barbarian tribe. [The barbarians] regarded them as holy persons and dispatched messengers from afar to greet them. But because
they did not want to stay in the frontier region, [Jingcheng and
Wenjiang] purposely misbehaved in order to ruin their reputation
[with the barbarians]. When the chief of the tribe prepared a sumptuous feast of sh and meat for them, they devoured everything
without discrimination. Because of this, the chief despised them
and no longer detained them. Jingcheng and Wenjiang then
returned to their own nunnery. Jingcheng passed away at the age
of ninety-three without illness.
29. Faxiang of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery

in Wu Prefecture
Faxiang, originally surnamed Hou, was a native of Dun-huang.
She deported herself in a pure and chaste manner, and her talent
and insight were brilliant and outstanding. Devoted to study, she
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940b
never gave up learning even though she often lived in want. As

she was contented with a life of poverty, she would not change her
mind in order to gain glory and eminence. She was married into
the Fu family, which suered more than once from misfortune.
At the time Fu Jian was defeated, [all of ] Faxiangs kinfolk
were scattered or lost. She then renounced secular life and observed
the Vinaya with deep faith and understanding. She often oered
her good clothes and food to the nun Huisu. The nuns of the nunnery admonished her, saying, Huisu is crude and dull witted in
speaking. She has never set her mind on the Buddhist scriptures
and the Vinaya texts. She wanted to learn meditation, but she had
no teacher. She is stubborn and stupid, and is only a foolish woman
of the lowest grade. Why dont you plant the seeds of merit in a
superior eld, instead of cultivating merit in an inferior way?
Faxiang replied, Only a holy person knows about the success
or failure of the eld. As I am only an ordinary person, how can I
choose what to accept and what to reject? Should I meet someone
in need of alms, what does it matter if I oer something without
thinking of my own gain?
Later, Huisu conducted a meditation retreat for seven days.
On the third night, she sat together with the assembly. When the
others rose from their seats, she did not get up. All the people came
to see her and found that she was as sti as a piece of wood or a
rock and did not move when pushed. They said that she was dead,
but after three days Huisu got up and was as well as usual. Then
the people marveled at her and began to understand Faxiangs
foresight and comprehension. Such events as this happened more
than once at dierent times.
When Faxiang was getting old she conducted herself with even
more strictness. At the end of the Yuan-jia period, she passed away
at the age of more than ninety.
30. Yeshou of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery

Yeshou, originally surnamed Zhang, was a native of Peng-cheng.
106
Her deportment was lofty and austere, and her observance of the
Vinaya rules was immaculate. She deeply understood the Mahayana teachings and could comprehend the subtle principles. She
was very fond of meditation and reciting the scriptures and never
relaxed even at her busy times.
Emperor Wu (r. 420422), the founder of the Song dynasty,
respected her highly as an unusual person. Emperor Wen (r.
424453), who took the Three Refuges under her guidance when
he was young, lodged her in Yong-an Nunnery and oered alms
to her incessantly. In the second year of Yuan-jia (425), Wang
Jingshens mother (born Fan), presented Yeshou with the site of
the former ancestral temple of Wang Tanzhi for her to build a convent there. It was named Qing-yuan Nunnery.
Yeshou trained her disciples to be sedate and deferential with
perfect discipline. Lady Pan, the imperial concubine, praised her,
saying, Bhiku Yeshou propagates the Buddha-Dharma. She
is highly respectable. In the fteenth year of Yuan-jia (438), Lady
Pan enlarged the nunnery for Yeshou by building a Buddha hall
on the west[ern side] and expanded it to the north by constructing more cells. She also provided the nuns with whatever they
needed, and the nunnery became prosperous. The community of
two hundred performed religious practices without cease.
When Yeshou grew advanced in age, more people looked up
to her. On account of her old age, she pleaded several times to
retire but the community did not consent. In the sixth year of Daming (462), she died at the age of ninety.
At that time there were also three nuns, Jingai, Baoying, and
Falin, all of whom were well known in the capital area for their
stainless morality. Jingai was experienced in meditation and reciting scriptures and was fair and unbiased regarding [nunnery] aairs.
She died in the fth year of Tai-shi (469). Baoying constructed a
ve-storied pagoda, studied the principles diligently, and was a
strict vegetarian. She died in the sixth year of Tai-shi (470). Falin
was well read in Buddhist scriptures and Vinaya texts, and never
relaxed even when old. She died in the rst year of Yuan-hui (473).
107
Falin also had a disciple named Tanyin, who was experienced

in both meditation and the Vinaya. She detached herself from
worldly glory and never cast a glance at the morning market. She
died in the sixth year of Yuan-hui (478).
31. Fabian of Jing-fu Nunnery
940c
Fabian, a native of Dan-yang, renounced home when young and

became a disciple of Buiguo of Jing-fu Nunnery. Being faithful
and prudent as well as pure and discreet, she always lived frugally, wore coarse garments, and ate a vegetarian diet, never tasting any odorous or pungent food. Her fame for loftiness and simplicity was known in the capital from an early time. Yu, the Prince
of Lang-ya and the governor of Yang-zhou, respected her highly.
Later, Fabian acquired knowledge of contemplative meditation from the foreign monk Klayaas of Dao-lin Monastery, and
she practiced it in the prescribed way with full success and complete understanding. Whenever she was present in an assembly,
she often looked as if she were dozing. Once, in the refectory, she
did not get up from her seat when the others had dispersed. In
alarm, the ceremonial leader touched her and found that she was
as still as a piece of wood or a rock. The ceremonial leader quickly
informed the other nuns, who all came to see. But after a moment
Fabian came out of her trance and spoke as usual. All the nuns
admired her with redoubled veneration.
In the seventh year of Da-ming (463), Fabian died at the age
of over sixty. Two days earlier, Dharma Master Chaobian of Upper
Ding-lin Monastery dreamed of a magnicent and beautiful palace
city, in which all the apparel, ornaments, and other articles of
daily use were brilliant and gorgeous beyond anything ever seen
in this world. [The palace city] was full of men and women attired
in ne dress, but without a lord. Chaobian asked why and received
the reply, Fabian of Jing-fu Nunnery will be reborn in this place,
and she is expected to arrive here tomorrow.
108
On that day, Fabian had a shivering spell, and so she sent

someone to inform the community. When all the nuns, old and
young, had assembled, she said, There are mysterious gures
around me. They appear and disappear abruptly like shadows and
clouds. After saying this, she died sitting upright in the meditation posture.
Later there were also [the nuns] Daozhao and Sengbian, who
were well known for their strenuous eorts. Daozhao, originally
surnamed Yang, was a native of Xu in Bei-di. Living on the support oered by the Prince of Lin-he, she was a vegetarian and a
reciter of scriptures.
32. Daozong of San-ceng Nunnery

in Jiang-ling
Daozong, whose native place was unknown, lived at San-ceng Nunnery in Jiang-ling. Since her youth she never discriminated against
people based on their appearance. When mature, she did not judge
people by whether they were ordained or not and associated with
both the wise and the ignorant solely for the purpose of practicing the Way. Her meritorious deeds were of all kinds and she was
deeply and widely involved in eorts to help people.
In the night of the fteenth day of the third month in the seventh year of Da-ming (463) of the Song dynasty, Daozong purged
herself [by pouring] oil [over herself and setting] herself on re.
While her forehead was burning and her ears and eyes were consumed by the ames, she still recited and chanted scriptures without stopping. Both the clergy and the laity sighed with admiration, and the evil ones as well as the faithful were alike astonished.
Those throughout the whole country who heard about this event
generated the mind of enlightenment (bodhicitta). The eremitic
scholar Liu Qiu of the Song dynasty, who respected her highly,
composed a verse in praise of her.
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33. Huijun of Zhu-yuan Nunnery
941a
Huijun, originally surnamed Chen, was a native of Shan-yin. When

she was a child, she was bright and intelligent; her devotion surpassed that of ordinary people. In the morning she always burned
incense to meditate and worship for a while; at noon she ate only
vegetarian food, never taking sh or meat. Although she was
staying at home, she lived as though she had renounced secular
life. Her parents could not change her mind and permitted her,
when she was eighteen, to follow the religious life.
Huijun read all Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts that came
to her. There was no method of deep meditation and mysterious
contemplation that she did not practice. She was quiet and uncontentious, mild and moderate. With her friends and acuaintances,
she never spoke frivolously.
(Liu) Yigong, the Prince of Jiang-xia and Premier of the Song
court, respected her highly and always provided her with clothing and medicine throughout the four seasons without fail. Huijun never hoarded any private wealth, but spent it all for the construction of the nunnery. The establishment of Zhu-yuan Nunnery
was Huijuns achievement. Her delight in meditation did not fade
even when she became old. In the eighth year of Da-ming (464) of
the Song dynasty, she passed away at the age of seventy-three.
Her remains were buried on Fu Mountain.
In the same nunnery there was the nun Senghua, who was an
intelligent and outstanding person, well read in many scriptures
and Vinaya texts. She was a vegetarian and led an ascetic life,
and she was just as famous as Huijun.
34. Baoxian of Pu-xian Nunnery

Baoxian, originally surnamed Chen, was a native of Chen Prefecture. At the age of sixteen she lost her mother. For three years of
mourning, she refrained from eating grains and lived on the roots
of kudzu and taro. She wore neither silk or cotton garments, nor
110
used couches or mats for seats. When she was nineteen years old
she renounced secular life and lived at Jian-an Nunnery. She conducted herself well, practiced religion diligently, and was well
learned in meditation and the Vinaya.
Emperor Wen of the Song dynasty treated Baoxian with courtesy and provided her with clothing and food. Emperor Xiaowu
(r. 454464) also treated her with respect and granted her [a large
cash stipend] each month. When Emperor Ming ascended the
throne (465), he appreciated and received her even more reverentially.
In the rst year of Tai-shi (465), Baoxian was appointed by
imperial decree the abbess of Pu-xian Nunnery. In the second year
(466), she was ordered by imperial degree to be the Directress of
Nuns in the capital. She was highly awe-inspiring and passed fair
judgment like a divine being. She was good at analyzing the principles of worldly aairs and would always rectify injustice. Endowed
with a rm and upright nature, she never harmed or caused trouble to anybody.
Formerly, during the Sheng-ping period of the Jin dynasty,
the bhiku Jingjian, the rst Buddhist nun in China, received
full ordination only from the order of monks. Huiguo, Jingyin, and
others of Jing-fu Nunnery inquired of Guavarman about this
matter; and he told them, If two orders of the sangha do not exist
in this country, you should receive full ordination from the order
of monks alone.
Later, Huiguo and the others met the foreign nun Devasr
and her group; and in the eleventh year of Yuan-jia (434), they
received full ordination for a second time from Saghavarman at
the ordination platform in Nan-lin Monastery. This was done not
because their previous ordination was considered invalid, but
because they wished to enhance the goodness of the Vinaya.
After that event some people who were fond of novelty widely
emulated their practice and caused inconsistency in the system of
the Vinaya. In the second year of Yuan-hui (474), the Vinaya
teacher Faying expounded the gist of the Sarvstivda-vinaya at
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941b
Jin-xing Monastery. When the lecture was concluded, more than

ten nuns wished to receive ordination again.
Baoxian sent someone to the authorities in charge of monastic aairs and brought back an order to the lecture hall. There it
was announced with the striking of a wooden bell (gha) that
the nuns were not allowed to receive ordination for a second time.
If a nun was found to be under age, her teacher should rst bring
her to repent before the assembly of the sangha and then approach
the authorities in charge of monastic aairs. Only with the permission of the authorities and after having been properly checked
could one receive ordination for a second time. Anyone who disobeyed this order would be expelled. Thereafter, the erratic practice was suppressed for some time.
During her term of oce, Baoxian was pure and simple, and
she was talented at managing aairs as well as at upholding justice. Under her care the community of nuns lived in happiness.
She was kind to her subordinates. For her austere and plain living, the people respected her all the more. In the rst year of Shengming (477), she died at the age of seventy-seven.
35. Fajing of Pu-xian Nunnery

Fajing was a native of the region north of the Yangzi River. When
she was twenty, she encountered a time of trouble and followed
her father to take refuge at Mo-ling. Having come from a Buddhist
family, she left secular life at an early age and lived at Yong-fu
Nunnery.
Fajing observed the Vinaya rules in a pure manner and understood the underlying principle of phenomena. With deep thinking
and intensive learning, she made profound studies of the abstruse
doctrines. Her fame and position were roughly the same as those
of the nun Baoxian.
Emperor Ming (r. 465472) of the Song dynasty, who considered her an extraordinary person, invited her by imperial degree
to live at Pu-xian Nunnery in the rst year of Tai-shi (465). When
112
Fajing was received in the palace, she was treated with the honor
due to a teacher or friend. In the second year (466), she was
appointed by imperial degree to be the Ceremonial Leader of the
capital area. She managed aairs in a fair and correct way, which
was truly exceptional. She recommended and promoted people
according to circumstances, and submitted to virtue like water
owing downward.
Her reputation of intelligence and virtue was so great that the
nuns and their female relatives in the Jing and Chu regions used
to write letters and send gifts to her from distant places to become
acquainted with her. Seven hundred persons sought instruction
from her as a model of the observance of the Vinaya. In the rst
year of Yuan-hui (473), she died at the age of sixty-ve.
36. Huiyao of Yong-kang Nunnery

in Shu Prefecture
Huiyao, originally surnamed Zhou, was a native of Xi-ping.
She left secular life when she was young, and often vowed to burn
herself as an oering to the Triple Gem. By the end of the Tai-shi
period (465471), she asked permission to do this from the prefectural governor Liu Liang, who initially consented. There was
a brick pagoda built by Zhao Qianens concubine (born Wang),
and Huiyao asked permission to burn herself in that pagoda. Wang
granted her permission to do so.
In the night of the fteenth day of the rst month, Huiyao,
carrying oil and cloth, led her disciples to the pagoda. Before she
had nished preparing herself, Liu Liang sent a message that if
Huiyao actually burned herself, all the nuns of Yong-kang Nunnery would be heavily punished. Huiyao was obliged to give up
her plan for the moment. Wang became enraged and said, This
nun is aiming to gain fame and prot, and so she pretended to do
something unusual. But she secretly bribed the people in the yamen
(oce of the prefectural governor) to do this. Otherwise how can
those in the city know about it in the middle of the night?
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941c
Huiyao said, Madame, dont be so resentful. The sacrice of

my body is my own aair. How can others know about it?
Then Huiyao returned to her nunnery and stopped eating
grains but drank fragrant oil. In the rst year of Sheng-ming (477),
she immolated herself in the nunnery. When the ames reached
her face, she was still reciting scriptures without ceasing. She said
to the nuns, When you collect my remains, you will get exactly
two liters of ashes. When the re had gone out, they found that
it was precisely as she had said.
One month or so before Huiyao burned herself, a foreign monk
of about twenty arrived [at the nunnery]. He was of good appearance and had very soft hair, six or seven inches in length, growing on his shoulders. People asked him about it, and he said through
an interpreter that because he never covered his shoulders, hair
grew on them.
He spoke to Huiyao, saying, I live in the kingdom of Vras
and have come here for just a few days. I have heard that you are
going to sacrice your body. I present you with a silver urn as a
gift. Huiyao accepted it by placing it on her head, but before she
could make further inquiries, the monk hurriedly departed. Someone was then sent to pursue and detain the monk, but he vanished
as soon as he went out of the gate. Her arras (relics), less than
two ge in quantity, were contained in the silver urn.
End of Fascicle Two of Biographies of Buddhist Nuns
114
Fascicle Three
The Qi Dynasty
37. Fayuan of Zeng-cheng in Dong-guan

Fayuan, originally surnamed Yu, was a native of Zeng-cheng in
Dong-guan. In the ninth year of Yuan-jia (432) of the Song dynasty,
she was ten years old and her younger sister Facai was nine. They
knew nothing of Buddhist scriptures or the Dharma, [but both]
suddenly disappeared on the eighth day of the second month. They
returned home three days later. They said that they had been to
the heavenly palace of the Pure Land, where they saw the Buddha
and received edication from him.
On the fteenth day of the ninth month, they went there again
and returned after ten days. After that they could write and speak
a foreign language and chant Buddhist scriptures. When they saw
people from the Western Region, they could talk and joke uently
with perfect mutual understanding.
On the fteenth day of the rst month in tenth year (433),
[Fayuan and Facai] vanished once again. Some farmers working
in the elds saw them drifting toward the sky in a gust of wind.
Their parents were worried about them and oered sacrices to
the gods to seek blessing. After a month, the sisters returned in
the form of nuns wearing religious robes, holding their own [shorn]
hair in their hands.
They said that they had seen the Buddha and a nun, who said
to them, Due to causes in your previous lives, you are to be my
disciples. Then she raised her hand to stroke their heads, and
their hair fell o by itself. She gave the religious name Fayuan to
the elder sister and Facai to the younger one. When they were
sent back, the nun said to them, You may construct a vihra and
I will give you the scriptures.
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942a
After returning home, Fayuan and her sister Facai demolished

the household shrine for worshiping the gods and built a vihra
instead. There they lectured and chanted scriptures day and night.
In the evenings, a ray of ve colors often issued from the mountaintops, as if there were lamps or candles.
From that time on, [the sisters] deportment was elegant and
dignied, and their speech and rituals were perfect and correct.
The chanting of scriptures in the capital could not surpass their
recitations. Both of the two prefectural governors, Wei Lang and
Kong Mo, made oerings to them. Upon hearing their utterances,
the governors respected them all the more as extraordinary persons. Hence all the scholars believed in the right Dharma.
In the Jian-yuan period (479482), Fayuan died at the age of
fty-six.
38. Tanche of Southern Yong-an Nunnery

Tanche, whose native place was unknown, became a disciple of
Bhiku Puyao when she was young and went to live at Southern Yong-an Nunnery with her teacher. Puyao was well known in
her time for being pure in practicing the Way and excellent in
learning, while Tanche comported herself well without aectation
and pursued her studies ceaselessly. She was determined to completely understand the abstruse meanings of the Buddha-Dharma.
Before she received ordination, she was already well learned in
the scriptures and commentaries. After she was fully ordained,
she made extensive studies of the Vinaya.
Tanche was a talented person capable of dealing with important aairs, and she was particularly good at preaching and lecturing. She could make detailed analyses of things and elucidate
obscurities, as well as delve into profundity and unveil the hidden.
All nuns, old and young, asked her to be their teacher. They followed her in groups, carrying their books with them, wherever she
went, in order to attend her preaching meetings. All the ladies of
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the ve ranks of nobility and the seven families of distinction and

those below them in status paid homage to her. In the second year
of Yong-ming (484) of the Qi dynasty (479502), Tanche passed
away at the age of sixty-three.
39. Sengjing of Chong-sheng Nunnery

Sengjing, originally surnamed Li, was a native of Kuai-ji, but her
family resided at Mo-ling. When she was still in her mothers womb,
the family arranged an assembly and invited a monk from Waguan Monastery as well as the nun Tanzhi from Chao-xi Nunnery.
The monk and nun were asked to point their ngers at the belly
of the pregnant lady and call the fetus in her womb their disciple,
while on behalf of her unborn child the mother called the two
monastics teachers and promised to send the child, whether male
or female, to lead the homeless religious life.
One day, when the mother was about to go into labor, she
dreamed of a divine being, who said to her, You should observe
the eight precepts of purication and abstention. So she ordered
that arrangements be made. But before a monk could be invited
and an image installed, she gave birth to Sengjing. At that time
a voice in the air was heard to say, The child may be given to the
nun Bai of Jian-an Nunnery to be her disciple. The mother acted
accordingly.
When Sengjing reached the age of ve or six, she could recite
from memory whatever scripture on hymn she heard people
chanting. She studied several hundred scrolls of scriptures with
deeper and deeper understanding as the days went by. She lived
on vegetarian food with self-restraint, and her pure manner of life
became gradually well known.
During the Yuan-jia period, when Kong Mo of Lu Prefecture
was dispatched to the garrison at Guang-zhou, Sengjing went there
with him. There she met the foreign nun Devasr and others,
who were on their way to the capital of the Song court. All of them
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942b
were of unusually lofty manners and character. Sengjing received

ordination from them once again, gaining a deep comprehension
of the doctrine of impermanence.
Then she wished to sail across the sea to visit the sacred sites
[in India]. However, both clergy and laypeople were prohibited
from going abroad, so Sengjing stayed at Ling-nan for more than
thirty years. Wherever her moral inuence prevailed, rude folk
changed their mental aspect. Thirteen families oered their houses
and gardens to her and jointly built for her a nunnery at Chaoting, with the name Zhong-zao Nunnery.
When Emperor Ming of the Song dynasty heard about her, he
sent a messenger to invite her from a great distance, to the deep
disappointment of the clergy and laity of Pan-yu [where she was
staying]. After returning to the capital, Sengjing was ordered by
imperial decree to live at Chong-sheng Nunnery, and both the
clergy and laypeople followed her example in conduct and behavior. Yue Zun of Dan-yang donated his residence to make a nunnery for her, and later she went to live there.
Both Crown Prince Wenhui of the Court of Qi and Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling admired her manners and virtue and oered
donations to her without negligence. When Sengjing was eightyfour years old, she died on the third day of the second month in
the fourth year of Yong-ming (486). Her remains were buried on
the southern side of Zhong Mountain. Her disciples erected a stone
memorial tablet on which was inscribed the epitaph composed by
Shen Yue of Wu-xing, Vice-Minister of the Imperial Secretarial
Department.
40. Sengmeng of Qi-ming Nunnery

in Yan-guan
Sengmeng, originally surnamed Cen, was a native of Nan-yang,
but she was of the fth generation since her family had moved to
live in Yan-guan County. Her great-grandfather, named Shuai,
was a former member of the civil service of the Jin dynasty and
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served as the magistrate of Yu-hang. Her family professed

Taoism and also traditionally worshiped evil spirits.
Since her childhood, Sengmeng had a deep aspiration to rise
above vulgarity. When she was twelve, her father died, and she
wailed so much that she spat blood and went into a faint for some
time before regaining consciousness. After the conclusion of three
years mourning, she showed others the nature of immortality and
took leave of her mother to lead the homeless life.
Sengmeng was pure in conduct and served her teacher with
respect and veneration. She ate only vegetables and unpolished
rice in order to sustain her life. She practiced the Way and made
confessions without becoming tired or indolent. Whenever she
repented her former sins she would shed tears with sincerity, and
she could do what others could not do. Upon hearing of her good
name, Zhang Dai of Wu Prefecture, the prefectural governor of
Yi-zhou, honored her with deference and begged her to be his personal teacher.
In the rst year of Yuan-hui (473) of the Song dynasty, the
nun Jingdu came to Wu [Prefecture] and brought Sengmeng along
to the capital, where she lived at Jian-fu Nunnery. She studied
various scriptures day and night and always followed after teachers and attended their preaching meetings with an unwearied
mind. She heard much, and with her retentive memory she could
remember whatever had come to her ears. In this way, she studied and acquired a thorough understanding of all the scriptures
and Vinaya texts. When she practiced meditation with a serene
mind, she would sit placidly in an upright posture.
In the fourth year of Jian-yuan (482) of the Qi dynasty,
Sengmengs mother fell ill. The eastern part of her residence was
given to make a convent with the name of Qi-ming Nunnery. There
shrine halls were built and trees and bamboo were planted in rows.
It was quiet and peaceful within and without, resembling the abode
of immortals. Food was distributed to the hungry, and clothes were
given to those who were cold.
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942c
Once a hunter came near the southern end of the nunnery.

The ying birds and running beasts ocked to Sengmeng to seek
protection, but the falcons and hounds chased after them to within
an arms distance. Sengmeng placed herself between them.
Although she was pecked and bitten, the birds and animals that
came to her for shelter were saved.
Many people stayed together with her for more than thirty
years, and they never saw her give vent to anger or resentment.
She died in the seventh year of Yong-ming (489) at the age of seventy-two.
At that time there was also the nun Sengyuan, who was a
daughter of Sengmengs cousin. She too was well known for her
lial piety. Her conduct was lofty and superior, and her wisdom
and discernment were deep and concentrated.
41. Miaozhi of Hua-yan Nunnery

Miaozhi, originally surnamed Cao, was a native of He-nei. She was
mild and brilliant by nature, and molded her mind according to
the Great Edication. She observed the prohibitive rules of the
Vinaya as persistently as if she were safeguarding lustrous pearls.
With a mind of patience, she bore no ill will against anyone, and
even when she had been insulted or was annoyed, she always wore
a kind countenance. She lived in seclusion, with curtains dropped,
to engage in studies year round and never felt bored for a single
day. As she had acquired a perfect understanding of the aspects
of all things, the people honored her with their respect for her.
When the meditation hall was rst built, Emperor Wu
(r. 483493) of the Qi dynasty issued a decree inviting Miaozhi to
preach on the rmldevsihanda-stra and the Vimalakrtinirdea-stra. When she started preaching on the topic, and
during the course of her lectures, the emperor personally attended
several preaching meetings and asked numerous questions, which
Miaozhi did not hesitate to answer comprehensively. She analyzed
[the questions] one by one, beginning from the base. The emperor
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repeatedly praised her, and the four groups of Buddhist followers

highly respected her with admiration.
Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling of the Qi dynasty demarcated
Zhong Mountain [as the place] to collect and bury the remains of
famous and virtuous ones. In the second year of Jian-wu (495),
Miaozhi died at the age of sixty-four, and her ashes were buried
on the southern side of Ding-lin Monastery. The wife (born Jiang),
of Wang Lun of Lang-ya, an Imperial Attendant at the Court of
Qi, wrote an eulogistic epitaph with a preface, which was inscribed
on a stone tablet planted on the left side of the tomb.
42. Zhisheng of Jian-fu Nunnery

Zhisheng, originally surnamed Xu, was a native of Chang-an; but
her family had lived at Kuai-ji for three generations when she was
born. At the age of six she went with her grandmother to the capital, where she visited Wa-guan Monastery and saw the magnicent caitya (sanctuary) beautifully decorated with precious ornaments. She was moved to tears and wished to cut o her hair and
become a nun. When her grandmother asked her why she was crying, she explained her intention; but her grandmother said that
she was too young and would not permit it.
During the turbulent time of the Song dynasty, all of the four
classes of [Buddhist followers] lost their vocations. A number of
years of this disorderly state of aairs passed. When Zhisheng
was approaching twenty, she was able to renounce secular life
and went to live at Jian-fu Nunnery. Her singular practices were
peerless, and her severance of worldly connections was dicult for
others to emulate. She attended lectures on the Mahparinirvastra and could grasp the meaning of the text after hearing it
only once. Later, when she studied the Vinaya-piaka she did not
need to work on it a second time.
Her faculty of retention was well known to all, and all looked
up to her with increased respect. She wrote several tens of scrolls
of theoretical commentaries, with abstruse meanings and subtle
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943a
and profound principles, in concise but comprehensive language.

Zhisheng was so pure in character that even if she were to be
immersed in a dark uid she would not become black, and her
steadfast nature was like a piece of solid rock that could not be
ground thin.
Once, during the Da-ming period, a man plotted deceptively
for an appointment with Zhisheng, attempting to commit an impropriety against her. But she had a deep will of morality, and her
character was as upright as a precipice. She informed the community of nuns, who wrote a report and sent it to the authorities.
She kept the Vinaya rules in a pure manner, as if she were safeguarding lustrous pearls.
At that time, of the Ven. Tanbins disciples at Zhuang-yan
Monastery, Sengzong and Xuanqu were jointly in charge of the
Buddha hall. Through their negligence a thief came and stole the
bodhisattvas necklace of pearls and a seven-jeweled bathing jug.
Except for his robes and almsbowl, which were left untouched, the
Ven. Tanbins chamber also became as empty as a hanging bell
and he had no means to replace the lost articles. He was so sad
and worried about it that he stopped preaching and conned himself in his room for three days. Zhisheng made an announcement
to the four groups of Buddhist followers, who replaced the lost
properties within ten days. The inuence of her virtue was always
like this.
On hearing of her reputation, Crown Prince Wenhui of the Qi
dynasty often summoned and received her. Each time she was
invited to preach on various scriptures in the palace, Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling, the Minister of Civil Aairs, highly venerated
her. Zhishengs will was as staunch as gold produced in the south,
and her mind was as pure as the snow of the north. In guiding and
admonishing the nuns, she truly enjoyed the condence of all. The
empress dowager appointed her abbess of the nunnery, and all the
resident nuns honored her as their parent.
She received the bodhisattva precepts from the Ven. Sengyuan
of Ding-lin Monastery. There was always an incense burner beside
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his seat. Zhisheng put a pinch of incense into it, though Sengyuan
tried to stop her, saying, It has not been lit for two nights. The
incense she had put in, however, started issuing a dense, fragrant
smoke which wafted into the air. Everyone praised her, saying
that this was a spiritual response to her devotion and sincerity.
During the Yong-ming period (483493), Zhisheng once made
an oering of food to the [image of the] Holy Monk while she prayed
with a concentrated mind. Suddenly she heard the snapping of
ngers in the air, and she listened to it attentively with her palms
joined together.
Staying at the nunnery for thirty years, Zhisheng never went
out to attend a festival or associate with the nobility. She always
preferred to remain in a quiet and solitary place and engage in
meditation. Thus her fame was not widely spread. Crown Prince
Wenhui oered special donations to her, sucient for her daily
and monthly use. More houses were constructed and the whole
nunnery lived in glory and abundance. Zhisheng gave away her
robes and almsbowl [to raise money] for the carving of stone statues of seven emperors of the Song and Qi dynasties at She-shan
Monastery.
In the tenth year of Yong-ming (492), when she was ill in her
sickbed, Zhisheng suddenly saw golden carriages covered with jade
canopies coming to welcome her. On the fth day of the fourth
month, she said to her disciples, I am leaving now. Her disciples
wept, and then she opened her robe and exposed her chest, on
which was shown the character Buddha [written] in the cursive
style in a brilliant white color with a bright and glossy sheen. At
noon on the eighth day she died at the age of sixty-six, and her
remains were buried on Zhong Mountain. Crown Prince Wenhui
supplied her with medicine, and all that was needed for her funeral
was provided by the government.
43. Senggai of Chan-ji Nunnery

Senggai, originally surnamed Tian, was a native of Jun-ren in the
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943b
state of Zhao. Her father, named Hongliang, was the governor of

Tian-shui. When she was young, she left home to become a disciple of the nun Sengzhi. She lived at Hua-lin Nunnery at Pengcheng. She cared nothing for personal gain and was indierent to
praise or blame from others.
In the rst year of Yuan-hui (473), when the Tuoba clan of the
north invaded the state, Senggai traveled south to the capital with
her fellow student Fajin and lived at Miao-xiang Nunnery. She
attended numerous lectures on the scriptures and Vinaya texts,
and made profound studies of their ultimate meanings. She practiced meditation exclusively and always felt that the days were
not long enough [to practice as much as she would like]. Whether
it was the cold or hot season, she never changed her garments.
She never took seasonal food throughout the the four seasons, eating only one vegetarian dish for her midday meal.
Senggai studied under the two dhyna masters Yin and Shen,
both of whom praised her for her faculty of quick awakening. During the Yong-ming period of the Qi dynasty, she went to live at
Chan-ji Nunnery with the intention of propagating the way of contemplation. Clergy and laypeople visited her for consultations, and
this became so disruptive to her that she had to build a separate
meditation room to the left of the nunnery in which she sat in
silent contemplation. When she came out of her room, she
instructed others earnestly without feeling tired.
Xiao Ziliang, Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling of the Qi dynasty,
provided her with all the requisites for the four seasons. In spite
of her old age, she did not slacken in her aspirations. For a whole
day she would reside in a state of unattached serenity and she
would not lie down all through the night. In the eleventh year of
Yong-ming (493), Senggai died at the age of sixty-four.
There was at that time another nun in the same nunnery,
named Fayan. Her original surname was Xu, [and she was] a native
of Gao-yang. She was diligent in her practice of religion and was
also well known for engaging in meditation.
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44. Faquan of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery

Faquan, originally surnamed Dai, was a native of Dan-yang. She
had a dignied appearance and was fond of quietude, and she was
diligent in cultivating concentration and wisdom. At rst she widely
studied various scriptures with Zong and Yuan. Later she learned
all the methods of meditation and contemplation, with Shen and
Yin as her teachers. In the daytime she perused the texts and
made profound deliberations, while at night she experienced the
mysterious mental state of contemplation. She could expound all
the abstruse texts of the Mahayana teachings and was a teacher
of the secret methods of samdhi. She ate only vegetarian food,
and her clothes were merely for covering her body. She taught
and guided the unlearned, and encouraged new students by helping them in their studies. Her listeners practiced the Way and
gained much benet.
The nunnery was a large one and it was dicult to manage.
In the third year of Tai-shi (467), the community of nuns discussed
the matter and decided to divide it into two parts. The nun Baoying sought to build meditation cells and a new relic stupa on the
east side of the nunnery. So the nunnery was divided [into two
parts], [with the eastern part known] as Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery.
In the second year of Sheng-ming (478), Baoying passed away.
Since the community [at Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery] had just
been established, there was not yet anyone suitable to succeed her.
When Faquan was nally chosen to be the abbess, all the nuns,
old and young, were delighted and none bore her the slightest
grudge. In the rst year of Long-chang (494), Faquan died at the
age of eighty-three.
The nuns Jinglian, Sengl, and Huixing were also living in
the same nunnery at that time. All of them were famous for their
learning.
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45. Jinghui of Pu-xian Nunnery

Jinghui, originally surnamed Yang, was a native of Jian-kang.
She aimed at the Way with a sincere and concentrated mind, and
took delight in the Dharma with earnest admiration. When she
rst received full ordination, she studied under the guidance of Ji
and Yuan, and made a profound study into the mysteries of Mahayana teachings with deliberate thought.
Ten years after her ordination, she became a prominent teacher.
Both Crown Prince Wenhui and Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling of
the Qi dynasty were fully convinced of her learning. In the eighth
year of Yong-ming (490), the Prince of Jing-ling invited her to lecture on the Vimalakrtinirdea-stra at his residence. Later, she
served as abbess for more than twenty years, and the nuns, old
and young, served her with the respect due to parents. More than
four hundred persons followed her as disciples. In the tenth year
of Yong-ming (492), Jinghui died at the age of seventy-two.
The nuns Sengao and Guangjing were both at the same nunnery. They were also well known for their learning and practice.
46. Tanjian of Fa-yin Nunnery

943c
Tanjian, originally surnamed Zhang, was a native of Qing-he. She

was a disciple of the nun Fajing and lived in the same nunnery,
and she traveled to study in the Huaihui region and propagated
the right Dharma. She always considered others before thinking
of herself, and her aspiration was to save all living beings.
In the fourth year of Jian-yuan (482) of the Qi dynasty, Tanjian founded the Fa-yin Vihra. She engaged in silent meditation
and mastered the method of samdhi. Her fame for virtue spread
widely, and her spiritual inuence reached far. Both the clergy
and the laity venerated her and oered her rich alms.
There was then a Ven. Huiming, who was a person deeply fond
of quietude. He originally lived at Dao-lin Monastery, which was
constructed and furnished by Crown Prince Wenhui and Prince
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Wenxuan of Jing-ling during the Yong-ming period. The monks

were mostly scholars learned in Buddhist theories and they often
lectured on the scriptures and commentaries. The monastery was
a clamorous and bustling place from the coming and going of many
people, and Huiming wished to leave it. So Tanjian oered her
nunnery to him.
She removed to White Mountain, where she built a thatched
hut to shelter herself from wind and rain and lived by begging at
the proper time for whatever alms she could collect. She frequently
gathered rewood, saying that she was performing a meritorious
deed. On the night of the eighteenth day of the second month in
the rst year of Jian-wu (494), Tanjian mounted a pile of rewood
and set it on re in order to immolate herself as a sacrice to the
Triple Gem. When they saw the re, [people from] the villages
nearby rushed to the spot to rescue her, but when they arrived
Tanjian was already dead. The religious devotees and laypeople
wailed [in grief ], and their voices echoed in the valley. They collected her remains, for which a tomb caitya was erected.
47. Jinggui of Fa-yin Nunnery

Jinggui, originally surnamed Zhou, was a native of Jin-ling, but
her family had lived in Jian-kang County for three generations.
During her childhood, she was intelligent and could understand
much after hearing [something only] once. She was by nature unaccustomed to the world and wished to renounce home at an early
age. Having sympathy with her, her parents did not oppose her
aspirations.
Jinggui became a disciple of the nun Fajing and lived at Fayin Nunnery. She was pure and profound in her virtuous conduct,
and was widely learned in the scriptures and Vinaya texts. She
was pure in the Three Activities and was conversant with the
secrets of meditation. Her spiritual attainments were so deep and
far-reaching that nobody could fathom them. She neglected her
body and forgot about food, and so she always looked haggard and
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emaciated. Her vigor and perfect ability to uphold goodness and

suppress evil were exemplary for the world.
In teaching and guiding her pupils, Jinggui could in most cases
instruct them according to their circumstances. The people of
the time respected her with heartfelt admiration. She lived with
the nun Tanjian at Fa-yin Nunnery and later moved to White
Mountain, where she dwelled under a tree. Her meritorious deeds
as well as her spiritual inuence became widely known. On the
eighth day of the second month in the rst year of Jian-wu (494),
she immolated herself along with the Tanjian on the same night.
Both clergy and laity attended her funeral, sobbing and weeping.
Her ashes were collected and buried under a tomb caitya.
48. Huixu of Ji-shan Nunnery
944a
Huixu, originally surnamed Zhou, was a native of Gao-ping in Lqiu. She was a noble and straightforward person with an inaccessible air, and looked more like a man than a woman. Her words
and speech were very frank and upright, never dodging anything.
When she was seven she became a vegetarian and kept fasts with
a rm and steadfast mind. At the age of eighteen she left home to
live as a nun at San-ceng Nunnery in Jing-zhou. She observed the
Vinaya rules in a perfect manner, winning the praise of both clergy
and laypeople.
At that time there was at Jiang-ling a recluse nun who enjoyed
a reputation for virtue in the western part of the country. On seeing Huixu, the recluse considered her an unusual person. Despite
the dierence in their ages, the two [women] practiced the Way
together companionably. They stayed at the same place for one
summer, practicing the pratyutpanna samdhi, exerting themselves mentally and physically day and night without rest.
When Shen Youzhi was the prefectural governor, he enforced
a general selective elimination of monks and nuns. Huixu went to
the capital in order to avoid the calamity. When Shen had failed
[and fallen from power], she returned to the west.
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Xiao Yi, the Prince of Yu-zhang, who was the Chancellor of

Military Aairs and Minister of War of the Qi dynasty, went to
serve as garrison commander in the regions of Jing and Shan at
the end of the Sheng-ming period (477479) of the Song dynasty.
Knowing that Huixu was a person of religious practice, he invited
her to his ocial residence and provided her with the four requisites.
At that time the dhyna master Xuanchang came down from
the region of Shu to the region of Jing. Huixu learned the methods of meditation from him and made a thorough study of the subtle mysteries. Xuanchang often praised her, saying that her religious practice in her former existence had not been supercial.
She was not only procient in the practice of meditation, but was
also a vegetarian and led a life of strict morality. Because of this,
the wife of the Prince of Yu-zhang and the other female members
of the royal family highly venerated her and learned the methods
of meditation from her.
Whenever Huixu received any gifts, she would distribute them
to others at once, never hoarding anything for herself. Her mind
was magnanimous and far-reaching, and she never concerned herself about her own living. Prince Xiao Yi invited her to return with
him to the capital, where he built a vihra for her, named Fu-tian
Nunnery, on the eastern estate of the royal family. She often went
to the royal residence to practice the Way.
In the ninth year of Yong-ming (491), Huixu said that she was
suddenly suering from illness. But there was no symptom of real
sickness, except that she refused to take food. She became haggard in appearance and bitterly begged to return to her nunnery.
As soon as she returned to the nunnery, she became quite well.
Ten days later, she was again invited to the royal residence. She
was ill again as before, but again nobody knew why. Shortly afterward, when the prince had passed away, calamities and misfortunes befell his family one after another.
In the vicinity of the eastern estate, Emperor Wu (of the Qi
dynasty) constructed another convent, Ji-shan Nunnery, and
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brought all the nuns [from Fu-tian] to live in it. Meanwhile, Futian Nunnery was used separately to lodge foreign monks and masters. The royal family continued to oer alms to those who were
good at reciting and chanting charms and spells.
After Huixu went to live at Ji-shan Nunnery, she did not set
foot in the royal residence again for several years. People from
within and outside the residence highly respected this nun, and
often exhorted her to pay a short visit to the inner chambers of
the royal house. When Lady Zhu wished to invite the nuns to accept
alms of food, she rst sent a messenger to consult with and invite
Huixu, who said, Very good. As I am getting old and weak, I really
wish at this moment to go to the royal house once to bid farewell
to the various good ladies. So she went to the royal residence to
take part in the function. After it was over, she asked for paper
and writing brush and composed this poem:
To those who know me not,
My name is Old Zhou.
Being invited to attend
A seven-day rite.
Ill not put an end
To the ceremony of insight.
944b
(Baochangs note: There were ten more characters expressing

farewell, but I have forgotten them.)
After writing the poem, Huixu talked and smiled with the people, not diering in the least from her usual lofty demeanor. When
she took leave of them, she said, My return to my nunnery this
time is our eternal parting. I am getting old and there will be no
further reason for me to come to the royal house again. She
was then quite healthy, but a month or so after returning to her
nunnery, she fell ill. She did not alter her usual activities and died
in a few days, on the twentieth day of the eleventh month of the
rst year of Yong-yuan (499). Huixu was then sixty-nine years old.
Zhou She wrote an eulogistic epitaph in honor of her.
130
There was also the nun Desheng, who had the same virtue
and shared the same aim as Huixu, and was her [sister] in the
Dharma. She practiced the Way and trained herself in contemplation under Huixus personal instruction.
49. Chaoming of Qi-ming Nunnery

in Qian-tang
Chaoming, originally surnamed Fan, was a native of Qian-tang.
Her father, named Xian, was a scholar at the National Academy
when he was young, and his family had professed the great Dharma
for generations. When Chaoming was young, she was clever and
intelligent and had noble aspirations. She studied the Five Classics with full understanding of their literal meanings. A person of
rectitude and politeness, she was respected by people from both
within and outside of her family.
At the age of twenty-one Chaoming lost her husband and lived
as a widow. A neighbor asked for her hand in marriage, but she
refused and took a vow not to marry again. Thus she renounced
secular life and went to live at Chong-yin Nunnery. Her mentality and rationality were brilliant and penetrating, and her discernment of the Way was clear and mindful.
Having heard that Dharma Master Tanzheng, of Bei-zhang
Monastery in Wu County, was energetic and austere in his religious practice, Chaoming received full ordination from him. Later,
she went to Tu-shan to attend the sermons delivered by Dharma
Master Huiji on various scriptures, and she studied the gists of his
theories. Whatever she had heard once, she never forgot. Both the
gentry and the commoners of the three regions of Wu, as well as
those within and outside the palace, respected her. Not long afterward, she returned to Qian-tang and sojourned at Qi-ming Nunnery. In the fth year of Jian-wu (498), Chaoming died at the age
of over sixty.
There was also the nun Fazang, who was famous for her learning and practice.
131
50. Tanyong of Fa-yin Nunnery

Tanyong was the elder sister of the nun Tanjian. She was by nature
rm and straightforward, never bending or changing herself to
suit circumstances. She always considered the practice of meditation and the observance of the Vinaya as her moral obligation, and
she never bothered about food and clothing. She lived at Fa-yin
Vihra, deeply understanding the truth of impermanence and
highly revering the teaching of the unchangeability and bliss of
nirvana (liberation).
In the rst year of Jian-wu (494), Tanyong moved with Tanjian to White Mountain. During the night of the fteenth day of
the second month in the third year of Yong-yuan (501), she piled
up rewood and immolated herself as an oering. Those who witnessed or heard about the event made up their minds to practice
the Way. They collected her ashes, for which a tomb caitya was
erected.
51. Dele of Qi-xing Nunnery

in Shan County
944c
Dele, originally surnamed Sun, was a native of Pi-ling. Her greatgreat-grandfather Yu was the prefectural governor of Yu-zhou
during the Jin dynasty. She was born with two teeth in her mouth,
and when she had grown up she could often see clearly in a dark
room without the aid of a lamp or candle.
Dele wished to leave secular life and, as her parents loved her
tenderly, they did not have the heart to stand in her way. When
she was eight, she was permitted to enter the religious life together
with her sister. They became disciples of the nun Lingguang of
Jin. After receiving ordination, both of them went to study in the
capital, where they lived at Southern Yong-an Nunnery. They
worked hard day and night with earnest determination. They made
thorough studies of the scriptures and the Vinaya, and they spoke
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in a rened and elegant manner. Emperor Wen of the Song dynasty

treated them well.
In the seventh year of Yuan-jia (430), the foreign monk
Guavarman arrived in the capital. The General of Song established Royal Garden Monastery (on the northern side of the road
to Jetavana Monastery) and invited Guavarman to stay there.
In the eleventh year (434), more than ten nuns arrived from the
Land of the Lion, and Dele received full ordination again from
Saghavarman.
In the twenty-rst year (444), the nuns Fajing and Tanlan of
the same nunnery were involved in a conspiracy led by Kong Xixian. They were punished under the law; the nunnery was demolished and all the nuns dispersed. Dele went to stay at Eastern
Qing-yuan Nunnery, where she sought advice about the method
of deep meditation and made a thorough study into the subtle
sphere of the mind.
After the demise of Emperor Wen (453), Dele traveled east to
Kuai-ji and stayed at Zhao-ming Vihra at White Mountain in
Shan County. Students ocked to study under her, and she taught
them in an easy and natural manner. Thus the Way ourished in
the southeast of the country.
In the fth year of Yong-ming (487) of the Qi dynasty, Yuan
Jian, a devout Buddhist believer of Chen-liu, donated his own residence to establish Qi-xing Vihra, with Dele as the superioress.
Both old and young were pleased with her. People far and near
admired her moral integrity, and wished to depend on her as their
teacher. She had more than two hundred disciples and never accumulated donations oered to her [but dispensed them]. At the
annual preaching meeting, she presented gifts to all monks and
nuns equally without discrimination. In the third year of Yongyuan (501), she died at the age of eighty-one.
There was also the nun Sengmao in Shan County, who was
originally surnamed Wang and was a native of Peng-cheng. She
was moderate in food and ate only vegetables, and she sincerely
133
practiced austerities as her regular task. She gave all the gifts she
received to support Zhu-yuan Vihra.
End of Fascicle Three of Biographies of Buddhist Nuns
134
Fascicle Four
The Liang Dynasty
52. Jingxiu of Chan-lin Nunnery

Jingxiu, originally surnamed Liang, was a native of Wu-shi in Anding. Her grandfather, named Chou, was a commander of the
troops for subjugating the frontier tribes; her father, Canzhi, was
the Marquis of Du-xiang in Long-chuan County.
Since childhood, Jingxiu was intelligent and farsighted and
loved to perform benevolent deeds. At the age of seven, she naturally observed fasts, and she learned about abstaining from eating sh and meat when a monk was invited to recite the Nirvana
Sutra at her home. After that she became a vegetarian, but she
dared not let her parents know about it. Whenever salmon or eel
was served, she would secretly throw it away. She received the
ve precepts from the foreign monk Pulian and observed them
strictly without fail. She worshiped the Buddha and read and
chanted the scriptures day and night without taking rest.
When Jingxiu was only twelve, she begged her parents to [permit her to] renounce home; but they forbade her to do so. After
she had learned to write she often copied scriptures. Whatever
money she had she spent for the performance of meritorious deeds.
She never sought worldly pleasure, and neither wore embroidered
brocade nor used cosmetics. She lived in this manner until she was
nineteen, when she was permitted to become a disciple of the nun
Yeshou of Qing-yuan Nunnery.
Jingxiu served her teacher with utmost sincerity, still fearing
that she might not be up to the mark. She diligently practiced the
Way with eorts of body, speech, and mind, never relaxing for a
moment from morning till night. She was always at the head of
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945a7
945b
the community in performing the communal duties of the nunnery, and she toiled in drudgery, oering herself for any work that
came her way.
There was then an elder named Ma, who was called a divine
person by the people. On seeing Jingxiu, he predicted, This nun
will be reincarnated in the Tuita Heaven.
Benevolent deities protected her with respect and were always
around her. Once three nuns were sitting in the shrine hall when
they suddenly heard a voice in the air like the bellowing of a bull.
The other two nuns were frightened, but Jingxiu remained calm
and unperturbed. She went back to her room to fetch a candle. She
returned to the shrine hall and just as she was ascending the steps,
the voice in the air was again heard, saying, Nuns, make way!
Dhyna teacher Jingxiu is coming back!
On another day Jingxiu was again sitting in the meditation
hall with several other nuns. One of the nuns fell asleep and began
to snore. In her sleep she saw a man supporting the hall with his
head, and he said to her, Dont disturb Bhiku Jingxiu! Later,
as Jingxiu was sitting together with the other nuns, one of them
rose from her seat for a short while. When she returned to her
room, she saw a person stopping her with his hand, saying, Dont
distract Bhiku Jingxiu!
Jingxiu behaved herself in conformity with the rules laid down
in the Vinaya. Once she wished to invite the Dharma master Yao
to give lectures on the Sarvstivda-vinaya, but she had only one
thousand jian (an amount of cash) and worried that it could not
be done. In the night she had a dream, in which she saw crows,
magpies, and mynas riding in carriages of appropriate sizes and
singing in chorus: We shall assist Bhiku Jingxiu in making
arrangements for the lectures! When the function began, seventy
donors turned up to vie with one another in making the best of
oerings.
Later Jingxiu also invited the Vinaya master Faying to lecture
on the Sarvstivda-vinaya for a second time. On the day when
the title of the text was explained, the water in the washbasin
136
became fragrant by itself. On that day she had no companion to

sit with her in the lecture hall and she feared that this would be
an infringement of the rule of good conduct. She inquired of the
Vinaya master about it, and he said that it was not so.
On seeing that the nuns were not behaving themselves in perfect accordance with the Dharma, Jingxiu remarked with a sigh,
The Great Light has not gone far, and yet spiritual orderliness
has [already] slackened somewhat. If I do not rectify myself, how
can I guide others? Thus she conducted the mnatva ceremony
of absolution to confess her own oenses. When the community
saw this, they all retired one after the other to ponder redress of
their faults and made confessions with a sense of shame.
In the seventh year of Yuan-jia (430) of the Song dynasty, the
foreign monk Guavarman arrived in the capital. His exemplary
observance of the Vinaya was pure and sublime, and Jingxiu
received ordination again from him. The nuns of Qing-yuan Nunnery all had dierent ways of understanding [and practicing the
Dharma], so she thought of establishing a separate lodging where
she could strictly observe the prohibitive rules of the Vinaya outwardly while inwardly xing her mind on silent contemplation.
In this way so she hoped to full her own [spiritual] goals to some
extent.
In the eighth month of the seventh year of Da-ming (463) of
the Song dynasty, the Princess of Nan-chang, together with Huang
Xiuyi, donated a piece of suitable land to her for building a vihra.
Jingxiu dressed in hempen clothes and ate coarse food, and personally carried mortar and tiles, working hard on the construction
from morning till night. Niches were built and images made,
and nothing was in short supply. More than ten fellow nuns lived
with her in the vihra. They all practiced meditation as their
regular duty. In the third year of Tai-shi (467), Emperor Ming
(of the Song dynasty) ordered that, according to those who assembled there, the convent should be named Chan-lin (Meditation
Forest) Nunnery.
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945c
Jingxiu copied with her owns hands various scriptures that

were preserved in a scriptural terrace specially built in the nunnery. The two sgaranga brothers showed their traces for a whole
day to signify their patronage. None of Jingxius acquaintances
who [visited the nunnery] failed to see the phenomenon. Each time
she made oerings to the [image of the] Holy Monk, there were
always unusual signs left on the fruits and food.
Once Jingxiu performed the seven-day oering ceremony.
When it was concluded she concentrated her mind in meditation.
In [that state] she saw two foreign monks raising their hands and
talking together. One was called Mikkala and the other Vikra.
The robes they wore were of the color of ripe mulberries. So Jingxiu
used clay to dye her robes the color she had seen in the vision.
Another time she again invited ve hundred arhats from Lake
Anavatapta, ve hundred arhats from Kamra, and also virtuous monks from the capital to attend a twenty-one-day assembly.
On the second day there came another foreign monk, of whom the
congregation had doubts. They made inquiries of him, and he said
that he had come from Kamra a year before. The doorkeeper was
asked to keep an eye on him. Many people saw that he went out
of the Song-lin Gate and suddenly disappeared after walking about
ten paces.
Once Jingxiu cleaned the image of the Holy Monk. [As she did
so,] there was complete silence except for the sound made by the
gourd ladle. All the auspicious and supernatural manifestations
she experienced were like this.
Crown Prince Wenhui of the Qi dynasty and Prince Wenxuan
of Jing-ling accorded her rich hospitality and never failed to oer
alms to her. She was invited [to the palace] by imperial decree in
the third year of Tian-jian (504) of the Liang dynasty. As she was
getting old and feeble and could not walk any more, she was allowed
the privilege of riding in a sedan chair to the inner palace.
On the seventeenth day of the sixth month of the fth year
(506), Jingxiu felt sorrowful at heart and could not eat or drink
anything. On the nineteenth day of the sixth month, Dharma
138
Master Huiling of Peng-cheng Monastery dreamed that he saw an

unusually magnicent hall with columns, which was said to be a
palace in the Tuita Heaven, and he saw that Jingxiu was in it.
When he heard that Jingxiu was ill, Huiling went to see her and
gave her an account of his dream. He exhorted her, Since you
have been born in a superb place, dont forget to receive me.
Jingxiu said, The Dharma master, being a great man and
having propagated the teachings of the scriptures, should naturally live in an excellent place.
On the thirteenth day of the seventh month, she felt a little
better and had a dream in which she saw banners, canopies, and
musical instruments on the west side of the Buddha hall. On the
twenty-second day, she invited the clerics with whom she was
acquainted to bid farewell to them. On the twenty-seventh day,
she told her disciples, I am going up to the Tuita Heaven. After
saying this, Jingxiu died at the age of eighty-nine.
53. Sengnian of Chan-lin Nunnery

Sengnian, originally surnamed Yang, was a native of Nan-cheng
at Mount Tai. Her father was an assistant to the governor of
Mi-zhou. She was the aunt of Dharma Master Tanrui of Cturdia
Monastery. She had a noble character from her early days, and
her talented ability of discrimination was brilliant and comprehensive.
Having established her virtue while she was young, Sengnian
left home at the age of ten to become a disciple of the nun Fahu
and lived with her teacher at Tai-hou Nunnery. She led a life of
moral integrity with a mind of austerity, and her contemplative
thought was subtle and profound. She was well read and versatile, and her writings were good both in meaning and in composition. She was a vegetarian and performed the ceremony of confession even more earnestly during her old age. She recited the
Saddharmapuarka-stra seven times in one day and night.
139
Both Emperor Wen and Emperor Xiaowu of the Song dynasty

often provided her with substantial aid. During the Yong-ming
period of the Qi dynasty, Sengnian went to live at Chan-lin
Nunnery. Her mode of meditation became very popular, and she
had numerous students. The Prince of Jing-ling, who was the Minister of Civil Aairs, supported her with the four requisites. In the
third year of Tian-jian (504) of the Liang dynasty, she died at the
age of ninety. Her remains were buried in the village of Zhongxing in Mo-ling County.
54. Tanhui of Chang-le Nunnery

in Cheng-du
946a
Tanhui, originally surnamed Qingyang and named Baiyu, was a

native of Cheng-du. When she was young she took delight in practicing the Way, but her parents did not allow her to do so.
In the ninth year of Yuan-jia (432), the foreign dhyna master Klayaas came to the region of Shu to teach meditation and
contemplation. Tanhui, who was then eleven, begged her mother
to invite the dhyna master, as she wished to inquire of him about
the methods of meditation; her mother consented. The moment
Klayaas saw her, he remarked with admiration that the child
possessed prenatal competence and he asked her to practice meditation. He told the nun Fayu to assist her.
But Tanhuis mother had already betrothed her to the son of
her paternal aunt. As the date of wedding was xed, nothing could
be done to alter the plan. Bhiku Fayu secretly took the girl to
her nunnery, and Tanhui made a deep vow, saying, If I cannot
fulll my religious purpose and I am forced to do anything else,
I will burn myself to death.
Hearing of this matter, the Prefectural Governor Zhen Fachong
dispatched a messenger to invite Tanhui. He assembled the chief
ocials together with their assistants and various people of renown,
and requested the presence of the monks and nuns to carry out a
140
thorough investigation of the matter. Zhen Fachong asked, Do

you think that you can lead the homeless life?
Tanhui replied, That has been my humble wish for a long
time. Now I beg for your help and support.
Fachong said, Good. He then sent a messenger to consult
with her aunt, who readily accepted the governors instructions.
Tanhui renounced home when she was just thirteen years old,
under the instruction of the nun Fayu, from whom she learned a
method of meditation. Immediately after she had received her rst
lesson, she went to sit at the last seat and entered samdhi. She
saw two rays of light in the east. One was as white as the sun and
the other was pale blue like the moon. In this state of samdhi she
thought that the white light must represent the path of the bodhisattva, while the blue one must signify the Dharma of the rvaka, and that if this were truly the case, the blue light should
fade away while the white one would glow brighter. In response
to this thought, the bluish light vanished and the white ray brightened.
When Tanhui emerged from samdhi, she told this to Bhiku
Fayu who, being skilled in the way of contemplation, was delighted
to hear about it and extolled her with praise. There were then
more than forty persons sitting together with her, and all of them
marveled at this rare occurrence.
Later Tanhuis betrothed, suspecting that she was deceiving
him, led a raid against her and abducted her to his home. Tanhui,
who was then sixteen years old, guarded herself against the assault
with the aid of her maidservant. Her anc was then at the end
of his tether. She sued him through the prefectural government.
The governor appreciated her unusual conduct and consulted with
Klayaas, who said, This person is endowed with intelligence.
It would be prudent not to act against her wishes. If her ancs
family is willing to settle the case and is short of money to cover
expenses, I have a servant whom I can spare to make a contribution. In this way the problem was solved.
141
946b
Later, in the course of meditation [practice], Tanhui came to

understand the immutability of the Buddha-nature and other
Mahayana doctrines that her teacher had not taught her. Various well-known teachers of the time tried their utmost to raise
dicult questions to test her, but nobody could bae her. Thus
her fame spread far and near, and she won the trust of all people.
In the nineteenth year of Yuan-jia (442) of the Song dynasty,
the Prince of Liu-chuan came to govern South Yan-zhou. He invited
Tanhui to his residence when she was twenty-one years old. When
the prince was given the title of General of Biao-qi [and so began]
to administer the region of Shan, he brought her to the southern
part of Chu. One thousand two hundred men and women, both
clergy and laypeople, served her as their teacher with great respect
and honor.
Months and years passed. Tanhui longed to see her mother
and insisted on returning to her home village. As she was distinguished by her virtuous deeds, her disciples increased day by day.
To the northwest of the bridge at the market, she built a temple
with a stupa. The shrine rooms, halls, sidehouses, and corridors
were completed very quickly. She also constructed three more nunneries, all of which were nished with such amazing speed that
the people marveled at her and remarked that she possessed spiritual powers. In the third year of Tian-jian (504), Tanhui died at
the age of eighty-three.
One time, when Zhang Jun was with his parents in Yi-zhou,
he suddenly went straight to visit Tanhui without previous notice.
More than thirty guests who had come along with him had just
sat down when fruits, rice dumplings, and other seasonal delicacies were immediately served. Later, the prefectural governor Liu
Quan also went with his friends [to visit Tanhui], and the same
thing happened.
The Prince of Xuan-wu of the Liang dynasty once sent provisions to Tanhui to prepare a feast for a hundred persons. He said
that he would not join the gathering, but in the middle of the event
142
he went there in person and found that there were as many as

three hundred monks and some of his assistant ocials, nearly
four hundred persons in all. At the moment when they were going
to perform a religious ceremony, Tanhui sent a maidservant to
ask people to help serve the food. Some people were sent to her,
and they saw that only two of her disciples and two maidservants
were preparing the food without the aid of any other servants.
The prince remarked with still greater admiration, She is unfathomable!
Once somebody asked Tanhui, I see that you and your disciples possess no more assets than a middle-class family. How is it
that you can do things in such a marvelous way?
She said in reply, This poor person never had any savings.
Whenever I am in need of money, I just manage to have three or
ve pieces of gold to spend. Each time I need some money, it comes
to me in a way that I do not know. That person who had talked
with her thought that she had an inexhaustible treasury.
There was also the nun Huaguang, who was originally surnamed Xianyu and who had a penetrating understanding of the
abstruse subtlety of deep meditation and marvelous insight. She
was well-read in the Tripiaka as well as in the philosophies of
various schools. She was particularly good at writing compositions,
and she wrote an encomium in praise of Tanhui with well-regulated phrasing that was not contrary to literary elegance.
55. Feng of Lang-zhong Nunnery

in the Illegal Capital of Gao-chang
Bhiku Feng, originally surnamed Feng, was a native of Gaochang. Out of respect for her, people of the time addressed her by
her surname. She renounced home at the age of thirty and went
to live at Lang-zhong Nunnery in the capital of Gao-chang. Taking only one vegetarian meal a day, she observed the Vinaya rules
strictly. By way of fervent devotion she burned six of her ngers,
all right up to the palms, and recited the Mahparinirva-stra
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946c
once every three days.

There was then a Dharma master named Fahui, whose religious devotion surpassed that of all others. He was the preceptor
of all the nuns in the whole country of Gao-chang. Some time later,
Feng suddenly said to Fahui, crya (teacher), you are not yet
perfect. Let me be a virtuous friend to you. You, crya, should go
to the kingdom of Kucha, where, under the tent of the Golden
Flower Monastery, you may listen to the monk on monthly duty
and gain the supreme Dharma.
Fahui listened to her and accepted her advice. He went to that
monastery and saw the monk, who was pleased and oered him a
pint of grape wine to drink. Fahui was amazed, I have come to
seek the supreme Dharma, but here you are giving me wine to
drink. When he refused to drink the forbidden beverage, the monk
shoved him and ordered him out at once.
Fahui withdrew and thought to himself, I have come from a
great distance but have not achieved my intention. Perhaps I
should not disobey him. Then he drank the wine in one gulp and
became intoxicated. He vomited and lost consciousness in a state
of total stupor. Meanwhile the monk went away. When Fahui
sobered up, he realized that he had violated the Vinaya rules, to
his great repentence. He deeply regretted what he had done and
intended to take his own life. While he was thinking in this way,
he attained the third stage of arhatship. The monk returned and
asked him, Have you achieved it?
Fahui replied, Yes! Then he set out on his return journey to
Gao-chang.
When he was still two hundred li away, Bhiku Feng, without being informed beforehand, called the community of nuns to
go out and greet him from a great distance. This was an example
of her foreknowledge.
All the nuns of Gao-chang honored Feng as their teacher. In
the third year of Tian-jian (504) of the Liang dynasty, she died at
the age of ninety-six.
144
56. Huisheng of Xian-ju Nunnery

of the Liang Dynasty
Huisheng, originally surnamed Tang, was a native of Peng-cheng.
Her father, Sengzhi, took up his abode at Jian-kang. Huisheng
wished to renounce home when she was young, and she conducted
herself with rectitude. She seldom spoke, and whatever she said
she put into practice without being frivolous or impetuous. She
often remained indoors for ten days at a stretch, and all those who
observed her behavior could not but venerate her with unusual
respect.
In the twenty-rst year of Yuan-jia (444) of the Song dynasty,
Huisheng renounced secular life at the age of eighteen as a disciple of Bhiku Jingxiu and went to live at Chan-lin Nunnery.
After receiving full ordination, she lectured on the Saddharmapuarka-stra and studied the dhyna of ve practices under
Bhiku Huixu of Ji-shan Nunnery. Later she learned various
methods of contemplation from both Siyin of Cao-tang Monastery
and Faying of Ling-gen Monastery.
Huisheng had unusual features and marvelous realization,
and she possesses unique understanding. When people asked her
about it, she said in reply, Confess all your sins immediately,
whether they are grave or trivial, and make repentance with
earnestness day and night.
Both noblemen and commoners honored her with respect and
oered alms to her incessantly. In the fourth year of Tian-jian
(505) of the Liang dynasty, Huisheng died at the age of eightyone. Her remains were buried on Bai-ban Mountain.
57. Jingxian of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery

Jingxian, originally surnamed Hong, was a native of Yong-shi.
Living at Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery, she was a person of capability and talent and was fond of practicing meditation. She was
145
well versed in the sutras and the Vinaya, and her words were
always rened and honest. Although she did not give lectures, she
made profound studies of all the essential teachings.
Emperor Wen of the Song dynasty treated her cordially. As a
child, the Prince of Xiang-dong used to suer from nightmares,
but after receiving the Three Refuges from Bhiku Jingxian by
imperial order, he was cured. After this, the emperor treated her
even more cordially, oering her rich donations with great respect,
and people within and outside the palace presented personal
gifts to her.
When Emperor Ming ascended the throne (465), he honored
Jingxian with even more respect and provided her with abundant
oerings. Feasts were prepared and lectures arranged one after
the other without cease. All the famous scholars of the time honored her as their teacher. Later, she took charge of the aairs of
the nunnery for more than ten years. She died at the age of seventy-ve, in the fourth year of Tian-jian (505) of the Liang dynasty.
There were also Huigao and Baoyong, both of whom were wellknown gures. Huigao sat in meditation and recited scriptures,
and diligently managed the aairs of the community. Baoyong lectured on the Saddharmapuarka-stra and had a clear understanding of the practice of contemplation.
58. Jingyuan of Zhu-yuan Nunnery

Jingyuan, originally surnamed Shi, was a native of Ju-lu. When
she was a child she had the intelligence of an adult. At the age of
ve or six, she often collected sand to build stupas and carved
wooden images. She venerated them by burning incense for a whole
day, yet [even then] she did not feel that she had suciently venerated them. Whenever she heard people saying anything, she
would always make thorough inquiries to nd out the truth.
Jingyuan renounced secular life at the age of twenty. She
thought fondly of her parents, and would neither eat nor sleep
but drank only water to observe a fast. She refused to listen to
146
remonstrances and fasted for seven days, after which she became
a strict vegetarian. She strictly observed the Vinaya rules with
endurance without being taught to do so. Her teachers and friends
respected her with admiration, and she was praised by people far
and near.
Crown Prince Wenhui of the Qi dynasty greatly honored her
and oered her the four daily requisites, and messengers were dispatched to send letters to her frequently. In the fth year of Tianjian (506), Jingyuan died at the age of seventy-one.
59. Jingxing of Zhu-yuan Nunnery

Jingxing was the fth younger sister of Bhiku Jingyuan. When
she was a child, her intellect was ne and brilliant and her farsightedness rm and comprehensive. She had a frank and upright
character and was a person of aspirations. Her manners and deportment were always extraordinary.
When Jingxing was young she was acquainted with Lady Zang,
the wife of Guo Qia, the Chief Fodder Supplier. Guo Qia intended
to murder his wife, and word of it leaked out in the streets. Jingxing asked her elder brother to admonish Guo Qia, but Guo Qia
would not listen to him. Jingxing secretly told Lady Zang, but the
lady did not believe it. Holding the ladys hands, Jingxing wept
sorrowfully and then returned home. A few days later, Guo Qia
did indeed murder his wife.
At the age of seventeen, Jingxing renounced secular life under
the tutorship of Bhiku Fashi and went to live at Zhu-yuan Nunnery. She studied the Satyasiddhi-stra and the Abhidharmakoa,
as well as the Nirvana Sutra and the Avatasaka-stra. Whenever she saw the beginning of anything, she could [immediately]
comprehend its object and meaning. Her studies were deep and
abstruse and she could debate extensively without limit.
provided her with rich alms. The Dharma masters Sengzong and
Baoliang held her in great esteem. Whenever she was invited to
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947a
give a sermon, the audience always consisted of several hundred

people. In the ocial residence and in the nunneries, religious
functions were performed continuously, and none of the advanced
teachers of the time could defeat her in argumentation.
Later, the Prince of Jing-ling classied the learned monks and
nuns into dierent ranks with the intention of compiling a record
of the sangha. But nobody was found to equal Jingxing. There was
a nun who was intelligent and exceptionally well learned, and who
could debate extensively in a miraculous way. Jingxing was particularly intimate with her, and the other nuns also regarded her
as a budding young person who could match Jingxing.
During her old age, Jingxing took delight in meditation and
contemplation, and lived the austere life of a vegetarian. When
the emperor heard about her, he praised her highly with admiration. In the eighth year of Tian-jian (509), she died at the age of
sixty-six. Her remains were buried on Zhong Mountain.
60. Shi Lingyu of Southern Jin-ling Nunnery

Lingyu, originally surnamed Cai, was a native of Jian-kang. When
she was young, she left home and lived in a meditation cell at
Empress Hes Nunnery as a disciple of Bhiku Jingyao, who
observed the Vinaya rules in a pure and faultless manner and
whose practice of meditation surpassed all others.
When Lingyu was young, she served her teacher respectfully
and diligently without negligence. When she began to observe the
ten precepts, she behaved herself quite properly. When she received
full ordination, she kept the prohibitive rules in a manner as pure
as ice and frost. She widely studied the Five Texts, probing into
their deep meaning in a marvelous way, and was able to write
expositions for their elucidation.
The Prince of Shao-ling of the Song dynasty greatly respected
Lingyu and invited her to be the abbess of Southern Jin-ling Nunnery, but she resolutely declined and would not take up the post.
148
The prince could not force her but he reported the matter to the
emperor reigning in the Yuan-hui period (473477), who sanctioned the appointment by imperial decree. Thus Lingyu could no
longer evade the duty and served in the post for a number of years.
She was dignied without being proud and inspired awe without showing severity. In the eighth year of Tian-jian (509) of the
Liang dynasty, Lingyu died at the age of seventy-six.
In the same nunnery there were also Linghui, Jieren, and
Huili, all persons of renown. Linghui recited the Saddharmapuarka, the Vimalakrtinirdea, the rmldevsihanda,
and other sutras. She was assiduous and lived as a vegetarian,
serving as a prominent example to the entire community. Jieren
was intelligent and fond of learning, and she never forgot whatever she had set her eyes on. Huili had a correct understanding of
emptiness and never deceived others nor competed for anything.
61. Sengshu of Xian-ju Nunnery

Sengshu, originally surnamed Huai, was a native of Peng-cheng.
Her father, Sengzhen, emigrated to live at Jian-kang. When
Sengshu was young, she set her mind on the Way. She became a
vegetarian at the age of eight. When she was nineteen, in the
twenty-fourth year of Yuan-jia (477) of the Song dynasty, she left
secular life under the tutorship of Bhiku Jingxiu of Chan-lin
Nunnery.
Sengshus moral practice was pure and austere, and she was
without any defect in her religious discretion. She xed her mind
on the study of the sutras and the Vinaya texts, which she read
thoroughly. Later she made a special eort to study the Sarvativda-vinaya and gained a complete understanding of the meaning of the text. She also received from the Dharma masters Yin
and Shen the secret of contemplation and the method of perfect
samdhi. She then went to live at Chan-lin Nunnery, where she
was honored as a teacher of meditation.
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The people coming and going and gathering around her made
the nunnery a clamorous place, so Sengshu had the intention to
live in seclusion. On hearing this, Imperial Lady Zhang, mother
of the Prince of Liu-chuan of the Song dynasty, gave up her residence for the purpose of making it a nunnery. But at that time
establishing a nunnery at will was not allowed. Not until the rst
day of the ninth month in the second year of Yuan-hui (474), when
Lady Wu Chonghua, mother of the Prince of Ru-nan, presented a
petition to the emperor, was imperial permission granted for the
construction of the nunnery. It consisted of more than fty halls
and shrines and other rooms and houses, in which Sengshu lived
with twenty of her companions of the same aspiration, taking
delight in silent meditation. It was named Xian-ju Nunnery.
Whether active or remaining quiet, Sengshu always maintained morality and was never frivolous or ostentatious. During
the Song and Qi dynasties, when the country was in turmoil, she
continued to practiced meditation and lived in peace, unperturbed
by worldly concerns. Both Crown Prince Wenhui and Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling in the Qi dynasty treated her with great honor.
They renovated the whole nunnery, making everything brilliant
and splendid, and oered alms throughout the four seasons without cease. When the great [Emperor] Liang established sovereignty
and restored order in the country, both the laity and the clergy
respected and gathered around Sengshu like clouds from distant
places of the four quarters.
Sengshu never kept any private property. Whatever she
received she distributed to help the four groups of Buddhist followers, or to release living creatures, or for almsgiving. She made
ve golden images, all of which were magnicent and beautiful,
and had more than one thousand fascicles of sutras and Vinaya
texts copied. Their labels, wrappers, ribbons, and rollers were
exquisitely decorated with precious ornaments.
In the fourteenth year of Tian-jian (515) in the Liang dynasty,
Sengshu died at the age of eighty-four. Her remains were buried
on the southern side of Zhong Mountain.
150
62. Miaoyi of Western Qing-yuan Nunnery

Miaoyi, originally surnamed Liu, was a native of Jian-kang. When
she was a child, her marvelous ingenuity was ne and outstanding. She renounced home and went to live at Western Qing-yuan
Nunnery while she was young, and she observed the Vinaya rules
spotlessly, with superior and brilliant spirituality. Her sincere
faithfulness and charitable deeds were remembered by the people. She was fond of talking and was particularly good at making
humorous remarks.
Miaoyi lectured on the Mahparinirva-stra, the Saddharmapuarka-stra, and the Daabhmika-stra more than thirty
times altogether, and also expounded the Sarvstivda-vinaya on
dierent occasions to guide and benet many people. In the twelfth
year of Tian-jian (513), she died at the age of seventy.
63. Shi Huihui of Le-an Nunnery

Huihui, originally surnamed Luo, was a native of Qing-zhou. At
the age of six, she took delight in the Way, but her parents did not
allow [her to renounce home]. When she reached the age of eleven,
she stopped eating meat, sh, and pungent roots. She was pure
and simple with a noble and expansive mind, and her demeanor
and features were serene and elegant. She recited the Mahparinirva-stra and chanted the Saddharmapuarka-stra.
When Huihui was seventeen, she went to the capital with her
father. She was energetic and vigorous, and did what others could
not do. Out of aectionate pity for her, her parents [at last] allowed
her to fulll her wish. At the age of eighteen, she left home and
went to live at Le-an Nunnery. She attended lectures given by the
four Dharma masters Bin, Ji, Rou, and Ci on the Satyasiddhi-stra and the Nirvana Sutra, as well as other texts.
Over a ten-year period, her learning thrived like a forest of
knowledge, and all the nuns in the capital received instruction
from her. From then on, preaching meetings were held frequently
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947c
and people assembled from distant places in the four quarters.

Huihui lectured and discussed without rest, and practiced meditation and chanting without interruption. She xed her mind on
right remembrance day and night, even foregoing sleep.
All the princes and dukes and both noble and humble people
highly respected Huihui. Alms from the ten directions were oered
to her in abundance throughout the four seasons. Whatever wealth
she received she spent for copying scriptures and making images
or for almsgiving whenever it was needed. If there was anything
unspent, she would use it for the renovation of Le-an Nunnery, in
which everything was new and well kept.
In the thirteenth year of Tian-jian (514), Huihui died at the
age of seventy-three. Her remains were buried on Stone Hill.
There was also Huiyin, whose daily task was to worship the
Buddha and recite the scriptures.
64. Shi Daogui of Di-shan Nunnery

Daogui, originally surnamed Shou, was a native of Chang-an. As
a child, she was peaceful and simple by nature and was good at
studying the principles of nature. A person of aspirations and abilities, she was assiduous and rigorous and lived more ascetically
than others. She vowed to spread the Great Edication (i.e., the
Buddha-Dharma) and did not eat sh or meat. Her purpose was
to aid others and she was content with ragged clothes for herself.
Daogui recited the rmldevsihanda-stra and the
Sukhvatvyha-stra both day and night. Out of aection for her,
her parents permitted her to lead the religious life. She renounced
home at the age of seventeen and widely read the scriptures and
Vinaya texts, making a thorough study of their meaning. She did
not covet name and fame, but regarded the practice of the Way
as her daily task. She constantly practiced meditation whether
walking or sitting. When she repented her faults or made religious
vows, her words were so sincere and touching that those who heard
them were lled with deep veneration.
152

treated her with respect and built Di-shan Nunnery [Editors note:
The Taish text has the characters Ding-shan here, but the context makes clear that this is the same nunnery as that named in
the heading for this section.] for her in order to bring together a
group of chan (dhyna) practioners. He invited Daogui to take
charge of the nunnery, but she adamantly declined his invitation.
When she was asked to be a model for meditation, she consented.
Then she took up her abode in the forest, where she lived for
the rest of her life. Even when dense clouds enshrouded the sun
or deep snow buried the mountain, Daogui would still sit up straight
in meditation without interruption. Whatever alms she received
from devotees she would use for performing meritorious deeds in
an extensive way. She never spent any of it for her own benet.
In the fteenth year of Tian-jian (516), Daogui died at the age
of eighty-six. Her remains were buried on the southern side of
Zhong Mountain.
65. Shi Faxuan of Zhao-ming Nunnery

in Shan-yin
Faxuan, originally surnamed Wang, was a native of Shan County.
Her father, Daoji, professed the right Dharma because of family
tradition. As a child, Faxuan had the aspiration to leave the world
(i.e., renounce secular life). When she was only seven years old,
she became a vegetarian and led an austere life of self-restraint.
When she was eighteen, she recited the Saddharmapuarkastra and acquired a thorough understanding of its gist from beginning to end.
Faxuan always saw a canopy suspended over her whether she
was sitting or sleeping. When a matchmaker suddenly came to
her, she refused the proposal with a vow. When she was twentyfour, her parents took her to the nun Dele of Qi-ming Nunnery in
Shan County, where she took robes in order to observe the prohibitive rules. On that day the canopy disappeared by itself.
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948a
Faxuan read the scriptures widely and delved deeply into the
substance of the teachings. After she had received ordination, the
people of the time, whether in the countryside or in the capital,
both the laity or the renowned, and religious gures of theoretical studies, were convinced of her diligence and profundity.
In the latter part of the Song dynasty, there was a Dharma
master named Sengrou who traveled around east China giving
lectures on sutras and stras. From the Tu and Sheng Mountains,
he went to the Cave of Yu, or he ascended Ling-yin and journeyed
to Gu-su. Sengrou enumerated the gist of the stras, while Huichu
expounded the essence of the sutras. Faxuan thoroughly mastered
the subtle points and completely understood the profound teachings of them all.
During the Yong-ming period of the Qi dynasty, Faxuan also
received instruction in the Sarvstivda-vinaya from Dharma Master Huixi. What learning she absorbed was improved daily, and
what she comprehended increased every month. Then she went
to live at Zhao-ming Nunnery in Shan-yin. [There] she lectured
on sutras and Vinaya texts one after the other, enjoying a high
reputation in the region of Yu-yue.
Faxuan did not keep private property, but spent all gifts and
donations on the renovation and decoration of the buildings of the
nunnery, the structure of which was so ne and beautiful that it
looked like the work of divine hands. It was completely furnished
with copied sutras and images cast in metal.
Zhang Yuan of Wu Prefecture, Yu Yong of Ying-chuan, and
Zhou Yong of Ru-nan, prominent personages of the time, all went
in person to pay their respects to her. When Xiao Zhaozhou, the
Prince of Ba-ling of the Qi dynasty, was governor of Kuai-ji, he
provided her with rich oerings. Prince Yuanjian of Heng-yang of
the Liang dynasty came to the prefecture to invite her to be his
mothers teacher. In the fteenth year of Tian-jian (516) of the
Liang dynasty, Faxuan died at the age of eighty-three.
End of Fascicle Four of Biographies of Buddhist Nuns
154
The Journey of the

Eminent Monk Faxian
Translated from the Chinese of Faxian
by
Li Rongxi
The Journey of the Eminent Monk Faxian, also known as A Record

of Buddhist Countries, is an account of the travels of Faxian, who
began his journey to India by land in 399 C.E. and returned to China
by sea in 414. As he mentions at the beginning of this work, Faxians
purpose was to acquire and bring back texts on the Buddhist monastic rules and precepts (Vinaya) for Chinese monks.
When Buddhism was rst introduced to China, in the rst century C.E., missionaries from India and Central Asia brought texts consisting of the fundamental teachings of the Buddha, but not those
concerning the monastic rules, the Vinaya. The monastic rules were
considered important only for those who had renounced secular life
to become monks and form an organized sangha (community of
monks). But there were not yet many monastics or would-be monastics in the early stages of the propagation of Buddhism in China.
Much later, during the third century C.E., the Central Indian monk
Dharmakla introduced the Vinaya to China. Dharmakla came to
Luo-yang in the Jia-ping period (249254), during the reign of Prince
Qi of the Wei dynasty (220265). He was learned in both Mahayana
and Hinayana canonical works and Vinaya texts.
Though there were at the time some who had decided to lead a
religious life according to Buddhist teachings, they could hardly be
called bhikus (monks) in the strict sense of the term. These unordained recluses shaved their hair to distinguish themselves from the
laity. But as they had not studied the Vinaya, which provided rules
for the monks daily activities and ordination ceremonies, and spelled
out how to form a legitimate sangha, they knew nothing of the proper
lifestyle of a bhiku. These renunciants asked Dharmakla to translate the Vinaya texts into Chinese.
157
Dharmakla thought that the Vinaya-piaka, the entire corpus of Vinaya texts, was too voluminous to be translated into Chinese, and that other doctrinal texts, rather than Vinaya texts,
should be introduced rst. So he translated only a short text, the
Mahsghika-vinaya-hdaya. He also initiated the ceremony of
ordination for Chinese monks. This constituted the introduction
of the Vinaya to China.
At about the same time in Loyang, from 254256, Dharmakrti,
a monk from Parthia, translated the Dharmagupta-karman into
Chinese. The Bhikuprtimoka must have also been translated
into Chinese around this time as well, for an extant record indicates that Sun Hao, the ruler of Wu (r. 264280), wished to read
the Bhikuprtimoka but was not allowed to do so, as the text
was written exclusively for monks and was not for laypeople.
This, then, is the historical situation that inspired Faxian to
undertake a perilous journey to India in order to seek more Vinaya
texts. He departed from Chang-an in 399.
A few years later, on the seventeenth day of the tenth month
in 404, Puyatara, a monk from Kamra (present-day Kashmir),
began the work of translating into Chinese a more complete Vinaya
text, the Sarvstivda-vinaya, in cooperation with the monk
Kumrajva. But Puyatara died before completing the work, having translated only about two-thirds of the text, and the work was
suspended. Dharmaruci, a monk from Kucha, who arrived in the
Chinese capital in 405, was asked to continue the translation with
Kumrajva, who died in 409 (or 412, according to some sources).
The translation of this important text was begun while Faxian
was traveling in India. Had such a comprehensive Vinaya text
been available in Chinese a few years earlier, Faxian would probably not have risked his life to go to India.
In 410, Buddhayaas translated into Chinese the Dharmagupta-vinaya, in sixty fascicles. This Vinaya text was later studied and followed by the majority of Chinese Buddhist monks. Faxian
also obtained the original Sanskrit version of this text in India.
158
But, after returning to China, he did not translate the text, perhaps because it had already been translated by Buddhayaas.
Faxians major contribution was his translation of the Mahsghika-vinaya, in forty fascicles. He completed this work around
418 with the help of Buddhabhadra, a native of Kapilavastu.
Around the same time, Buddhabhadra translated the Avatasakastra at Jiankang (present-day Nanjing).
Faxian also brought back to China the Sanskrit text of the
Mahsaka-vinaya, but did not translate it. In 424, four years
after Faxians death, Buddhajva, a monk from Kamra, translated this text into Chinese in an edition of thirty fascicles.
Faxian appears to have been a man of iron will. At the age of
sixty-ve he faced the hardships of travel and returned home an
old man of seventy-nine. He had only seven years remaining in
which to fulll his ambition of propagating the Vinaya in China.
But he was able to bring back many Vinaya texts that were then
unknown in China, so his journey was a success. Furthermore, he
has given to posterity an account of his travels to India and to the
countries of Central Asia that describes not only the state of
Buddhism at the time, but also the cultures and customs of the
people he met during his fourteen years abroad.
Faxian had three elder brothers, all of whom died young. Fearing that Faxian might suer the same fate as his brothers, his
father sent him to a monastery to become a novice at the tender
age of three. His father believed that monastic life would ward o
premature death. Faxian died a monk at the ripe old age of eightysix at Xin Monastery in Jinzhou, in the present-day province of
Hupei.
Several editions of this work have appeared in dierent collections of the Tripiaka and separate editions have been published
by individuals. It is therefore inevitable that variant readings may
appear. Texts were hand-copied and it was very easy for scribes
to make mistakes. Because most Chinese characters are similar in
structure, they may be easily misread by a careless scribe. There
159
are ambiguous sections in the text due to errors of transcription,

and readers of later generations must correct them through comparative studies and textual research.
Some mistakes are obvious. For instance, at the beginning of
this work, Faxian is said to have started his journey in the second year of Hong-shi, the cyclical year of Ji-hai. This is a self-contradictory statementthe second year of Hong-shi falls in the
cyclical year of Geng-zi (400), not Ji-hai. If it were Ji-hai, then it
would have to have been the rst year of Hong-shi (399). The Chinese characters for Ji-hai are more complicated in structure and
hence less liable to be miswritten than the character for one,
which is simply a short horizontal stroke. A careless transcriber
may add another short horizontal stroke to it and create the character for two (or second). Thus the character indicating the cyclical year of Ji-hai is more likely to be correct than the simple character for the number two. This is proved by collateral evidence
provided by other works, such as the Biographies of Eminent Monks
compiled by Huijiao of the Liang dynasty. The third fascicle of
that work relates that Faxian left Chang-an in the third year of
the Long-an period (397401) of the Jin dynasty, which corresponds to 399 C.E.
In this translation, I followed the text contained in the Taish
edition of the Tripiaka, with a few exceptions where the context
required me to follow the readings given in the footnotes rather
than those in the text itself.
In the epilogue to his edition of the The Life of Faxian, Hu
Zhenheng, a scholar who ourished during the Wan-li period
(15731620) of the Ming dynasty (13681644), pointed out some
editorial inconsistencies in the text. Since they do not aect the
contents of this work as a whole, I will refrain from going into
detail about his remarks.
160
THE JOURNEY OF THE

EMINENT MONK FAXIAN
A Record of the Journey to India of Shi Faxian,
a ramaa of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317420)
While Faxian was living in Chang-an, he deplored the fact that

the Vinaya-piaka was incomplete. Thus, in the second year of
Hong-shi, the cyclical year of Ji-hai, he set out for India with his
intimate friends Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying, and Huiwei to seek
Vinaya texts.
Beginning the journey in Chang-an, they crossed the Long
Mountains and reached the country governed by Qifu Quiangui.
There they spent the summer in retreat. After the summer retreat,
they proceeded to the country ruled by the Tufa Rutan and crossed
the Yang-lou Mountains before reaching the garrison town of
Zhang-ye, which was then in great turmoil. The roads were impassable. Out of hospitality, the Prince of Zhang-ye invited them to
stay and acted as their supporter. Thus they met [the monks]
Zhiyan, Huijian, Sengshao, Baoyun, and Sengjing. Pleased to learn
that they were all traveling for the same purpose, the monks stayed
together to observe the summer retreat.
When the summer retreat was over, they proceeded to Dunhuang, where there was a fortied region about eighty li from east
to west and forty li from south to north. They stayed there for over
a month, then Faxian and his group, ve persons in all, parted
from Baoyun and the others and resumed the journey with a messenger. Li Hao, the governor of Dun-huang, provided them with
the necessities required to sustain life when crossing the desert.
In the desert there were many evil spirits and frequent hot winds.
Those who encountered them all died; none could hope to escape
with a whole skin. Not a bird ew above, nor any beast roamed
below. As far as the eye could see, there was no road anywhere on
which to cross the desert. Only the skeletons of dead persons served
as road markers.
After traveling for seventeen days, covering a distance of
about fteen hundred li, the group reached the country of Shanshan. It was a rugged and barren land. The laypeople dressed in
roughly the same manner as the Han people, except that their
garments were made of felt or coarse cloth. The ruling prince professed the Dharma, and there were about four thousand monks,
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857a4
857b
all belonging to the Hinayana school. All the laypeople and monks
of the various countries practiced the Dharma of India, some of
them more strictly and some less so. From here westward, all the
countries [of Central Asia] were similar in that while the indigenous languages diered from country to country, all the monks
studied the old Indian texts and languages.
Having stayed there for one month, the group then continued
their journey to the northwest. After fteen days, they reached
the country of Agni. In this country there were also about four
thousand monks of the Hinayana school who observed the Dharma
in a perfect manner. Monks from China were not accepted as members of the sangha. With the help of Fu Gongsun, a monk serving
in the refectory, Faxian stayed there for more than two months
and then rejoined Baoyun and the others.
The people of Agni lacked training in the rules of courtesy and
treated their guests inhospitably. So Zhiyan, Huijian, and Huiwei
returned to Gao-chang with the intention of procuring necessities
for the journey, while Faxian and his group proceeded directly
southwest with the supplies provided by Fu Gongsun. There
were no inhabitants along the way and the journey was very
diicult. The hardships they experienced were beyond human
understanding.
After one month and ve days travel, they managed to reach
Khotan. In this rich and happy country the people lived in prosperity and believed and took delight in the Dharma. The monks
numbered in the tens of thousands and most of them studied Mahayana Buddhism. Adequate food was given to the community of
monks. The people of this country were as numerous as the stars
in the sky. Each house had a small stupa erected in front of the
door, the smallest ones being about twenty feet in height. There
were dwellings to provide lodgings and other requisites for guest
monks from the four quarters.
The lord of the country lodged Faxian and his party in a
monastery called Gomati. It was a Mahayana establishment. Three
thousand monks partook of their meals together at the sound of
164
a drum. When they entered the refectory, they behaved with sedate
propriety and took their seats in due order. All was quiet, and they
used their almsbowls without making any noise. When they wished
to rell their bowls, they were not allowed to call out, but would
simply wave their hands at the attendants.
Huijing, Daozheng, and Huida went on ahead to the country
of Khaa, while Faxian and the others, wishing to witness the
image-welcoming procession, remained behind for three months.
In this country, there were fourteen large monasteries, not
counting the smaller ones. Starting on the rst day of the fourth
month, the streets of the city were swept clean and sprinkled with
water, and the lanes and roads were decorated. A large canopy
was stretched over the city gate, and everything was well adorned.
The king and his queen, along with their maidservants, were seated
under the canopy at the city gate. The king respected the monks
of Gomati Monastery who belonged to the Mahayana school, so
they were the rst to parade their Buddha image in the procession.
At a distance of three or four li from the city, a four-wheeled
cart over thirty feet high had been constructed in the shape of a
mobile shrine. It was beautifully adorned with the seven kinds of
precious stones, silk pennants, and canopies. Attended by two
bodhisattvas, the image stood in the middle of the cart, while a
retinue of celestial beings carved in gold and silver were suspended
in the air.
When the image arrived at a point about a hundred paces from
the city gate, the king took o his crown and changed into fresh
clothing. Going barefooted and holding owers and incense in his
hands, he went out of the city to receive the image, with his attendants following behind him. He saluted the images feet, scattered
owers, and burned incense. When the image was entering the
city, the queen and her maidservants on the tower of the city gate
scattered various kinds of owers, which rained down in profusion.
Such adornments and oered items were dierent for each cart.
Each monastery was assigned one day to parade its images. The
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857c
procession started on the rst day of the fourth month and ended
on the fourteenth day. At the conclusion of the image procession,
the king and queen returned to their palace.
Seven or eight li to the west of the city, there was a monastery
called New Royal Monastery, which had been built eighty years
before. Its construction went on through the reigns of three kings.
A composite structure made of various kinds of precious substances,
the monastery was about two hundred fty feet in height, decorated with ornamental engravings and hollow carvings, and covered with gold and silver foil. At the back of a stupa, there was a
beautiful and magnicent shrine hall for the Buddhas image. All
the beams, pillars, doors, and windows of the shrine were adorned
with golden foil. Apart from this, there were monks living quarters, which were also decorated in a manner splendid beyond
description. The costly jewels in the possession of the kings of the
six countries east of the Pamirs were mostly presented as oerings
to the monasteries and seldom used for personal adornment.
After the conclusion of the image procession in the fourth
month, Sengshao set out for Kamra with a foreign monk. Faxian
and his group proceeded to the country of Kukyar and reached it
after a journey of twenty-ve days. The king of this country was
energetically engaged in Buddhist learning. There were more than
a thousand monks, most of whom belonged to the Mahayana. Having stayed here for fteen days, the group traveled southward into
the Pamirs for four days and reached the country of Ladakh, where
they sojourned for the summer retreat. When the summer retreat
was over, they traveled through the mountains for twenty-ve
days, reaching the country of Khaa, where they rejoined Huijing
and the others.
At that time, the king of Khaa was holding the pacavrika
(quinquennial assembly), to which large numbers of monks from
the four quarters were invited. At the assembly, the monks seats
were adorned and canopies were suspended in the air. Gold and
silver lotus owers were placed at the back of their seats. Clean
mats were placed on the ground for the monks to sit on.
166
The king and his ministers made oerings to the monks according to Buddhist tradition for one, two, or three months, usually in
the spring. At the conclusion of the assembly, the king advised his
ministers to make oerings to the monks for one, two, three, ve,
or up to seven days. When all oerings had been made, the king
himself tted his own horses with saddles and bridles, and gave
them to high-ranking ministers of the country, bidding them to
ride them to oer the monks various things, such as white felt,
gems, and other things the monks needed. The king and his ministers oered these things, having made their vows. These alms,
however, were later exchanged for other items the monks needed.
This country was mountainous and cold, and no grain but
wheat could be cultivated there. At the time the monks ended their
summer retreat, the mornings would often become frosty. Thus
the king usually asked them not to hold their summer retreat until
after the wheat had been harvested.
In this country there was a stone spittoon once used by the
Buddha. Its color was the same as the Buddhas almsbowl. There
was also a tooth of the Buddha, for which the people of the country erected a stupa. There were more than a thousand monks, all
belonging to the Hinayana. To the east of these mountains, the
garments of the laypeople were like those in China, except that
they were of felt and coarse cloth. The monks religious utensils
were so superior that is impossible to describe them in detail. This
country was in the middle of the Pamirs. From here onward the
plants, trees, and fruits were all dierent, except that the bamboo, pomegranate trees, and sugarcane were the same as in the
land of the Han people (China).
From here [Faxian and his party] proceeded westward to India.
After a months travel they crossed the Pamirs, where there was
snow in summer as well as in winter. There was a venomous dragon
which, if angered, would snort out noxious gas or cause rain, snow,
or sandstorms. Not one person out of ten thousand who encountered this disaster escaped safely. Local people called this place
the Snow Mountains.
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After crossing the Pamirs, they reached India. On its borders

there was a small country called Darada, where there were also
many monks, all learning Hinayana Buddhism. Formerly there
was an arhat in this country who, by his supernatural power, led
a skillful artisan to the Tuita Heaven to observe the height and
features of Maitreya Bodhisattva so that after returning to this
world the artisan could carve a wooden statue of the bodhisattva.
The artisan ascended to the [Tuita Heaven] three times to observe
before he completed the statue. The statue was eighty feet in height
and eight feet wide at the pedestal, and it often emitted light on
festival days. The kings of dierent countries vied with each other
in making oerings to the statue. It is still standing there.
From here they traveled southwest along the mountain range
for fteen days on a diicult path that was full of obstacles. The
crags rose to a formidable height and there was nothing but precipitous rocks towering high in the mountains. One would feel
dizzy when looking down from above, and there was no foothold
for proceeding along the way. Below owed a river called the Indus.
The ancients had hewn a stairway-like path out of the rocks that
had seven hundred steps. After climbing the stairway, the party
crossed the river by walking carefully over a rope suspension bridge.
The banks of the river were nearly eighty paces apart. According
to the archives about distant countries, even Zhang Qian and Gan
Ying did not get as far as this place.
The monks asked Faxian, When was Buddhism introduced
to the East?
He replied, I have inquired of the people in the East, and they
all said that Buddhism was handed down by people of ancient
times. Since the raising of the image of Maitreya Bodhisattva,
Indian monks have crossed this river with sutras and Vinaya texts.
That image was set up about three hundred years after the
Buddhas parinirva, corresponding to the reign of King Ping of
the Zhou dynasty (1122256 B.C.E.). With this in view, we may
say that the dissemination of the Great Religion dates from the
time of that image. If Maitreya Bodhisattva had not succeeded to
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the Dharma of akyamuni Buddha, who else could have spread

the Triple Gem and enabled the people of the borderlands to understand the Dharma? We may be sure that the commencement of
this mysterious event was not the work of men, and there must
be a reason for the dream of Emperor Ming of the Han dynasty
(206 B.C.E.220 C.E.).
After crossing the Indus River, the group reached the country of Udyna. This kingdom was located in Northern India, but
all the people spoke the language of Central India, which was
known as the Middle Kingdom. The laymens dress and food were
also the same as in the Middle Kingdom, and Buddhism ourished
there. The monks dwelling places were called saghrmas, and
there were altogether ve hundred saghrmas, all belonging
to the Hinayana school.
When a guest monk arrived, the resident monks would host
him for three days, after which he would be asked to nd his own
lodgings. Tradition says that the Buddha came to Northern India
and it was this country that he visited. He left his footprints there,
and they may be long or short according to who looks at them. It
is still so today. The rock on which the Buddha aired his robe and
the place where he converted an evil dragon were also there. The
rock was fourteen feet high and about twenty feet wide, with one
at side.
Huijing, Huida, and Daozheng continued their journey to the
country of Nagarahra, where there was an image of the Buddha.
Faxian and his group stayed behind in Udyna for the summer
retreat. After the summer retreat, they traveled south to the country of Suvastu, where Buddhism also ourished. This was the place
where Indra once transformed himself into a hawk and a dove to
test the Bodhisattva [kyamuni], who cut o a piece of his own
esh to give the hawk in order to save the dove. After he had
attained enlightenment, the Buddha once came to this place with
his disciples in the course of his travels. The Buddha told the
[people of Suvastu], This is the place where I once cut o my esh
to ransom a dove. Thus the people of that country came to know
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about it. They built a stupa at the spot and adorned it with gold
and silver ornaments.
Proceeding eastward down from there for ve days, they
reached the country of Gandhra, which was once under the rule
of Dharmavivardhana, the son of King Aoka. When the Buddha
was still a bodhisattva, he gave away his eyes as alms to others
in this country. There was also a huge stupa adorned with gold
and silver ornaments on this spot. Most of the people in this country studied Hinayana teachings.
Seven days journey to the east, there was a country called
Takail, meaning decapitation. When the Buddha was a bodhisattva in a former life, he gave away his head as alms at this place;
hence the name. Going further east for two days, they came to the
place where the Buddha once gave his body to feed a starving
tigress. At both of these places large stupas had been raised and
adorned with various precious ornaments. The kings, ministers,
and people of dierent countries vied with one another in making
oerings. The practices of scattering owers and lighting lamps
at the stupa never ceased. The people of that land called these two
stupas and the two mentioned earlier the Four Great Stupas.
Traveling south from Gandhra for four days, the group came
to the country of Puruapura. Once, when the Buddha traveled to
this country with his disciples, he said to nanda, After my nirvana, a king by the name of Kanika will build a stupa at this
place.
King Kanika later appeared in the world. He once went on a
pleasure trip. Indra, intending to enlighten him, transformed himself into a shepherd boy who was making a stupa by the roadside.
The king asked him, What are you doing?
The boy replied, I am making a Buddha stupa.
The king remarked, That is a very good deed.
Then the king built a stupa more than four hundred feet high
right over the one made by the shepherd boy. He decorated it with
various kinds of precious ornaments. None of the stupas and temples [Faxian and the group] had seen on the way could compare
170
with this one in magnicence and grandeur. It was generally said

that this stupa was the most splendid in all of Jambudvpa. When
the construction of King Kanikas stupa had been completed, the
smaller one, which was about three feet high, emerged on the south
side of the larger one.
The Buddhas almsbowl was kept in this country. The king of
Yuezhi dispatched a great force to attack the country in ancient
times, with the intention of acquiring the almsbowl. Having subdued the country, the devout Buddhist king of Yuezhi made rich
oerings because he wanted to take away the almsbowl. He presented oerings to the Triple Gem, then caparisoned a huge elephant and placed the bowl upon it. But the elephant crouched on
the ground and would not move forward. Then the king made a
four-wheeled cart that was hitched to eight elephants, and the
bowl was placed on it. But the cart could not move. The king realized that it was not time for him to own the Buddhas almsbowl.
With a sense of deep shame and remorse [at his deeds], he built a
stupa and a monastery on the spot, and guardians were stationed
there to make all kinds of oerings.
There were about seven hundred monks there. They brought
out the bowl every day when it was nearly noon to receive the alms
oered by the laypeople. Then they partook of their midday meal.
In the evening they brought it out at the time of burning incense.
The vessel could contain about two pecks and was multicolored,
with black predominating. Its four layers were distinctly visible.
About a fth of an inch thick, it has a brilliant luster. It could be
lled to the brim with a few owers oered by a poor man, but a
rich man could never ll it even with a hundred, a thousand, or
ten thousand bushels of owers.
Baoyun and Sengjing made oerings to the Buddhas almsbowl, and then started on their return journey. Huijing, Huida,
and Daozheng went ahead to the country of Nagarahra to make
oerings to the Buddhas image, tooth, and skull. Huijing fell ill,
so Daozheng stayed behind to attend to him, while Huida went
back to Puruapura alone to rejoin the others and he then returned
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to China with Baoyun and Sengjing. Huijing passed away at the

temple of the Buddhas almsbowl. Thus Faxian traveled alone to
the temple of the Buddhas skull.
Going west for sixteen yojanas, he reached the city of Hia
on the border of Nagarahra, where the temple of the Buddhas
skull was. The whole temple was covered with golden foil and decorated with the seven precious gems. Out of respect for the skull,
and hoping to safeguard it, the king had selected eight noblemen
of the country and asked each of them to hold a seal of the temple. Early in the morning, the eight noblemen would gather, each
to inspect his own seal. Then they opened the door. After the door
was opened, they would wash their hands with scented water,
bring out the skull, and place it on a high platform outside the
temple.
The skull was set on a circular stand made of the seven precious gems, and covered with a lapis lazuli cup adorned with pearls
and gems. Its color was yellowish white, and it was four inches
across with a protuberant cranium. Every day when it was taken
out, the residents of the temple ascended a lofty tower to beat a
large drum, blow a conch, and strike cymbals. Upon hearing the
sound, the king went to the temple to oer owers and incense.
Then he and his attendants worshiped the skull in due order and
left the temple. The king entered the temple by the eastern gate
and left by the western gate.
The king worshiped the skull with oerings in this manner
every morning, and did not attend to state aairs until he had
done so. The laymen and elders, too, made their oerings before
attending to their household duties. The people did this every day,
never tiring of it. After all oerings had been made, they returned
the skull to the temple and kept it in a stupa called Emancipation,
which was made of the seven kinds of jewels. The stupa was about
ve feet high and it could be opened and closed.
Every morning in front of the gate of the temple, vendors sold
owers and incense. Worshipers purchased them to make oerings.
The kings of various countries also constantly sent envoys to make
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oerings. The site of this temple, about thirty paces square, never
trembled even during thunderstorms or earthquakes.
Proceeding northward for one yojana, Faxian reached the capital of Nagarahra, where the Bodhisattva in one of his former
lives had purchased with silver coins ve lotuses to oer to the
Buddha Dpakara. In this city there was a stupa in which was
enshrined a tooth of the Buddha. The tooth was worshiped in the
same manner as the skull.
One yojana to the northeast of the city, Faxian came to a valley. There a sta once used by the Buddha was enshrined in a temple. The sta was made of red sandalwood, about sixteen or seventeen feet long, and was kept in a wooden tube, which even a
hundred or a thousand men could not move.
At a place four days journey toward the west of the valley,
there was a sagh robe of the Buddha, which was enshrined in
a temple. Whenever a drought occurred in this country, the people would bring out the robe to worship it and make oerings to
it, and then rain would come down in torrents.
Half a yojana south of the city of Nagarahra, in a mountain
facing southwest, there was a grotto in which the Buddha had left
his image. Viewed from a distance of about ten paces, it looked
just like the Buddhas true form with golden features issuing brilliant light. But the nearer one went to it, the less distinct it became.
It looked like a dim shade. The kings of various countries had sent
skillful artists to copy it, but none could succeed in doing so. It was
said by the people of that country that all the thousand Buddhas
had left their images [in this grotto].
About four hundred paces to the west of the image was a place
where the Buddha, when he was in this world, once shaved his
hair and pared his nails. With their own hands, the Buddha and
his disciples built a stupa that was seventy to eighty feet high.
The stupa was still standing there as a model for future stupas.
Beside it there was a monastery with over seven hundred monks
living in it. This monastery had as many as a thousand stupas that
were built in memory of various arhats and pratyekabuddhas.
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Faxian and two others stayed [at that place] for three months
during the winter, then headed south across the Lesser Snow Mountains, which were covered with snow in summer as well as in winter. While they were passing through the shaded northern side of
the mountains, a sudden icy blast swept down and made them
shiver in the bitter cold. Huijing could proceed no further. White
foam oozed from his mouth. He said to Faxian, I am done for. You
should leave me now. Dont perish with me. Thereupon he passed
away.
Faxian held him and cried out, You have died without attaining your goal. What can we do about it?
Faxian gathered his strength to forge ahead and succeeded in
crossing the mountains to go south to the country of Lakki. [In
that place] there were nearly three thousand monks who studied
both the Mahayana and the Hinayana. Faxian stayed in this country for the summer retreat, then went south and reached the country of Varaa after ten days travel. There were also about three
thousand monks there, all of whom belonged to the Hinayana
school.
Proceeding from [Varaa] eastward for three days, he again
crossed the Indus River, where the land was at on both banks.
Beyond the river was a country called Bhia, where Buddhism
ourished and both the Mahayana and Hinayana teachings were
studied.
On seeing a monk coming from China, the people were greatly
moved and remarked, How is it that a man of the borderland could
have become a monk to practice the Way and come so far to seek
Buddhism? They provided Faxian with all he needed and treated
him with courtesy.
In the course of traveling southeast for nearly eighty yojanas,
Faxian passed by a great number of monasteries inhabited by some
ten thousand monks. Having passed through these places, he came
to the country called Mathur, where he again crossed the Yamun
River. On both sides of the river were twenty monasteries with
about three thousand monks. Buddhism ourished there.
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All the kings of the Indian countries west of the desert were
devout believers in the Buddha-Dharma. When they oered alms
to the monks, they would take o their crowns. Together with their
relatives and ministers, they would serve food to the monks with
their own hands. When the meal was over, they would spread a
carpet on the ground to sit on in front of an elder monk. In the
monks presence they dared not sit on couches. The manner in
which a king made oerings during the Buddhas lifetime has been
handed down to the present time.
The region to the south of this country was known as the Middle Kingdom. There the climate was temperate, without frost or
snow. The people were well o and happy; they were not placed
under household registration or oicial restrictions. Those who
tilled the kings land were asked only to pay land rent and were
free to quit or stay as they pleased. The kings ruled without
recourse to capital punishment. Oenders were only obliged to pay
a penalty according to the nature of the oense. Even those who
plotted high treason only had their right hands cut o [as punishment].
The kings guards and attendants received regular provisions
and compensation. All the people in this country refrained from
slaughtering living creatures, drinking intoxicants, and eating
onion and garlic, with the exception of the calas (outcastes),
who were considered evil men and were segregated from the others. Whenever, they entered a town or a marketplace, they would
strike a piece of wood to identify themselves, so that other people
might know [they were coming] and avoid encountering them. In
this country no pigs and fowl were raised and no living creatures
were sold [at market]. There were no butchers or winesellers in
the markets. For trading the people used cowrie [shells] as money.
Meat was sold only by cala shermen and hunters.
After the Buddhas parinirva, the kings, elders, and lay
Buddhists constructed monasteries for monks and provided them
with elds, houses, gardens, husbandrymen, and farm cattle, all
of which were specied in title deeds inscribed on iron sheets. Those
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iron sheets were handed down from king to king. As none had
dared to nullify these deeds, they were still in force. The resident
monks were furnished with living quarters, beds and bedding, food,
drink, and garments; nothing was wanting or in short supply. Such
was the case everywhere.
The monks always practiced virtuous deeds as their duty. They
recited scriptures or sat in meditation. When a guest monk arrived,
the resident monks would receive him cordially, carry his robes
and almsbowl for him, bring water for washing his feet and oil for
anointing them, and provide him with a non-mealtime beverage.
After [the guest had] rested briey, they would inquire as to how
many years he had been a monk. Then, according to his seniority,
they arranged a room furnished with bedding and other things for
him. They did these things according to the Vinaya.
At the places where the monks dwelled, there were stupas
built in honor of riputra, Maudgalyyana, or nanda, and stupas in honor of the Abhidharma, the Vinaya, and the Sutras (the
three divisions of the Tripiaka). One month after the summer
retreat, those families who wished to accumulate merit would collect alms for the monks and distribute a collection for a special
occasion. The monks would meet in a great assembly to preach the
Dharma. When the preaching was over, various owers and incense
were oered to the stupa of riputra. Lamps were kept burning
throughout the night.
Actors were employed to reenact the story of riputra who,
when he was a brahman, had gone to seek permission from the
Buddha to become his disciple. The stories of Mahmaudgalyyana
and Mahkyapa were also staged in the same way. Many nuns
made oerings to the stupa of nanda, as he had asked the Buddha
to permit women to join the sangha. Many novices made oerings
to the stupa of Rhula; Abhidharma teachers, to the stupa of Abhidharma; and Vinaya teachers, to that of the Vinaya. Each group
made oerings once a year on its specic day. The Mahayana Buddhists made oerings to Prajpramit, Majur, and Avalokitevara.
176
At the conclusion of the summer retreat, when the monks added

one more year to their monastic age, the elders, lay Buddhists, brahmans, and others brought all kinds of robes and other things needed
by the monks and presented them as oerings. The monks shared
these gifts among themselves. Since the Buddhas nirvana, such
rules of conduct as those observed by the holy monks had been
handed down.
After [Faxian and his party] crossed the Indus River and
entered Southern India, they traveled forty or fty thousand li to
the sea in the south. All the land was at without large mountains
and valleys. It had only rivers and streams.
At a distance of eighteen yojanas to the southeast, there was
a country called Skya. This was the place where the Buddha
descended from the Tryastria Heaven after going up there to
preach the Dharma to his mother for three months. The Buddha
ascended to heaven by his spiritual power, without letting his disciples know about it. But after seven days he showed his miraculous power of ight, and Aniruddha, with his power of clairvoyance, saw the World-honored One from a great distance. He said
to the Venerable Maudgalyyana, Please go and salute the Worldhonored One.
Maudgalyyana went to worship the Buddha. He fell at his
feet and exchanged greetings with him. The Buddha said, After
seven days, I shall descend to Jambudvpa. Then Maudgalyyana
returned to earth.
Now the great kings, ministers, and people of the eight countries (i.e., countries of the eight directions, everywhere) had not
seen the Buddha for a long time and were eager to see him. They
assembled in this country to wait for the World-honored One.
A nun named Utpal thought, Today all the kings and people will meet the Buddha. But I am a woman. How can I see him
rst? Thereupon she transformed herself by supernatural power
into a holy cakravartin (universal monarch) to worship the Buddha
before all the others.
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860a
When the Buddha descended from the Tryastrima Heaven,

there appeared in the air three jewel-ladders. The Buddha walked
down the central one, which was made of the seven kinds of gems.
The heavenly king Brahm also caused a while silver stairway to
appear at the right side, on which he attended the Buddha with
a white whisk in his hand. Indra created a purple golden stair on
the left side, on which he attended the Buddha with a canopy made
of the seven kinds of gems. Innumerable heavenly beings followed
the Buddha down to earth.
When the Buddha had come down, all three ladders, with the
exception of seven steps, sank into the ground. King Aoka later
wished to learn the depth of those steps and commanded men to
dig in the ground. But they could not reach the base even though
they had dug down to the Yellow Spring, the deepest place in the
earth. Thus the kings faith was strengthened and he had a temple built over the steps. On the middle ladder, a sixteen-foot statue
of the standing Buddha was raised. Behind the temple a stone pillar was planted. It was twenty cubits tall and had a lion carved
on its top. On the four sides of the pillar were engraved images of
the Buddha, as lustrous and transparent as glaze.
Once a heretical teacher came to contend with the monks for
the right to live there. When the monks were defeated in argument, they swore in unison that if that place was really a dwelling
for monks, there should be a miracle to prove it. When these words
were spoken, the lion on top of the pillar roared aloud to prove it.
The heretic was frightened and withdrew in humiliation.
As the Buddha had received heavenly food for three months,
his body eused a celestial fragrance unlike that of earthly men.
He bathed himself and at that spot people of a later time constructed a bath that was still standing there. A stupa was also
built at the place where the nun Utpal rst worshiped the Buddha.
In addition, stupas were built to enshrine the Buddhas hair and
nails, which he had cut while he was living in this world, and to
mark the places where three former Buddhas and kyamui
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Buddha had engaged in sitting or walking meditation and the

places where there were images of various Buddhas. All these stupas remained intact. Stupas were also built at the places where
Indra and Brahm had descended with the Buddha.
At this place there were about a thousand monks and nuns
who shared the food provided by the public and studied both Mahayana and Hinayana teachings. At their dwelling places a whiteeared dragon served as their supporter. It brought about rich harvests and caused rain in the proper seasons, preserving the country
from all calamities and enabling the monks to live in peace. Being
grateful for its favor, the monks built a house for the dragon with
a seat in it, and also prepared sacricial food for the dragon. Every
day three monks were selected to separately take meals into the
dragons house. At the end of each summer retreat, the dragon
assumed the form of a little serpent with white ears. Recognizing
it, the monks would put it in a copper vessel full of curd and carry
it in procession from the seat of the highest monk to that of the
lowest, as if to pay respects to it. After that [the serpent] would
disappear. It came out once every year.
This country was rich and fertile, and the people were prosperous and happy. People coming here from other countries were
looked after and provided with all they needed.
Fifty yojanas north of this monastery, there was a temple called
Agnigocara, which was the name of an evil spirit. At the spot where
Buddha had converted the evil spirit, people of a later time built
a temple and oered it to an arhat. Once the arhat washed his
hands and spit some water on the ground, the traces of which were
still there and could always be seen in spite of constant sweeping.
There was another Buddha stupa at this place, which was
always swept clean by a good spirit, without the help of men. An
evil king said, Since you can clean everything, I will station a
large number of soldiers here, who will pile up lth and excrement.
Will you be able to clear all that away? The spirit then caused
a gale and cleaned the place.
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860b
At this place there were about a hundred small stupas. Even

if one tried to count the exact number of these stupas for a whole
day, one could not do it. Those who insisted on knowing the number placed a man at each stupa and counted the men. But the number of men was sometimes more and sometimes less, and it was
impossible to determine the exact number of stupas.
There was another monastery with six or seven hundred resident monks. In this monastery there once was a place where a
pratyekabuddha took his meal and entered nirvana. The place is
the size of a cartwheel. There was grass growing all around but
not on that spot. Nor did any grass grow on the place where the
pratyekabuddha had aired his robes. The traces left by the stripes
of his robes were still there on the ground.
Having spent a summer retreat at the Dragon Temple,
Faxian traveled southeast for seven yojanas to Kanykubja, a city
on the Ganges. It had two monasteries, both belonging to the Hinayana school. Six or seven li west of the city, on the northern bank
of the Ganges, was a place where the Buddha once preached the
Dharma to his disciples. Tradition says that he expounded the
teachings of impermanence, suering, and emptiness, and compared the human body to a bubble or foam. A stupa was built at
the spot, and it was still there.
Crossing the Ganges and proceeding south for three yojanas,
Faxian came to a village called Hari. Here stupas were built at
places where the Buddha once preached the Dharma and engaged
in sitting and walking meditation.
Traveling ten yojanas toward the southeast, he arrived at the
great country of Vaikha. On the east side of a road, outside the
southern gate of this city, there was a willow tree. After chewing
a piece of willow twig to clean his teeth, the Buddha inserted it into
the ground. There it grew into a tree exactly seven feet high, neither increasing nor decreasing in size. Out of jealousy, heretical
brahmans often chopped down the tree, or pulled it out and threw
it away. But each time another tree grew up at the same place as
before. In this village stupas were also built at the spots where the
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four Buddhas engaged in walking and sitting meditation. The ruins

were still there.
Going southward from there for eight yojanas, Faxian reached
the city of rvast in the country of Kosala. This city was sparsely
populated, having only about two hundred houses. It was once
ruled by King Prasenajit. In this city stupas were constructed
by people of later times near the ruins of the vihra of Mahprajpat, at the old residence of the elder Sudatta, and at the spot
where Agulimlas remains were cremated after he had attained
arhatship and entered parinirva. Out of jealousy, the heretical
brahmans of the city attempted to demolish these stupas, but the
heavens sent thunder and lightning so that they could not destroy
the stupas after all.
On the west side of the road, twelve hundred paces from the
southern gate of the city, there was a monastery built by the elder
Sudatta. Facing east, the door of the monastery was anked by
two stone pillars. The capital of the left pillar was carved in the
shape of a wheel, and on the top of the right one stood a statuette
of an ox. The water owing in the stream was clear on both sides
of the monastery and there were many trees. Flowers of dierent
colors made the place a lovely sight. This was known as the Jetavana Vihra.
When the Buddha ascended to the Tryastria Heaven to
preach the Dharma to his mother for ninety days, King Prasenajit, eager to see his features, had an image of him carved out of oxhead sandalwood and put it on the place where the Buddha usually sat in meditation. When the Buddha returned to the vihra,
the image left its seat and went out to meet him. The Buddha said
to it, Go back to your seat. After my parinirva, you may serve
as a model from which the four groups of my followers can make
images. The image returned to the seat. This was the rst image
ever made of the Buddha, and it served as a model for Buddha
images for people of later generations. Then the Buddha moved to
a smaller vihra twenty paces to the south of the one occupied by
the image.
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860c
Originally the Jetavana Vihra had seven stories. The kings

and people of dierent countries vied with one another in making
oerings to this vihra. Silk pennants and canopies were hung in
the vihra, owers were scattered, and incense was burned. Lamps
were lit every day, [and they burned] continually without interruption. Then it happened that a rat carried o in its mouth the
wick of a lamp, which ignited the owers, pennants, and canopies,
and reduced the seven-storied vihra to ashes. The kings and the
people of dierent countries lamented and thought that the sandalwood image must also have been consumed by the re. But four
or ve days later, when they opened the door of the smaller vihra
on the east, they discovered, to their great delight, that the image
was intact. They rebuilt the vihra as a two-story [building] and
returned the image to its former place.
Upon arriving at the Jetavana Vihra, Faxian and Daozheng
reected that this was the place where the World-honored One
had lived for twenty-ve years. They felt sad. They and their friends
had been born in a far-o country and had traveled together
through many lands, and some had passed away [during the journey]. As they gazed at the place where the Buddha was no more
to be seen, they were deeply moved and their hearts were lled
with sorrow.
The monks of the vihra came out to ask Faxian and his friend,
Where have you come from?
They replied, We have come from China.
The monks remarked with amazement, How wonderful it is
that men from a far-o country have come all this way to seek the
Dharma! Then they said among themselves, None of the teachers in our line of succession has ever seen a Chinese monk come
here.
Four li to the northwest of the vihra, there was a wood called
Sight Recovery. There were once ve hundred blind men near the
vihra. They had all recovered their sight when the Buddha
preached the Dharma to them. Overwhelmed with delight, they
thrust their stas into the ground and prostrated themselves to
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pay homage to the Buddha. The stas took root in the ground and
grew up to be trees. Out of respect, nobody ventured to fell them.
Thus the place became the wood with that name. After taking
their midday meals, the monks of the Jetavana Vihra often went
to the wood to sit in meditation.
Six or seven li to the northeast of the Jetavana Vihra, there
was a place where the matron Vikh had built a vihra for the
Buddha and his monks. The ruins were still there.
The spacious compound of the Jetavana Vihra had two gates,
one facing east and the other north. This was the garden in which
the elder Sudatta had covered the ground with gold coins to purchase the site to build a vihra. The vihra stood at the center.
This was where the Buddha had stayed longer than at any other
place. Stupas were built at the spots where he had preached the
Dharma for the salvation of human beings, and where he had
engaged in sitting and walking meditation. Each of these stupas
had a specic name. This was also the place where sinister plotters had murdered Sundar with the intention of putting the blame
on the Buddha.
On the west side of the road, seventy paces outside the eastern gate of the Jetavana Vihra, was a place where the Buddha
had once debated with the followers of ninety-six non-Buddhist
sects. The king, together with his ministers, lay Buddhists, and
others, assembled to listen to their debate. Out of jealousy, a nonBuddhist woman named Cicmavik fastened a bundle of
clothes to her belly to appear as if she were with child. She planned
to come before the congregation and accuse the Buddha of evil conduct. Indra assumed the form of a white mouse and nibbled through
her sash, so that the bundle fell to the ground. The earth gaped
at once, and the woman sank into hell alive. There was also a spot
where Devadatta attempted to murder the Buddha with his poisoned ngernails. At that very spot he fell alive into hell. Both
these places had been marked by later generations. At the place
where the debate took place, a vihra about sixty feet tall was
built with a sitting statue of the Buddha in it.
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On the east side of the road, there was a non-Buddhist deva

temple called Overshadowed. It was also about sixty feet tall and
stood opposite to the vihra built at the place of the debate. It was
so named because when the sun was in the west, the shadow of
the Buddhist vihra always overshadowed the deva temple; but
when the sun was in the east, the shadow of the deva temple always
fell northward and never overshadowed the Buddhist vihra. The
non-Buddhists always sent men to look after the deva temple. They
swept the ground and sprinkled water on it, burned incense, and
lighted lamps. But at dawn the lamps were always found in the
Buddhist vihra.
The brahmans said resentfully, The Buddhist monks are stealing our lamps to oer them to the Buddha. Since [the transfer of
the lamps] did not cease, the brahmans kept watch at night. They
saw the deva they worshiped take the lamps, circumambulate the
Buddhist vihra thrice, and oer the lamps to the Buddha. Then
the deva suddenly disappeared. Realizing that the Buddhas spiritual power was great, the brahmans left their homes and became
Buddhist monks. It was said that this event had only recently
occurred.
[In the vicinity of ] the Jetavana Vihra there were eighteen
monasteries, of which all but one were occupied by monks. In the
Middle Kingdom there were ninety-six non-Buddhist teachers,
who knew not only the present but the future. Each teacher had
his own disciples, who also lived on alms but did not use begging
bowls. In order to seek merit, they built welfare facilities along
the roadsides. They provided shelter, bedding, food, and drink for
wayfarers, monks, and travelers. But they did so with dierent
expectations. Followers of Devadatta made oerings to three former Buddhas but not to kyamui Buddha.
Four li southeast of the city of rvast was the place where
the Buddha stood by the roadside when King Virhaka set out
to attack the kingdom of the kya clan. A stupa was erected to
mark the spot.
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Fifty li to the west of this city, [Faxians] party arrived at a

town named Tadwa, which was the birthplace of Kyapa Buddha.
Stupas had been built at the sites where he met his father and
entered nirvana. A great stupa had also been raised to entomb the
whole body of Kyapa Buddha.
Traveling twelve yojanas southeast from the city of rvast,
[the group] came to a town named Napika, which was the birthplace of Krakucchanda Buddha. Here, stupas had also been built
at the places where he met his father and entered nirvana.
From here, going north for less than a yojana, they came to a
town which was the birthplace of Kanakamuni Buddha. Again,
there were stupas at the places where he met his father and entered
nirvana.
From here, after going east for less than a yojana, [Faxians
party] reached the city of Kapilavastu. It was completely deserted,
without king or citizens. There were only some monks and few
dozen lay families. At the ruins of King uddhodanas palace, there
was an image of Prince [Siddhrtha]s mother, depicting the Prince
entering his mothers womb on a white elephant. A stupa was built
at the spot where the Prince had gone out of the city by the east
gate, saw a sick man, and ordered his charioteer to drive him back
to the palace.
There were also the places where Asita read the physiognomical marks of the Prince; where the Prince and Nanda hauled an
elephant away from the road; and where [the Prince] competed in
archery. His arrow ew thirty li and pierced the ground, causing
a fountain to spring up. People of later times made a well at the
spot so that wayfarers might drink water from it.
Stupas had also been built at the places where the Buddha,
after attaining enlightenment, returned home to see his father;
where the earth quaked in six ways when ve hundred youths of
the kya clan became monks and saluted Upli; where the Buddha
preached the Dharma to celestial beings and the four heavenly
kings guarded the four gates of the hall, so that the king, his father,
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could not enter; where the Buddha sat in meditation facing east
under a nyagrodha (banyan) treewhich is still growingwhile
Mahprajpat oered him a piece of saght robe; and where
King Virhaka slaughtered the descendants of the kya clan,
all of whom, after death, attained the stage of srotapanna.
Several li northeast of the city was the royal farm where Prince
Siddhrtha once sat under a tree and watched farmers plowing.
Fifty li east of the city was the royal garden named Lumbin, in
which Queen My entered a pond to bathe. After bathing she
came out of the northern side of the pond and walked twenty paces.
Holding the branch of a tree, she gave birth to the Prince while
facing toward the east. As soon as the Prince was born, he took
seven steps. Two dragon kings bathed him, and a well had been
made at the place where they bathed him. The monks now drew
drinking water from it as well as from the pond.
All Buddhas always have four places, namely: the place where
they attain enlightenment, the place where they rst turn the
Wheel of the Dharma, the place where they preach the Dharma
and subjugate heretics through argumentation, and the place
where they descend from the Tryastria Heaven after preaching the Dharma to their mothers. They have other places, too,
according to the circumstances of dierent times.
The country of Kapilavastu was extremely desolate, with only
a few scattered people living there. The roads were frightening.
There were white elephants and lions. Nobody should travel there
without taking precautions.
Five yojanas east of the Buddhas birthplace, there was a country called Rmagrma. The king of this country obtained a share
of the Buddhas relics, brought them home, built a stupa, and
named it Rmagrma. Beside the stupa was a pond in which a
dragon lived. The dragon kept constant watch over the stupa and
made oerings to it day and night. When King Aoka was in this
world, he intended to demolish eight stupas and construct eightyfour thousand new ones. He had already pulled down seven stupas and had come to destroy this one. The dragon appeared, took
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the king to its palace, and showed him all its oerings. The dragon
then said to the king, If your oerings are better than mine, then
destroy this stupa and take away the relics. I will not quarrel with
you. Realizing that the dragons oerings were not of this world,
King Aoka returned to his home.
As it was a deserted place with no one to keep it clean, a herd
of elephants often came with water in their trunks to sprinkle on
the ground. They also oered various kinds of owers to the stupa.
Once a monk came from another country to worship the stupa and
was frightened by the sight of the elephants. Hiding behind a tree,
he saw that the elephants presented oerings in a proper way. He
deplored the fact that because there was no monastery with monks
to look after the stupa, the elephants had to keep it clean. Thus
he renounced the status of fully ordained monk and became a
novice. He cut weeds and plants, leveled the ground, and made
the place clean and tidy. He exhorted the king to build a monastery
there and volunteered to be its abbot. Monks were now living in
this monastery. This event occurred recently, and since then the
abbots of this monastery have always been novices.
Three yojanas to the east was the place where Prince
Siddhrtha ordered [his servant] Chandaka to return home with
his white horse. A stupa had also been built there.
Going four yojanas further east, the party came to the Charcoal Stupa, where there was also a monastery.
Continuing east for twelve yojanas, they came to the city of
Kuinagara. Between two la trees by the side of the Hirayavati
River to the north of the city, the Buddha entered parinirva
with his head toward the north. There were the places where
Subhadra, the Buddhas last disciple, attained arhatship; where
the World-honored One, lying in a golden coin, received homage
for seven days; where the vajra guardians laid down their diamond
maces; and where the eight kings divided the Buddhas relics. Stupas had been erected at all these places, and a monastery was also
standing there. This city was also scarcely populated, having only
a few monks and some lay devotees.
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Traveling twelve yojanas to the southeast, [Faxians] party

reached the place where the Licchavis wished to follow the Buddha
to the spot where he was going to enter parinirva, but the
Buddha did not allow them to do so. Since they refused to go away,
the Buddha caused a deep ditch to appear, which the Licchavis
could not cross. After giving them his almsbowl as a testament to
their faith, the Buddha sent them home. A stone pillar with inscriptions had been erected at this spot.
After going eastward from here for ten yojanas, the party
reached the country of Vail. In the large wood to the north of
the city of Vail, there was a storied vihra which had once been
the dwelling place of the Buddha. There was also a stupa containing half of nandas relics. This city was originally the hometown of Lady mrapl, who constructed a stupa for the Buddha,
the ruins of which are still there. On the west side of the road,
three li to the south of the city, was the garden that Lady mrapl
oered to the Buddha for his dwelling place.
When the Buddha was about to enter parinirva, he left the
city of Vail through the western gate with his disciples. Turning right to look back at the city, he said to his disciples, This is
the last place I will stay in my life. A stupa was built at this spot
by the people of a later time.
Three li to the northwest of the city, there was a stupa by the
name of Bows and Lances Laid Down. The name was derived from
the following story. Once a king lived in the upper reaches of the
Ganges [River], and one of his concubines gave birth to an immature fetus. Out of jealousy, the queen said [to her], You have given
birth to an inauspicious omen. So the fetus was put in a wooden
box and thrown into the Ganges.
Now it happened that another king was taking a pleasure trip
in the lower reaches of the Ganges and saw the wooden box oating in the river. He had the box opened and found one thousand
unusually handsome infants in it. The king raised them, and they
grew up to become brave warriors who subdued every country they
attacked. Then they started to attack their [real] fathers kingdom.
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The king, their father, was so greatly worried that his concubine
asked what was the cause of his anxiety. The king replied, The
king of the neighboring kingdom has a thousand sons of incomparable valor, and they are coming to invade our kingdom. That
is why I am worried.
The concubine said, Dont worry, my dear king. Just raise a
tall pavilion at the east corner of the city and place me on top of
it when the invaders come. I will be able to make them retreat.
The king did as she suggested. When the invaders approached,
the concubine stood on the pavilion and said to them, You are all
my sons. Why are you rebelling?
The invaders retorted, Who are you? Why do you claim to be
our mother?
The royal lady said, If you dont believe me, just look up and
open your mouths.
Then she squeezed her breasts with both hands. Five hundred
jets of milk gushed out of each breast and spurted into the mouths
of her thousand sons. Realizing that she really was their mother,
the invaders laid down their bows and lances. Meditating on this
event, the two kings became pratyekabuddhas. Two stupas were
built for them, which are still there.
Later, when the World-honored One attained enlightenment,
he told his disciples, This is the place where in a former life I laid
down my bow and lance. Thus the people came to know of the
matter and built a stupa there, and it was so named. The one thousand sons were actually the one thousand Buddhas of the bhadra
kalpa (the present age).
It was beside the Stupa of Bows and Lances Laid Down that
the Buddha passed away. The Buddha told nanda, After three
months, I will enter parinirva. As nanda had been bewitched
by Mra the Evil One, he could not beseech the Buddha to remain
longer in the world.
Three or four li to the east there stood another stupa. One hundred years after the Buddhas parinirva, a monk of Vail advocated the ten acts. He had misinterpreted the Vinaya to argue
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that the Buddhas teaching supported him. [Editors note: This

refers to the events now known as the Second Council, which was
associated with the rst schism of the Buddhist sangha.] Then the
arhats and Vinaya-abiding monks, seven hundred in all, gathered
at this place to check and review the Vinaya. People of a later time
built the stupa, which is still standing on the spot.
Going eastward from here for four yojanas, the party came to
the conuence of ve rivers. When nanda was traveling from
Magadha to Vail, where he intended to enter parinirva, the
devas informed King Ajtaatru of his intention. The king himself adorned a chariot and, leading his troops, pursued nanda to
the bank of the river. Then the Licchavs of Vail, hearing that
nanda was coming to their country, also came out to welcome
him on the other side of the river. nanda reected that if he proceeded on his way, King Ajtaatru would grieve, while if he turned
back, the Licchavs would feel unhappy. So he went to the middle
of the river, where he burned himself with the ames of the re
samdhi and entered parinirva. His relics were divided into two
portions, one for each side of the river. Thus each king had half of
nandas relics and they built stupas for them after returning
home.
After crossing the river, [Faxians group] went south for one
yojana and reached the city of Paliputra, which was the capital
of King Aoka in the county of Magadha. The royal palaces in the
city had all been built out of stone by celestial beings and deities.
The walls and watchtowers, the ruins of which still remain, had
all been decorated with carved designs and ornamental engravings that were not produced by human hands.
King Aokas younger brother, having attained arhatship,
lived on Mount Gdhraka, where he enjoyed serenity and quietude. The king respectfully invited him to live at his home and
oered to support him. But the arhat took delight in the quiet
surroundings of the mountain and he declined the invitation. The
king said to his younger brother, If you accept my invitation, I
will make a mountain for you in the city.
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Then the king prepared food and drink and summoned the
spirits and deities. He said to them, May all of you please accept
my invitation for tomorrow. But as there are no seats, each of you
must bring one for yourself. On the following day each of the great
spirits and deities came with a huge boulder, four or ve paces
square [in dimension]. After they had used the boulders as seats
for the feast, they were asked to pile them up to form a large hill.
At the bottom a chamber about thirty feet in length, twenty feet
wide, and over ten feet high was built with ve boulders.
In this city there lived a follower of the Mahayana by the name
of Rjasvmin, the son of a brahman, who was wise and intelligent. He excelled in everything. He lived a life of purity. The king
respected him as his teacher. Whenever the king paid him a visit,
he never dared to sit indiscreetly in the presence of the brahman.
If the king held his hands to show aection or respect, the brahman would always wash himself afterward. When he reached fty
years of age, he was revered by the whole country. It was due to
his presence alone that Buddhism was disseminated and the
heretics could gain no advantage over the Buddhist monks.
Besides the stupa built by King Aoka, there was a magnicent Mahayana monastery. There was also a Hinayana monastery,
where six or seven hundred monks lived in a most orderly manner with perfect decorum. Monks of high virtue and scholars from
the four quarters came to this monastery to seek knowledge and
truth. The brahmans teacher, who was named Majur, was honored by the virtuous monks and Mahayana monks. He also lived
in this monastery.
In the whole of [the country of ] Madhyadea, the capital was
the largest city. The people were rich and prosperous and vied with
each other in performing benevolent and righteous deeds. On the
eighth day of the second month every year, they held an image procession. A four-wheeled cart with a ve-story bamboo structure
resembling a stupa was constructed, complete with such architectural ttings as struts and beam-supporters, and about twenty
feet in height. It was covered with white felt on which various
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862c
celestial beings were painted in color. It was decorated with gold,

silver, and glaze, and silk pennants and canopies were hung on it.
On the four sides of the structure were niches in which sitting
images of the Buddha were enshrined. These images were attended
by standing gures of bodhisattvas. Twenty such carts were each
adorned in a dierent way. On the day of the procession, the monks
and laymen of the country assembled to play music and make
oerings of owers and incense. The brahman came out to receive
the Buddha images, which were brought into the city one after
another. Those images were kept there for the night. Lamps burned
throughout the night and music was performed in honor of the
images. In all [the] countries this image procession was conducted
in the same way.
The elders and householders of this country established facilities for welfare and medical care in the city. The poor, the homeless, the disabled, and all kinds of sick persons went to the facilities to receive dierent kinds of care. Physicians gave them
appropriate food and medicine to restore their health. When cured,
they left those places.
After demolishing seven stupas, King Aoka built eighty-four
thousand new ones. He built the rst great stupa at a spot about
three li to the south of this city. In front of the stupa was a footprint of the Buddha. A vihra had been constructed there with its
door facing north. To the south of this stupa, there was a stone pillar, fourteen or fteen feet in diameter and more than thirty feet
tall. It was carved with the following inscription: King Aoka
oered Jambudvpa as a gift to the monks of the four quarters and
then redeemed it with money. He did so three times.
Three or four hundred paces north of the stupa was the site
where King Aoka built the city of Niraya. In the middle of this
site stood a stone pillar, also more than thirty feet tall, with the
gure of a lion on its top. An inscription on the pillar gave an
account of the reason for the building of the city of Niraya and the
dates of the construction.
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Traveling from here southeast for nine yojanas, [Faxians]

party came to a small, solitary, rocky hill. On the top of the hill
was a stone cell facing south. Once when the Buddha sat in this
cell, Indra sent Pacaikha, a celestial musician, to play the harp
to amuse him. There Indra made inquiries of the Buddha on fortytwo points and marked a rock with his nger for each question.
The marks were still there. There was also a monastery.
One yojana to the southwest, [the group] reached the village
of Klapinka, the birthplace of riputra, who had returned to
this village to enter parinirva. A stupa was built at the place
where he died and it was still standing there.
One yojana to the west, they arrived at the new city of
Rjagha, which was built by King Ajtaatru. There were two
monasteries in the city. Three hundred paces from the western
gate of the city, there stood a gigantic and magnicent stupa built
by King Ajtaatru to enshrine his share of the Buddhas relics.
Traveling southward out of the city for four li, [Faxians party]
entered a valley surrounded by ve hills. They felt as if they were
encircled by a city wall. This was the site of the old city of King
Bimbisra. It was ve or six li from east to west and seven or eight
li from south to north. This was where ariputra and Maudgalyyana rst met Avajit, where Nirgranthaputra made a ery pit
and prepared poisoned rice for the Buddha, and where King Ajtaatru intoxicated a black elephant with the intention of murdering the Buddha.
In the garden of mrapl at the northeast corner of the city,
some venerable people of repute had built a vihra. They invited
the Buddha and his twelve hundred fty disciples there and made
oerings to them. The ruins were still there, but the city was in a
state of desolation without habitants.
After entering the valley and climbing the hills for fteen li
toward the southeast, [the group] came to Mount Gdhraka. Three
li from the summit, there was a cave facing south in which the
Buddha used to sit in meditation. Thirty paces to the northwest
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was another cave. Once, when nanda sat in meditation in this

cave, Mra Ppiyas turned himself into a vulture and stayed in
front of the cave to frighten him. With his supernatural power,
the Buddha stretched his hand through the rock and patted
nanda on the shoulder to allay his fear. The traces left by the
bird and the hole made by the hand of the Buddha were still there.
Thus this place was called the Mountain of the Vulture Cave.
In front of the cave was a place where the four Buddhas had
sat. Each of the arhats had a cave for himself to sit in meditation.
There were several hundred in all.
Once, when the Buddha walked in meditation from east to
west in front of his cave, Devadatta viciously rolled down a rock
from the precipice to the north and hurt the Buddhas toe. The
rock was still there. The Buddhas preaching hall had fallen into
ruin. Only the foundations of the brick walls remained. The peaks
of this mountain were beautiful and majestic, and it was the highest of all the ve mountains.
In the new city [of Rjagha], Faxian bought incense, owers,
and oil for lamps. He asked two local monks to guide him to Mount
Gdhraka, where he oered the owers and incense and relled
the lamps to keep the ames burning. He cried in deep sorrow at
the place where the Buddha had taught the ragama[-samdhi]-stra. Then he said, Faxian, who was not yet born at the
time of the Buddha, was able to see nothing more than the ruins
and monuments left by him. He recited the ragama[-samdhi]-stra in front of the cave. After spending the night there, he
returned to Rjagha.
On the west side of the road, about three hundred paces north
of the old city, was the Veluvana Kalandaka Monastery. The
monastery was still there and was kept clean by the monks living
there. About two or three li to the north, there was a mana
(burial ground). Three hundred paces to the west along the southern hill was the Pippala Cave, where the Buddha used to sit in
meditation after his meals.
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Five or six li further west was the Saptapara Cave on the

shady northern side of the mountain. This is the place where ve
hundred arhats assembled to chant and compile the sutras after
the Buddhas nirvana. At the time of the recital, three high seats
were prepared with graceful adornments. riputra took the left
seat and Maudgalyyana the right. Mahkyapa presided over
the assembly. One of the ve hundred arhats was absent from the
congregation. nanda was not allowed to enter the cave and was
outside the gate. A stupa built at this spot was still standing there.
Along the mountainside, there were many caves used by the arhats
for meditation.
Three li east of the northern part of the old city was the cave
of Devadatta. Fifty paces from the cave there was a huge square
rock of black color. Once a monk paced on it and meditated on the
impermanence, suering, and emptiness of the human body. Thus
he understood that the human body was impure. Despising his
own body, he wanted to kill himself with a knife. Then he remembered that the World-honored One had made a rule forbidding suicide. However, since he hoped to put an end to the three poisons,
he started to cut himself. When he rst slashed his esh, he
attained the stage of srotapanna. When his body was half severed he realized the stage of angmin. When it was completely
cut in two, he achieved arhatship and entered parinirva.
Traveling west from here for four yojanas, the party reached
the city of Gay, which was deserted and without inhabitants.
Going toward the south again for twenty li, they came to the place
where the Bodhisattva practiced asceticism for six years. There
was a wood at that place. Going three li to the west, they visited
a spot where the Buddha once bathed himself in a pool and a heavenly being lowered the branch of a tree to help him out of the pool.
Traveling two li to the north, they reached the place where
the maiden named Mek oered milk porridge to the Buddha. Two
li further to the north, under a big tree, was a rock on which the
Buddha sat facing east and ate the porridge. Both the tree and the
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rock were still there. The rock was about six feet square and two
feet high. As the climate in the Middle Kingdom is temperate,
there are some trees that are several thousand or even ten thousand years old.
From here they proceeded northeast for half a yojana till they
came to a cave. Once the Bodhisattva entered this cave and sat
cross-legged facing the west, reecting that if he were going to
attain Buddhahood, there should be some divine signs to prove it.
Then the shadow of a Buddha about three feet high, which is still
distinctly visible, appeared on the rock wall. At that moment
heaven and earth quaked and celestial beings proclaimed in the
air, This is not the place for a Buddha of the past and future to
attain Buddhahood. Less than half a yojana to the southwest is a
place under a pipal tree. That is the place for Buddhas of the past
and future to attain Buddhahood.
Having said this, the celestial beings led the way, singing, and
the Bodhisattva rose and followed them. Thirty paces from the
tree, the heavenly beings oered him some kua grass, which he
accepted. When he had proceeded another fteen steps, ve hundred bluebirds came ying toward him, encircled him three times,
and ew away. When the Bodhisattva reached the pipal tree, he
spread the kua grass on the ground underneath and sat down facing the east. At that moment, Mra the Evil One sent three charming women from the north to tempt the Bodhisattva, while Mra
himself came from the south to attack him. But the Bodhisattva
just pressed the ground with his toes, and the troops of Mra
retreated in confusion, while the three girls turned into three old
women.
At the above-mentioned place where the Buddha practiced
asceticism for six years, and at the other places, stupas with Buddha
images had been built by people of later times and still exist now.
Stupas were also built at the following sites: the place where
the Buddha enjoyed the bliss of emancipation and gazed at the
pipal tree for seven days after his enlightenment; where he paced
eastward and westward for seven days under the tree; where
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celestial beings created a chamber of seven jewels for the Buddha

to use for seven days; where the blind nga Mucilinda coiled around
the Buddha for seven days; where Brahm came to make a request
of the Buddha, who was sitting on a square rock facing east under
a nyagrodha tree; where the four heavenly kings oered him an
almsbowl; where ve hundred merchants presented him with baked
our and honey; and where he converted the Kyapa brothers
together with their one thousand disciples.
At the place of the Buddhas enlightenment, there were three
monasteries; monks resided in all of them. The local people provided the monks with daily necessities in abundance, and nothing
was insuicient for their needs. The monks strictly observed the
Vinaya rules and their decorum in regard to personal behavior in
sitting, standing, or joining an assembly was exactly like that of
the holy monks during the Buddhas lifetime.
Since the time of the Budddhas parinirva, Four Great Stupas have been well kept from generation to generation. These four
stupas were at the places where the Buddha was born, where he
achieved enlightenment, where he rst turned the Wheel of the
Dharma, and where he entered parinirva.
Once King Aoka, as a child in a former life, was playing on a
road. He met Kyapa Buddha going round for alms. Delighted,
the child oered Kyapa a handful of soil, which the Buddha took
with him and scattered over the ground where he used to engage
in walking meditation. As a result of this good deed, the child
became a king of the iron wheel (cakravartin) and ruled over Jambudvpa. Once, while riding in a chariot of iron wheels and making an inspection tour of Jambudvpa, King Aoka saw the hell
between two iron-encircled hills where the wicked were punished.
He asked his ministers, What is this place?
They replied, This is where Yama, the King of the Dead, punishes the wicked.
On hearing this, King Aoka reected, If the King of the Dead
can make a hell to punish the wicked, why should not I, a ruler of
men, make a hellish place to punish criminals? So he inquired of
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his ministers, Which of you will act as the warden of a prison to

punish criminals for me?
The ministers said in reply, None but the most wicked of men
will do that.
Thereupon King Aoka sent his ministers out in all directions
to search for a wicked man. They came upon a vicious man beside
a pond. He was tall, strong, and swarthy, with yellow hair and
blue eyes. He could catch sh with his feet. He called to birds and
beasts and when they came, he shot them. Not a single one escaped.
Having found this man, the ministers took him to the king.
The king instructed him secretly, saying, Build a square enclosure with high walls. Plant all sorts of owers and fruit trees, and
make a nice bathing pool inside it. Decorate the place with beautiful ornaments to make it attractive to the people. Make the gate
strong. Should anyone enter the gate, arrest him, put him to all
kinds of torture, and never allow him to come out again. Even if I
should enter the place myself, you must torture me as well and
never let me go. Now I appoint you the lord of this hellish prison.
Then a monk entered the gate while begging for food from
door to door. At the sight of him, the warden prepared to torture
him. The terried monk pleaded with the warden to let him have
a midday meal rst. Meanwhile another man came into the gate,
and the warden put him into a mortar and pounded him till red
froth appeared. On seeing this, the monk contemplated the fact
that this corporal body is impermanent, painful, and empty, just
like a bubble or foam. Thus he attained arhatship. Then the warden seized [the monk] and cast him into a boiling cauldron, but he
was tranquil in mind and serene in countenance. The re went out
and the water cooled. A lotus ower grew out of the water and the
monk was sitting upon it.
The warden immediately went to tell the king, Something
strange has happened in the prison. Please, Your Majesty, come
and see.
The king said, We made an agreement before, and I dare not
go.
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The warden said, This is no small matter. It bets Your

Majesty to go promptly. We may alter our former agreement.
So the king followed the warden to the prison, where the monk
expounded the Dharma to King Aoka. The king understood the
Dharma. He demolished the prison and repented all the evils he
had committed. From that time he respected the Triple Gem and
often went to a pipal tree under which he repented his transgressions, reproached himself, and observed the eight precepts.
When the queen inquired of the ministers where the king went
away to so frequently, they told her that the king went to the pipal
tree. The queen sent men to have the tree cut down when the king
was away from the tree. When the king saw what had happened
he fainted and fell to the ground. His ministers sprinkled water
on his face and, after a long while, he regained consciousness. The
king then piled up bricks around the stump of the tree and irrigated the roots with a hundred pitchers of milk. He prostrated
himself on the ground and vowed, If the tree does not grow again,
I will never rise from the ground.
As he uttered this vow, the tree began to grow from its roots
to its present height of nearly a hundred feet.
From here the party traveled three li to the south and reached
a mountain called Kukkuapada. Mahkyapa still lives in this
mountain. He split the mountain to enter it, and the opening was
so small that it was hardly possible for a man to pass through.
Extremely deep in the mountain, there was a hole on a crag in
which Mahkyapas whole body was preserved. Outside the hole
was the earth that he used to clean his hands. Whenever the local
people suered from a headache, they would rub their heads with
the earth to eect a cure.
Even in that day arhats lived in the mountain and monks of
various countries went there every year to make oerings to
Mahkyapa. If someone who had a mind full of devotion arrived,
an arhat would come at night to have a discussion with him. When
his doubts were cleared up, the arhat would vanish all of a sudden. The mountain was covered with trees and plants and is
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infested with lions, tigers, and wolves. No one should go there without taking precautions.
Faxian headed toward Paliputra. Going west along the
Ganges for ten yojanas, he reached a vihra named Wilderness,
where the Buddha had once lived. There are monks residing in it
now.
Again proceeding west along the Ganges for twelve yojanas,
he arrived at the city of Vras in the country of Ki. About
ten li to the northeast of the city was the Deer Park. Formerly a
pratyekabuddha lived in this park and wild deer often came there
for shelter. When the World-honored One was about to achieve
enlightenment, heavenly beings announced in the air, The son of
King uddhodana, who renounced home to attain the Way, will
become a Buddha in seven days. On hearing this announcement,
the pratyekabuddha entered nirvana. Thus this place was called
the Deer Park Vihra of the Ascetics. After the World-honored
One had attained Buddhahood, people of later times built a vihra
there.
The Buddha wished to convert the ve persons, Kauinya
and the others, who said among themselves, This ramaa Gautama practiced asceticism for six years, living on one grain of
sesame and one grain of rice each day, yet he did not realize the
Way. Now he has entered worldly life without any restraints of
body, speech, and mind. What truth can he have attained? If he
comes here today, be sure not to speak to him.
There was a place where the ve had risen and saluted the
Buddha when he approached them. Sixty paces further to the north
was the spot where the Buddha sat facing east and delivered his
rst sermon to convert Kauinya and his companions. Twenty
paces to the north was the place where the Buddha predicted the
future of Maitreya, and fty paces to the south was a place where
the nga Elpattra asked the Buddha when he could get rid of his
nga form. At all these places stupas had been built which are still
standing. In the park there were two monasteries; monks resided
in both.
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Thirteen yojanas northwest of the Deer Park vihra was

the country of Kaumb. The vihra in that country was named
the Garden of Ghoira and the Buddha once lived in it. Most of the
monks residing at the vihra belonged to the Hinayana school.
Eight yojanas to the east from there was a place where the
Buddha converted an evil demon. There was also a place where
the Buddha used to engage in sitting and walking meditation while
he lived there. Stupas had been built at those spots. There stood
a monastery with over a hundred resident monks.
Two hundred yojanas to the south of this place was the country named Dakina, where the monastery of the past Kyapa
Buddha was located. It was hewn out of a huge rocky mountain.
It had ve stories. The rst oor was cut in the shape of an elephant and had ve hundred cells; the second was in the shape of
a lion and had four hundred cells; the third was in the shape of a
horse and had three hundred cells; the fourth was in the shape of
a cow and had two hundred cells; and the fth was in the shape
of a dove and had one hundred cells. On the top there was a spring.
Water owed down from it in a circuitous channel in front of the
cells until it reached the lowest oor, and, meandering by the cells,
issued at last through the door.
In all the cells windows were hewn through the rock to let in
daylight, so that it was bright inside and no corner was dark. At
the four corners of this monastery, steps were chiseled on the rock
to serve as a ladder. Since people of the present time are short,
they [have to] climb the ladder to get to the place that people of
old times could reach in one step. This monastery was called Prvata, meaning dove in the Indian language. Arhats always lived
in this monastery. The land was deserted without inhabitants.
There was a village located far away from the mountain, where
all the people held heterodox views and knew nothing of the
Buddha-Dharma. There were ramaas as well as brahmans and
other heretics [there].
The people of that country often saw men ying to the
monastery. When monks from dierent countries came to worship
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at this monastery, the villagers would ask them, Why dont you
y? They would answer, expediently, Our wings are not yet fully
grown!
In Dakia the roads wound among perilous mountains and
travel was diicult. Those who wished to go to a place that was
hard to reach had to present money or gifts to the king of the country, who would then appoint guides to lead them from one post to
the next. Faxian could not aord to go to that [remote] monastery.
Thus he relates here what he heard from local people.
Going eastward from the country of Vras, Faxian returned
to Paliputra. He had come for the purpose of acquiring the Vinaya
texts. But in the countries of Northern India there was no Vinaya
text to copy, because it was transmitted orally from teacher to
pupil. He had to travel as far as Central India, where he obtained
a copy of the Mahsghika-vinaya from a Mahayana monastery.
This was the Vinaya observed by the rst congregation of monks
during the Buddhas lifetime, and it had been handed down from
the Jetavana Vihra.
The eighteen schools of Buddhism had their own respective
Vinaya traditions. They were not variant in major points but
diered in minor points, having more or less strict regulations.
The Mahsghika-vinaya was the most extensive and complete
text of the Vinaya. Faxian also obtained another copy of the Vinaya
in seven thousand stanzas, the Sarvstivda-vinaya, which was
the one observed by the monks in China. It had also been transmitted orally from teacher to pupil without being committed to
writing.
From that monastery he also obtained the Sayuktbhidharma-hdaya-stra in six thousand stanzas, a sutra in twenty
ve hundred stanzas, the Vaipulyaparinirva-stra in ve thousand stanzas in one fascicle, and the Mahsghikbhidharmastra. Faxian stayed [at that place] for three years, studying
Sanskrit texts and the Sanskrit language and copying the Vinaya
texts.
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After he arrived in Central India and observed that the monks

rules of conduct and decorum of behavior were so admirable,
Daozheng lamented the incompleteness of the Vinaya rules
observed by the monks in the remote country of China. He swore
not to be reborn in a far-o country until he achieved Buddhahood.
So Daozheng remained in India and never returned home. Faxians
intention in undertaking the journey was to propagate the Vinaya
in China, so he returned home alone.
Eighteen yojanas eastward down the Ganges, on the southern
bank, was the great country of Camp. There stupas were built at
the sites where the Buddhas vihra existed, where the Buddha
used to engage in walking meditation, and where the four Buddhas
meditated in a monastery. Monks live in the monastery now.
Going further east from there for nearly fty yojanas, Faxian
reached the country of Tmralipa, which had a seaport. In this
country there were twenty-four monasteries, all of which were
occupied by monks. Buddhism ourished there. He stayed in this
country for two years, copying scriptures and images of the Buddha.
Then he sailed on a large trade ship southwest across the sea.
Helped by the favorable dry monsoon wind of early winter, the
vessel reached the Land of the Lion after fourteen days and nights.
The people of this country said that the distance of the voyage was
about seven hundred yojanas. This country was on an island [spanning] fty yojanas from east to west and thirty from north to south.
To its right and left there were about one hundred small islands,
ten or twenty or even two hundred li apart. All these small islands
were under the domination of the main island.
Many gems and pearls were produced on this island. There
was a district about ten li square where mai pearls were found.
The king sent men to guard the pearls and took a levy of threetenths of the pearls collected there.
There were originally no inhabitants of this country except for
spirits, deities, and ngas. Merchants of dierent countries came
here to trade. At the market the spirits and deities would not
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865a
appear in person but would simply display their valuable commodities with prices marked on them. The merchants would pay
the marked prices and take the goods away directly. As the traders
traveled to and fro or settled on the island, people of various countries heard about the pleasant conditions of this country and came
there, too. In this way it gradually became a large kingdom.
The climate was temperate without any dierences between
winter and summer. Plants and trees always grew luxuriantly.
The people could sow seeds in their elds at any time of the year
and there was no xed season for farming.
Once the Buddha came to this country to convert a vicious
nga. With his supernatural powers, the Buddha set one foot north
of the royal city and the other on top of a mountain fteen yojanas
away. A great stupa four hundred feet tall had been built over the
Buddhas footprint north of the royal city. It was of gold and silver and was decorated with ornaments consisting of various kinds
of jewels. Next to this stupa was a monastery named Mount Fearless in which ve thousand monks lived. A shrine for the Buddhas
image had been built with gold and silver and carvings of dierent
precious stones. A green jade image about thirty feet tall was
installed in the shrine. The whole statue sparkled with the brilliance of the seven precious substances. Its magnicent features
were so awe-inspiring that they were beyond description. In its
right palm was a priceless pearl.
Many years had passed since Faxian left China, and he had
associated only with people of foreign lands. All the mountains,
rivers, plants, and trees that met his eyes were strange to him.
Moreover, his companions had parted from him; some had remained
behind and others had passed away. Looking at his lonely shadow,
Faxian often felt sad. When he was standing beside the jade image
and saw a Chinese white silk fan that had been oered by some
merchants, he could no longer refrain from shedding tears of homesickess.
A former king of this country had dispatched a messenger to
Central India to fetch a seed of the pipal tree. He had planted it
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beside the shrine hall. The seed grew into a tree about twenty feet
tall that inclined toward the southeast. Fearing that it might fall,
the king had a huge pillar set up to support the trunk. The pillar
was so large that eight or nine men could extend their arms around
it. At the place where the pillar supported the pipal tree, a new
branch grew out from the trunk and pierced through the pillar
down to the ground, taking root in the earth. This side branch had
grown to such a large size that four men could extend their arms
around it. Although the pillar had been cleft in two, it had not
been removed, as it still supported the tree by clasping the branch.
Under this tree there was a vihra in which a sitting image
of the Buddha was enshrined. Monks and laypeople constantly
worshiped the image. In the city there was also the Temple of the
Buddhas Tooth, made of the seven precious substances. The king
led a life of purity and observed the Buddhist precepts. The citizens also had a deep respect for Buddhism. No famine or turbulence had ever occurred in this kingdom from the time of its establishment.
The monks had large amounts of jewels, gems, and mai pearls
in their storehouses. Once the king went to inspect these storehouses. On seeing the mai pearls, he coveted them and wanted
to seize them for himself. After three days, however, he repented
and went to the monks to pay homage to them and confess his sins.
He said to the monks, From now on let it be a monastic rule not
to allow kings to inspect the storehouses. Only those monks who
have been fully ordained for no less than forty years may be admitted into them.
In this city there were many rich people, elders, and merchants
of all trades. The houses were beautifully adorned. The streets and
roads were level and well laid out. At the crossroads there were
preaching halls. When the high seats were prepared on the eighth,
fourteenth, and fteenth days of each month, the four groups of
Buddhist followers, both clergy and laity, gathered to listen to the
sermons. The people of this country said that the public provided
food for sixty thousand monks. The king also supported ve or six
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thousand monks in the royal city. The monks who lived on food
provided by the public went with their almsbowls to collect it and
returned with as much food as their vessels could contain.
The Buddhas tooth was usually brought out in the middle of
the third month. Ten days before it was shown, the king had a
huge elephant decorated and an eloquent person dressed in royal
robes. This person rode on the elephant and made the following
announcement as he beat a drum:
The Bodhisattva practiced for the incalculably long time of
three asakhyeya (immeasurable) kalpas, never sparing
his own life. He gave up his kingdom, his wife, and his child.
He even tore out his eyes to give them to others. He cut his
own esh to ransom a dove, gave his head as alms, oered
his body to feed a famished tigress, and did not begrudge
his marrow and brain. Having suered these pains, he
achieved Buddhahood at last for the sake of all living beings.
While he was in this world he preached the Dharma and
edied the people for forty-ve years, giving rest to the
weary and saving the unsaved. When his karmic relationship with living beings had come to an end, he entered nirvana. Since his parinirva, one thousand four hundred
ninety-seven years have passed. Because the Eye of the
World closed, all living beings were left in perpetual grief.
Ten days from now, the Buddhas tooth will be brought out
and carried to the Abhayagiri Vihra. All monks and laymen who wish to accumulate merit, [you should] level the
streets, decorate the roads, and prepare all kinds of owers,
incense, and other oerings.
After this announcement was made, the king set up on both sides
of the road [images of ] the various transmigratory forms of the
Bodhisattva in his past ve hundred incarnations, such as Sudna,
ymaka, the elephant king, a deer, and a horse. All these forms,
true to life, were painted in colors and richly adorned. Then the
Buddhas tooth was brought out and carried in the middle of the
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road. Oerings were made to it all along the way until it reached
the shrine hall of the Abhayagiri Vihra. There monks and laymen assembled to burn incense, light lamps, and perform all kinds
of religious ceremonies day and night without stopping. After
ninety days the tooth was carried back to the vihra inside the
city. This vihra was open on fast days, when the tooth was worshiped according to tradition.
On a hill forty li to the east of the Abhayagiri Vihra stood a
vihra by the name of Caitya with some two thousand monks living in it. Among them was a monk of great virtue named Dharmakrti, who was venerated by all the people of the country. He had
lived in a cave for more than forty years and always cherished
such a mind of compassion that under his spiritual inspiration
snakes and mice lived together in the cave without one harming
the other.
Seven li to the south of the city there was a monastery named
Mahvihra, in which three thousand monks lived.
A ramaa of high virtue observed the Vinaya rules so perfectly that the people of the country suspected him to be an arhat.
When he was on his deathbed, the king came to see him. According to Buddhist custom, the king assembled some monks and asked
them, Has this monk achieved arhatship?
They truthfully answered, He is an arhat.
After his death, the king had his remains cremated in a funeral
ceremony betting an arhat, in accordance with the rules laid down
in the scriptures and Vinaya texts. At a spot four or ve li east of
the vihra, ve large logs were piled up to make a pyre about thirty
feet square and nearly thirty feet in height. Sandalwood, aloeswood,
and other aromatic woods were placed on the top. Steps were made
at the four sides. The top part of the pyre was covered with pure
and ne white felt all around. A large bier was made, resembling
the hearses used in China but without dragon and sh adornments.
At the time of the cremation, the king, the countrymen, and
the four types of Buddhists assembled to make oerings of owers and incense. Then they followed the bier to the crematorium.
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There the king again made his personal oering of owers and
incense. When this had been done, the bier was placed on the pyre,
butter was poured over it, and it was burned. As the bier was burning, those in attendance respectfully took o their upper garments
and, together with their feather ornaments and parasols, cast them
into the ames from a distance as additional fuel for the cremation. When the cremation was over, the ashes were collected and
a stupa was built for them. Faxian did not arrive in time to see
the saintly monk in the esh, but he witnessed his funeral ceremony.
The king, a devout believer in Buddhism, desired to build a
new vihra for the monk. First he invited the monks to a grand
assembly. After oering food to them, he selected a pair of his best
oxen and adorned their horns with gold, silver, and other precious
objects. He had a ne golden plow prepared, and personally furrowed the four sides of a piece of land to mark the boundaries.
Then he endowed the monks with the inhabitants, elds, and
houses on the land. The transfer was incised on an iron title deed,
so that it could be handed down from generation to generation and
nobody would dare to alter or annul it.
While sojourning in this country, Faxian heard an Indian
monk, seated on a high pulpit, reciting the following scripture:
The Buddhas almsbowl, which was originally kept in Vail,
is now in Gandhra. After several hundred years (Faxians
note: At the time of recitation, Faxian heard the monk mention the exact number of years, but he has since forgotten
it.), it will go to the country of Western Yuezhi. After several more centuries, it will go to the country of Khotan.
After several more centuries, it will go to the country of
Kucha. After several more centuries, it will go the Land of
the Lion. After several more centuries, it will go to China.
After several more centuries, it will return to Central India
and ascend to the Tuia Heaven, where Maitreya Bodhisattva will see it and exclaim, The almsbowl of kyamuni
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Buddha has arrived! Then he, together with heavenly

beings, will oer owers and incense to it for seven days.
After the seven days, it will return to Jambudvpa, where
the nga king of the sea will carry it to his nga palace.
When Maitreya is about to achieve Buddhahood, the bowl
will be redivided into four parts and returned to its original
place on Mount Vinataka.
When Maitreya has realized Buddhahood, the four heavenly kings will venerate him in the same way as they did
former Buddhas. The thousand Buddhas of the bhadra kalpa
all use this same almsbowl. When the bowl has vanished,
Buddhism will gradually disappear. After the disappearance of Buddhism, the lifespan of human beings will diminish to become as short as ve years. By that time there will
be no more rice and butter in the world, and men will become
so wicked that even pieces of wood in their hands will turn
into weapons for harming each other. Those who have done
meritorious deeds will escape to the mountains to avoid the
calamity and come out again when all the evil men have
killed each other. They will say to each other, Mens lives
were once very long, but as they were very wicked and committed all sorts of evil actions, our lives too have been shortened to ve years. We should now do good together, have
compassion in our minds, and cultivate sincerity and righteousness. Then human life will be gradually lengthened to
become as long as eighty thousand years.
When Maitreya appears in the world and starts to turn
the Wheel of the Dharma, he will rst save the followers of
the Dharma who have not yet been saved by kyamuni
Buddha, including monks and the laypeople who take the
Three Refuges, observe the ve or eight precepts, and make
oerings to the Triple Gem. The second and third groups to
be saved will be those who are karmically connected with
him.
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Faxian wished to copy this sutra, but the person said, There
is no written text of this sutra. I just recite it from memory.
Faxian stayed in this country for two years and obtained the
texts of the Mahsaka-vinaya, the Drghgama, and the Sayuktgama, as well as some texts of the Kudraka-piaka (Miscellaneous Collection), all of which were unknown in China.
Having acquired these Sanskrit texts, he set sail on a large
merchant ship which carried about two hundred passengers.
A small boat was towed behind for use in case the large vessel
should be wrecked, as sailing on the sea was hazardous. They had
sailed eastward with a favorable tradewind for only three days
when the ship was caught in a typhoon. It sprang a leak and water
rushed in. The merchants wanted to take the small boat but those
already in it hacked o the cable for fear that too many people
might overload the boat. The terried merchants, fearing that
they might meet their ends at any moment, began to throw their
bulky merchandise overboard to prevent the ship from taking on
water.
Faxian also cast his pitcher, washbasin, and some other personal articles into the sea. Fearing that the merchants might throw
away his sacred texts and images, he invoked Avalokitevara with
his whole heart and prayed to the monks in China: I have come
so far to see the Dharma. May your spiritual power carry me back
to my destination!
The typhoon lasted thirteen days and nights. They reached
the shore of an island. When the tide ebbed, they found the cause
of the leak in the ship and repaired it then sailed on again. The
sea was swarming with pirates from whom no one escaped alive
after encountering them. The great sea stretched on without limit.
One could not tell east from west. Only by observing the sun, moon,
and stars could they navigate. On rainy days, the ship simply
drifted aimlessly before the wind. On dark nights all they could
see were giant billows of waves beating one against the other and
shimmering like lambent ames, with huge turtles, sea monsters,
and other strange creatures in them.
210
The merchants were at a loss and could not tell directions. As

the sea was fathomless, there was nowhere to cast anchor. It was
not until the weather turned ne that they could determine the
directions and get on the right course. If they had happened to
strike a reef, they would have been dead. Having voyaged in this
manner for about ninety days, they reached a country named
Yavadvpa.
In this country the heretical teaching of Brahmanism ourished and there was almost no trace of Buddhism. After staying
there for ve months, Faxian embarked on another large merchant ship, which also carried some two hundred men. With provisions for fty days, the ship set sail on the sixteenth day of the
fourth month. He observed the summer retreat on board ship,
which sailed northeast, bound for Guang-zhou.
They had been sailing for about a month when one night, during the second watch, they encountered a black cyclone with torrential rain. All the merchants and traders were terror-stricken.
At that moment Faxian again wholeheartedly invoked Avalo-kitevara and the monks in China. Thanks to the protection of their
spiritual power, the voyagers survived the night until daybreak.
At dawn the brahmans discussed the matter and said among themselves, It is because we have a Buddhist monk on board our ship
that we have been so unlucky and suered such great trouble. We
should drop the monk on an island. We should not risk our lives
because of one man.
Faxians patron said, If you want to put the monk ashore, you
will have to put me down, too, or kill me rst. If you make him get
o the ship, I will certainly report the matter to the king on our
arrival in China. The king of China also believes in Buddhism and
honors Buddhist monks. The merchants faltered and dared not
put Faxian ashore.
Because the weather was continuously cloudy or rainy, the
pilot charted a wrong course. Consequently the ship sailed for
more than seventy days. Their provisions and fresh water were
nearly exhausted. They used salty seawater to cook their food and
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shared the fresh water among themselves, each person getting

about two liters. The [supply of water] was almost exhausted, too.
The merchants considered the matter together, saying, Usually
it takes just fty days to reach Guang-zhou. But we have been
sailing now for many more days than that. Have we taken a wrong
course? So they steered northwest to look for land.
After sailing for twelve days and nights, they reached the
southern shore of Laoshan in Changguang Prefecture, where they
obtained fresh water and vegetables. They had passed through
dangerous and diicult days with fear and anxiety. When they
arrived at the shore they saw the familiar vegetable goosefoot and
they realized that they had landed on Chinese soil. But they did
not see any people. Not knowing where they were located, some
said they had not yet reached Guang-zhou, and others said that
they might have already passed it. Nobody could tell exactly where
they were. Then some of them rowed a small boat into the harbor
to look for people to ask what place it was. They met two hunters,
whom they brought back to the ship so that Faxian could act as
interpreter to make inquiries. Having reassured the hunters of his
goodwill, Faxian asked them slowly, Who are you?
They replied, We are Buddhist believers.
He then asked, What are you looking for in these mountains?
They replied, Tomorrow is the fteenth day of the seventh
month. We are trying to get peaches to oer to the Buddha.
Faxian further inquired, What country is this?
The hunters said, This is Changguang Prefecture in Qingzhou, under the rule of the House of Jin.
Having heard this, the merchants became delighted and begged
some men to send their goods to Changguang Prefecture. On hearing that a monk had crossed the sea and arrived with Buddhist
scriptures and images, Li Yi, the Buddhist prefect of Changguang,
came with his men to the seaside to receive the scriptures and
images with due honor and carry them to the prefectural city. The
merchants returned to Yang-zhou, leaving Faxian behind in Qingzhou, where he was invited to stay for a winter and a summer.
212
When the summer retreat was over, Faxian, having been away
from his fellow monks for such a long time, wanted to proceed
immediately to Chang-an. But as the duty he had taken upon himself was so important, he instead went south to the capital. There,
with the cooperation of a dhyna master, he translated the sutras
and Vinaya texts into Chinese.
Faxian started his journey from Chang-an and spent six years
to reach Central India, where he stayed for six years. Then it took
another three years for his return to Qing-zhou. He had traveled
through nearly thirty countries, from west of the Sha River to the
land of India, where the dignied deportment of the monks and
the excellence of their teachings could not be described in detail.
Because his fellow monks in China were not well informed in these
matters, he risked his humble life to return home by sea through
many diiculties. Under the protection of the Triple Gem, he was
saved from dangerous situations. He wrote down this sketch
of his travels so that his learned fellow monks might share his
experiences.
This was written in the twelfth year of Yi-xi (417) of the Jin
dynasty, the cyclical year of Jia-yin, dominated by the star Canopus.
]
It was at the end of the summer retreat that we welcomed Faxian.

When the eminent monk arrived, we invited him to stay with us
to partake of the feast of the winter solstice. We repeatedly asked
him about his travels in his spare time after lecturing. He was a
polite and aable person who always spoke the truth. We urged
him to relate in detail what he had briey told us before. Thus he
once again gave us a complete account, from beginning to end.
He said, When I look back on what I have been through, my
heart begins to pound and I start sweating. I bravely undertook a
perilous journey, not sparing my body, because I had a purpose
and I foolishly and singlemindedly devoted my life to it. That was
why I cast my life into the journey in which death seemed almost
213
866c
certain, in the hope that I might have one chance out of ten thousand of surviving.
We were quite moved by what he had said. Such men as this
person are rare, whether in ancient times or in the present day.
Since the Great Religion spread to the east there has been no one
equal to Faxian in his seless search for the Dharma. From this
we know that no obstacle can impede the progress of a man who
has a mind of sincerity, and no meritorious deed will end in failure if one is determined to achieve it. Is it not true that he succeeded in his praiseworthy pursuit because he disregarded what
others valued and valued what others disregarded?
End of The Journey of the Eminent Monk Faxian
214
Glossary
angmin (non-returner): A sage who has destroyed all evil passions and
is therefore not subject to rebirth in samsara. The third of the four stages
of spiritual development in the Hinayana. See also arhat; Hinayana;
samsara; srotapanna.
arhat (worthy one): One who has completely eradicated all passions and
desires and attained emancipation from the cycle of birth and death
(samsara); the highest of the four stages of spiritual development and
the ideal of the Hinayana. See also angmin; Hinayana; samsara; srotapanna.
asuras: A class of demonic beings that are in constant conict with the devas.
See also devas.
Avalokitevara: The name of a great bodhisattva who represents compassion. See also bodhisattva.
bhiku: A fully ordained Buddhist monk. Monks undertake to adhere to the
Vinaya, a code of rules and disciplines. See also Vinaya.
bhiku: A fully ordained Buddhist nun. Nuns undertake to adhere to the
Vinaya, a code of rules and disciplines. See also Vinaya.
bodhi: Enlightenment.
bodhisattva: (literally, enlightenment being): A person who has made the
aspiration to one day achieve enlightenment (bodhicitta) with a view to
the welfare and happiness of all beings. This altrusitic ideal is at the
core of Mahayana teachings, as opposed to the concern for individual
attainment emphasized in the Hinayana. As Mahayana philosophy
developed over the centuries, bodhisattvas were deied; these great
bodhisattvas, such as Avalokitevara, Majur, and Maitreya, are passionless, seless beings with universal compassion who see the emptiness of phenomena and are destined to become a Buddha. See also
Hinayana; emptiness; Mahayana.
Chan (Japanese: Zen): A major East Asian school of Mahayana Buddhism
that emphasizes the practice of meditation. Chan is a transliteration
of the Sanskrit term dhyna, meditation. See also dyhna; Mahayana.
215
Glossary
devas: Heavenly beings, gods.

Dharma (truth, law, principle): The Buddhist teachings, such as the
four noble truths, the eightfold path, emptiness, and so on. See also
eightfold path; emptiness; four noble truths.
dhyna: meditation, meditative concentration.
eightfold path: (1) right view, (2) right thought, (3) right speech, (4) right
action, (5) right livelihood, (6) right eort, (7) right mindfulness, and
(8) right meditation. The practice of the eightfold path is the means
by which suering can be ended, and it is taught as part of the four
noble truths, one of the basic doctrines of Buddhism. See also four
noble truths.
eight precepts: A set of prohibitory rules undertaken by lay Buddhists at
certain times. They are: (1) not to kill; (2) not to steal; (3) not to engage
in sexual misconduct (i.e., adultery); (4) not to use false or harmful
speech; (5) not to use intoxicants; (6) not to sleep in a raised or luxurious bed; (7) not to engage in idle pleasures such as using perfumes,
oils, or decoration on the body, singing and dancing, or viewing plays
and dances; and (8) not to eat after midday. The rst ve of these are
the ve basic precepts. See also ve precepts; precepts; ten precepts.
emptiness (nyat): The doctrine that all phenomena exist only in dependence on a complex web of causes and conditions and are thus empty
of any sort of independent, permanent identity. Hinayana schools
teach that the concept of a permanent self is a delusory idea. Mahayana schools further developed this idea, emphasizing that not only
the self but all phenomena are originally empty. The theory of
emptiness was elaborated extensively in the Prajpramit literature and became a central tenet of Mahayana Buddhist thought. See
also Hinayana; Mahayana; Prajpramit.
Five Classics: The ve literary works of Confucius, the Book of Changes,
the Odes, the Book of History, the Book of Rites, and the Spring and
Autumn Annals, which were studied as part of a classical education
in China.
ve precepts: The ve basic prohibitory rules undertaken by all Buddhists.
They are: (1) not to kill; (2) not to steal; (3) not to engage in sexual
acts (for monastics) or sexual misconduct, i.e., adultery (for laypeople); (4) not to use false or harmful speech; and (5) not to ingest intoxicants.
four daily requisites: The four necessities of life that monks and nuns are
allowed to possess, (1) food, (2) clothing, (3) a sleeping or dwelling
place, and (4) medicine.
216
Glossary
four forms of birth: According to Buddhism, the four possible ways that
beings may be born, i.e., (1) from a womb (viviparous), as with mammals (2) from an egg (oviparous), as with birds; (3) from moisture, as
with worms and shes; and (4) by metamorphosis, as with moths from
a chrysalis or as spirits reborn into heavens or hells.
four groups of followers: The four classes of Buddhist followers, i.e., bhikus
(monks), bhikus (nuns), upsakas (laymen), and upsiks (laywomen). See also bhiku; bhiku; upsaka; upsik.
four noble truths: The fundamental Buddhist teaching: (1) life is characterized by suering; (2) the cause of suering is craving; (3) there is
an end to suering; and (4) the way to end suering is the practice
of the eightfold path which leads to nirvana. See also eightfold path;
nirvana.
four neavenly kings: The guardian kings of the four heavenly realms that
comprise the Buddhist cosmos.
ge: A unit of capacity, approximately one-tenth of a pint.
Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle): A term applied by Mahayana Buddhists to
the various schools of early Buddhism that exalt as their ideal the
arhat. See also arhat; Mahayana.
Holy Monk: An image, often of Majur, displayed in the monks or nuns
hall of a Mahayana monastery or nunnery. See also Mahayana;
Majur.
Jambudvpa: The southern continent of the Buddhist cosmos, corresponding to our world.
kalpa: An immense period of time, an eon.
karma (action): any action of body, speech, or mind (thought), which
may be either morally good, bad, or neutral. The consequences of ones
actions lead to states of either pleasure or suering or to neutral
states. The concept of karma is connected with the Buddhist theory
of transmigration, since most actions have either a positive or negative eect on a persons consciousness and lead to rebirth in samsara.
See also samsara; Three Activities; transmigration.
laka: A unit of measure, usually 10,000.
li: A unit of distance, approximately one-third of a mile.
Mdhyamika: One of the major schools of Mahayana Buddhism, established by Ngrjuna and his followers. Its tenets are primarily based
on the Prajpramit sutras. See also Mahayana; Prajpramit.
217
Glossary
Mahayana (Great Vehicle): A branch of Buddhism that emerged in

India around 100 B.C.E., centered on the doctrine of nyat (emptiness) and which exalts as its religious ideal the bodhisattva, a seless
being who delays his or her own entry into nirvana in order to help
liberate all sentient beings. To distinguish its soteriological path from
the ideal of the arhat promulgated in earlier Buddhist schools, Mahayanists applied the term Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) to that branch
of Buddhism. See also arhat; bodhisattva; emptiness; Hinayana.
Maitreya: The name of a great bodhisattva who is revered as the Buddha
of the future. See also bodhisattva.
Majur: The name of a great bodhisattva who represents wisdom. See
also bodhisattva.
nirvana: Liberation from samsara, the nal goal of Buddhist aspiration
and practice, a state in which all passions are extinguished and the
highest wisdom attained. See also eightfold path; samsara.
parinirva: Complete nirvana; perfect extinction. The term is also used
to refer specically to the passing into nal liberation of the Buddha.
See also nirvana.
Period of Decadence: The last of the three periods of the Dharma predicted to occur after the Buddhas parinirva. During the Period of
Decadence (which corresponds to the present age), the teaching of
the Buddha exists, but neither practice in accordance with the teaching nor enlightenment in this life are possible. The other two periods are the Period of the True Dharma, when the Buddhas teaching
was practiced and enlightenment was attainable; and the Semblance
Period, when the teaching was practiced but enlightenment was no
longer possible. See also Semblance Period.
praj: Nondiscriminating or transcendental wisdom.
Prajpramit (perfection of wisdom): The name of a body of Mahayana literature that emphasizes the doctrine of emptiness, and which
served as a fundamental text for a number of Buddhist schools, including Mdhyamika and Yogcra. See also emptiness; Mdhyamika;
Mahayana; Yogcra.
pratyekabuddha (solitary enlightened one): A sage who attains enlightenment without the guidance of a teacher and who intends neither
to guide others nor to expound the teaching to others. One of the two
kinds of Hinayana sages. See also Hinayana; rvaka.
precepts: Vows concerning moral conduct taken by lay Buddhists and
monastics. While dierent types of lay Buddhist practitioners take
218
Glossary
various sets of precepts, all Buddhists are supposed to follow the ve

basic precepts. In addition, there are two hundred fty monastic rules
for monks and three hundred forty-eight for nuns, which are detailed
in the Vinaya. See also eight precepts; ve precepts; ten precepts;
Vinaya.
Pure Land: The name of a cosmic realm of perfect peace and happiness,
presided over by Amitabha Buddha. Also called the Land of Supreme
Bliss and the Western Paradise. The term also refers to a major school
of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. See also Mahayana.
sgaranga (ocean serpent): A type of nga, or semi-mythical serpent.
Ngas appear in many Buddhist texts as guardians of Buddhist scriptures that are kept at a palace deep in the ocean.
kyamuni: The historical Buddha, who lived in India in the fth century B.C.E. and whose life and teachings form the basis of Buddhism.
la trees: The twin trees under which the Buddha passed into parinirva.
See also parinirva.
samdhi: A state of meditative concentration.
samsara: The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth through which beings
migrate due to karmic causes, generally contrasted with nirvana. The
Buddhas teachings are designed to liberate sentient beings from samsara, which is considered the world of suering. See also karma; nirvana.
sangha: The Buddhist order. Originally meaning the community of
ordained monks, the term came to encompass all four groups of followers of the Buddhas teaching. In a wider sense, the sangha includes
all Buddhist practitioners. Also one of the Three Refuges. See also
four groups of followers; Three Refuges.
arras: (ashes) Refers to the remains, or relics, of esteemed monks and
nuns that are collected upon cremation of the body and venerated.
They are sometimes interred in a stupa, a reliquary monument.
Semblance Period: The second of the three periods of the Dharma predicted to occur after the Buddhas parinirva. During the Semblance
Period, the teaching of the Buddha existed and was practiced but
enlightenment was no longer possible. The other two periods are the
Period of the True Dharma, when the Buddhas teaching was practiced and enlightenment was attainable; and the Period of Decadence,
when the teaching exists but neither practice nor enlightenment are
possible. See also Period of Decadence.
219
Glossary
seven precious gems: A phrase generally used to indicate something luxuriously or richly appointed. Dierent texts cite various combinations, including pearl, diamond, coral, ruby, emerald, sapphire, topaz,
crystal, silver, gold, etc.
ikam: A young (age eighteen to twenty) female Buddhist novitiate.
la: morality, uprightness in keeping the precepts. See also precepts.
ramaa: A religious mendicant, one who has renounced lay life and taken
up ascetic life seeking salvation. May also refer to a Buddhist monk.
rmaera: A male Buddhist novice who has taken vows to obey the ten
precepts. See also ten precepts.
rmaerik: A female Buddhist novice who has taken vows to obey the
ten precepts. See also ten precepts.
rvaka (word-hearer): Originally, a disciple and contemporary of kyamuni Buddha, one who heard his teachings directly. Later used generally by Mahayana Buddhists to refer to Hinayana Buddhists. One
of the two kinds of Hinayana sages. See also Hinayana; Mahayana;
pratyekabuddha; kyamuni.
srotapanna (stream-enterer): One who has entered the stream of emancipation, i.e., a practitioner who has entered the Buddhist path. The
rst of the four stages of spiritual development in the Hinayana; the
other three stages are that of sakdgmin, (once-returner), one
who will return to the world (i.e., samsara) only once more before full
realization of arhatship; angmin (non-returner); and arhat. See
also angmin; arhat; Hinayana; samsara.
Taoism: A school of mysticism founded in China around the sixth century
B.C.E., based on the teachings of the legendary gure Lao-tzu as explicated in the text of the Tao te Ching. The basic principle is that of
the Tao, the Way, the natural law of the universe. The Taoist goal
is to achieve oneness with the Tao.
ten precepts: A set of prohibitory rules undertaken by Buddhist novices.
They are: (1) not to kill; (2) not to steal, (3) not to engage in sexual
acts; (4) not to use false or harmful speech; (5) not to take intoxicants;
(6) not to use perfumes or oils on the body; (7) not to sing, dance, or
view performances of theater, dance, etc.; (8) not to sleep on a raised
or luxurious bed; (9) not to eat past midday; and (10) not to handle
gold, silver, or jewels. The rst ve of these these comprise the ve
basic precepts undertaken by all Buddhists. See also eight precepts;
ve precepts; precepts.
220
Glossary
Three Activities: The three actions of body, speech, and mind, through
which karma is created. See also karma.
Three Obediences: A set of restrictive injunctions on the conduct of women
found in Indian Brahmanic texts such as the Mnavadharma (Laws
of Manu) and in later Chinese sources as well. They stipulate that
a woman must be obedient to her father when young, to her husband
when married, and to her son when elderly.
three realms: The three realms of samsaric existence in Buddhist cosmology, (1) the realm of desire (kmadhtu), the lowest realm in which
beings experience desire and are attached to form; (2) the realm of
form (rpadhtu), the middle realm in which beings have severed
desires but still exist in subtle material form; and (3) the formless
realm (rpadhtu), the highest realm experienced by beings who
have severed all desires and attachment to form but have not yet
achieved enlightenment. See also samsara.
Three Refuges: Buddha, Dharma (the teachings), and Sangha (the monastic community). These are said to be refuges because upon ordination
the practitioner takes refuge in them. Also known as the Triple
Gem. See also Dharma; sangha; Triple Gem.
transmigration: The cycle of birth and death to which sentient beings are
subject. Beings are reborn in one of the three realms of samsara according to karmic causes created in previous lives. The Buddhas teachings are designed to free sentient beings from the suering of samsaric existence, which is contrasted with nirvana, liberation from the
cycle of transmigration. See also four noble truths; karma; nirvana;
three realms.
Tripiaka: The three divisions (piaka, baskets) of the Buddhist canon,
consisting of the Abhidharma, treatises on Buddhist doctrine; the
Sutra, the sermons of the Buddha; and the Vinaya, the monastic code.
Triple Gem: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. See also Three Refuges.
upsaka: A male lay Buddhist. All lay Buddhists undertake the practice
of ve basic precepts. See also ve precepts.
upsik: A female lay Buddhist. All lay Buddhists undertake the practice of ve basic precepts. See also ve precepts.
vihra: Originally, a dwelling for monastics. The term may also refer to
a Buddhist monastery/nunnery, temple, hall, or other religious
building.
221
Glossary
Vinaya: Texts on monastic discipline, outlining the precepts and rules of

behavior to be followed by Buddhist monks and nuns. One of the three
divisions of the Tripiaka. See also precepts; Tripiaka.
yakas: A class of demonic beings.
Yogcra: A major Mahayana Buddhist philosophical school, founded in
the fourth century by Asaga and Vasubandhu, which advocates the
doctrine of consciousness only. Also known as Vijnavda. See also
Mahayana.
yojana: literally, stage; a unit used to measure how far an army can
march in one day. The exact distance is unknown but is likely roughly
equivalent to seven to nine miles.
222
Bibliography
Beal, Samuel. The Travels of Fa Hian and Sun Yun, Buddhist Pilgrims,
from China to India (400 A.D. and 518 A.D.). London: Susil Gupta, 1864.
Frauwaller, Erich. On the Date of Buddhist Master of Law Vasubandhu.
Rome: Serie Orientale Rome III, 1951.
Giles, Herbert A. The Travels of Fa-hsien (399414 A.D.), or, A Record of
the Buddhistic Kingdoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1923.
Johnston, Edward H. The Buddhacarita or Acts of the Buddha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984, 1992.
Law, Bimala Churn. Avaghoa. Calcutta: Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal
Monograph Series, Volume 1, 1946.
Legge, James. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, Being an Account by the
Chinese Monk Fa-Hian of His Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D.
399414). Translated and annotated with a Korean rescension of the
Chinese text. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886.
Lindtner, Chr. Ngrjuniana: Studies in the Writings and Philosophy of
Ngrjuna. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1982.
223
Index
A
Abhayagiri Vihra 206, 207
Abhaya-stra 24
Abhidharma (see also Tripiaka)
41, 42, 43, 176
Abhidharmakoa 32, 49, 147
Abhidharmakoa-stra (see also
Koa-stra) 49, 50
Abhidharmavibh-stra (see
also Vibh) 6
crya 144
Agni 164
Agnigocara 179
Ajtaatru, King 190, 193
Akaniha Heaven 42
Alakrabuddhamrga-stra 24
alms 98, 72, 102, 106, 107, 126,
127, 130, 138, 145, 147, 150,
152, 153, 167, 170, 171, 175,
176, 184, 197, 206
almsbowl(s) 83, 87, 122, 123, 165,
176, 206
of the Buddha. See relics of the
Buddha, almsbowl
almsgivers, almsgiving 43, 150,
151
Amityus 93
mrapl, Lady 188, 193
angmin 195
nanda 62, 170, 176, 188, 189,
190, 194, 195
An-ding 135
An Gou 94
Agulimla 181
Aniruddha 177
An-ling 96
Anul, Princess 63
argumentation (see also debate) 9,
10, 148, 178, 186
arhat(s) 39, 41, 42, 138, 168, 173,
179, 190, 194, 195, 199, 201,
207
arhatship 39, 69, 144, 181, 187,
190, 195, 198, 207
arjuna tree 27
ryadeva 17, 18
Asaga 33, 40, 41, 51, 52
ascetic, asceticism (see also austere) 70, 77, 78, 82, 92, 94,
100, 104, 110, 152, 195, 196,
200
Asita 185
Aoka, King 63, 170, 178, 186,
190, 191, 192, 197, 1989
assembly(ies) 40, 43, 44, 74, 77,
106, 108, 112, 117, 138, 167,
195, 208
pacaikha 166
asura(s) 26, 27, 37, 38, 39
Avaghoa 5, 6, 9, 13, 42
Avajit 193
austere, austerity (see also ascetic)
76, 82, 83, 89, 96, 105, 107,
112, 116, 131, 139, 148, 149,
153
225
Index
Avalokitevara 94, 176, 210, 211

Avalokitevara-stra 778, 99
Avatasaka-stra 41, 52, 147, 159
Ayodhy 33, 43, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51,
53
B
Bai 117
Bai-ban Mountain 145
Blditya, King 49
Ba-ling, Prince of. See Xiao
Zhaozhou
Bamboo Grove Nunnery 71, 72,
104
Baochang 61, 65, 89, 102, 130
Baoliang 147
Baoxian 1102
Baoying 107, 125
Baoyong 146
Baoyun 163, 164, 171, 172
Bei-di 76, 89, 97, 105, 109
Bei-zhang Monastery 131
Bhia 174
bhiku(s) (see also monk) 9, 10, 12,
13, 23, 25, 62, 63, 71, 103, 157
bhiku(s) (see also nun) 61, 63,
64, 65, 71, 74, 111
Bhikuprtimoka 158
Biao-qi 142
Bimbisra, King 193
Bin 151
Biographies of Buddhist Nuns 61,
64, 87, 114, 134, 154
Biographies of Eminent Monks 65,
160
Biographies of Famous Monks 65
Vasubandhu 6, 31, 53
Bi-qiu-ni zhuan. See Biographies of
Buddhist Nuns
226
bird(s) (see also dove; crow; hawk)

76, 96, 120, 163, 194, 196, 198
birth and death (see also four forms
of birth; rebirth) 102
bodhi 46
bodhicitta 109
Bodhi Nunnery 95
bodhisattva(s) 24, 25, 32, 39, 41,
42, 69, 91, 94, 122, 141, 165,
168, 170, 192
precepts. See precepts, bodhisattva
stage(s) 24, 40, 69
Bodhisattva, the (see also Buddha)
169, 173, 195, 196, 206
Bo-hai Prefecture 96
boon 39, 46, 47, 48
Bo-ping 105
Brahm 178, 179, 197
brahman(s) 21, 25, 27, 31, 39, 46,
47, 49, 176, 177, 180, 181, 184,
191, 192, 201, 211
Brahmanism, Brahmanist 5, 211
Buddha (see also Bodhisattva, the;
Gautama; kyamuni;
Siddhrtha, Prince; Worldhonored One) 12, 25, 27, 41,
42, 44, 51, 61, 62, 63, 69, 77,
78, 79, 84, 91, 92, 99, 101, 115,
123, 135, 152, 157, 167, 168,
169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 175,
176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181,
182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187,
188, 189, 190, 192, 193, 194,
195, 196, 200, 201, 202, 203,
204, 205, 206, 208, 209, 212
image of. See image, of the
Buddha
relics of. See relics of the Buddha
Buddhabhadra 159
Buddhacaritakvya 5, 6
Index
Buddha-Dharma 9, 24, 27, 105,

107, 116, 152, 175, 201
Buddhagotra-stra. See Nature of
the Ratnatraya
Buddha hall 107, 122, 139
Buddhahood 196, 200, 203, 206,
209
Buddhajva 159
Buddhamitra 46, 47
Buddha-nature 141
Buddhas 79, 98, 173, 178, 179, 184,
186, 189, 196, 209
four 181, 194, 203
Buddha stupa (see also stupa) 23,
170, 179
Buddhatuga 72, 74
Buddhayaas 158, 159
Buddhism 5, 6, 13, 17, 31, 32, 33,
61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 71, 73, 76,
77, 82, 84, 157, 159, 168, 169,
174, 191, 202, 203, 205, 208,
209, 211
Buiguo 108
burning, of ngers (see also selfimmolation) 143
C
caitya(s) 121, 127, 128, 132
Caitya Vihra 207
cakravartin 177, 197
Cambodia 65
Camp 203
calas 175
Canton 31
Canzhi 135
Cao-tang Monastery 145
Catalogue of Buddhist Texts of the
Hua-lin Garden 65
Cturdia Monastery 139
cave(s) 47, 193, 194, 195, 196, 207
Cave of Yu 154
celestial beings (see also heavenly

beings) 83, 165, 185, 190, 192,
196, 197
Central Asia 157, 159, 164
Central India (see also Middle
Kingdom) 9, 12, 169, 202, 203,
204, 208, 213
ceremonial, ceremony(ies) 6, 64,
77, 80, 94, 102, 104, 108, 113,
130, 137, 138, 139, 143, 157,
158, 207, 208
chan. See dhyna
Chan school 32
Chandaka 187
Chang-an 91, 92, 121, 152, 158,
160, 163, 213
Changguang Prefecture 212
Chang-le Nunnery 140
Chang-shan 75
Chan-ji Nunnery 123, 124
Chan-lin Nunnery 135, 137, 139,
140, 145, 149
chant, chanting 6, 21, 99, 104, 109,
115, 116, 117, 130, 135, 151,
152, 195
Chaobian 108
Chaoming 131
Chao-ting 118
Chao-xi Nunnery 117
Charcoal Stupa 187
Chen dynasty 31
Cheng-du 140
Chen-liu 133
Chen Prefecture 110
Chen-ti. See Paramrtha
China 17, 31, 32, 39, 61, 63, 64, 65,
70, 72, 73, 82, 111, 154, 157,
158, 159, 164, 167, 172, 174,
182, 202, 203, 204, 207, 208,
210, 211, 213
Chong 73, 74, 75
227
Index
Chong-sheng Nunnery 117, 118

Chong-yin Nunnery 131
Chou 135
Chu 86, 92, 113, 142
Chuan Hongren 89
Ci 151
Cicmavik 183
Classified Excerpts from the Sutra
and Vinaya Piakas. See Jingl-yi-xiang
clergy 81, 87, 89, 92, 93, 109, 118,
124, 126, 128, 142, 150, 205
Colombo 64
community of monks or nuns. See
order; sangha
concentration (see also contemplation; meditation) 94, 98, 100,
125
confess, confession 52, 62, 78, 105,
119, 137, 139, 145, 205
Confucian, Confucianism 65
contemplation (see also meditation)
40, 101, 110, 124, 125, 131,
137, 140, 141, 145, 146, 148,
149
cow(s) 104, 201
crow(s) 83, 136
D
Dakina 201, 202
Dan 71
Dan-yang 79, 92, 108, 118, 125
Daochang 64, 72
Dao-chang Monastery 91
Daogui 1523
Daoji 153
Daojing 85
Dao-lin Monastery 108, 126
Daoqiong 923
Daorong 823
228
Daoshou 934
Daoxing 812
Daoxuan 65
Daoyi 867
Daozhao 109
Daozheng 163, 165, 169, 171, 182,
203
Daozong 109
Darada 168
Daabhmika-stra 151
Daakualakarmapatha. See Sutra
of the Ten Evil Deeds
daala (see also precepts, ten) 64
Da-zong-di-xuan-wen-ben-lun 6
debate, debating (see also argumentation) 9, 10, 11, 12, 26, 32, 46,
47, 50, 147, 148, 183, 184
deer 84, 200, 206
Deer Park 200, 201
Deer Park Vihra of the Ascetics
200
deities, deity 190, 191, 203
Dele 1323, 153
Dense Forest 47
Desheng 131
deva(s) 26, 27, 37, 38, 39, 42, 184,
190
Deva. See ryadeva
Devadatta 183, 184, 194, 195
Devnapiya Tissa, King 63
Devasr 104, 111, 117
Dharma (see also Buddha-Dharma;
Triple Gem; Wheel of the
Dharma) 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
25, 27, 40, 41, 43, 44, 46, 47,
48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 70, 71, 72,
74, 76, 77, 79, 83, 84, 85, 92,
96, 115, 116, 126, 131, 136,
137, 138, 139, 141, 144, 147,
149, 151, 153, 154, 163, 164,
Index
169, 176, 177, 180, 181, 182,

183, 185, 186, 199, 206, 209,
210, 214
of the Period of Decadence 70
of the Semblance Period 70
Dharmagupta 64, 72
Dharmagupta-karman 158
Dharmagupta-vinaya 158
Dharmakla 1578
Dharmakrti 158, 207
Dharma-piaka 69
Dharmaraka 5
Dharmaruci 158
Dharmavivardhana 170
dhyna (see also meditation) 98,
124, 129, 136, 140, 153, 213
of ve practices 145
Ding-lin Monastery (see also Upper
Ding-lin Monastery) 121, 122
Ding-yin Area 79
Dpakara 173
Drghgama 210
disciplinary rules (see also monastic
rules; prohibitive rules; rules;
Vinaya, rules) 24, 62, 70, 71,
75, 81, 89
Di-shan Nunnery 152, 153
Discourse to Unfold Wisdom (see
also eight granthas) 41
divination 21, 82, 83
doctrine(s) 12, 17, 32, 40, 48, 87,
91, 112, 118, 142
Dong-gian 100
Dong-guan 73, 115
Dong-xiang 104
Door of Nectar 52
dove(s) 169, 201, 206
dragon(s) 167, 169, 179, 186, 187,
207
Dragon Temple 180
Du Ba 75
Dun-huang 105, 163
Du-xiang 135
Dvdaanikya-stra 17
E
Eastern Nunnery 81, 82, 98
Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery (see
also Western Qing-yuan Nunnery; Qing-yuan Nunnery)
106, 125, 133, 145
East Videha 39
eighteen schools (see also
Hinayana) 42, 50, 202
eightfold path 12
eight granthas (see also Discourse
to Unfold Wisdom) 413
Eight Points of Deference 62
eight precepts. See precepts, eight
Eight Rules of Veneration (see also
Eight Points of Deference) 103
Elpattra 200
elephant(s) 25, 48, 74, 171, 185,
186, 187, 193, 201, 206
Emancipation Stupa 172
Empress Hes Nunnery (see also
Yong-an Nunnery) 79, 86, 87,
148
emptiness (see also nyat) 17,
149, 180, 195
evil realm(s) 51, 52
evil spirit(s) 22, 119, 163, 179
F
Fabian 70, 1089
Facai 1156
Facheng 101
Fahong 92
Fahu 139
Fahui 144
229
Index
Fajin 124
Fajing 1123, 126, 127, 133
Falin 1078
Fan. See Wang Jingshen, mother of
Fan County 101
Faquan 70, 125
Fasheng (of Jian-fu Nunnery)
901
Fasheng (of Southern Nunnery)
989
Fashi (monk) 71
Fashi (nun) 147
fast, fasting 74, 80, 83, 101, 128,
135, 1467, 207
Faxian 157, 1589, 160, 163, 164,
165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170,
172, 173, 174, 177, 180, 181,
182, 185, 188, 190, 193, 194,
200, 2023, 204, 208, 210, 211,
212, 2134
Faxiang 1056
Faxuan 61, 1534
Fayan 124
Faying 111, 136, 145
Fa-yin Nunnery/Vihra 126, 127,
128, 132
Fayu 140, 141
Fayuan 1156
Fazang 131
Feng 1434
Fifty Stanzas on Serving the Guru
6
lial piety 79, 93, 120
Five Classics 131
ve precepts. See precepts, ve
Five Texts 148
Following the Truth 50
ower(s) (see also lotus) 45, 73, 74,
78, 83, 91, 99, 165, 170, 171,
172, 176, 181, 182, 187, 192,
230
194, 198, 206, 207, 208, 209

four forms of birth (see also birth
and death; rebirth) 69
Four Great Stupas 170, 197
four groups of Buddhist followers
12, 13, 70, 78, 98, 121, 122,
150, 181, 205, 207
four heavenly kings 185, 197, 209
four requisites 129, 140, 147
Fu-fa-zang-yin-yuan-zhuan. See
Record of the Origin of Transmitting the Dharma-piaka
Fu Gongsun 164
Fu Jian 76, 106
Fu-liu County 75
Fu Mountain 110
Fu-nan. See Cambodia
Fu-tian Nunnery 129, 130
G
Gandhara. See Gandhra
Gandhra 33, 170, 208
Ganges River 180, 188, 200, 203
Gan Ying 168
Gao-chang 143, 144, 164
Gao-ping 77, 84, 128
Gao-yang 124
Gao-zhu Nunnery 96
Garden of Ghoira 201
gth(s) 42, 43, 45, 48, 49, 50
Gautama (see also Buddha) 200
Gay 195
gha 9, 10, 112
Golden Flower Monastery 144
Gomati Monastery 164, 165
Guangjing 1001, 126
Guang-ling 95, 96, 99, 100, 103
Guang-zhou 95, 117, 211, 212
Guavarman 89, 111, 133, 137
Guo Qia 147
Index
Gurusevdharmapacadgth.
See Fifty Stanzas on Serving
the Guru
Gu-su 154
H
Han dynasty 169
Han people 163, 167
Hari 180
hawk 169
heavenly beings (see also celestial
beings) 178, 196, 200, 209
Heavens Kin. See Vasubandhu
He Chong 78, 80
He, Empress. See Empress Hes
Nunnery; Zhang, Empress
hell(s) 183, 197
He-nei 98, 120
Heng-yang 154
heretic(s), heretical (see also nonBuddhist) 9, 10, 11, 23, 25, 44,
46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 178, 180,
181, 186, 191, 201, 211
Hia 172
Hinayana 27, 39, 42, 50, 51, 52,
157, 164, 167, 168, 169, 170,
174, 179, 180, 191, 201
Hirayavat River 187
Hong-an 89
Honghang 124
Hong-nong 76, 77
homeless life (see also home life,
renunciation of) 61, 117, 119,
141
home life, renunciation of (see also
renunciation; secular life,
renunciation of) 23, 39, 41, 49,
74, 76, 90, 94, 96, 97, 101, 108,
127, 128, 135, 145, 145, 148,
151, 152, 184, 200
horse(s) 13, 69, 86, 167, 187, 201,

206
Huaguang 143
Huaihui 126
Huai-nan 89
Hua-lin Nunnery 124
Huangfu Kui 76
Huang Xiuyi 137
Huan Xuan 86
Hua-yan Nunnery 120
Huichao 97
Huichu 154
Huicong 103
Huida 165, 169, 171
Huigao 146
Huiguo 8990, 111
Huihui 1512
Huiji 131
Huijian 163, 164
Huijiao 160
Huijing 163, 165, 166, 169, 171,
172, 174
Huijun 110
Huikai 90
Huilang 96
Huili 149
Huiling 139
Huiming 126, 127
Huimu 978
Huiqiong 956
Huisheng 145
Huisu 106
Huiwei 163, 164
Huixi 154
Huixing 125
Huixu 12831, 145
Huiyao 1134
Huiyi 90
Huiyin 152
Huiying 163
231
Index
Huiyu 912
Huiyuan 86
Huizhan 78, 80
Huizhi 95
Huizi 96
Hupei 159
Hu Zhenheng 160
I
image(s) 92, 93, 117, 137, 146, 150,
152, 154, 165, 168, 173, 179,
181, 185, 206, 210, 212
of the Buddha 79, 93, 98, 99,
165, 166, 169, 171, 173, 178,
181, 182, 192, 196, 203, 204,
205
of the Holy Monk 123, 138
image procession 93, 1656, 1912
impermanence 17, 47, 118, 132,
180, 195
incense 85, 110, 122, 123, 146, 165,
171, 172, 176, 182, 184, 192,
206, 207, 208, 209
India (see also Central India;
Northern India; Southern
India) 5, 12, 17, 24, 25, 31, 33,
39, 41, 50, 52, 61, 63, 65, 118,
157, 158, 163, 164, 167, 168,
203, 213
Indra 169, 170, 178, 179, 183, 193
Indradamana 37
Indus River 168, 169, 174, 177
invisibility, sorcerers art of 21
J
Jambudvpa 23, 24, 37, 40, 41, 69,
90, 171, 177, 192, 197, 209
Japan 17
Jetavana Monastery/Vihra 133,
181, 182, 183, 184
Ji 126, 151
232
Jian-an Nunnery 111, 117

Jian-chu Monastery 65
Jian-fu Nunnery 77, 79, 80, 90, 92,
93, 119, 121
Jiang 121
Jiang-ling 86, 91, 92, 93, 109, 128
Jiang-xia, Prince of (see also Liu
Yigong) 95, 110
Jian-jing Nunnery 85
Jiankang (see also Nanjing) 159
Jian-kang County 79, 126, 127,
145, 148, 149, 151
Jianwen, Emperor 83
Jian-xi Vihra 96
Jian-xian Nunnery 73, 74
Jieren 149
Jin 132
Ji-nan 80
Jin dynasty 64, 70, 71, 77, 78, 79,
80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 92, 111,
118, 132, 160, 212, 213
Jing 86, 92, 113, 129
Jingai 107
Jingcheng 1045
Jingdu 119
Jing-fu Nunnery 89, 103, 108, 111
Jinggui 70, 1278
Jinghui 126
Jingjian 61, 634, 65, 70, 713,
74, 111
Jinglian 125
Jing-ling 118, 124, 126, 127, 147,
153
Jing-ling, Prince of 126, 138, 140,
148
Jing-l-yi-xiang 65
Jingxian 1456
Jingxing 1478
Jingxiu 1359, 145, 149
Jingyao 148
Jingyin 111
Index
Jingyuan 1467
Jing-zhou 86, 128
Jin-ling 90, 121, 127
Jin-xiang 84
Jin-xing Monastery 112
Jinzhou 159
Ji Prefecture 103
Ji-shan Nunnery 128, 129, 130,
145
Ji-zhou 84
Jnagiri 63, 72
Jnaprasthna. See Discourse to
Unfold Wisdom
Journey of the Eminent Monk
Faxian, The 157, 214
Ju-lu 146
Jun-ren 123
Ju-rong County 95
K
Klapinka 193
Klayaas 108, 140, 141
kalpa(s)
asakhyeya 206
bhadra 189, 209
Kanakamuni 185
Kang, Emperor 81
Kang, Empress 81
Kanika, King 6, 1701
Kanykubja 180
Kapilavastu 69, 159, 185, 186
karma, karmic 73, 82, 94, 97, 206,
209
Karmans 98
Kashmir. See Kamra
Kai 200
Kamra 6, 41, 43, 44, 49, 50, 64,
72, 138, 158, 159, 166
Kyapa 185, 197, 201
Ktyyan 41
Ktyyanputra 6, 41, 42, 43
Kauinya 200
Kaumb 201
Kauika 39
Kekaya 18
Kelaniya River 64
Kelaniya Temple 64
Khaa 165, 166
Khotan 164, 208
Kong Mo 116, 117
Koa-stra (see also Abhidharmakoa-stra) 49, 50
Kosala 186
Kong Xixian 133
Krakucchanda 185
Kudraka-piaka 210
Kuai-ji 85, 95, 117, 121, 133, 154
Kucha 144, 158, 208
Kukkuapada 199
Kukyar 166
Kumrajva 5, 18
kua grass 196
Kuinagara 69, 187
L
Ladakh 166
laity (see also lay devotees; laypeople) 87, 89, 92, 109, 118,
126, 128, 150, 154, 157, 205
Lake Anavatapta 138
Lakki 174
lamp(s) 116, 132, 170, 176, 182,
184, 192, 194, 207
Land of Bliss (see also Pure Land)
85, 91
Land of the Hero (see also
Puruapura) 39, 50, 51
Land of the Lion (see also Sri
Lanka) 103, 104, 133, 203, 208
Lang-ya 108, 121
Lang-zhong Nunnery 143
Lan-ling 95
233
Index
Laoshan 212
lay devotees (see also laity; laypeople) 61, 183, 185, 187
layman, laymen 12, 70, 77, 169,
172, 192, 206, 207
laypeople (see also laity; lay
devotees) 77, 81, 93, 118, 124,
127, 128, 142, 158, 163, 164,
167, 171, 205, 209
laywoman, laywomen 12, 70
Le-an Nunnery 151, 152
Liang dynasty 31, 70, 135, 138,
140, 142, 144, 145, 146, 149,
150, 154, 160
Liang, Emperor 150
Liang Prefecture 97
Licchavis 188, 190
Liezong, Emperor 86
Li Hao 163
Life of Avaghoa Bodhisattva, The
5, 13
Life of Deva Bodhisattva, The 18
Life of Faxian, The 160
Life of Ngrjuna Bodhisattva, The
27
Ling-gen Monastery 145
Lingguang 132
Linghui 149
Ling-nan 118
Lingshou 735
Ling-yin 154
Lingyu 1489
Lingzong 855
Lin-he, Prince of 109
lion(s) 178, 186, 192, 200, 201
Liu-chong Monastery 92
Liu-chuan, Prince of 142, 150
Liu Quan 142
Liu Qiu 109
Liu Yigong (see also Jiang-xia,
234
Prince of) 110

Li-yang 82
Li Yi 212
Long-chuan County 135
Long Mountains
lotus (see also ower) 25, 38, 99,
166, 173, 198
Loyang 158
Lou-fan 86
Lumbin 186
Luo-yang 72, 81, 82, 157
Lu Prefecture 117
L-qiu 128
M
Ma 136
Madhyadea 9, 191
Mdhyamika 17
Mdhyamika-stra 17, 24, 25
Magadha 190
Mahkyapa 5, 176, 195, 199
Mahallaka 9
Mahmaitryupya-stra 24
Mahmaudgalyyana (see also
Maudgalyyana) 176
Mahng 24
Mahparinirva-stra 100, 121,
143, 151
Mahprajpat 62, 63, 69, 89, 103,
181, 186
Mahprajpramit-stra 17
Mahprajpramit-stra 17, 82,
97
Mahsghikbhidharma-stra
202
Mahsghika-bhiku-karman
64, 72
Mahsghika-vinaya 159, 202
Mahsghika-vinaya-hdaya 158
Mahvihra Monastery 207
Index
Mahayana 5, 6, 17, 23, 24, 32, 33,

40, 41, 43, 48, 51, 52, 107, 125,
126, 142, 157, 164, 165, 166,
174, 176, 179, 191, 202
Mahynasagraha 52
Mahynaraddhotpda-stra 5,
6
Mahendra 63
Mahsaka-vinaya 159, 210
Maitreya 40, 41, 92, 93, 168, 200,
208, 209
mai pearls 203, 205
Majur 176, 191
Manoratha 46
Mao 76
Mra 189, 196
Mra Ppiyas 194
Mathur 174
Maudgalyyana (see also
Mahamaudgalyyana) 176,
177, 193, 195
My, Queen 186
meditation (see also walking
meditation) 39, 40, 51, 70, 72,
78, 92, 97, 98, 100, 103, 104,
105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110,
111, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125,
126, 127, 129, 132, 133, 136,
137, 138, 140, 141, 143, 145,
146, 148, 149, 150, 152, 153,
176, 179, 180, 181, 183, 186,
193, 194, 195, 201, 203
Mek 195
Meng Ford 84
Meng Yi 85, 95
merit(s) 13, 106, 176, 184, 206
meritorious deed(s) 92, 102, 109,
127, 128, 135, 153, 209, 214
Miaoxiang 70, 767
Miao-xiang Nunnery 124
Miaoyi 151
Miaoyin 856
Miaozhi 1201
Middle Kingdom (see also Central
India) 169, 175, 184, 196
Middle Nunnery 100
Middle Way. See Mdhyamika
Mikkala 138
Ming Bolian 78
Ming dynasty 160
Ming, Emperor, of the Han dynasty
169
Ming, Emperor, of the Jin dynasty
82
Ming, Emperor, of the Song
dynasty 111, 112, 118, 137,
146
Minggan 779
Miscellaneous Collection. See
Kudra-piaka
Mo-ling 112, 117, 140
monasteries, monastery 48, 50, 71,
75, 92, 127, 144, 159, 165, 166,
171, 173, 174, 175, 179, 180,
181, 184, 187, 191, 193, 194,
197, 200, 201, 202, 204
monastic rules (see also disciplinary
rules; prohibitive rules; rules;
Vinaya, rules) 63, 157, 205
monk(s) (see also bhiku) 6, 12, 23,
63, 64, 65, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74,
75, 77, 83, 89, 90, 92, 95, 97,
98, 101, 108, 111, 114, 117,
127, 128, 130, 133, 135, 137,
138, 140, 142, 144, 148, 157,
158, 159, 163, 164, 165, 166,
167, 168, 169, 171, 173, 174,
175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180,
182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187,
189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 195,
235
Index
monk(s) (continued)
197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202,
203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208,
209, 211, 212, 213
morality (see also la) 69, 70, 74,
107, 122, 129, 150
Mountain of the Vulture Cave 194
Mount Fearless 204
Mount Gdhraka 190, 193, 194
Mount Sumeru 85
Mount Tai 139
Mount Vinataka 209
Mount Vindhya 45, 47
Mucilinda 197
Mu, Emperor 79
N
nga(s) (see also sgaranga) 24,
27, 42, 45, 46, 48, 197, 203,
204, 209
Nagarahra 169, 171, 172, 173
Ngrjuna 17, 18, 217
Nairtmyaparipcch. See Sutra
of a Nirgrantha Inquiring into
the Meaning of Non-ego
Nan-an Nunnery 95
Nan-chang, Princess of 137
Nan-cheng 139
Nanda 185
Nandi 104
Nanjing (see also Jiankang) 31,
159
Nan-lin Monastery 104, 111
Nan-pi 96
Nan-yang 118
Napika 185
Nryaa body 38
National Academy 131
Nature of the Ratnatraya 52
236
New Catalogue of Chinese

Buddhist Texts 65
New Grove Nunnery 82, 83
New Royal Monastery 166
Niraya 192
Nirgranthaputra 193
nirvana (see also parinirva) 132,
180, 185, 200
of the Buddha 41, 170, 177, 195
Nirvana Sutra 52, 135, 147, 151
Niu-mu Nunnery 91, 92
non-Buddhist(s) (see also heretic)
12, 13, 110, 183, 184
Northern India 9, 12, 13, 37, 169,
202
Northern Wei dynasty 18
Northern Yong-an Nunnery (see
also Southern Yong-an Nunnery; Yong-an Nunnery) 79
North Mountain 76
novice(s), novitiate 62, 63, 64, 72,
81, 90, 159, 176, 187
nun(s) (see also bhiku) 12, 61,
62, 63, 64, 65, 69, 70, 71, 72,
73, 75, 79, 81, 82, 89, 90, 91,
93, 94, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108,
109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114,
115, 116, 117, 119, 120, 121,
122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128,
130, 131, 132, 133, 135, 136,
137, 139, 140, 141, 143, 144,
148, 151, 153, 176, 177, 178,
179
nunneries, nunnery 48, 74, 75, 78,
79, 81, 83, 89, 91, 92, 93, 95,
97, 99, 100, 104, 105, 106, 107,
110, 114, 118, 120, 122, 123,
124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 130,
133, 136, 138, 140, 142, 146,
148, 149, 150, 153, 154
Index
Nunnery of Zhu-ge Village 97

nyagrodha tree 186, 197
Nyynura. See Following the
Truth
O
oense(s) 52, 62, 78, 90, 137, 175
oering(s) 9, 10, 45, 73, 85, 102,
113, 116, 123, 132, 136, 138,
146, 154, 166, 167, 168, 170,
171, 172, 173, 175, 176, 177,
182, 184, 186, 187, 192, 193,
199, 206, 207, 208, 209
order (see also sangha)
of monks 61, 62, 111
of nuns 63, 64
ordination 11, 23, 27, 62, 64, 65,
72, 73, 74, 81, 89, 90, 92, 97,
98, 100, 103, 104, 111, 112,
116, 118, 126, 131, 132, 133,
137, 145, 148, 154, 157, 158
dual 63, 64
Ou 91
Overshadowed Temple 184
ox(en) 181, 208
P
pagoda(s) 78, 79, 91, 97, 107, 113
Pamirs 166, 167, 168
Pacaikha 193
Pan, Lady 107
Pan-yu 118
Paramrtha 5, 6, 31, 32
Paramrthasaptati 48
Prvatta Monastery 201
parinirva (see also nirvana) 181,
193, 195
of the Buddha 44, 168, 175, 181,
187, 188, 190, 197, 206
Prva 5, 912
Parthia 158
Paliputra 63, 190, 200, 202
Peng-cheng 71, 80, 106, 124, 133,
145, 149
Peng-cheng Monastery 139
Peng-cheng Nunnery 93
Period of Decadence. See Dharma,
of the Period of Decadence
Peshawar 33
Pi-ling 98, 132
Piola 39
Ping, King 168
pipal tree 196, 199, 2045
Pippala Cave 194
Po-kang 95
Po shu pan tou fa-shih chuan. See
Vasubandhu
power(s) (see also spiritual power;
supernatural power) 12, 40,
42, 43, 47, 177
Prabhvat 37, 38
praj 104
Prajpramit 176
Prajpramit-stra 52
Prasenajit, King 181
Prtimoka (see also Mahsghika-bhiku-karman) 64, 72
pratyekabuddha(s) 173, 180, 189,
200
precepts 62, 74, 97, 100, 103, 157,
205
bodhisattva 91, 122
eight 83, 117, 199, 209
ve 77, 93, 135, 209
ten 63, 64, 72, 148
prohibitive rules (see also disciplinary rules; monastic rules;
rules; Vinaya, rules) 100, 120,
137, 148, 153
237
Index
Pujing 100
Pulian 135
Puyatara 158
Puyayaas 5
Pure Land 91, 115
Pure Land school 32
Puruapura (see also Land of the
Hero) 37, 170, 171
Puyao 100, 116
Pu-xian Nunnery 110, 111, 112,
126
Puzhao 967
Q
Qian-tang 131
Qiao Prefecture 104
Qi dynasty 115, 117, 118, 119, 120,
121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 129,
133, 138, 140, 147, 150, 153,
154
Qifu Quiangui 163
Qi-huan Nunnery 93, 94
Qi-ming Nunnery 118, 119, 131,
153
Qing-he Prefecture 75
Qing-shui 83
Qing-yuan Nunnery (see also Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery; Western Qing-yuan Nunnery) 107,
135, 137
Qing-zhou 78, 89, 151, 212, 213
Qi, Prince 157
Qi-xing Nunnery/Vihra 132, 133
Qu Anyuan 83
R
Rhula 176
Rjagha 193, 194
Rjasvmin 191
Rmagrma 186
Rmyana 43
238
rebirth (see also birth and death;

four kinds of birth) 74, 95
Record of Buddhist Countries, A.
See Journey of the Eminent
Monk Faxian, The
Record of the Origin of Transmitting the Dharma-piaka 5, 18,
27
relic(s) (see also arras) 114, 125,
188, 190
relics of the Buddha 186, 187, 193
almsbowl 12, 13, 167, 171, 172,
188, 197, 2089
footprint 192, 204
hair 173, 178
nails 173, 178
sagh robe 173, 186
skull 171, 172, 173
spittoon 167
sta 173
tooth (see also Temple of the
Buddhas Tooth) 167, 171, 173,
2067
renunciation (see also homeless life;
home life, renunciation of;
secular life, renunciation of) 9,
23, 80, 81
Rou 151
Royal Garden Monastery 133
rules (see also disciplinary rules;
monastic rules; prohibitive
rules; Vinaya, rules) 11, 33,
62, 63, 64, 90, 93, 136, 137,
157, 164, 177, 195, 203, 207
Ru-nan 154
Ru-nan, Prince of 150
S
Saddharmapuarka-stra 52,
76, 81, 84, 86, 92, 94, 95, 96,
99, 100, 139, 145, 146, 149,
Index
151, 153
Chapter on the Universal Gate
84
agatikrik. See Sutra of the Six
Ways of Transmigration
sgaranga (see also nga) 138
saint(s), sainthood 83, 181
Sketa 6, 42
akra 37
kya 9
kya people 103, 184, 185, 186
kyamuni (see also Buddha) 46,
169, 178, 184, 208, 209
la trees 69, 187
samdhi (see also meditation) 9,
10, 39, 41, 42, 103, 104, 125,
126, 141, 149
re 190
sunlight 41
pratyutpanna 128
Samantabhadra 93
Samaya of Light 50
Samayapradpik. See Samaya of
Light
Saghamitr 63
Saghapla 65
saghrmas 169
Saghavarman 65, 90, 104, 111,
133
Skhya-stra 45, 48
Sayuktbhidharma-hdaya-stra 202
Sayuktgama 210
San-ceng Nunnery 109, 128
sandalwood 173, 181, 182, 207
sangha (see also order) 61, 62, 63,
71, 89, 90, 103, 112, 148, 157,
164, 176, 190
twofold 62, 103, 111
Sangha (see also Triple Gem) 77,
84
Saghabhadra 50
Skya 177
Sanlun school 17
Sanron school. See Sanlun school
Sanskrit 65, 158, 159, 202, 210
Saptapara Cave 195
riputra 176, 193, 195
arras (see also relics) 114
Sarvstivda, Sarvstivdin school
39, 41, 48, 49
Sarvstivda-vinaya 111, 136, 149,
151, 154, 158, 202
stra(s) 49, 50, 52, 154
ata-stra 17
Satyasiddhi-stra 147, 151
scripture(s) (see also sutra) 23, 24,
71, 72, 79, 81, 82, 84, 87, 91,
92, 94, 97, 99, 104, 106, 107,
109, 110, 114, 115, 116, 117,
119, 122, 124, 125, 127, 131,
132, 135, 139, 146, 152, 154,
176, 207, 208, 212
copying of 95, 98, 135, 138, 150,
152, 154, 203
secular life, renunciation of (see
also home, renunciation of;
renunciation) 79, 95, 99, 103,
105, 106, 110, 111, 113, 121,
131, 146, 147, 149, 153, 157
self-immolation (see also burning of
the ngers; suicide) 102, 109,
113, 114, 127, 128, 132, 140,
190
Semblance Period. See Dharma, of
the Semblance Period
Sengao 126
Sengbian 109
Sengduan 70, 99100
Senggai 1234
Sengguo 70, 1034
Senghua 110
239
Index
Sengji 70, 801

Sengjian 64, 72
Sengjing (monk) 163, 171, 172
Sengjing (nun) 1178
Sengl 125
Sengmao 1334
Sengmeng 11820
Sengmin 65
Sengnian 13940
Sengrou 154
Sengsao 65
Sengshao 163, 166
Sengshu 14950
Sengyou 65
Sengyuan 120, 122, 123
Sengzhen 149
Sengzhi (father of Huisheng) 145
Sengzhi (nun) 124
Sengzong 122, 147
seven precious gems, substances
172, 178, 204, 205
Shan 98, 129, 132, 133, 142, 153
Shanmiao 70, 1012
Shanshan 163
Shan-yang 104
Shan-yin 110, 153, 154
Shao-ling, Prince of 148
Sha River 213
Shen 124, 125, 149
Sheng Mountains 154
Shen Youzhi 128
Shen Yue 118
She-shan Monastery 123
Shi Hu 75
Shi Le 74
shrine(s) 79, 93, 94, 95, 116, 119,
136, 142, 150, 165, 166, 204,
205, 207
Shuai 118
Shu Prefecture 101, 113, 129, 140
Siddhrtha, Prince 185, 186, 187
240
Sight Recovery Wood 1823

ikam 62
iknanda 5
la (see also morality; precepts) 62
lanidna-stra 64, 72
Sima Long 98
Si River 64, 72
Six Discourses 42
Six Dynasties period 61
Siyin 145
Si-zhou 75, 76, 84
mana 194
Snow Mountains 23, 167, 174
Song dynasty 89, 95, 96, 98, 103,
107, 109, 110, 11, 112, 115,
117, 118, 119, 121, 123, 129,
133, 137, 140, 142, 145, 146,
148, 149, 150, 154
Song, general of 133
Song-lin Gate 138
sorcerer, sorcery 21, 22, 25
Southern Dynasties period 31, 32,
33
Southern India 17, 21, 24, 25, 27,
177
Southern Jian-xing Nunnery 93
Southern Jin-ling Nunnery 148
Southern Nunnery 98
Southern Yong-an Nunnery 95,
116, 132
South Yan-zhou 142
spirit(s) (see also evil spirits) 44,
47, 179, 191, 203
spiritual power(s) (see also power;
supernatural power) 142, 177,
184, 210, 211
Spurious Zhao dynasty (see also
Zhao) 73
ramaa(s) 10, 13, 21, 25, 46, 47,
71, 72, 200, 201, 207
rmaera(s) 9, 10, 11
Index
rmaerik 64, 72
rvaka(s) 141
rvast 6, 42, 181, 184, 185
Sri Lanka (see also Land of the
Lion) 63, 65, 103
rmldevsihanda-stra 52,
120, 149, 152
srotapanna 186, 195
statue(s) (see also image) 94, 123,
168, 178, 183, 204
Stone Hill 152
stupa(s) (see also Buddha stupa;
Four Great Stupas) 23, 95, 96,
125, 142, 146, 164, 166, 167,
170, 171, 172, 173, 176, 178,
179, 180, 181, 183, 184, 185,
186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191,
192, 193, 195, 196, 197, 200,
201, 203, 204, 208
Stupa of Bows and Lances Laid
Down 188
Subhadra 187
Sudna 206
Sudatta 181, 183
uddhodana, King 185, 200
suicide (see also self-immolation)
195
Sukhvatvyha-stra (see also
Door of Nectar) 52, 152
summer retreat 63, 163, 166, 167,
169, 174, 176, 177, 179, 180,
211, 213
Sundar 183
Sun Hao 158
nyat (see also emptiness) 39, 40
supernatural power(s) (see also
power; spiritual power) 9, 11,
168, 177, 194, 204
ragama-samdhi-stra 92,
194
Sryakrti 5, 6
sutra(s) (see also scripture) 12, 40,

41, 42, 49, 52, 94, 146, 149,
150, 154, 168, 195, 202, 210,
213
Sutras. See Tripiaka
Strlakra-stra 5
Sutra of a Nirgrantha Inquiring
into the Meaning of Non-ego 5
Sutra of the Seventeen Bhmis 40
Sutra of the Six Ways of Transmigration 5
Sutra of the Ten Evil Deeds 5
Suvastu 169
ymaka 206
T
Tadwa 185
Tai-hou Nunnery 139
Tai-shan 81
Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery 94, 95, 105
Takail 170
Tmralipa 203
Tan 92
Tanai 91
Tanbei 79, 81
Tanbin 122
Tanche 1167
Tang dynasty 32, 65
Tanhui 1403
Tanjian 1267, 128, 132
Tanjing 91
Tanlan 133
Tanluo 79
Tanrui 139
Tanyao 18
Tanyin 108
Tanyong 132
Tanzheng 131
Tanzhi 117
Tanzong 89
Taoism, Taoist 65, 75, 82, 83, 119
241
Index
Tathgata 91
teaching(s) 9, 12, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27,
32, 40, 41, 46, 50, 61, 62, 69,
82, 107, 125, 126, 132, 139,
146, 154, 157, 170, 174, 179,
180, 190, 211, 213
Temple of the Buddhas Tooth 205
ten precepts. See precepts, ten
Theravada, Theravadin 6
Three Activities 127
Three Obediences 74
three poisons 195
three realms 69
Three Refuges (see also Triple
Gem) 107, 146, 209
three vehicles. See vehicles, three
Tian-shu 124
tiger(s), tigress 78, 105, 170, 200,
206
Ti-lun school 32
Tryastria Heaven 177, 178,
181, 186
Tripiaka(s) 5, 23, 31, 42, 92, 104,
143, 159, 160, 176
Triple Gem (see also Three
Refuges) 6, 77, 84, 94, 113,
127, 169, 171, 199, 209, 213
triyana. See vehicles, three
Tufa Rutan 163
Tu Mountains 154
Tuoba clan 124
Tu-shan 131
Tuita Heaven 40, 41, 94, 101, 136,
139, 168, 208
two vehicles. See vehicles, two
U
Udyna 169
upasapad. See ordination, dual
upadea 24
242
updhyya 71
updhyy 72
Upli 185
Upper Ding-lin Monastery (see also
Ding-lin Monastery) 108
Utpal 177, 178
V
Vaipulyaparinirva-stra 202
Vaipulya scriptures 24
Vaikha 180
Vail 188, 189, 190, 208
vajra guardians 187
Varaa 174
Vras 114, 200, 202
Vragaya 45
Vaasubhadra 434
Vasubandhu 313, 37, 39, 40, 41,
46, 4853
Vasudeva, King 37
Vasurata 49
Vedas 21, 42
vegetarian, vegetarianism 76, 80,
82, 95, 107, 108, 109, 110, 117,
124, 125, 128, 129, 135, 139,
143, 147, 148, 149, 153
vehicle(s) 40, 69
Hinayana 40
three 51
two 91
Veluvana Kalandaka Monastery
194
Vibh (see also Abhidharmavibh-stra) 423, 44, 48,
50
vihra(s) 89, 96, 115, 129, 137,
181, 182, 183, 184, 188, 192,
193, 200, 201, 205, 107, 108
Vijnavda (see also Yogcra)
31, 32
Index
Vijaptimtratsiddhi 52
Vikra 138
Vikramditya, King 46, 49
Vimalakrtinirdea-stra 52, 81,
867, 120, 126, 149
Vimokamrga 65
Vinaya (see also Tripiaka) 42, 49,
63, 64, 65, 90, 91, 98, 106, 108,
110, 111, 113, 116, 119, 120,
124, 127, 128, 132, 136, 137,
146, 149, 150, 152, 154, 157,
158, 159, 163, 168, 176, 189,
190, 202, 203, 207, 213
rules (see also disciplinary rules;
monastic rules; prohibitive
rules; rules) 73, 78, 79, 82, 87,
90, 103, 104, 107, 112, 122,
128, 143, 144, 147, 148, 151,
197, 203, 207
Vinaya-piaka 87, 121, 158, 163
Vindhyavsa 44
Viricivatsa 39
Virhaka, King 184, 186
Vikh 183
Viu 37, 38, 39
vow(s) 42, 43, 46, 48, 74, 934,
131, 140, 152, 153, 167, 199
Vykaraa-stra 37, 42, 49, 50
W
Wa-guan Monastery 117, 121
Wa-guan Nunnery 93
walking meditation (see also
meditation) 152, 179, 180, 181,
183, 194, 197, 201, 203
Wang 113
Wang Chen 86
Wang Dao, Premier 85
Wang Gong 86
Wang Jingshen, mother of 107
Wang, Lady 95
Wang Lun 121
Wang Tanzhi 107
Wang Puyang 83
Way, of the Buddha 9, 12, 72, 74,
80, 83, 84, 85, 91, 95, 98, 105,
109, 116, 119, 125, 126, 128,
129, 131, 132, 133, 135, 140,
149, 151, 152, 174, 200
Wei dynasty 157
Wei Lang 116
Wen, Emperor 107, 111, 133, 140,
146
Wenhui, Crown Prince 118, 122,
123, 126, 138, 147, 150
Wenjiang 105
Wenxuan, Prince 118, 121, 122,
124, 126, 127, 138, 147, 150,
153
Western Land (see also Pure Land)
91
Western Nunnery 75, 76, 84
Western Qing-yuan Nunnery (see
also Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery; Qing-yuan Nunnery) 151
Western Region 71, 72, 89, 115
Western Yuezhi (see also Yuezhi)
208
Wheel of the Dharma 186, 197,
209
White Mountain 127, 128, 132, 133
Wilderness Vihra 200
wolves 200
World-honored One (see also
Buddha) 177, 182, 187, 189,
195, 200
Wu Chonghua, Lady 150
Wu County 98, 131, 158
Wu, Emperor, of the Song dynasty
107, 129
243
Index
Wu, Emperor, of the Qi dynasty

120
Wu-jiang Nunnery 82, 83
Wu Prefecture 91, 94, 98, 105, 119,
154
Wu-shi 135
Wu-ti, Emperor 31
Wu-wei Prefecture 71
Wu-xing 100, 118
X
Xian 131
Xiang-dong, Prince of 146
Xian-ju Nunnery 145, 149, 150
Xiao Chengzhi 95
Xiaowu, Emperor, of the Jin
dynasty 83, 84, 85
Xiaowu, Emperor, of the Song
dynasty 111, 140
Xiao Yi 129
wife of 129
Xiao Zhaozhou 154
Xiao Ziliang. See Wenxuan, Prince
Xie Zhi 86
Xin-lin Nunnery. See New Grove
Nunnery
Xin Monastery 159
Xi-ping 113
Xiu-wu 103
Xu 109
Xuanchang 129
Xuanqu 122
Xuan-wu, Prince of 142
Xuan-yan-ji 94
Xuanzao 945
Xue 92
Xun-yang County 86
Y
yaka(s) 42, 43, 44
Yama 197
244
yamen 113
Yamun River 174
Yang Lingbian 82
Yang-lou Mountains 163
Yan-guan 118
Yang-zhou 108, 212
Yangzi River 78, 80, 112
Yan Hui 69
Yan-men 86
Yan-xing Nunnery 80, 81
Yao 136
Yavadvpa 211
Yellow Spring 178
Yeshou 1067, 135
Yin 124, 125, 149
Ying-chuan 154
Yin Zhongkan 86
Yi-zhou 119, 142
Yogcra (see also Vijnavda)
31, 32
Yogcrabhmi-stra. See Sutra
of the Seventeen Bhmis
Yong-an Nunnery (see also Empress Hes Nunnery; Northern
Yong-an Nunnery; Southern
Yong-an Nunnery) 99, 100,
107
Yong-fu Nunnery 112
Yong-kang Nunnery 113
Yong-shi 145
Yu 132
Yuan 125, 126
Yuan Jian 133
Yuanjian, Prince 154
Yuezhi (see also Western Yuezhi)
12, 13, 64, 72
Yue Zun 118
Yu-hang 119
Yu, Prince 108
Yu Yong 154
Yu-yue 154
Index
Yu-zhang 91, 129

Yu-zhou 132
Z
Zang, Lady 147
Zen. See Chan
Zeng-cheng 115
Zhang Bian 91
Zhang Dai 119
Zhang, Empress 79
Zhang-guo Nunnery 96
Zhang, Imperial Lady 150
Zhang Jun 142
Zhang Qian 168
Zhang-ye 163
Zhang-ye, Prince of 163
Zhang Yuan 154
Zhang-guo Nunnery
Zhao (see also Spurious Zhao
dynasty) 73, 90, 124
Zhao-ming Nunnery/Vihra 133,

153, 154
Zhao Qian 113
Zhen 75
Zhen Fachong 1401
Zhisheng 1213
Zhixian 756
Zhiyan 163, 164
Zhong Mountain 118, 121, 123,
148, 150, 153
Zhong-xing 140
Zhong-zao Nunnery 118
Zhou dynasty 168
Zhou She 130
Zhou Yong 154
Zhuang-yan Monastery 65, 122
Zhu, Lady 130
Zhu-yuan Nunnery/Vihra 110,
134, 146, 147
Zong 125
245

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LIVES OF GREAT MONKS AND NUNS

BDK English Tripiaka 76-III, IV, V, VI, VII