Chapter 10 Section 3 Generation Master Kumarajiva

Kumarajiva was born around 344 AD and died in 413 AD.His grandfather was the prime minister of Tianzhu.His father, Jiumoyan, gave up the right to inherit the phase and became a monk. He crossed the Congling Mountains and came to the country of Qiuci (qiuciqiuci) (now the area around Kuqa, Xinjiang), where he was revered as the national teacher by the king of Qiuci.King Qiuci had a younger sister who was 20 years old at the time. Many princes and nobles wanted to marry her, but she refused to marry her, so she fell in love with Jiumoyan.The king was very happy and forced Jiumoyan to marry her.After marriage, she became pregnant and gave birth to Kumarajiva.The ancients said that Kumarajiva was from India, referring to his place of origin; now some people say he is Chinese, referring to his place of birth.In any case, he himself is the embodiment of Sino-Indian cultural exchanges, and because of his special identity and innate conditions, he has laid the foundation for him to become a great man in the history of Sino-Indian cultural exchanges.

Kumarajiva was extremely intelligent. He became a monk with his mother when he was seven years old. He can often remember Buddhism with his eyes.At the age of nine, he traveled west with his mother, crossed the Congling Mountains, crossed the Indus River, and arrived in today's Pakistan and Kashmir, where he studied with the famous Buddhist master Pantou Da Duo.Because of his talent and hard work, he was appreciated by his teachers.Over time, his reputation grew, and even the king knew about it.So the king called him into the palace and called people other than Buddhism to debate with him.At the beginning, those people just regarded him as an ignorant young man, and made insulting remarks. How did they know that Kumarajiva was already full of knowledge and quick thinking at that time.Kumarajiva seized the loopholes in those people's remarks and immediately refuted them.His eloquence was sharp and well-founded, which made everyone present feel ashamed and amazed.From then on, the king also looked at Kumarajiva differently and raised his treatment: a pair of geese, three buckets of good rice and noodles, and six liters of soufflé were provided every day; he also arranged five monks and ten monks in the temple where he lived. A novice (a young monk who has not yet reached the official age of becoming a monk) serves him exclusively.This was already the highest treatment in the local area at that time.When he was 12 years old, his mother took him back to Kucha.They stayed on the way for several years, and Kumarajiva also took the opportunity to learn some ancient Indian knowledge other than Buddhism.His reputation grew, and King Kucha personally welcomed their mother and son back home.Kumarajiva was 20 years old and was ordained in the palace (accepting all the precepts of Buddhism and officially becoming a monk).When he was in India, he followed Pantou Da Duo to learn the theory of Theravada Buddhism, and for a period of time after he returned to China, he studied the theory of Mahayana Buddhism.In his opinion, the theory of Mahayana Buddhism is more profound and rigorous than Theravada Buddhism.One day, his Indian teacher Pantou Da Duo came to Kucha to discuss the theory of Mahayana Buddhism with Kumarajiva.Kumarajiva repeatedly explained and illustrated the theory of Mahayana Buddhism to his teacher. After more than a month of persuasion, his teacher was convinced by him and converted to Mahayana.Finally, Pantou Da Duo sighed, "I am your Hinayana teacher, and you are my Mahayana teacher."

In 382 A.D., the former Qin Emperor Fu Jian sent General Lu Guang to attack Kucha.Before leaving, he told Lu Guang: "I heard that there is a Kumarajiva there who is proficient in Buddhism and also good at Yin and Yang. He is the master of later scholars. I admire him very much. This kind of sage is the treasure of the country. You If you conquer Kucha, you must immediately send him back with a fast horse." In 384 AD, Lu Guang conquered Kucha. In 385, Kumarajiva followed Lu Guang to Liangzhou (now Wuwei, Gansu).At that time, Fu Jian was dead, and Kumarajiva was not valued by the Lu family, so he lived in Liangzhou for 16 years. In 401, Emperor Yao Xing of the Later Qin Dynasty invited Kumarajiva to Chang'an and treated him as a national teacher.From then on, Kumarajiva translated scriptures in Chang'an and established a translation field.He has translated more than 300 volumes of Buddhist scriptures, including some very important classics, such as "Diamond Sutra", "Lotus Sutra", "Great Wisdom", "Ten Chanting Laws" and so on.He also recruited many disciples, preached on the altar, and became famous all over the country, with as many as 3,000 disciples.At that time, during the period of the Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms, China was in a situation of great division. Kumarajiva was in the north, while Lushan Huiyuan was in the south, forming two major Buddhist centers in the north and the south.Huiyuan admired Kumarajiva very much and wrote to him for advice. (The above is based on "Biography of Kumarajiva", Volume 2 of "Biography of Eminent Monks")

Kumarajiva has made great contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and India, which can be summed up in the following points: First, he went to India to study Buddhist scriptures in person, and his actions set an example for the rise of the Westward Journey to the Dharma Movement.This has effectively promoted cultural exchanges between China and India.Second, he translated a large number of Buddhist scriptures, not only in translation practice, but also in translation theory. He is an epoch-making figure in the history of Chinese translation.He not only introduced Indian Buddhist theory to China, but also promoted the progress of Chinese translation studies.The development of ancient Chinese translation studies is a major achievement of Sino-Indian cultural exchanges.Third, he and his disciples had a profound influence on the history of Chinese thought.During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the so-called "metaphysics" emerged in the Chinese intellectual circles because the scholar-officials liked to talk.Metaphysics in the Wei and Jin Dynasties synthesized the three major thought systems of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, which can also be seen as an absorption of Indian culture by Chinese culture.Kumarajiva and his disciples also played an active role in this process.