Chapter 11 Section 4 Faxian Tours India

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a climax in China to seek Buddhist scriptures from heaven, which was a great event in the history of cultural exchanges between China and India.In this climax, the most outstanding representative is Fa Xian. Fa Xian, with the common surname Gong, was born in Wuyang, Pingyang (one said that it is the southwest of Linfen County, Shanxi, and another is that it is now Xiangyuan, Shanxi). He was born in 342 and died in 424.Before Fa Xian was born, his three elder brothers all died at the age of seven or eight.After Fa Xian was born, his parents ordained him as a novice monk when he was three years old in order to make him healthy and live a long life.A few years later, he was sent to live in a temple due to illness. At the age of 10, his father died, and his uncle asked him to return to secular life, but he refused. At the age of 20, he was ordained as an official monk.

According to the records in "Foguoji" and "Biography of Fa Xian", the third volume of "Biography of Eminent Monks", Fa Xian showed his tenacious pursuit of truth, strong will and extraordinary courage in his youth.There is such a story: When Faxian was a novice in the temple, he once harvested rice in the field with dozens of novice monks.At this time, a group of hungry thieves came to grab the rice, and the young monks were scared away, leaving only Fa Xian.He explained the truth to those people, and those people put down the rice and left.This incident deeply admired hundreds of monks in the whole temple.

After he formally became a monk, he often felt that the translated Buddhist scriptures were not complete, especially the part about precepts.Therefore, in 399 AD, he joined his classmates Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying and Huiwei and set off to Tianzhu to seek precepts.They set off from Chang'an, along the Hexi Corridor, and came to Zhangye.Here I met five companions, Zhiyan, Huijian, Seng Shao, Baoyun, and Sengjing, and they went to Dunhuang together.Then they crossed the Great Gobi in two batches and arrived at Shanshan State (now Ruoqiang, Xinjiang).When crossing the Great Gobi, looking around, there are no birds above, no animals below, all rely on the sun to determine the direction, and piles of bones are used as road signs.After the two groups gathered in Yanqi, three people including Zhiyan returned to seek funding, while seven people including Fa Xian continued to advance from Yanqi to Khotan.This road is also full of hardships.However, they encountered even greater difficulties when crossing Congling Ridge.The terrain there is precipitous, covered with snow all the year round, and the roads are hard to find. In addition, the weather is erratic. Fa Xian and others experienced a narrow escape.After traveling to North India, some of them died of illness, and some returned to China. Only Fa Xian and Daozheng continued to advance to Central India.They visited the relics of the Buddha along the way, visited Buddhist classics, and learned Indian languages ​​and Buddhist scriptures.They lived in Balenfoy (now Patna, Bihar State, East India). Faxian studied here for three years, while Daozeng stayed there all his life.In this way, there were ten people who walked with Fa Xian at the beginning, but now only Fa Xian walked alone.Determined to bring the Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures he obtained back to China, he came to the mouth of the Ganges River and planned to return along the coast.He went south by boat and came to Shizi Country (now Sri Lanka), where he lived for two years.Buddhism is popular in the country of Shizi, and there are also Buddhist classics that are not available in China. Faxian collected as much as possible and gained a lot.Two years later, he returned to China on a merchant ship. Unexpectedly, he encountered a storm on the way, the ship broke and leaked, lost its course, drifted for more than ten days, and landed on a small island.After filling the leak on the small island, it took another 90 days to arrive at a place called "Yapati", which is today's Java Island in Indonesia.From here, Fa Xian took a merchant ship to Guangzhou and set off again, but unexpectedly encountered another storm.There was a lack of supplies on board, and some people even wanted to push Fa Xian into the sea, but Fa Xian refuted it sternly, and those people finally did not dare to do it.Finally, the ship finally arrived on land, and after inquiring, it was found that it had arrived in Shandong.

After returning to China, Fa Xian's situation was much better.The local governments gave him great convenience, enabling him to use his lifetime to translate the classics brought back from India and Sri Lanka. Faxian traveled westward, going by land and returning by sea, and traveled through more than 30 countries, which lasted 15 years.After returning to China, he wrote the memoir "Foguoji" (also known as "Faxian Biography"), which recorded his itinerary and what he saw and heard.When he traveled around India, it was the time of the Gupta Dynasty in India.His records are extremely important and precious materials for the study of ancient Indian history.He also translated a large number of Buddhist scriptures and contributed to the development of Buddhism in China.His spirit of not being afraid of hardships and overcoming difficulties, and his indomitable and diligent character are both the embodiment of the excellent traditions of the Chinese nation and the inspiration for future generations.After him, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, many monks went to India in groups to learn Buddhist scriptures. Coupled with friendly exchanges between governments and frequent commercial activities, cultural exchanges between China and India reached an unprecedented climax.