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{{Short description|Bhikkhu, historian, travelogue author, and Buddhist pilgrim of the Silk Road}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| background = #FFA500
| name = Faxian
| image = Faxian statue in Maritime Experiential Museum & Aquarium Singapore.jpg
| caption
| religion = [[Buddhism]]
| alias =
| monastic name = Fǎxiǎn
| parents = Tsang Hi (father)
| birth_date = 337 CE
| birth_place = Pingyang
| death_date
| works = ''Foguoji'' (''A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms'')
}}
{{Chinese
| t = {{linktext|法|顯}}
| s = {{linktext|法|显}}
| p = Fǎxiǎn
| w = Fa
| l = Splendor of the [[Dharma]]
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|f|a|3|.|x|ian|3}}
|y=Fat<sup>3</sup>-hin<sup>2</sup>▼
|
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|f|at|3|.|h|in|2}}
| poj = Huat-hién
| mc = Pjop-xén
| kanji = 法顕
| kana = ほっけん
| romaji = Hokken
| san
|altname=Gong Sehi
|t2={{linktext|龔}}
|s2={{linktext|龚}}
|p2=Gōng
|w2=Kung
}}
'''Faxian'''<!--Chinese
==Biography==
{{Moresources|section|date=August 2022}}
[[File:Faxian zhuan.JPG|thumb|12th-century woodblock print, 1st page of the Travels of Faxian (Record of the Buddhist Countries). The first sentences read: "In [[Chang'an]], Faxian was distressed that the ''Vinaya'' collections
[[File:Faxian at Daishō-in Temple.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Faxian at Daishō-in Temple, Miyajima, Japan]]▼
Faxian was born in Shanxi in the 4th-century under the [[Later Zhao|Later Zhao dynasty]] of the [[Sixteen Kingdoms]] period. His birth name was Gong Sehi.{{fact|date=May 2024}}{{dubious|1=Sehi isn't pinyin or a set of noises from Middle Chinese; not in any biography; seems to have been made up/garbled by Britannica|date=May 2024}} He later adopted the name Faxian, which literally means "Splendor of Dharma".{{sfnp|''Enc. Brit.''|2019}} Three of his elder brothers died young. His father, fearing that the same fate would befall him, had him ordained as a [[Samanera|novice monk]] at the age of three.{{sfnp|Shi & al.|2022}}
In 399 CE, about age 60, Faxian was among the earliest attested pilgrims to India. He set out
Faxian's visit to India occurred during the reign of [[Chandragupta II]]. He entered the Indian subcontinent through the northwest. His memoirs describe his 10 year stay in India. He visited the major sites associated with the Buddha, as well the renowned centers of education and Buddhist monasteries. He visited Kapilvastu ([[Lumbini]]), [[Bodh Gaya]], Benares ([[Varanasi]]), [[Shravasti]], and [[Kushinagar]], all linked to events in Buddha's life. Faxian learned Sanskrit, and collected Indian literature from Pataliputra (Patna), [[Oddiyana]], and [[Taxila]] in [[Gandhara]]. His memoirs mention the Hinayana
On Faxian's way back to China, after a two-year stay in [[Sri Lanka]], a violent storm drove his ship onto an island, probably [[Java]].<ref>Buswell, Robert E. & Lopez, Donald S. Jr. (2014). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ&q=amala&pg=PA275 The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism]'', Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 297</ref> After five months there, Faxian took another ship for southern China, but again it was [[blown off course]] and he ended up landing at [[Mount Lao]] in what is now [[Shandong]] in northern China, {{convert|30|km}} east of the city of [[Qingdao]]. He spent the rest of his life translating and editing the scriptures he had collected. These were influential to the history of Chinese Buddhism that followed.
Faxian returned in 412 and settled in what is now [[Nanjing]]. He wrote a book on his travels around the year 414, filled with accounts of early Buddhism and the geography and history of numerous countries along the [[Silk Road]]
The following is the introduction to
[[File:Fa Hien at the ruins of Ashoka palace.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Faxian at the ruins of Ashoka palace]]
▲The following is the introduction to a 19th-century translation of Faxian's work by [[James Legge]]. The speculations of Legge below, such as Faxian visiting India at the age of 25, have been discredited by later scholarship. His introduction provides some useful biographical information about Faxian:
[[File:
{{quote|Nothing of great importance is known about Fa-Hien in addition to what may be gathered from his own record of his travels. I have read the accounts of him in the ''[[Memoirs of Eminent Monks]]'', compiled in 519 CE, and a later work, the ''Memoirs of Marvellous Monks'', by the third emperor of the [[Ming dynasty]] (1403–1424 CE), which, however, are nearly all borrowed from the other; and all in them that has an appearance of verisimilitude can be brought within brief compass.▼
▲Nothing of great importance is known about Fa-Hien in addition to what may be gathered from his own record of his travels. I have read the accounts of him in the ''[[Memoirs of Eminent Monks]]'', compiled in 519 CE, and a later work, the ''Memoirs of Marvellous Monks'', by the third emperor of the [[Ming dynasty]] (1403–1424 CE), which, however, are nearly all borrowed from the other; and all in them that has an appearance of verisimilitude can be brought within brief compass.
His [[Chinese surname|surname]], they tell us, was Kung, and he was a native of Wu-yang in P’ing-Yang, which is still the name of a large department in [[Shanxi|Shan-hsi]]. He had three brothers older than himself, but when they all died before shedding their first teeth, his father devoted him to the service of the Buddhist society and had him entered as a [[śrāmaṇera|Sramanera]], still keeping him at home in the family. The little fellow fell dangerously ill, and the father sent him to the [[vihara|monastery]] where he soon got well and refused to return to his parents.
Line 62 ⟶ 69:
It is said in the end that after his return to China, he went to the capital (evidently [[Nanjing|Nanking]]), and there, along with the Indian Sramana [[Buddhabhadra (translator)|Buddha-bhadra]], executed translations of some of the works which he had obtained in India; and that before he had done all that he wished to do in this way, he removed to [[Jingzhou|King-chow]] (in the present [[Hubei|Hoo-pih]]), and died in the monastery of Sin, at the age of eighty-eight, to the great sorrow of all who knew him. It is added that there is another larger work giving an account of his travels in various countries.
Such is all the information given about our author, beyond what he himself has told us. Fa-Hien was his clerical name, and means "Illustrious in the Law," or "Illustrious master of the Law." The Shih which often precedes it is an abbreviation of the name of [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] as Sakyamuni, "the [[Shakya|Sakya]], mighty in Love, dwelling in Seclusion and Silence," and may be taken as equivalent to Buddhist. It is sometimes said to have belonged to "the eastern [[Jin dynasty (265–420)|Tsin dynasty]]" (317–419 CE), and sometimes to "the Sung," that is, the [[Liu Song dynasty|Sung dynasty of the House of Liu]] (420–478 CE). If he became a full monk at the age.... of twenty, and went to India when he was twenty-five, his long life may have been divided pretty equally between the two dynasties.
==
Faxian's major work is his account of his travels, known in English both by its Chinese name ''Foguoji'' or ''Foguo Ji'' {{nowrap|(<small>[[traditional characters|t]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|佛|國|記}}》}},}} {{nowrap|<small>[[simplified characters|s]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|佛|国|记}}》}},}} {{translit|zh|Fóguójì}}) and by various translations, including ''A Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms'', ''Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms'',{{sfnp|Giles|1877}}{{sfnp|Legge|1886}} ''Buddhist Country Records'',{{sfnp|Beal|1884}} etc. The book is also known as ''Faxian's Travels'' {{nowrap|(<small>[[traditional characters|t]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|法顯|行|傳}}》}},}} {{nowrap|<small>[[simplified characters|s]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|法显|行|传}}》}},}} {{translit|zh|Fǎxiǎn Xíngzhuàn}}), ''Faxian's Biography'' {{nowrap|(<small>[[traditional characters|t]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|法顯|傳}}》}},}} {{nowrap|<small>[[simplified characters|s]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|法显|传}}》}},}} {{translit|zh|Fǎxiǎnzhuàn}}), ''[[Memoirs of Eminent Monks|Memoirs of the Eminent Monk]] Faxian'' {{nowrap|(<small>[[traditional characters|t]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|高|僧|法顯|傳}}》}},}} {{nowrap|<small>[[simplified characters|s]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|高|僧|法显|传}}》}},}} {{translit|zh|Gāosēng Fǎxiǎn Zhuàn}}), ''A Buddhist Pilgrimage to India'' {{nowrap|(<small>[[traditional characters|t]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|佛|游|天竺|記}}》}},}} {{nowrap|<small>[[simplified characters|s]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|佛|游|天竺|记}}》}},}} {{translit|zh|Fóyóu Tiānzhú Jì}}), Faxian's ''Report on Travel to India'' {{nowrap|(<small>[[traditional characters|t]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|歷游|天竺|記傳}}》}},}} {{nowrap|<small>[[simplified characters|s]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|历游|天竺|记传}}》}},}} {{translit|zh|Lìyóu Tiānzhú Jìzhuàn}}), and Faxian's work ''On India'' {{nowrap|(<small>[[traditional characters|t]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|天竺國記}}》}},}} {{nowrap|<small>[[simplified characters|s]]</small> {{lang|zh|《{{linktext|天竺|国|记}}》}},}} {{translit|zh|Tiānzhúguó Jì}}). Faxian's memoirs are an independent record of the society and culture of places he visited, particularly India. His translations of Sanskrit texts he took with him to China are an important means to date texts, named individuals, and Buddhist traditions. They provide a {{lang|la|terminus ante quem}} for many historical names, manuscripts, events, and ideas mentioned.{{sfnp|''Enc. Brit.''|2019}}{{sfnp|Deeg|2019}}
▲[[File:Faxian at Daishō-in Temple.jpg|thumb|Faxian at Daishō-in Temple, Miyajima]]
;Impressions of India
{{Quote|The cities and towns of this country [Magadha] are the greatest of all in the Middle Kingdom [Mathura through Deccan]. The inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with one another in the practice of benevolence and righteousness. Every year on the eighth day of the second month they celebrate a procession of images. They make a four-wheeled car, and on it erect a structure of four storeys by means of bamboos tied together. This is supported by a king-post, with poles and lances slanting from it, and is rather more than twenty cubits high, having the shape of a tope. White and silk-like cloth of hair is wrapped all round it, which is then painted in various colours. They make figures of devas, with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli grandly blended and having silken streamers and canopies hung out over them. On the four sides are niches, with a Buddha seated in each, and a Bodhisattva standing in attendance on him. There may be twenty cars, all grand and imposing, but each one different from the others. On the day mentioned, the monks and laity within the borders all come together; they have singers and skillful musicians; they pay their devotion with flowers and incense. The Brahmans come and invite the Buddhas to enter the city. These do so in order, and remain two nights in it. All through the night they keep lamps burning, have skillful music, and present offerings. This is the practice in all the other kingdoms as well. The Heads of the Vaisya families in them establish in the cities houses for dispensing charity and medicines. All the poor and destitute in the country, orphans, widowers, and childless men, maimed people and cripples, and all who are diseased, go to those houses, and are provided with every kind of help, and doctors examine their diseases. They get the food and medicines which their cases require, and are made to feel at ease; and when they are better, they go away of themselves.|Faxian, c. 415 CE
; Struggles at sea during the return journey through Java
{{Quote|At this time the sky continued very dark and gloomy, and the sailing-masters looked at one another and made mistakes. More than seventy days passed (from their leaving Java), and the provisions and water were nearly exhausted. They used the salt-water of the sea for cooking, and carefully divided the (fresh) water, each man getting two pints. Soon the whole was nearly gone, and the merchants took counsel and said, “At the ordinary rate of sailing we ought to have reached Kwang-chow, and now the time is passed by many days;—must we not have held a wrong course?” Immediately they directed the ship to the north-west, looking out for land; and after sailing day and night for twelve days, they reached the shore on the south of mount Lao, on the borders of the prefecture of Ch’ang-kwang, and immediately got good water and vegetables. They had passed through many perils and hardships, and had been in a state of anxious apprehension for many days together; and now suddenly arriving at this shore, and seeing those (well-known) vegetables, the lei and kwoh, they knew indeed that it was the land of Han.|Faxian, c. 415 CE.
[[Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat|Rémusat's]] translation of the work{{sfnp|Abel-Rémusat & al.|1836}} caused a stir in European scholarship, although deeply perplexing many with its inability to handle the many Sanskrit words Faxian transcribed into [[Middle Chinese]] [[Chinese characters|characters]].{{sfnp|Walravens|2014|p=272}}
===Translations===
* {{citation |author=Faxian |author-link=Faxian |display-authors=0 |editor-last=Abel-Rémusat |editor-first=Jean-Pierre |editor-link=Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat |editor2-last=Klaproth |editor2-first=Julius |editor2-link=Julius Klaproth |editor3-last=De Landresse |editor3-first=Ernest Augustin Xavier Clerc |display-editors=1 |ref={{
* {{citation |author=Faxian |author-link=Faxian |display-authors=0 |editor-last=Laidlay |editor-first=John Watson |editor-link=John Watson Laidlay |ref={{harvid|Laidlay & al.|1848}} |editor4-last=Abel-Rémusat |editor4-first=Jean-Pierre |editor4-link=Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat |editor2-last=Klaproth |editor2-first=Julius |editor2-link=Julius Klaproth |editor3-last=De Landresse |editor3-first=Ernest Augustin Xavier Clerc |display-editors=1 |date=1848 |url=https://archive.org/details/pilgrimagefahia00rmgoog/page/n6/mode/2up |title=The Pilgrimage of Fa Hian from the French Edition of the Foe Koue Ki of MM. Remusat, Klaproth, and Landresse with Additional Notes and Illustrations |location=Calcutta |publisher=Baptist Mission Press }}.
* James Legge (1886, trans.), ''A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fâ-hien of His Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline'', Asian Educational Services, 1993; {{ISBN|9788120608269}}▼
* {{citation |author=Faxian |author-link=Faxian |display-authors=0 |editor-first=Samuel |editor-last=Beal |editor-link=Samuel Beal |date=1869 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.4774/page/n1/mode/2up |title=Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun, Buddhist Pilgrims, from China to India (400 A.D. and 518 A.D.) |ref={{harvid|Beal|1869}} |location=London |publisher=Trübner & Co. |author3=Songyun |author3-link=Songyun (monk) |author2=Huisheng |author2-link=Huisheng (monk) |contribution=Records of Buddhist Countries by Chi Fah Hian of the Sung Dynasty |contribution-url=https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.4774/page/n71/mode/2up |pages=1–174 }}.
* {{citation |author=Faxian |author-link=Faxian |display-authors=0 |editor-first=Herbert Allen |editor-link=Herbert Allen Giles |editor-last=Giles |date=1877 |title=''佛國記'' Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms |publisher=Kelly & Walsh |location=Shanghai |ref={{harvid|Giles|1877}} |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.19454/page/n3/mode/2up }}; revised and republished as {{citation |author=Faxian |author-link=Faxian |display-authors=0 |editor-first=Herbert A. |editor-last=Giles |editor-link=Herbert Allen Giles |display-editors=0 |ref={{harvid|Giles|1923}} |date=1923 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.2228/page/n1/mode/2up |title=The Travels of Fa-hsien (399{{ndash}}414 {{sc|a.d.}}), or, Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms |location=[[Cambridge, England|Cambridge]] |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}.
* {{citation |author=Xuanzang |author-link=Xuanzang |author2=Faxian |author2-link=Faxian |author3=Songyun |author3-link=Songyun (monk) |author4=Huisheng |author4-link=Huisheng (monk) |display-authors=0 |date=1884 |ref={{harvid|Beal|1884}} |editor-last=Beal |editor-first=Samuel |editor-link=Samuel Beal |title=Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World by Hiuen Tsiang |location=London |publisher=Trübner & Co. |contribution=Travels of Fa-hian or ''Fo-kwŏ-ki'', Buddhist-Country-Records |contribution-url=https://archive.org/details/siyukibuddhistre01hsua/page/n47/mode/2up |pages=xxiii–lxxiii |volume=I |url=https://archive.org/details/siyukibuddhistre01hsua/page/n25/mode/2up |series=Trübner's Oriental Series }}.
▲* {{citation |author=Faxian |author-link=Faxian |display-authors=0 |editor-first=James |editor-last=Legge
== See also ==
* [[Sects of Buddhism]]▼
* [[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism]]▼
* [[Fa Hien Cave]]
▲* [[Sects of Buddhism]] & [[Chinese Buddhism]]
▲* [[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism]]
* ''[[A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea]]''▼
* [[Xuanzang]], his ''[[Records of the Western Regions]]'', & the fictionalized ''[[Journey to the West]]''
▲* [[Yijing (monk)|Yijing]] & his ''[[
* [[Songyun (monk)|Songyun]] & [[Huisheng (monk)|Huisheng]], whose travels are preserved in other sources
* [[Hyecho]] & his ''[[Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon]]''
== References ==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}
=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last= |first= |contribution=Faxian |contribution-url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Faxian |date=2019 |ref={{harvid|''Enc. Brit.''|2019}} |title=Britannica |publisher= |location= }}.
* {{citation |last=Deeg |first=Max |title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History |chapter=Chinese Buddhist Travelers: Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2019 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.217 |isbn=978-0-19-027772-7 }}.
* {{citation |last=Hodge |first=Stephen |date=2009 |url=http://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/fileadmin/pdf/publikationen/The_Textual_Transmisssion_of_the_MPNS.pdf |title=The Textual Transmission of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana-Sutra |location=Hamburg |publisher=University of Hamburg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928081601/http://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/fileadmin/pdf/publikationen/The_Textual_Transmisssion_of_the_MPNS.pdf |archive-date=2013-09-28 }}.
* {{citation |last=Jain |first=Sandhya |author2=Meenakshi Jain |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Jain & al.|2011}} |date=2011 |title=The India They Saw: Foreign Accounts |location=New Delhi |publisher=Ocean Books }}.
* Sen, T. (2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140713172856/http://www.fom.sg/tours/ChinesePilgrims.pdf "The Travel Records of Chinese Pilgrims Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing"], ''[[Education About Asia]]'' 11 (3), 24–33▼
* {{citation |last=Li |first=Rongxi |author-mask=Li Rongxi |author2=Albert A. Dalia |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Li & al.|2002}} |date=2002 |url=http://www.bdk.or.jp/pdf/bdk/digitaldl/dBET_LivesGreatMonksNuns_2002.pdf |title=The Lives of Great Monks and Nuns |location=[[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] |publisher=Numata Center for Translation and Research |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920131638/http://www.bdk.or.jp/pdf/bdk/digitaldl/dBET_LivesGreatMonksNuns_2002.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-20 }}.
* Weerawardane, Prasani (2009). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140713174328/http://microsite.nl.sg/PDFs/BiblioAsia/BIBA_0502Jul09.pdf#page=14 "Journey to the West: Dusty Roads, Stormy Seas and Transcendence"], ''Biblioasia'' 5 (2), 14–18▼
* {{citation |last=Průšek |first=Jaroslav |author-link=Jaroslav Průšek |author2=Zbigniew Słupski |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Průšek & al.|1978}} |title=Dictionary of Oriental Literatures: East Asia |location= |publisher=Charles Tuttle |date=1978 }}.
▲* {{citation |last=Sen
* {{citation |last=Shi |first=Huijiao |author-mask=Shi Huijiao |author2=Yang Tianshu |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Shi & al.|2022}} |date=2022 |editor-last=Ross |editor-first=Edward A. S. |display-editors=0 |title=The Biographies of Eminent Monks 高僧傳 |url=https://www.academia.edu/90233933 |location=Hong Kong |publisher=Centre of Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong }}.
* {{citation |last=Walravens |first=Harmut |language=de |contribution=Stanislas Aignan Julien{{mdash}}Leben und Werk |trans-contribution=Stanislas Aignan Julien{{mdash}}Life and Work |title=Monumenta Serica |issue=1 |volume=62 |date=2014 |pages=261–333 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |jstor=26768561 |location=Milton Park }}.
▲* {{citation |last=Weerawardane
{{refend}}
==External links==
Line 118 ⟶ 127:
* [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/travel_records.pdf Faxian and other Chinese pilgrims], Columbia University Archives
* [http://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT/T2085.html Original Chinese text, Taisho 2085]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170206185521/http://dev.ddbc.edu.tw/han2e/tableFormatHtmls/T51n2085ARecordOfBuddhistKingdoms.html Legge's translation with original Chinese text, T 2085]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080911144832/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-hien/f15l/index.html ''Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/
{{Chinese travellers}}
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[[Category:Sanskrit–Chinese translators]]
[[Category:Jin dynasty (266–420) Buddhists]]
[[Category:Liu Song
[[Category:Northern and Southern dynasties Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:Pilgrimage accounts]]
[[Category:337 births]]
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[[Category:Explorers of India]]
[[Category:422 deaths]]
[[Category:Later Zhao
[[Category:Jin dynasty (266–420) translators]]
[[Category:Liu Song translators]]
[[Category:People from Changzhi]]
[[Category:Writers from Shanxi]]
[[Category:Later Qin
[[Category:Sixteen Kingdoms Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:5th-century travelers]]
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