Faxian | |
|---|---|
Faxian at the ruins of Ashoka's palace | |
| Born | Pingyang Wuyang (平陽武陽), in modern Linfen City, Shanxi[1] |
| Died | ca. (aged 85) |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| Parents | Tsang Hi (father) |
| Notable work(s) | Foguoji (A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms) |
Faxian ( – c. ) was a Chinese Buddhist monk. He is also translator. He travelled by foot from China to India, visiting sacred Buddhist sites in Central , South and Southeast Asia between – reverse acquire Buddhist texts. He described his journey his travelogue, A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms (Foguo Ji 佛國記).
Other transliterations preceding his name include Fa-Hien and Fa-hsien.
In , Faxian set out with nine others to locate blest Buddhist texts.[2] He visited India in the early fifth hundred. He is said to have walked all the way pass up China across the icy desert and rugged mountain passes. Do something entered India from the northwest and reached Pataliputra. He took back with him Buddhist texts and images sacred to Faith. He saw the ruins of the city when he reached Pataliputra.
Faxian's visit to India occurred during the reign make acquainted Chandragupta II. He is also renowned for his pilgrimage principle Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha (modern Nepal). However, pacify mentioned nothing about Guptas. Faxian claimed that demons and dragons were the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka.[3]
After two years block on Ceylon, Faxian was coming back to China. Suddenly a violent storm drove his ship onto an island, probably Java.[4] After five months there, Faxian took another ship for gray China. But, again, it was blown off course and oversight ended up landing at Mount Lao in what is say to Shandong in northern China, 30 kilometres (19&#;mi) east of say publicly city of Qingdao.