Toggle the table of contents

Faxian
Faxian ( 法顯 [fà.ɕjɛ̀n]; 337 CE – c. 422 CE), also referred to as
Faxian
Fa-Hien, Fa-hsien and Sehi, was a Chinese Buddhist monk and
translator who traveled by foot from China to India to acquire
Buddhist texts. Starting his arduous journey about age 60, he
visited sacred Buddhist sites in Central, South, and Southeast Asia
between 399 and 412 CE, of which 10 years were spent in
India.[1][2][3]

He described his journey in his travelogue, A Record of Buddhist

Kingdoms (Foguo Ji 佛國記 ). His memoirs are notable
independent record of early Buddhism in India. He took with him
a large number of Sanskrit texts, whose translations influenced
East Asian Buddhism and which provide a terminus ante quem for
many historical names, events, texts, and ideas therein.[1][2]

Biography
Faxian was born in Shanxi in the 4th-century during the reign of
the Eastern Jin dynasty. His original family name was Gong ( ), 龔
and his birth name was Sehi. He later adopted the name Faxian, An honorary Faxian statue in a
which literally means "Splendor of Dharma".[1]
Singapore museum.
In 399 CE, about age 60, Faxian was among the earliest attested Personal
pilgrims to India. He set out with nine others to locate sacred Born 337 CE
Buddhist texts.[4][3] He visited India in the early fifth century. He Pingyang Wuyang
is said to have walked all the way from China across the icy desert
and rugged mountain passes. He entered India from the northwest
(平陽武陽 ), in
modern Linfen City,
and reached Pataliputra. He took back with him a large number of
Sanskrit Buddhist texts and images sacred to Buddhism. Upon his Shanxi
return to China, he is also credited with translating these Sanskrit Died c. 422 CE (aged
texts into Chinese.[1][2] 85)
Religion Buddhism
Faxian's visit to India occurred during the reign of Chandragupta
II. He entered the Indian subcontinent through the northwest. His Parent Tsang Hi (father)
memoir describe his 10 year stay in India. He visited the major Notable Foguoji (A Record
sites associated with the Buddha, as well the renowned centers of work(s) of Buddhistic
education and Buddhist monasteries. He visited Kapilvastu
Kingdoms)
(Lumbini), Bodh Gaya, Benares (Varanasi), Shravasti, and
Kushinagar, all linked to events in Buddha's life. Faxian learned Other names Fa-hsien, Sehi
Sanskrit, and collected Indian literature from Pataliputra (Patna),
Oddiyana, and Taxila in Gandhara. His memoir mentions the Faxian
Hinayana (Theravada) and emerging Mahayana traditions, as well Chinese name
as the splintering and dissenting Theravada sub-traditions in 5th-
Traditional Chinese 法顯
century Indian Buddhism. Before he had begun his journey back
to China, he had amassed a large number of Sanskrit texts of his
Simplified Chinese 法显
Transcriptions
times.[1][2]
Standard Mandarin
On Faxian's way back to China, after a two-year stay in Sri Lanka, Hanyu Pinyin Fǎxiǎn
a violent storm drove his ship onto an island, probably Java.[5]
Wade–Giles Fa3-hsien3
After five months there, Faxian took another ship for southern
China; but, again, it was blown off course and he ended up IPA [fà.ɕjɛ̀n]
landing at Mount Lao in what is now Shandong in northern China, Hakka
30 kilometres (19 mi) east of the city of Qingdao. He spent the rest
Romanization Fap5-hien3
of his life translating and editing the scriptures he had collected.
These were influential to the history of Chinese Buddhism that Yue: Cantonese
followed.[1][2] Yale Romanization Fat3-hin2
IPA [fɐt̚˧.hiːn˧˥]
Faxian wrote a book on his travels, filled with accounts of early
Buddhism, and the geography and history of numerous countries Southern Min
along the Silk Road as they were, at the turn of the 5th century Hokkien POJ Huat-hién
CE. He wrote about cities like Taxila, Pataliputra, Mathura, and Middle Chinese
Kannauj in Madhyadesha. He also wrote that inhabitants of
Madhyadesha eat and dress like Chinese people. He declared Middle Chinese Pjop-xén
Patliputra to be a prosperous city.[6] He returned in 412 and settled Japanese name
in what is now Nanjing. In 414, he wrote (or dictated) Foguoji (A
Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms; also known as Faxian's Account).
Kanji 法顕
He spent the next decade, until his death, translating the Buddhist Kana ほっけん
sutras he had brought with him from India.[4] Transcriptions
Romanization Hokken
Legge's biographical notes on Faxian Sanskrit name
Sanskrit फा हियान
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:

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, is nearly all borrowed from
the other; and all in them that has an appearance of verisimilitude can be brought within brief
compass His 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 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 Sramanera, still keeping him at home
in the family. The little fellow fell dangerously ill, and the father sent him to the monastery,
where he soon got well and refused to return to his parents.

When he was ten years old, his father died; and an uncle, considering the widowed solitariness
and helplessness of the mother, urged him to renounce the monastic life, and return to her, but
the boy replied, "I did not quit the family in compliance with my father’s wishes, but because I
wished to be far from the dust and vulgar ways of life. This is why I chose monkhood." The
uncle approved of his words and gave over urging
him. When his mother also died, it appeared how great
had been the affection for her of his fine nature; but
after her burial, he returned to the monastery.

On one occasion he was cutting rice with a score or

two of his fellow-disciples when some hungry thieves
came upon them to take away their grain by force. The
other Sramaneras all fled, but our young hero stood his
ground, and said to the thieves, "If you must have the
grain, take what you please. But, Sirs, it was your
former neglect of charity which brought you to your
present state of destitution; and now, again, you wish
to rob others. I am afraid that in the coming ages you
will have still greater poverty and distress;—I am sorry
for you beforehand." With these words he followed his
companions into the monastery, while the thieves left
the grain and went away, all the monks, of whom there
were several hundred, doing homage to his conduct
and courage. 12th-century woodblock print, 1st
page of the Travels of Faxian
When he had finished his novitiate and taken on him (Record of the Buddhist Countries).
the obligations of the full Buddhist orders, his earnest The first sentences read: "In
courage, clear intelligence, and strict regulation of his Chang'an, Faxian was distressed
demeanor were conspicuous; and soon after, he that the Vinaya collections was
undertook his journey to India in search of complete incomplete, so in the 2nd year of
copies of the Vinaya-pitaka. What follows this is Hóngshǐ, or jǐ-hài in the sexagenary
merely an account of his travels in India and return to cycle [year 399/400], he agreed with
China by sea, condensed from his own narrative, with Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying and
the addition of some marvelous incidents that Huiwéi to go seek out more of the
happened to him, on his visit to the Vulture Peak near Vinaya in India.
Rajagriha.

It is said in the end that after his return to China, he

went to the capital (evidently Nanking), and there,
along with the Indian Sramana 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 King-
chow (in the present 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 Buddha
as Sakyamuni, "the 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 Tsin dynasty" (317–419 CE),
and sometimes to "the Sung," that is, the 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.[7]

Faxian memoir
Faxian's memoirs are an independent record of the society and
culture of places he visited, particularly ancient India around 400
CE. 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 terminus ante quem for many historical
names, manuscripts, events, and ideas therein.[1][2]

He noted that central Asian cities such as Khotan were Buddhist, Fa Hien at the ruins of Ashoka
with the clergy reading Indian manuscripts in Indian languages. palace
The local community revered the monks. In Taxila (now in
Pakistan), states Faxian, he mentions a flourishing Buddhist
community midst non-Buddhists. He describes elaborate rituals and
public worship ceremonies, with support of the king, in the honor
of the Buddha in India and Sri Lanka. He left India about 409 from
Tamralipti – a port he states to be on its eastern coast. However,
some of his Chinese companion pilgrims who came with him on
the journey decided to stay in India.[3]

Impressions of India
Faxian's route through India
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 Faxian at Daishō-in Temple,
Miyajima
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
skillful musicians; they pay their devotion with flowers and in
invite the Buddhas to enter the city. These do so in order,
through the night they keep lamps burning, have skillful mus
the practice in all the other kingdoms as well. The Heads
establish in the cities houses for dispensing charity and medic
the country, orphans, widowers, and childless men, maimed
are diseased, go to those houses, and are provided with e
examine their diseases. They get the food and medicines w
made to feel at ease; and when they are better, they go away o

— Faxian, c. 415 CE[8]

Struggles at sea during the return journey through Java

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.[9]

Works

Translations

French

Abel-Rémusat, Jean-Pierre; Klaproth, Julius; De Landresse, Ernest Augustin Xavier Clerc,

eds. (1836), Foé Koué Ki, ou, Relations des Royaumes Bouddhiques: Voyage dans la
Tartarie, dans l'Afghanistan, et dans l'Inde Exécuté à la Fin du IVe Siècle par Chy Fa Hian
[The Foguoji, or, Relations of the Buddhist Kingdoms: The Voyage through Tartary,
Afghanistan, and India Carried Out at the End of the 4th Century by Shi Faxian] (in French),
Paris: Royal Printing Office.

English

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
 Herbert A. Giles (1877, trans.), Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms: Translated From the
Chinese, Cornell University Library (June 25, 2009); ISBN 978-1112050527

See also
Sects of Buddhism
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism
Xuanzang
Yijing (monk)
Song Yun
Hyecho
Fa Hien Cave
Great Tang Records on the Western Regions
A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea
Wang ocheonchukguk jeon
Journey to the West

References
1. Faxian (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Faxian), Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019.
2. Deeg, Max (2019). "Chinese Buddhist Travelers: Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing". Oxford
Research Encyclopedia of Asian History. Oxford University Press.
doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.217 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facrefore%2F978
0190277727.013.217). ISBN 978-0-19-027772-7.
3. Tansen Sen (2006), "The Travel Records of Chinese Pilgrims Faxian, Xuanzang and Yijing",
Education About Asia, Volume 11, Number 3, pp. 24–31
4. Jaroslav Průšek and Zbigniew Słupski, eds., Dictionary of Oriental Literatures: East Asia
(Charles Tuttle, 1978): 35.
5. Buswell, Robert E. & Lopez, Donald S. Jr. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (htt
ps://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ&q=amala&pg=PA275), Princeton:
Princeton University Press, p. 297
6. Fa-Hien (1875). "A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Chapter XXVII: Pataliputra or Patna, In
Magadha)" (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2124/2124-h/2124-h.htm). gutenberg.org.
Translated (published 415).
7. Legge, James. Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms by Chinese Monk , Fa-Hien (http://www.bud
dhanet.net/pdf_file/rbddh10.pdf) (PDF). Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.
Retrieved August 9, 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain.
8. Fa-Hien (1875). "A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Chapter XXVII: Pataliputra or Patna, In
Magadha)" (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2124/2124-h/2124-h.htm). gutenberg.org.
Translated (published 415). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain.
9. Legge, James (1886). (http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-hien/f15l/)A Record of
Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India
and Ceylon (A.D. 399–414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline (http://etext.library.
adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-hien/f15l/) (Chapter XL: After Two Years Takes Ship for China.
Disastrous Passage to Java) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090124223922/http://
 etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-hien/f15l/) 2009-01-24 at the Wayback Machine. Oxford,
Clarendon Press. Reprint: New York, Paragon Book Reprint Corp. 1965; ISBN 0-486-
21344-7

Bibliography
Beal, Samuel. 1884. Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, by Hiuen Tsiang. 2
vols. Translated by Samuel Beal. London. 1884. Reprint: Delhi. Oriental Books Reprint
Corporation. 1969. (Also contains a translation of Faxian's book on pp. xxiii–lxxxiii). Volume
1 ; Volume 2.
Hodge, Stephen (2009 & 2012), "The Textual Transmission of the Mahayana
Mahaparinirvana-sutra" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130928081601/http://www.buddhism
uskunde.uni-hamburg.de/fileadmin/pdf/publikationen/The_Textual_Transmisssion_of_the_M
PNS.pdf), lecture at the University of Hamburg
Legge, James 1886. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an account by the Chinese
Monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399–414) in search of the Buddhist
Books of Discipline (http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-hien/f15l/) Archived (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20090124223922/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-hien/f15l/) 2009-01-
24 at the Wayback Machine. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New York, Paragon Book
Reprint Corp. 1965. ISBN 0-486-21344-7
Rongxi, Li; Dalia, Albert A. (2002). The Lives of Great Monks and Nuns (https://web.archive.o
rg/web/20150920131638/http://www.bdk.or.jp/pdf/bdk/digitaldl/dBET_LivesGreatMonksNuns
_2002.pdf), Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Translation and Research
Sen, T. (2006). "The Travel Records of Chinese Pilgrims Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20140713172856/http://www.fom.sg/tours/ChinesePilgrims.pdf),
Education About Asia 11 (3), 24–33
Weerawardane, Prasani (2009). "Journey to the West: Dusty Roads, Stormy Seas and
Transcendence" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140713174328/http://microsite.nl.sg/PDFs/
BiblioAsia/BIBA_0502Jul09.pdf#page=14), Biblioasia 5 (2), 14–18
Jain, Sandhya, & Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi:
Ocean Books.

External links
Works by Faxian (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/824) at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Faxian (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22F
axian%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Faxian%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Faxian%
22%20OR%20title%3A%22Faxian%22%29%20OR%20%28%22340-422%22%20AND%2
0Faxian%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at Internet Archive
Faxian and other Chinese pilgrims (http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/travel_records.pdf),
Columbia University Archives
Original Chinese text, Taisho 2085 (http://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT/T2085.html)
Legge's translation with original Chinese text, T 2085 (http://dev.ddbc.edu.tw/han2e/tableFor
matHtmls/T51n2085ARecordOfBuddhistKingdoms.html)
Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-hien/f15l/index.html)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150401115243/https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-
hien/f15l/index.html) 2015-04-01 at the Wayback Machine, University of Adelaide
Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Complete HTML at web.archive.org) (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20160828203914/https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-hien/f15l/complete.html),
University of Adelaide
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Faxian&oldid=1157733401"

Toggle limited content width