27 Facts About Faxian

Faxian's account of his pilgrimage, the Foguoji or Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms, is a notable independent record of early Buddhism in India.

Faxian returned to China with a large number of Sanskrit texts, whose translations greatly influenced East Asian Buddhism and provide a for many historical names, events, texts, and ideas therein.

Faxian was born in Shanxi in the 4th-century under the Later Zhao dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms period.

Faxian later adopted the name Faxian, which literally means "Splendor of Dharma".

Faxian's father, fearing that the same fate would befall him, had him ordained as a novice monk at the age of three.

In 399 CE, about age 60, Faxian was among the earliest attested pilgrims to India.

Faxian set out from Chang'an, the capital of the Buddhist Later Qin dynasty, along with four others to locate sacred Buddhist texts and was later joined by five more pilgrims at Zhangye.

Faxian is said to have walked all the way from China across the icy desert and rugged mountain passes.

Faxian took back with him a large number of Sanskrit Buddhist texts and images sacred to Buddhism.

Faxian's visit to India occurred during the reign of Chandragupta II.

Faxian visited the major sites associated with the Buddha, as well the renowned centres of education and Buddhist monasteries.

Faxian visited Kapilvastu, Bodh Gaya, Benares, Shravasti, and Kushinagar, all linked to events in Buddha's life.

Faxian learned Sanskrit, and collected Indian literature from Pataliputra, Oddiyana, and Taxila in Gandhara.

Faxian spent the rest of his life translating and editing the scriptures he had collected.

Faxian returned in 412 and settled in what is Nanjing.

Faxian 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 as they were at the turn of the 5th century CE.

Faxian spent the next decade until his death translating the Buddhist sutras he had brought with him from India.

Legge's speculations, such as Faxian visiting India at the age of 25, have been discredited by later scholarship but his introduction provides some useful biographical information about Faxian:.

Faxian's 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.

Faxian 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.

Faxian's memoirs are an independent record of the society and culture of places he visited, particularly India.

Faxian noted that central Asian cities such as Khotan were Buddhist, with the clergy reading Indian Manuscripts in Indian languages.

Faxian describes elaborate rituals and public worship ceremonies, with support of the king, in the honour of the Buddha in India and Sri Lanka.

Faxian wrote about cities like Pataliputra, Mathura, and Kannauj in Madhya Desha.

Faxian wrote that inhabitants of Madhyadesha eat and dress like Chinese people.

Faxian left India about 409 from Tamralipti, a port he states to be on its eastern coast.

Remusat's translation of the work caused a stir in European scholarship, although deeply perplexing many with its inability to handle the many Sanskrit words Faxian transcribed into Middle Chinese characters.