Faxian
Faxian | |
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Statue of Faxian, The Maritime Experiential Museum, Singapore | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Gong Sehi 337 CE |
| Died | c. 422 CE (aged 85) |
| Parent | Tsang Hi (father) |
| Notable work(s) | Foguoji (A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms) |
| Other names | Gong Sehi |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| Faxian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 法顯 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 法显 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Splendor of the Dharma | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Gong Sehi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 龔 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 龚 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese | Pháp Hiển | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 법현 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 法顕 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kana | ほっけん | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sanskrit name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sanskrit | फा हियान | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faxian (337–c. 422 CE), formerly romanized as Fa-hien , Fa-hsien, and Hiuen Tsang was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled on foot from Jin China to medieval India to acquire Buddhist scriptures. His birth name was Gong Sehi. Starting his journey about age 60, he traveled west along the overland Silk Road, visiting Buddhist sites in Central, South, and Southeast Asia. The journey and return took from 399 to 412, with 10 years spent in India.
Faxian's account of his pilgrimage, the Foguoji or Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms, is a notable independent record of early Buddhism in India. He returned to China with a large number of Sanskrit texts, whose translations greatly influenced East Asian Buddhism and provide a terminus ante quem for many historical names, events, texts, and ideas therein.