Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, thousands of monks have embarked on the road of seeking Dharma in the west, but only a small number of those whose names can be examined in the classics. According to the statistics made by Mr. Liang Qichao (1873-1929), a modern Chinese thinker and historian, in the "Study of the History of Chinese Buddhism: Seeking the Dharma in the West", there have been as many as 105 people who have traveled to the west to seek the Dharma in the past 500 years. I have consulted "The Legend of the High Monks of the Four Dynasties", "The Legend of the Famous Monks", "The Commentary Record", "The Biography of the Song High Monk", Liang Qichao's "Eighteen Studies on Buddhism", Tang Yongtong's "History of Buddhism in the Han and Wei Dynasties, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties", "Manuscripts of the History of Buddhism in the Sui and Tang Dynasties", etc., and sorted out the deeds of these people who traveled to the west to seek the Dharma, and shared them one after another. (A total of 52 people, of which 32 are more detailed and 20 are brief)
Han and Tang Dynasties traveled west to seek the Dharma (12) The Western Heaven Acquisition of Scriptures is inexhaustible
Shun Wu End, also known as Shi Shu Wu Ji , Fa Yong, surnamed Li, Youzhou Huanglong people, present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning, monk from the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The only person outside the customs who takes the scriptures
He revered Buddhism from an early age and became a monk. He insisted on diligent practice for many years, obeyed the Buddhist precepts, and constantly chanted the Buddha, which was valued and appreciated by many senior monks, and by the Northern Yan period, he had become an outstanding local monk. I heard that Fa Xian had returned from Tianzhu, and was infected by Fa Xian's deeds of going through hardships and visiting the Buddha country to retrieve the true scriptures, and he had the idea of traveling west to seek the Dharma. At his request, he received the support of Feng Ba, the emperor of Northern Yan.
In the twelfth year of the Northern Yan emperor Wencheng Emperor Feng Ba Taiping, that is, the first year of the early Liu Song dynasty (420 AD) of the Southern Dynasty, Tanwu organized a team of 25 people such as Monk Meng and Tanlang to seek the Dharma in the west, and with the support of the Northern Yan lord Feng Ba, began the road of traveling westward, starting from Longcheng (Chaoyang, Liaoning) in the north and heading west. They first reached Henan (the area around today's Qinghai Lake, the state established by Tuyuhun), then passed through the Hexi Corridor, east of Turpan, along the north of the Tarim Basin to Gaochang, continued the front line, passed through the Guizi country, and crossed the Green Ridge (Pamir Plateau). The terrain around the green ridge is steep and snowy all year round, and the road is extremely difficult, and 12 of the 25 people who traveled west fell to their deaths.
After crossing the green ridge, Tanwu and the other 13 people continued to walk west and arrived at the country of Pope. They worshiped the sacred relic used by the Buddha in Frosa and stayed in the country of Popin for more than a year, learning the local language and script, and obtaining the Sanskrit text of the Avalokiteshvara Sutra. Then, they continued their journey to the South Pomegranate Temple of Mount Tant, North Tianzhu (Pakistan), where they stayed for three months. During that time, Tanwan visited the Tianzhu Zen master Buddha Tatara and threw himself under the Buddha Doro. Left the Pomegranate Temple and continued to Zhongtianzhu. The road was deserted, the accompanying food had run out, and the stone honey was used to fill the hunger, and 8 people starved to death halfway. Endless waited for the remaining 5 people to travel around Tianzhu, worshiping the Buddha's sacred relics and seeking scriptures.
A few years later, Tanwu and others set sail from Nantianzhu on a merchant ship, crossed the Indian Ocean, passed through the South China Sea, and finally arrived safely in Guangzhou. After more than 20 years of traveling to the west to learn the scriptures, it is full of hardships and hardships. In the past twenty years, his homeland of Northern Yan has perished. After returning to China, he stayed in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the third year of Yuan Jia (426), he translated the Avalokiteshvara Sutra, which was later included in the collection of Buddhist texts, the Tripitaka Sutra Huayanbu. Then, based on his own observations and experiences, he wrote the "Biography of the Past Countries". As for where he went in his later years, it is unknown.
Regarding the sacred relic Buddha bowl of Frousha, Fa Xian recorded such a story. The king of the Otsuki clan knew that the Buddha's Buddha bowl was in Flousha, so he led an army to attack Flousha, hoping to capture the Buddha bowl. After capturing Flousha, King Yue believed in Buddhism and wanted to bring the Buddha bowl back. They held a grand offering ceremony and placed the bowl on top of the dressed elephant, but the elephant was crushed on the ground and unable to move forward. So they pulled the Buddha bowl with a four-wheeled vehicle and dragged it together with eight elephants, but they still could not move forward. The king of the Yue Clan realized that they had no chance with the Buddha Bowl, and felt very ashamed and remorseful. Therefore, he built a pagoda there, leaving more than 700 monks to guard the Buddha bowl and make various offerings. This Buddha bowl can hold about two buckets, the color is mixed and black, the four sides are clear, the thickness can reach one-half, very transparent. The poor only need a small amount of incense to fill it, while the rich cannot fill it even if they take out millions of incense.