As one of the three major religions in the Middle Ages, Shi Dao Confucianism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture. According to research, Buddhism was introduced to China in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and then through China to Japan and South Korea, and Buddhism has a far-reaching influence on Asia and even the world. During the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzang's westward journey to India was a major exchange between the Buddhist circles of the two countries, and with the popularity of "Journey to the West", Xuanzang's journey to the Western Heavens through all kinds of difficulties and dangers was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In fact, the first person in Chinese history to "go to the Western Heavens" was not Xuanzang, but Faxian, and the contribution of Faxian to Chinese Buddhism was even greater than that of the Tang monks (Xuanzang).
<h1>Historical background</h1>
Faxian, a famous monk in Chinese history. Faxian was born in 334 AD, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, when the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties were a relatively special period in Chinese history, when the scholar class was repeatedly oppressed and not reused, and metaphysics rose. The core idea of Buddhism is more conducive to the ruling class ruling the people, so both the nobles and the poor have embraced Buddhism. At this time, Buddhism was introduced to China for only 300 years and achieved unprecedented development. The Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu wrote in his Jiangnan Village:
Four hundred and eighty temples in the south, how many buildings in the smoke and rain.
It can be seen from here that during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism was indeed very popular. It must be admitted that Buddhism, as a religion originating in India, although it was introduced to China and developed rapidly after more than 300 years, but as an "imported product", he must have had an inevitable collision in Chinese culture, and although Buddhism was popular at that time, it was far from reaching the height of integrating Chinese culture, and even developed different branches, management was chaotic, and even believers within Buddhism had many controversies over the teachings. Therefore, going to the "Western Heavens" to seek the true essence of Buddhism is the inevitable result of the historical development of Chinese Buddhism, and the person who succeeded in "going to the Western Heavens" for the first time is the Fa Xian.
<h1>Dharmakaya and Buddhahood</h1>
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, a local scholar surnamed Gong in Wuyang (Xiangyuan, Shanxi) in Pingyang County added a male ding to his home. But when the boy was 3 years old, he was sent to the temple by his parents with tears to become a young monk. Because the Gong family had 4 sons, the first three died prematurely, and in ancient times, they believed in superstition, and people believed that the children of the Gong family had disasters, and only by becoming monks and being blessed by the Buddha could they save their lives. This child is the Dharma.
7 years later, Faxian's father died of illness, and some people persuaded him to continue to return to the temple after the funeral. At the age of 20, Fa Xian accepted the "Great Ordination" and from then on he strengthened his heart and gradually became a high-ranking monk.
The Biography of the High Monk records:
(Faxian) Tasted rice with dozens of classmates in Tanaka. Sometimes there are hungry thieves who want to take away their valleys, and the sands are running away. Only to be left alone. The thief said, "If you want to take the valley at will, but the king did not give alms in the past, he caused hunger and poverty." Now and again, the fear of the next life is even worse, and the poor road is foreshadowed to worry about the king's ears. "Words are returned.
Fa Xian, along with many monks, re-harvested rice in the monks' fields, and many hungry people came to violently grab grain, and all the monks fled in fright, but Fa Xian did not leave. He said to the hungry, "If you want to grab the rice, just take it." But the reason you are so poor is because you have not done good deeds before. If you still have to come and grab food now, I am afraid that you will be even poorer in the future! The hungry people listened to the words of the Fa Xian, were enlightened, and put down their grain one after another.
<h1>The Western Heavens take the scriptures, nine deaths and one life</h1>
In the process of practicing, the thing that made him sigh the most was that the scriptures were incomplete, and many Sanskrit (ancient Tianzhu) had been transliterated many times, and they only knew their sounds, not their meanings. Therefore, Fa Xian had a very bold idea, and in order to seek truth, he wanted to go to the Western Heavens to learn the scriptures.
What needs to be explained is that before the Fa Xian, it was not that no one wanted to learn the scriptures, but none of them succeeded, and most of them gave up halfway before they left the Western Regions. At that time, when I went to learn the scriptures, I faced three difficulties:
First, the natural environment is harsh, it is necessary to cross the unknown vast desert, through different countries, full of dangers, and it is a great test for the body and mind.
Second, in the chaotic times, not to mention the chaos in the world during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the thieves were rampant, even in the Taiping era, they also had to face the attack of various thieves and birds and beasts, and it was too difficult to reach the "Western Heavens" alive.
Third, the road was unknown, at that time people only knew that Tianzhu was in the west, and it was not known which route to take and where it would pass.
When Fa Xian was 62 years old, when he washed his face, he saw that his face was full of wrinkles and sighed: "Can't hesitate any longer!" For the sake of his dreams, he and four other monks (Hui Jing, Dao Zhen, Hui Ying, and Hui Wei) took dry food and began the unknown path of sutra learning.
The Biography of the High Monk records:
From Chang'an, the west crosses the quicksand, there are no birds on the top, no beasts on the bottom, looking around the vast, unpredictable. Only look at the sun to quasi-things, look at human bones to mark the way ears... Zhang Qiangan's father of the Han Dynasty did not go to it.
Fa Xian and his party set off from Chang'an and went west directly through the desert, "no birds on the top, no beasts on the bottom", and the environment was very harsh. You can only look at the sun to discern the direction, and use the human bones on the road as a signpost, even Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty has never been to such a place.
According to the analysis of the Book of the Buddha, Faxian's walking route is as follows: In March of the third year of long'an in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (399 AD), Faxian and 5 other people set off on foot from Chang'an, and in the second year, they only walked to Zhangye (Zhangye, Gansu), where Faxian's team increased to about 20 people, and many monks along the way were inspired by him to travel west with him. Fa Xian followed the "Silk Road" out of Yangguan, then stepped into the Bailongtan Desert, walking in the desert for 17 days and nights, where several monks died in the desert.
After leaving the desert, they entered the Ulyikan (northern Xinjiang) and then entered the Taklamakan Desert. Then cross the Green Ridge and enter the Indus Valley, pass through present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan, and enter the Ganges River Valley. In the fifth year (404 AD), he finally came to India (Eastern Tianzhu). At this time, The Dharmakaya was 67 years old, and the only people who accompanied the Dharmakaya to India were the entire Dao, and the other monks died on the way. It can be seen that this road can be described as "nine deaths and one life", and the reason why Faxian was able to reach India has a very big relationship with his strong perseverance.
Fa Xian lived in India for 6 years, and in 410 AD, he found that he intended to embark on the return journey. His partner, Dao Zhen, was unable to return to China due to physical reasons. In order to bring the "True Scriptures" back to the motherland, Faxian decided to return to China alone. Difficult to return to China, to obtain the "True Scriptures"
In today's "Belt and Road" terms, when Fa Xian went to India, he took the ancient Silk Road, but when he returned, he took the "Maritime Silk Road". Because Faxian needed to go to the Lion Country (Sri Lanka) to renew the scriptures, he first arrived in the Lion Country by boat from India, and after 2 years, he obtained the continuation, and then took a boat through Sumatra Island, on this way, Faxian's ship encountered a storm, the cabin leaked, fortunately arrived at an island, repaired the leak and then drifted for more than 100 days. When Faxian was taking a boat from Sumatra to Guangzhou, he encountered a typhoon, the ship lost its direction, drifted with the wind, and ran out of rice water on board, and finally arrived. Later, Faxian traveled all the way north along the coastline, landed near Laoshan Mountain in Shandong Province, and then reached Jiankang (Nanjing). This year was 413 A.D., and Fa Xian was 82 years old.
At the age of 67, he learned the scriptures from the West Heaven and returned from seeking truth at the age of 82, an old man, for the sake of persistent faith, after all kinds of difficulties and dangers, finally returned to his homeland. His return brought earth-shaking changes to Chinese Buddhism. Faxian sorted out the scriptures he brought with him in Nanjing, translating 6 classics (63 volumes), totaling more than 1 million words. At the age of 87, Fa Xian passed away. These scriptures are the treasures he left behind.
<h1>The influence of Fa Xian on Chinese culture</h1>
In terms of Buddhist culture, in the years before his death, He Xian did a lot of translation and Buddhist research work. It had a great influence on the later Buddhist community in China. It can be said that if it were not for the Dharma, Buddhism in China might still face hundreds of years of chaos. Some people are accustomed to comparing Faxian with Xuanzang, and compared with the two, the Faxian era was earlier, and he was the first person to go to the Western Heavens to learn the scriptures, and Xuanzang traveled west, drawing on the successful experience of Faxian. Moreover, the Buddhist precepts and systems brought about by the Dharma Xian have always been used by Chinese Buddhism.
Historically, geographically and culturally, the Fa Xian's personal compilation of the Fa Xian's Biography, also known as the Book of the Buddha's Kingdom, is not only a literary work, but also a very important historical and geographical document. It is of great value to the history, humanities and geography of China's western regions and the South China Sea. The ancient kingdoms of Shanshan, Khotan, and Guizi in the western region of China have been annihilated for a long time, and there are relevant accounts in Faxian's pen. In addition, Faxian also has a relatively detailed record of ancient navigation. It has also made great contributions to the translation culture of China and foreign countries.
<h1>The influence of Dharma on Indian culture</h1>
Indian civilization, unlike the Chinese civilization, has a continuous lineage, and in India, there is no habit of compiling national history, so many historical records of ancient India have been in a state of emptiness. And Fa Xian's journey to the west, what he saw and heard, and the "Buddha's Kingdom" he compiled, are a very important supplement to the history of India, and it can even be said that the golden age of Indian history, the historical data of the Gandhara Dynasty, is one of the few records recorded in the Book of the Buddha. Dharma may not have imagined that as a devout Buddhist, he would make such a significant contribution to Indian history.
In addition, the Dharmakaya also recorded in detail the monuments of ancient Indian Buddhism and the lives of monks as one of the important materials for the study of ancient Indian Buddhism. Faxian also recorded the trade between India and ancient China, Persia, and so on.
<h1>summary</h1>
A devout Buddhist believer, a great traveler, a dedicated translator, a disseminator and recorder of Sino-Indian culture, the influence of The Fa Xian on Sino-Indian culture is immeasurable. In the distant Eastern Jin Dynasty, what enabled the senior monk Faxian to endure hardships and cross tianzhu in the west was the promotion of history and culture, the collision of Chinese and Indian Buddhism, and even more because he had a sincere, pure, persistent, and tenacious heart.
At present, when the "Belt and Road" is widely accepted by the world, China still has tens of thousands of "Fa Xian" around the world, and they are using their own efforts to make specific historical contributions to the rest of the world.