Dao'an (; 312–385) was a Buddhist monk, author and bibliographer, during the
Eastern Jin
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
dynasty. He was from what is now
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...
. His main importance was that of overseer of translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese, organizer of the Chinese sangha, author of exegetical works and compiler of the most important early catalogue of Chinese Buddhist translation in 374. Although this catalogue is itself lost,
Sengyou reproduces much of it in his catalogue (T2145) completed in 515.
Dao'an is thought of as the founder of the cult of Maitreya in China.
Life
According to his traditional biography, after the loss of his parents he was raised by an elder cousin. Dao'an left home to join the monastic order at twelve. Ca. 335 CE he visited
Linzhang
Linzhang County () is a county of far southern Hebei province, China, named after the Zhang River within its borders. It is under the administration of Handan City, and, , it had a population of 590,000 residing in an area of .
Administrative div ...
and became a disciple of the famous Kuchean monk and missionary
Fotudeng
Fotudeng (Sanskrit: ''Buddhacinga?''; ) (ca. 232–348 CEBuswell, Robert. Lopez, Donald. ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.'' 2013. p. 304) was a Buddhist monk and missionary from Kucha. He studied in Kashmir and came to Luoyang in 310 CE ...
(232-348).
One of his disciples was the monk
Huiyuan, whose teachings inspired
Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most wid ...
. He was active in
Xiangyang
Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...
until the
Former Qin
The Former Qin, also called Fu Qin (苻秦), (351–394) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese history ruled by the Di ethnicity. Founded by Fu Jian (posthumously Emperor Jingming) who originally served under the Later ...
ruler
Fu Jian captured the city in 379 and brought Dao'an to
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin ...
. He spent the last years of life translating and interpreting scripture as well as compiling a catalogue of scriptures. He also advocated that all monks and nuns take Shi
釋 as a surname, from the first character of Gautama Buddha's title in Chinese, ''Shìjiāmóuní'' ( "Śākyamuni").
References
*
External links
Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (log in with userID "guest")Dao´An Encyclopædia Britannica Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daoan
314 births
385 deaths
Sixteen Kingdoms translators
Sanskrit–Chinese translators
Chinese bibliographers
Former Qin Buddhist monks
People from Hengshui
Writers from Hebei
Later Zhao Buddhist monks
Jin dynasty (266–420) Buddhist monks
Ran Wei
4th-century Chinese translators