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Kumārajīva
Kumārajīva (Sanskrit: कुमारजीव; , 344–413 CE) was a bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary and translator from Kucha (present-day Aksu City, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China). Kumārajīva is seen as one of the greatest translators of Chinese Buddhism. According to Lu Cheng, Kumarajiva's translations are "unparalleled either in terms of translation technique or degree of fidelity". Kumārajīva first studied teachings of the Sarvastivada, Sarvastivadin schools, later studied under Buddhasvamin (monk), Buddhasvāmin, and finally became an adherent of Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism, studying the Madhyamaka, Mādhyamaka doctrine of Nagarjuna, Nāgārjuna. After mastering the Chinese language, Kumārajīva settled as a translator and scholar in Chang'an (c. 401 CE) under the patronage of the Later Qin, Later Qin dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was the head of a team of translators which included his amanuensis Sengrui. This team was responsibl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Asian Mādhyamaka
East Asian Madhyamaka is the Buddhist tradition in East Asia which represents the Indian Madhyamaka (''Chung-kuan'') system of thought. In Chinese Buddhism, these are often referred to as the ''Sanlun'' (Chinese language, Ch. 三論宗, Japanese language, Jp. ''Sanron'', "Three Treatise") school, also known as the "Śūnyatā, emptiness school" (''K'ung Tsung''),Hsueh-li Cheng, Empty Logic: Mādhyamika Buddhism from Chinese Sources, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1991 p. 9. although they may not have been an independent sect. The three principal texts of the school are ''the Middle Treatise'' (''Zhong lun''), ''the Twelve Gate Treatise'' (''Shiermen lun''), and ''the Hundred Treatise'' (''Bai lun''). They were first transmitted to China during the early 5th century by the Buddhist monk Kumārajīva (344−413) in the Jin dynasty (265–420), Eastern Jin Dynasty. The school and its texts were later transmitted to Korea and Japan. The leading thinkers of this tradition are Kumārajīva's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sixteen Kingdoms
The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by the "Five Barbarians", non- Han peoples who had settled in northern and western China during the preceding centuries, and had launched a series of rebellions against the Western Jin dynasty in the early 4th century. However, several of the states were founded by the Han people, and all of the states—whether ruled by Xiongnu, Xianbei, Di, Jie, Qiang, Han, or others—took on Han-style dynastic names. The states frequently fought against both one another and the Eastern Jin dynasty, which succeeded the Western Jin in 317 and ruled southern China. The period ended with the unification of northern China in 439 by the Northern Wei, a dynasty established by the Xianbei Tuoba clan. This occurred 19 years after the Eastern Jin collapsed i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; ; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ་ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the Śūnyatā, emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no Svabhava, ''svabhāva'' doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhist philosophy and practice founded by the History of Buddhism in India, Indian Buddhist monk and philosopher Nagarjuna, Nāgārjuna ().Wynne, Alexander (2015) ''Early Buddhist Teaching as Proto-śūnyavāda.'' Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, 6. pp. 213-241. The foundational text of the Mādhyamaka tradition is Nagarjuna, Nāgārjuna's ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' ("Root Verses on the Middle Way"). More broadly, Madhyamaka also refers to the ultimate nature of phenomena as well as the non-conceptual realization of ultimate reality that is experienced in Buddhist meditation, meditation. Since the 4th century CE onwards, Madhyamaka philosophy had a major influence on the subsequent d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nāgārjuna is widely considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of the Mahāyāna movement. His ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' (''Root Verses on Madhyamaka'', MMK) is the most important text on the Madhyamaka philosophy of Śūnyatā, emptiness. The MMK inspired a large number of commentaries in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese and continues to be studied today. History Background India in the first and second centuries CE was politically divided into various states, including the Kushan Empire and the Satavahana dynasty, Satavahana Kingdom. At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chinese Buddhist Canon" in ''The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism'', p. 299, Wiley-Blackwell (2014). draws from the traditions of Confucianism and Taoism as well as the rituals of local Chinese folk religion, folk religions. Chinese Buddhism emphasizes the study of Mahayana sutras and treatises. Some of the most important scriptures in Chinese Buddhism include the ''Lotus Sutra'', ''Avatamsaka Sutra, Flower Ornament Sutra'', Vimalakirti Sutra, ''Vimalakirtī Sutra'', ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, Nirvana Sutra,'' and Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, ''Amitābha Sutra''. Chinese Buddhism is the largest institutionalized religion in mainland China.Cook, Sarah (2017). The Battle for China's Spirit: Religious R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kizil Caves
The Kizil Caves (also romanized as Qizil or Qyzyl; ; zh, s=克孜尔千佛洞, l=Kizil Caves of the Thousand Buddhas) are a set of Buddhist rock-cut caves located near Kizil Township ( zh, s=克孜尔乡, p=Kèzī'ěr Xiāng, labels=no) in Baicheng County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. The site is located on the northern bank of the Muzat River 65 kilometres (75 km by road) west of Kucha. This area was a commercial hub of the Silk Road. The caves have an important role in Central Asian art and in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism, and are said to be the earliest major Buddhist cave complex in China, with development occurring between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The caves of Kizil are the earlier of their type in China, and their model was later adopted in the construction of Buddhist caves further east. Another name for the site has been Ming-oi ( zh, c=明屋, labels=no), although this term is now mainly used for the site of Shorchuk to the east. The Kizil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jīva (nun)
Jīvaka (also referred to as Jiva) was a sister of a king of Kucha, and later a Buddhist nun. Jīvaka was a princess of Kucha (in Central Asia) in the early fourth century C.E. She was the sister of the King who introduced her to Kumārāyana, a noble Indian who came from Kashmir to China to study further. After two or three years they returned to Kashgar, renounced his fortune to become a Buddhist monk and thus stopped in Kucha on his journey. However, after meeting Jīvaka, Kumārāyana and she were married. Jīvaka is said to have possessed great talent and keen perception and understanding. According to the "Collection of Records concerning the Tripitaka", she "had only to glance over a written passage to master it, had only to hear something one time to be able to repeat it from memory." Daisaku Ikeda (1976), The Flower of Chinese Buddhism, Middleway Press, pp. 32-33. Combining their great talents, Jīvaka and Kumārāyana produced a son, Kumārajīva. When he was just ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Later Qin
Qin, known in historiography as the Later Qin ( zh, s=后秦, t=後秦, p=Hòuqín; 384–417) or Yao Qin (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Yao clan of Qiang ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period in northern China. As the only Qiang-led state among the Sixteen Kingdoms, it was most known for its propagation of Buddhism under its second ruler, Yao Xing, who sponsored the Madhyamakin monk, Kumārajīva to translate Sanskrit Buddhist text into Chinese. All rulers of the Later Qin declared themselves emperors, but for a substantial part of Yao Xing's reign, he used the title Heavenly King. Historiographers gave the state the prefix of "Later" to distinguish it with the Former Qin and Western Qin as it was founded during the Former Qin's collapse after the Battle of Fei River and went on to conquer the Former Qin's power base in the Guanzhong. With Chang'an as its capital, the Later Qin also controlled Henan and vassalised the Western Qin, the four Liangs (Late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abhidharma
The Abhidharma are a collection of Buddhist texts dating from the 3rd century BCE onwards, which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. It also refers to the scholastic method itself, as well as the field of knowledge that this method is said to study. Bhikkhu Bodhi calls it "an abstract and highly technical systemization of the uddhistdoctrine," which is "simultaneously a philosophy, a psychology and an ethics, all integrated into the framework of a program for liberation." According to Peter Harvey, the Abhidharma method seeks "to avoid the inexactitudes of colloquial conventional language, as is sometimes found in the Suttas, and state everything in psycho-philosophically exact language." In this sense, it is an attempt to best express the Buddhist view of " ultimate reality" (''paramārtha-satya''). There are different types of Abhidharma literature. The early canonical Abhidharma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahayana
Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism, the others being Theravāda and Vajrayāna.Harvey (2013), p. 189. Mahāyāna accepts the main scriptures and teachings of Early Buddhist schools, early Buddhism but also recognizes various doctrines and texts that are not accepted by Theravada Buddhism as original. These include the Mahāyāna sūtras and their emphasis on the ''bodhisattva'' path and Prajnaparamita, ''Prajñāpāramitā''. Vajrayāna or Mantra traditions are a subset of Mahāyāna which makes use of numerous Tantra, tantric methods Vajrayānists consider to help achieve Buddhahood. Mahāyāna also refers to the path of the bodhisattva striving to become a fully awakened Buddha for the benefit of all sentience, sentient beings, and is thus also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhasvamin (monk)
Buddhasvāmin was a Sarvastivadan Buddhist monk and famous scholar from the kingdom of Kucha. During part of the 4th century CE, he presideded over all Buddhist temples and nunneries in Kucha. Buddhasvāmin's disciple Kumārajīva later became an adherent of the Mahayana teaching, and later moved to Chang'an, then capital of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ..., where he became one of Buddhism's most noted translators. References * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buddhasvamin 4th-century Buddhist monks Chinese Buddhist monks Buddhist translators ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuqa County
Kuqa ( ) is a county-level city in Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It was once the homeland of the ancient Buddhist Kingdom of Kucha. History The archaeological excavation of Neolithic cultural sites, such as the ( zh, 龟兹故城), indicates that ancient human activity occurred in the land of Kuche as early as 12,000 years ago. According to the ''Book of Han'' (completed in 111 CE), Kucha was the largest of the "Thirty-six Kingdoms of the Western Regions", with a population of 81,317, including 21,076 persons able to bear arms. In 630, Xuanzang, a well-known Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler and translator visited Kucha during the Early Tang period. In the book "Hudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib", written in 982 by an unknown Arab People, Arab or Persians, Persian writer, and presented to Abu'l Haret Muhammad, the ruler of Guzgan, the following is written regarding Kucha: Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, a military general, in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
