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| yijing [2026/11/14 19:24] – created Vajra Patience | yijing [2026/11/14 19:25] (current) – Vajra Patience |
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| Yijing | [[Yijing]] ([[义净]] / [[義淨]], Wade-Giles [[I-ching]], rendered in [[Sanskrit]] as [[परमार्थदेव]] - [[Paramārthadeva]], and in [[Tibetan]] as [[དོན་དམ་ལྷ།]] [[don dam lha]] [[Döndam Lha]], universally revered across [[China]], [[India]], [[Indonesia]], [[Tibet]], [[Korea]], [[Japan]], and [[Vietnam]] as one of the Four Great Translators of [[Chinese Buddhism]] alongside [[Kumarajiva]], [[Paramartha]], and [[Xuanzang]]), acclaimed throughout Asian [[Buddhist]] history as the intrepid [[7th century]] and [[8th century]] pilgrim-monk, maritime explorer, and supreme translator of the [[Mulasarvastivada]] [[Vinaya Pitaka]], stands as an indispensable bridge between the monastic universities of classical [[India]], the maritime kingdom of [[Srivijaya]], and Tang dynasty [[China]]. With his [[year of birth]] in [[635]] and his [[year of death]] in [[713]], [[Yijing]] was born with the secular surname [[Zhang]] and given name [[Wenming]] in [[Qizhou]] (modern [[Jinan]], [[Shandong Province]]) in northern [[China]]. Recognizing the pervasive reality of [[anicca]] and [[dukkha]] from early childhood, he practiced fearless [[renunciation]], took formal [[refuge]] in the [[Buddha]], the [[Dharma]], and the [[Sangha]], entered the monastic order at age seven under his devoted teachers [[Shanyu]] and [[Huizhi]], and received full monastic ordination in the [[Vinaya Pitaka]] lineage at age twenty while upholding strict monastic [[precepts]] and [[ethical conduct]]. |
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| | Inspired by the epic overland pilgrimages of [[Faxian]] ([[337]]–[[422]]) and [[Xuanzang]] ([[602]]–[[664]]), and deeply concerned by widespread discrepancies in monastic rules practiced across [[China]], [[Yijing]] resolved to travel by sea to [[India]] to recover complete, authentic [[Sanskrit]] manuscripts of the [[Vinaya Pitaka]]. Departing from [[Guangzhou]] in [[671]] aboard a Persian merchant vessel, [[Yijing]] sailed across the South China Sea to [[Srivijaya]] (modern [[Palembang]] on [[Sumatra]] in [[Indonesia]]), where he spent six months mastering [[Sanskrit]] grammar and phonology before continuing via [[Malayu]] and [[Kedah]] across the Bay of Bengal to [[Tamralipti]] in eastern [[India]] in [[673]], where he met the venerable master [[Dachengdeng]] ([[Mahayanapradipa]]). |
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| | Arriving at the great monastic university of [[Nalanda]] in [[Magadha]] in [[675]], [[Yijing]] immersed himself for ten years in intensive scholastic and contemplative training alongside hundreds of Indian scholars, studying the complete corpus of [[Sutra]] and [[Shastra]] literature—including [[Abhidharma]], [[Pramana]] logic, [[Madhyamaka]], [[Yogacara]], and especially the [[Mulasarvastivada]] [[Vinaya Pitaka]]—while practicing single-pointed [[meditation]], [[mindfulness]], and [[concentration]] and making sacred pilgrimages to [[Bodh Gaya]], [[Vulture Peak]], [[Sarnath]], [[Kushinagar]], and [[Vaishali]]. Departing [[Nalanda]] in [[685]] carrying nearly four hundred [[Sanskrit]] manuscripts comprising over five hundred thousand verses, [[Yijing]] sailed back to [[Srivijaya]], where he resided for another decade ([[685]]–[[695]]) translating scriptures and composing his two famous historical and ethnographic accounts before returning triumphantly to [[Luoyang]] in [[China]] in [[695]], where he was welcomed in person outside the city gates by Empress [[Wu Zetian]]. |
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| | Presiding over imperial translation bureaus at [[Foshouji Monastery]] in [[Luoyang]] and [[Dajianfu Monastery]] and [[Ximing Monastery]] in [[Chang'an]] under Emperors [[Zhongzong]] and [[Ruizong]], [[Yijing]] led teams of bilingual scholars to produce fifty-six to sixty-one monumental translations spanning two hundred and thirty fascicles preserved in the [[Chinese Tripitaka]]. |
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| | Literarily, [[Yijing]] bequeathed both his priceless historical travelogues and the vast [[Mulasarvastivada]] [[Vinaya Pitaka]] corpus in the [[Chinese Tripitaka]]. His two original historical masterpieces—the [[Nanhai Jigui Neifa Zhuan]] ([[Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago]], [[Taisho Number 2125]] in the [[Chinese Tripitaka]]) and the [[Da Tang Xiyu Qiufa Gaoseng Zhuan]] ([[Account of Eminent Monks Who Sought the Dharma in the Western Regions]], [[Taisho Number 2066]])—provide unrivaled eyewitness documentation of daily monastic life at [[Nalanda]] and [[Srivijaya]], alongside his [[Sanskrit]]-[[Chinese]] dictionary [[Fanyu Qianziwen]] ([[Taisho Number 2133A]]). Simultaneously, [[Yijing]] translated the monumental [[Mulasarvastivada Vinayavastu]] ([[Taisho Number 1442]], corresponding to [[Toh Number 1]] in the [[Tibetan Tripitaka]]), the [[Mulasarvastivada Vinayavibhanga]] ([[Taisho Number 1442]]–[[1443]], corresponding to [[Toh Number 3]]), the [[Mulasarvastivada Bhikshuni Vinayavibhanga]] ([[Taisho Number 1443]], corresponding to [[Toh Number 5]]), the [[Mulasarvastivada VinayakShudrakavastu]] ([[Taisho Number 1451]], corresponding to [[Toh Number 6]]), the [[Suvarnaprabhasottama Sutra]] ([[Golden Light Sutra]], [[Taisho Number 665]], corresponding to [[Toh Number 556]]), the [[Bhaisajyaguru Vaiduryaprabharaja Sutra]] ([[Medicine Buddha Sutra]], [[Taisho Number 451]], corresponding to [[Toh Number 504]]), and [[Nagarjuna]]'s [[Suhrllekha]] ([[Letter to a Friend]], [[Taisho Number 1672]], corresponding to [[Toh Number 4182]]). |
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| | Philosophically and contemplatively, [[Yijing]] demonstrated that meticulous observance of monastic [[ethical conduct]] ([[shila]]) is the living foundation upon which [[concentration]] ([[samadhi]]) and transcendent [[wisdom]] ([[prajna]]) ripen into full [[awakening]]. Harmonizing strict [[Vinaya Pitaka]] discipline with [[Nagarjuna]]'s [[Madhyamaka]] dialectics regarding [[emptiness]] ([[शून्यता]] - [[śūnyatā]]; [[སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།]] [[stong pa nyid]] [[Tongpanyid]]) and [[dependent origination]], [[Asanga]] and [[Vasubandhu]]'s [[Yogacara]] phenomenology, and the innate [[Buddha-nature]] ([[tathagatagarbha]]) teachings of [[Maitreya]]'s [[Uttaratantra Shastra]] ([[Toh Number 4024]] in the [[Tibetan Tripitaka]], and [[Taisho Number 1611]] in the [[Chinese Tripitaka]]), [[Yijing]] guided practitioners to dissolve clinging to the [[five aggregates]], [[anatta]], [[emptiness of self]], [[karma]], and [[rebirth]] across [[samsara]] and [[nirvana]]. |
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| | Throughout his extraordinary life spanning [[China]], [[Indonesia]], and [[India]], [[Yijing]] exemplified fearless [[right effort]], impeccable monastic [[precepts]], and tireless [[generosity]], dedicating every translation and historical record to the liberation of all beings across the [[six realms]]. Anchoring every monastic rule and sutra translation in [[Shakyamuni]] [[Buddha]]'s foundational teachings on the [[Four Noble Truths]], the [[Noble Eightfold Path]], [[loving-kindness]], [[compassion]], [[equanimity]], [[right view]], [[non-attachment]], [[skillful means]], and universal [[bodhicitta]], he showed how disciplined monastic life uproots the [[three poisons]] of greed, hatred, and delusion. |
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| | Passing into final [[parinirvana]] at [[Dajianfu Monastery]] in [[Chang'an]] in [[713]] at the venerable age of seventy-eight amidst imperial honors and deep veneration from the entire [[Sangha]], [[Yijing]] left an immortal canonical and historical legacy. Providing the exact [[Chinese Tripitaka]] parallels to the [[Mulasarvastivada]] [[Vinaya Pitaka]] preserved in the [[Tibetan Tripitaka]] by [[Shantarakshita]], [[Gunaprabha]], and [[Lachen Gongpa Rabsal]], [[Yijing]] stands forever alongside [[Faxian]], [[Kumarajiva]], [[Paramartha]], [[Xuanzang]], and [[Amoghavajra]] as a supreme guardian of the [[Middle Way]]. |
