The Study Of The Westbound Buddhist Monks Overland Between Three To Five Centuries

Although there are some comprehensive studies of westbound Buddhist monks in academic circles, but there are more case studies of eminent monks which have more study materials and the impact of activities is greater. The limitation of Case studies is very obvious, although it’s easy to be in-depth. The comprehensive studies of westbound Buddhist monks who went by land, that is, the Silk Road, to Western Regions and Sindhu, has not yet been seen. With the aid of the Chinese historical documents handed down from ancient times, on the basis of previous research results, this article attempts to use philological method, do some comprehensive studies of the westbound Buddhist monks overland between three to five centuries, do textual research on their life story and activities, comb the Buddhist scriptures they brought back and the translation situation of the Buddhist scriptures, and discuss their westbound motivation as well as the impact of their activities.On the basis of previous research results, in this paper, the author does textual research about birth and death year, native place, westbound time, main deeds of westbound Buddhist monks. For the previous controversial issue, analyzes the different point of view, and draws views of his own. The author of this paper teases out the Buddhist scriptures brought back by these westbound Buddhist monks from Buddhist directory of all times and the records of Buddhist scripture translation, does textual research about time, place, translator of the Buddhist scripture translation. The motivation of the westbound Buddhist monks in this period is seeking for Buddhist scripture, paying tribute to relics of the Buddha, looking for top teachers, repenting personally, and traveling to learn. The westbound activities of this period not only brought about a lot of Buddhist scriptures, but also enriched the Buddhist theory of the Han, produced a number of good Sanskrit Han bilingual native translator, promoted the translation of Buddhist scriptures, and deepened the Sino-foreign cultural exchanges.