Fa-hsien

views updated

Fa-hsien (c.338–c.422). Chinese Buddhist monk, who left China in 399 on pilgrimage to India, via the Himālayas. He collected Buddhist texts, and on his return to China in 414 he translated Mahāparinirvāna-sūtra and the Mahāsāmghika version of the Vināya-piṭaka. But he is chiefly remembered for his account of his travels, Fu-kuo chi, for which see Li Yung-hsi, A Record of the Buddhist Countries (1957).

More From encyclopedia.com