Jikuhogo - Protection of the Law

A Buddhist monk who translated Buddhist scriptures during the Western Jin Dynasty in China. He was from Dunhuang and was honored as Dunhuang Bodhisattva. The "Zhu" prefix comes from his teacher's Zhu seat. From the transliteration Donmarasatsu, we can see that Hogo was Dharmaraksha. He was born and raised in Dunhuang as a descendant of naturalized Yuezhi people, but he was also well versed in Chinese and Chinese classics. After leaving the priesthood, he traveled to 36 countries in the Western Regions accompanied by his teacher, learning the various languages ​​of the region and returning to Dunhuang with many Buddhist scriptures in the Western Regions. He later translated over 150 Buddhist scriptures, including those of the Mahayana and Hinayana, in Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Chang'an, Luoyang, and other places. He translated for over 40 years, and because he translated and preached mainly in Chang'an and Luoyang, he made a great contribution to the Buddhism of this region. He is particularly famous for his Mahayana Buddhist scriptures such as the Prajnaparamita Sutra, the True Lotus Sutra, and the Vimalakirti Sutra, and his Hinayana Buddhist scriptures such as the Prajnaparamita Sutra and the Sutra of Life. Translations of sutras made before Kumarajiva are called ancient translations, and Zhu Fagu is a great representative of the ancient era of translations.

[Kazuo Okabe February 16, 2017]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、西晋(せいしん)時代の訳経僧。敦煌(とんこう)出身のため敦煌菩薩(ぼさつ)と尊称された。「竺」を冠したのは師の竺高座にちなむ。法護は曇摩羅察(どんまらさつ)という音写語からダルマラクシャDharma-rakaであったことがわかる。月氏系帰化人の末裔(まつえい)として敦煌で生まれ育ったが、中国語や中国の古典にも精通していた。出家するや師に伴われて西域(さいいき)三六国を遊歴し、西域諸語を身につけ、多数の西域語仏典を携えて敦煌に帰った。その後、敦煌のほか酒泉、長安、洛陽(らくよう)などで大小乗にわたる仏典150余部を翻訳した。翻訳活動が40年以上に及び、しかも彼のおもな訳経・宣教の地が長安と洛陽であったため、この地域の仏教化に多大の貢献をなした。『光讃般若経(こうさんはんにゃぎょう)』『正法華経(しょうほけきょう)』『維摩詰経(ゆいまきつきょう)』などの大乗仏典、『普曜経(ふようきょう)』『生経(しょうきょう)』などの小乗仏典がとくに有名である。鳩摩羅什(くまらじゅう)以前の訳経を古訳(こやく)と称するが、竺法護は古訳時代を代表する偉大な訳経三蔵である。

［岡部和雄　2017年2月16日］

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