Faxian - Hokken

Although his exact birth and death years are unknown, he was born in the middle of the 4th century and was active until around 420. He is famous as a Buddhist monk who traveled to Tenjiku (India) to seek the law and translator of scriptures. His secular surname was Gong. He was born in Wuyang, Pingyang Prefecture (Xiangyuan County, Shanxi Province) and became a monk at a young age. At that time in China, the document of precepts (Vinaya Pilgrimage) was not yet complete, so he traveled to India in search of it. In 399 (the 3rd year of Long'an in the Eastern Jin Dynasty) he left Chang'an with fellow student Huijing (?-403) and passed through Dunhuang, crossed the Liusha, passed Shanshan and Yutian, and crossed the Pamir Mountains to enter northern India. In India, he made pilgrimages to Buddhist sites around the country, widening his knowledge of the lives of Buddhist monks and documents on precepts. He was able to obtain valuable Buddhist scriptures, including the Mahasanghika Vinaya, known as the Makasanghitta Vinaya. He stayed in Pataliputra (Patna) for three years and in Tamraputi, a port city near Kolkata (Calcutta), for two years, during which he endeavored to collect Buddhist scriptures. From Tamraputi he traveled on a merchant ship to the Land of the Lion (Sri Lanka), where he stayed for two years, obtaining the Gobunritsu Vinaya and other texts. Despite his old age, Hoken sometimes shed tears of longing for home (Human Hoken is discussed in Tsurezuregusa). On his way back to China, he stopped in the country of Yabatai (Java Island), and from there headed for Guangzhou, but was swept away by a storm and washed ashore at Mount Laoshan in Qingzhou (Shandong Province). This is said to have been in 412 (the 8th year of the Yixi era). It was an extraordinary journey that took him around 14 years to visit 27 countries. He then went to Jianye, the capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, where he compiled a travelogue. It is also called the "Records of the Buddha's Country" and the "Biography of Faxian." He also translated and introduced Buddhist scriptures that he had brought with him, and these totaled 63 volumes in 6 volumes. He passed away at the age of 86 (or 82) at the Xin Temple in Jingzhou (Hubei Province).

[Kazuo Okabe April 18, 2017]

"The Faxian Biography and Song Yun's Travels" translated and annotated by Kazutoshi Nagasawa (Heibonsha, Toyo Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

正確な生没年は不明であるが、4世紀なかばごろに生まれ、420年前後まで活躍した中国の仏僧。天竺(てんじく)（インド）求法(ぐほう)僧、訳経僧として著名である。俗姓は龔(きょう)氏。平陽府武陽（山西省襄垣(じょうがい)県）に生まれ、幼くして出家した。当時の中国にはまだ戒律の文献（律蔵）が完備していなかったので、それを求めてインドに旅立った。399年（東晋(とうしん)の隆安3）同学の慧景(えけい)（？―403）らと長安を出発し、敦煌(とんこう)を経て流沙(りゅうさ)を渡り、鄯善(ぜんぜん)、于闐(うてん)を通り、パミールを越えて北インドに入った。インドでは各地の仏跡を巡拝し、仏僧の生活や戒律の文献について見聞を広めた。『摩訶僧祇律(まかそうぎりつ)』という大衆部の律蔵をはじめ、貴重な仏典を入手できた。パータリプトラ（パトナ）には3年、コルカタ（カルカッタ）に近い港町のタームラリプティには2年滞在し、仏典の収集に努めた。タームラリプティから商船で師子国（スリランカ）に渡り、ここに2年間とどまり、『五分律(ごぶんりつ)』などを入手した。老骨にむち打ってここまでやってきた法顕も、ときとして望郷の涙を流すこともあった（『徒然草(つれづれぐさ)』に人間法顕が話題にされている）。帰国の途中、耶婆提(やばだい)国（ジャワ島）に立ち寄り、そこから広州に向かったが暴風に流され、青州牢山（山東省）に漂着した。これが412年（義煕8）とされる。前後14年にわたって27か国を歴訪するという途方もない旅であった。その後、東晋の都の建業に行き、ここで旅行記をまとめた。『仏国記』ともいい、『法顕伝』ともいう。また請来(しょうらい)した仏典を翻訳紹介し、それらは6部63巻に上った。荊州(けいしゅう)（湖北省）の辛寺(しんじ)で入寂したが、86歳（82歳とも）であったという。

［岡部和雄　2017年4月18日］

『長沢和俊訳注『法顕伝・宋雲行紀』（平凡社・東洋文庫）』

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