Faxian

Faxian
Faxian sculpture at the Singapore Maritime Museum
Personal life
Born	337 CE Pingyang Wuyang (平陽武陽), in modern Linfen City, Shanxi
Died	c. 422 CE (aged 85)
Parent	Tsang Hi (father)
Notable work(s)	Foguoji (A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms)
Other names	Gong Sehi
Religious life
Religion	Buddhism

Faxian (337–c. 422 CE), formerly romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled on foot from Jin China to medieval India to acquire Buddhist scriptures. His birth name was Gong Sehi.^{[citation needed][dubious – discuss]} Starting his journey about age 60, he traveled west along the overland Silk Road, visiting Buddhist sites in Central, South, and Southeast Asia. The journey and return took from 399 to 412, with 10 years spent in India.^[1][2][3]

Faxian's account of his pilgrimage, the Foguoji or Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms, is a notable independent record of early Buddhism in India. He returned to China with a large number of Sanskrit texts, whose translations greatly influenced East Asian Buddhism and provide a terminus ante quem for many historical names, events, texts, and ideas therein.^[1][2]