(635-713)
Chinese Buddhist monk, pilgrim to India, and translator of the T'ang dynasty period. An admirer of earlier pilgrims such as Fa-hsien and Hsüan-tsang, he took the southern maritime route to India in the year 671, and remained there until 695 (with the exception of one return trip to Canton in 689 to recruit assistants). He came back with approximately 400 Buddhist scriptures and treatises, was honoured and given support by Empress Wu Tse-t'ien for his translation activities, and by the time of his death, had produced translations of 56 works in 230 fascicles. He also wrote of his experiences travelling among the archipelagos of south-east Asia, where he had visited more than 30 kingdoms. Together with Hsüan-tsang (596-664), Kumārajīva (343-413), and Paramārtha (499-569), he is considered one of the ‘four great translators’ of Chinese Buddhism.
