The first was Fa Hsien (法顯; see his story in the Winter 2001 issue of the Tzu Chi Quarterly), followed by Hsuan Tsang (玄奘, our Spring 2000 issue), and the last was Yi Jing (義淨).

Yi Jing was born in 635, during the Tang Dynasty, to an ordinary family. When he was five years old, his hometown of Licheng (in today's Shandong Province, northeastern China) suffered a serious drought. There was no water for the crops, and people left for better places. Monks from nearby Shen Tong temple delivered hundreds of sacks of rice to relieve the plight of the local residents.

These benevolent monks were staying at Tu Ku Temple, a branch of Shen Tong Temple, in Licheng. Yi Jing's father, Zhang, took his son to the temple to take their share and express their thankfulness to the monks as well. Zhang was a devout Buddhist and a frequent visitor to Tu Ku Temple, so he was quite familiar with every monk there. When they arrived, the receptionist greeted them warmly and led them to the abbot, Ming De (明德). The two monks, Shan Yu (善遇) and Hui Zhi (慧智) from Shen Tong Temple, were also there. Cute little Yi Jing received a lot of attention and encouraging smiles from the monks, especially when they discovered that the child could recite the Diamond Sutra by heart.

Noticing that the two intelligent monks liked Yi Jing very much, Zhang suddenly had an idea: He requested both Shan Yu and Hui Zhi to accept his son as their disciple so that he might become a noble person like the two masters. Shan Yu and Hui Zhi admitted that they indeed liked Yi Jing very much. After pondering and discussing for a while, they agreed to accept the boy as their disciple. Two years later, when Yi Jing turned seven years old, his parents sent him to Shen Tong Temple to live under the tutelage of the two monks.

Becoming a novice

Master Shan Yu was highly educated and good at writing poems. Therefore, he first taught Yi Jing to write so that the boy would be able to read books. Day after day, Yi Jing learned to read and write new words, and Shan Yu would tell him stories from the Buddhist sutras. The young boy always enjoyed story time since he could take a break from the exhausting writing lessons.

One day, Shan Yu suddenly tore apart a bunch of books and ripped up the paper on which he had written many poems and essays. Yi Jing was shocked, and he asked his master why he was doing this. Shan Yu replied calmly, "Because the apparent messages conveyed in these books have been interfering with my spiritual cultivation. I'm getting attached to them, and so I'm failing to read between the lines. Now my life is about to end, so I shouldn't continue to dwell upon them." Shan Yu continued to remind Yi Jing not to let mere words interfere with his spiritual cultivation. Yi Jing nodded his head. To his surprise, Shan Yu then said that he would leave this world within three days.

When Yi Jing heard that, tears filled his eyes. Three days later, Shan Yu did indeed pass away peacefully as he himself had predicted. Master Hui Zhi was then responsible for educating the brilliant novice, who was just 12.

Shan Yu's death was a heavy blow to Yi Jing, because the monk had treated him like a son. In contrast to Shan Yu, Hui Zhi was more into meditation and abiding by the precepts (regulations governing the daily conduct of monks and nuns). At the same time, Hui Zhi also taught Yi Jing to read the Buddhist sutras: the Lotus Sutra, Amitabha Buddha Sutra, Diamond Sutra, and others. Despite the heavy load, Yi Jing was quite industrious with his studies.

Two years earlier in 645 when Yi Jing was ten years old, Hsuan Tsang returned to China after his long journey to India and received the warmest welcome from the emperor and the public. He was regarded as the leader of Buddhism in China and the emperor's spiritual mentor. Five years later, at Hsuan Tsang's suggestion, the emperor decreed that more novices be recruited for the sangha (the Buddhist congregation of monks), although each province was only allotted a limited number of candidates. The abbot and senior monks at Shen Tong Temple and its branches held a test to screen thousands of applicants, who would then take the examination for the novitiate ceremony held by the royal court.

Yi Jing passed both examinations and was taken as an officially recognized novice. Standing in line with other new novices, he suddenly started weeping as he recalled his beloved Master Shan Yu, who would have been extremely joyful and proud to see Yi Jing becoming a member of the sangha.

Early studies

When Yi Jing turned 20 years old, he was ordained a monk. Then, he went to study the Precept Canon, a collection of books listing the Buddhist precepts. Master Hui Zhi had told him that while the Buddha was still alive, his disciples could regard him as the guardian of their daily conduct, but after the Buddha passed away, the disciples needed to rely on the precepts to guide their behavior.

"No killing" was ranked the first of all the rules. Hui Zhi explained the rule to Yi Jing so that he could perceive the meaning of the precepts more clearly. When the Buddha was on earth, he would decree a precept when certain conditions warranted it. The establishment of the rule that prohibited killing occurred during the sixth year after the Buddha had attained enlightenment. A senior monk had been seriously ill for years, but there was no cure for his sickness and he was in constant pain. A younger monk who was looking after him became emotionally and physically drained from coping with the senior monk's illness. One day, he said to the sick monk, "Master, I've been looking after you for years, but you don't seem to get any better and I don't even have time for my studies. This really bothers me!"

The sick monk replied, "You are so right! The illness has made my life unbearable, so please kill me now and both of us can be freed from this plight."

The younger monk accordingly killed the sick monk. Other monks reported this to the Buddha, who then summoned the younger monk to hear the whole story. Then, the Buddha stipulated the prohibition against killing and announced that if any monk broke the rule, he would be expelled from the sangha.

Besides, if all the monks and nuns could dutifully abide by the precepts, they could then practice meditation and cultivate their wisdom. This showed how significant the precepts were for all Buddhists.

Yi Jing spent a year studying the sutras, and then he went to Ri Guang Temple to ask for help from the disciples of Master Fa Li (法礪). Fa Li was once a great master of the Buddhist precepts, but he had passed away 20 years before. Hence, Yi Jing went to Ri Guang Temple, where Master Fa Li had once presided, to seek help from his disciples to clarify for him problems about the precepts he had encountered.

Master Dao Cheng (道成), the abbot of the temple, told him that even though he was not an expert on the Buddhist precepts, his master's books on the topic were in the library. If Yi Jing was interested in knowing more about the precepts, he was welcome to study them. Yi Jing spent several months in the library studying with full concentration.

When he came out, he had a discussion with the abbot. Master Dao Cheng told him that Master Fa Li had based his theory of the precepts on a school of commentary called Satyasiddhisastra (成實論). This school of thought believed that everything in the universe was actually phenomena with no true form; in the end, everything would cease to exist. If people could follow this view in their spiritual cultivation, they would comprehend the Four Noble Truths (suffering, the arising of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the way leading to the cessation of suffering) and finally reach nirvana.

Yi Jing knew that he had no background on this topic, so he would have to spend time on it. When he returned to Shen Tong Temple, he reported his findings to Master Hui Zhi, who agreed that he should study Buddhist commentaries, particularly the Satyasiddhisastra, because Yi Jing had never studied any commentary before. Hui Zhi suggested that Yi Jing go to the city of Changan, because it was the capital and also the center of Chinese Buddhism. Therefore, Yi Jing set out again.

Changan

While living in Changan, Yi Jing experienced two major events. The first was the attempt by the emperor to command all Taoist priests and Buddhist monks to prostrate themselves before their parents, government officials and, above all, the emperor.

China was a hierarchical society where commoners had to kowtow to government officials. However, the Buddha stipulated that since monks had renounced their worldly identities, they were no longer part of society; consequently, they were not bound by social etiquette, and prostration was certainly out of the question. Monks all over China submitted petitions against the decree to the emperor; even the great Hsuan Tsang opposed it. Many ranking ministers and members of the imperial family also opposed the decree. In the end, the emperor renounced the decree, a victory for all Buddhists and Taoists in the country.

The other major event was the death of Hsuan Tsang in 664. Yi Jing was especially sad, because he felt that he had been able to become a monk because Hsuan Tsang had suggested to the previous emperor to recruit more monks. Furthermore, he really admired Hsuan Tsang's courage in traveling to India. He had longed to meet the great monk, but the chance was forever gone with his demise.

Yi Jing then decided to follow Hsuan Tsang's footsteps to India in order to better understand Buddhism. He wrote a letter to his master about his plan. He also continued to spend a lot of time studying available Buddhist precepts and commentaries.

A ship to Sumatra

In 671, Yi Jing, now 36, felt that he was ready to go to India. He went to Yangzhou, a busy harbor and trading hub. Overhearing Yi Jing's plans to go to India, a 20-year-old monk named Shan Xing (善行) begged to go with him. Shan Xing was polite and determined, and Yi Jing was delighted to have a companion on his quest.

But how would they go to India? Luckily, they met a patron: Feng Xiao-quan (馮孝詮), the new governor of Gongzhou (in today's Guangxi Province, southern China). The governor was a devout Buddhist, so he immediately agreed to help Yi Jing and Shan Xing with their adventure. The good news delighted the two monks, who then followed the governor to Gangzhou (in today's Guangdong Province, southern China). The governor found a Persian ship heading for Sumatra, Indonesia, and the ship owner agreed to help out.

In the winter of 671, Yi Jing and Shan Xing were finally on their way. The trip was not very smooth. The ship encountered a storm which caused fear among the crew and especially unnerved the monks, since neither of them had ever experienced such a situation. Shan Xing was still in very bad shape when the ship finally reached Wrivijaya, Sumatra, 12 days later. He could barely stand as he had vomited constantly through the storm.

Once on land, Yi Jing found a temple where he and Shan Xing could rest. The king of Wrivijaya was quite fond of Buddhism and would provide offerings to any monk who came to his country, so Yi Jing and Shan Xin received good treatment there.

Yi Jing took the opportunity to learn Sanskrit. Unfortunately, Shan Xing's condition did not improve, so he was sent back to China for treatment. They never met again.

The holy land

Six months later, Yi Jing had a basic grasp of the Sanskrit language, and it was time for him to leave for India. About four months later, in 672, he finally landed in a state called Tamralipti, in modern Bangladesh. There, he met Da Sheng Deng (大乘燈), a monk from today's Vietnam. Da Sheng Deng, a disciple of Venerable Hsuan Tsang, taught Yi Jing higher levels of Sanskrit so that he would be able to use it fluently for learning Buddhist doctrines written in Sanskrit.

After a year of study, Yi Jing wanted to visit various sacred spots that the Buddha had visited. However, Da Sheng Deng informed him that traveling inside India was not as easy as in China, because India was divided into many small states, some of which were hostile to one another. Also, there were bandits hiding in the mountains, so it would be much safer to travel in a large group.

Yi Jing finally found a group of between 500 and 600 people going to central India. The group consisted of mostly men; they were monks, travelers, government officials, and people from other parts of society; some walked, some rode on horses and some in carriages. However, a few days after the group set off, they met a heavy rainstorm. The ground became extremely muddy, and it was hard to see clearly what was before one's face. Yi Jing found himself lagging behind the group because of the rain. As he tried to catch up, a bunch of bandits suddenly dashed out from a forest! Yi Jing was shocked. The bandits searched him thoroughly but found nothing. In their anger, they beat the poor monk unconscious, left him there, and ran away.

Yi Jing slowly came to on the muddy ground, aching, soaked, and filthy. After staggering up the road for miles, he suddenly heard someone shouting his name from afar. It was Da Sheng Deng! Elated, Yi Jing shouted back and trudged forward, and soon Da Sheng Deng appeared with a torch and several people behind him. Yi Jing lost consciousness and fell down again.

Da Sheng Deng realized that Yi Jing had disappeared after they had reached a village, so he asked some villagers to help him locate Yi Jing. Fortunately, they found him and carried him in a carriage back to the village, where a villager cared for him.

A few days later they set off again, and after three days they reached the famous Nalanda Temple. Yi Jing surely needed a good rest after all that had happened to him.

The temple was in a country called Magadha in central India. The complex was very large, with over 3,500 monks in residence; there were eight major buildings and over 100 stupas. It was much bigger than any of the temples Yi Jing had known in China. There they met a monk named Xuan Zhao (玄照), also from China.

Xuan Zhao was in India for 14 years before he returned to China. The Tang emperor ordered him to invite a religious practitioner named Lugayido, in northern India, to his royal court, because this gentleman knew the formula for longevity. Lugayido agreed to the request when Xuan Zhao and two other monks, Shi Bian (師鞭) and Hui Lun (慧輪), went to see him, but he said that he needed more materials for making the longevity medicine. Then, Lugayido traveled with someone else to China, and Xuan Zhao, Shi Bian and Hui Lun went to look for the needed materials. When they had bought the materials, they found their way back to China blocked by hostile Tibetan troops, and the route through northwestern India was blocked by occupying Muslim forces. Seeing themselves trapped in India, the three of them could only wait. While Xuan Zhao stayed at Nalanda Temple, Shi Bian and Hui Lun took the time to travel inside India.

Xuan Zhao led Yi Jing and Da Sheng Deng to visit the famous Mount Grdhrakuta (also known as Holy Vulture Peak), where the Buddha used to give lectures on the Wonderful Lotus Sutra, and the Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. Then Xuan Zhao returned to Nalanda Temple to continue his studies. Before he left, he told Yi Jing and Da Sheng Deng the locations of other famous sacred sites and where to locate Hui Lun and Shi Bian. Yi Jing and Da Sheng Deng continued traveling to these places.

One night, they asked to rest overnight at a temple, but they were rejected on the spot. They tried a second place, and again they were rejected. When they were rejected at the third temple, Da Sheng Deng informed the reception monk that he was a disciple of Venerable Hsuan Tsang. Hearing Hsuan Tsang's name, the monk went back to ask the abbot, who then agreed to let them stay there overnight.

That night, Da Sheng Deng informed Yi Jing that because Buddhism was flourishing in India, many states in India and foreign countries had built temples to house only their own monks. Yi Jing decided that after he returned to China, he would ask the Tang officials to finance the construction of a temple especially for Chinese monks.

The following day, they met Master Hui Lun in Tuhoro Temple and stayed with him for a few days. However, when they went to find Master Shi Bian in Anmolopawang Temple, they found out that he had already died!

The two monks were very sad. They visited the stupa where the Buddha's mother had wept over the Buddha's death. When they were about to leave, Da Sheng Deng suddenly told Yi Jing that he had decided to stay put and not to follow Yi Jing anymore. He felt that since he was almost 60 years old, he would not be able to travel to China to propagate Buddhism. The job should be left to younger people like Yi Jing. Yi Jing felt sad to hear that, but he bid farewell to Da Sheng Deng and continued his visits to other sacred spots.

When Yi Jing returned to Nalanda Temple, he resumed his studies. He also recorded the daily lives of the monks there in order to help improve the conduct of monks in China. For example, when the monks woke up every morning, they would pour a little bit of water onto a piece of ceramic to see if there were any living creatures in the water. If there were, the water had to be filtered before being used, for it was a crime to kill living beings.

Yi Jing spent around 12 years in Nalanda Temple, studying and copying sutras. During this time, Xuan Zhao and Da Sheng Deng passed away. Yi Jing was very upset when he heard of Da Sheng Deng's passing, because they had spent such a long time together. He felt that it was indeed his duty to bring what he had learned back to China as a way to show his respect to his friends.

The monks at the temple prepared a lot of things for him to take with him, including hundreds of volumes of sutras, statues, and sacred relics of the Buddha. It was again a sad farewell for Yi Jing, because he had developed intimate friendships with the monks there. The goods were loaded into a carriage, which slowly left the temple for Tamralipti.

Back to Wrivijaya

After 15 years in India, Yi Jing again reached Wrivijaya. The news of his arrival spread fast, and Yi Jing and his goods were taken to an imperial temple to rest. While he was chatting with the abbot, Master Sakyajilidhi, the king of Wrivijaya arrived. Both the king and the abbot liked Yi Jing very much. They asked him to stay at least three more months for the southern wind to arrive, so that he would be able to sail back to China. Yi Jing could not help but accept the invitation.

However when the southern wind started blowing, the king didn't mention a word about arranging a ship for Yi Jing to return to China, so the monk became very anxious. When he met the king, he was informed that the abbot, who was over 70 years old, was thinking about having Yi Jing take charge of the temple! The idea had never crossed Yi Jing's mind, and he declined the invitation because he had vowed before the Buddha to return home. The king sighed and said that he would arrange for a ship.

Two days later, the abbot rushed to Yi Jing's room and told him that a coup had taken place in China and he couldn't return home! Empress Wu of Tang had ousted her son and proclaimed herself the ruler of the new Zhou Dynasty. The report stated that conditions were very chaotic and it was unsafe for Yi Jing to return at the moment. He had to postpone his return.

Yi Jing felt that since he could not go back for the time being, he might as well start the translation work so he would not waste any precious time. However, he needed writing materials and assistants, so he wrote a letter to Ji Shi Temple in Guangzhou, the temple where he had stayed before coming to India, and asked the monks to send him brushes, ink, paper, and two assistants. He took a jewel and placed it and the letter in a box; then he asked the abbot to locate a boat bound for China so that he could ask the boat's captain to deliver the letter and the jewel.

Two weeks later, Yi Jing heard that a Chinese merchant, a devout Buddhist from Guangzhou, was heading back to China with his ship. Yi Jing and a novice hurried to the harbor with the box to locate the merchant. The merchant invited Yi Jing into a cabin on the ship, but then he asked the novice to go with him to another place.

The cabin had statues of the Buddha and two bodhisattvas. While prostrating himself before the statues, Yi Jing suddenly felt the ship moving! When he dashed out to the deck, he was surprised to see that the ship was sailing out of the harbor!

The merchant apologized to him, saying happily, "Master, please forgive me for not telling you earlier. I heard that the temple didn't want to let you go, so I played this little trick to lure you aboard. I've also told the novice to tell the king that I've taken you back to China!"

Yi Jing was speechless, unsure whether he should be happy or angry. He said to the merchant that his belongings were still in the temple. The merchant realized his mistake, but he promised that he would bring those back with him when he came to Wrivijaya the next time.

Half a month later, the ship arrived safely in Guangzhou, and Yi Jing went straight to Ji Shi Temple. The merchant went to purchase the brushes, paper, ink and other needed goods.

The monks at the temple were overjoyed at Yi Jing's return, and qualified monks were recommended to help him with the translation. Master Zheng Gu, his disciple Huai Ye, and Masters Dao Hong and Fa Lang would go back to Wrivijaya with Yi Jing. A few days later, the merchant arrived at the temple with the goods Yi Jing needed, and he promised him that he would take them back to Wrivijaya when the seasonal wind was right.

A month later, the northern wind started blowing, and Yi Jing and the others took the same ship back to Wrivijaya. The abbot was delighted when Yi Jing and the others arrived. He informed Yi Jing that all of his belongings were intact and awaiting his return. Yi Jing smiled and thanked the abbot for his kindness. Then, the five monks set to work on their translations.

In 691, Empress Wu dispatched an emissary to Wrivijaya to renew the relationship with the country. Accompanying the emissary was Master Da Lu. Yi Jing informed him all about the conditions he had encountered in India, and then he asked Master Da Lu to take a letter back to the empress asking her to finance the construction of a temple especially for Chinese monks.

Master Ta Lu delivered the letter, along with several copies of sutras and information about Yi Jing's journey, to the imperial court; however, the court never replied. After a couple of years, Yi Jing decided to return to China to report to the empress himself. The abbot was sad to hear of his departure, but he requested that young Huai Ye stay behind because he had grown fond of the young monk. Huai Ye agreed to stay, so in 694 Yi Jing went back to China with the other monks.

Back to China

Yi Jing again stayed at Ji Shi Temple. He gave sermons to the public every day, and his fame grew ever wider. In 695, the empress invited him to work in the capital.

When Yi Jing was about to resume his translation work there, he was asked to help compile a bibliography of the sutras available in the country and to translate the Huayen Sutra (華嚴經). These two projects took him four years to complete, so he didn't start his own work until 700. In 705, Empress Wu's son, the crown prince, led a group of royal guards into the inner palace and forced the empress to abdicate the throne, thus successfully reinstating the Tang Dynasty.

The coup did not affect Yi Jing's important task of translation. The new emperor regarded the great monk's work as a very important government project, so everything was paid for by the royal court. Yi Jing also worked hard: between 700 and 711, he produced a total of 61 sutras, commentaries and precepts in 239 volumes.

Sadly, the tedious translations finally wore Yi Jing down, and in 713 he fell seriously ill. The new emperor's personal doctors were sent to treat him, and Yi Jing's disciples and other monks looked after him day and night. Many people went to temples to pray for his full recovery.

The whole country seemed anxious to see him recover, but Yi Jing was the most anxious of all because ever since his return to China, he had never had any chance to visit the graves of his parents and his beloved masters in his hometown. Sadly, his wish was never fulfilled. He passed away a few days later at the age of 78. Everyone grieved at the bad news. However, all the sutras and precepts that the great monk translated have had an important influence on Buddhist monks and nuns in China, Taiwan, and Japan ever since.