An artist impression of Yi Jing 义净(635～713), Tang dynasty Buddhist monk.

Yi Jing's travel map of 7th century.

I Ching (monk) or Yi Jing (Yijing, Yiqing, I-Tsing or YiChing) (義淨, 三藏法師義淨 635-713) is Tang Dynasty Buddhist monk, original name was Zhang Wen Ming (张文明). He contributed to the world the information of ancient Srivijaya (written in Chinese), large numbers of Buddhist scriptures, his adventure stories en route to Nalanda of India in the 7th century and many more. Image File history File links Yi_Jing. ... Image File history File links Yi_Jing. ... Image File history File linksMetadata YiJingMap2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata YiJingMap2. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Map of Southeast Asia at end of 12th century. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... Remains at Nalanda Nalanda is a historical place in central Bihar, India, 90 km south-east of the state capital of Patna. ...

Journey to Srivijaya and Nalanda

Zhang Wen Ming became a monk at age 14, admirer of Fa Xian and Xuanzang, both famous monks of his childhood. He was funded by someone named Fong and decided to visit the famous Buddhist university of Nalanda, in Bihar, India, to further study Buddhism, he came to Guangzhou and hopped on a Persian boat. 20 days later, he arrived at Srivijaya (today's Palembang of Sumatra), he stayed 6 months learning Sanskrit grammar and Malay language and recorded in his journey book where he visited a nation called Malayu and later another nation called Kiteh (Kedah), 10 days later he reached 'naked kingdom' (south west of Shu), the year was 673. Yi Jing recorded he saw 'Kunlun peoples' (ancient Chinese word Malay peoples). "Kunlun people have curly hair, dark bodies, bare feet and wear sarongs." He then arrived at the East coast of India, where he met a senior monk and stayed a year to learn Sanskrit. Both later followed a group of merchants and visited 30 other principalities. Halfway to Nalanda, Yi Jing fell sick and was unable to walk; gradually he was left behind by the group. He was looted by bandits and stripped naked. He heard the natives would catch white skins to offer sacrifice to the gods, so he jumped into mud and used leaves to cover his lower body; he walked slowly to Nalanda where he stayed 11 years. Faxian (pinyin, Chinese characters: 法顯, also romanized as Fa-Hien or Fa-hsien) (ca. ... See also: Xuanzang (fictional character) A portrait of Xuanzang Xuanzang (Chinese: 玄奘; Pinyin: Xuán Zàng; Wade-Giles: Hsüan-tsang; Cantonese IPA: jyn4tsɔŋ1; Cantonese Jyutping: jyun4zong1) (602-644/664) was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk. ... A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found in Sarnath, near Varanasi. ... (Simplified Chinese: 广州; Traditional Chinese: 廣州; pinyin: GuÇŽngzhōu; Wade-Giles: Kuang-chou; Postal System Pinyin: Canton) is the capital of Guangdong Province in southern China. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau (Irān - Land of the Aryans) and beyond. ... Map of Southeast Asia at end of 12th century. ... Location of Palembang Palembang is a city in the south of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. ... The Sanskrit language ( , ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. ... Map of ancient Melayu Kingdom. ... State motto: no State motto Capital Alor Star Royal Capital Anak Bukit Sultan Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Chief Minister Dato Hj Mahdzir Bin Khalid Area 9,426 km2 Population  - Est year 2003 1 778 188 State anthem Allah Selamatkan Sultan Mahkota Kedah (Jawi:قدح, pop. ... Shu may refer to: Scoville Heat Unit is a measurement of how hot a chile pepper is. ... Remains at Nalanda Nalanda is a historical place in central Bihar, India, 90 km south-east of the state capital of Patna. ...

Return home

Year 687 Yi Jing on his way back to Tang (China) stopped at Srivijaya, at that time Palembang was a centre of Buddhism where foreign scholars gathered, Yi Jing stayed there 2 years to translate original Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures to Chinese. In the year 689 he returned to Guangzhou to obtain ink and papers (note: Srivijaya then had no paper and ink) and returned again to Srivijaya the same year. In year 695, he completed all translation works and finally returnd back to Tang China at Luoyang, and received a grand welcome back by Empress Wu. His total journey took 25 years. He brought back some 400 Buddhist translated texts. 南海寄歸內法傳 & 大唐西域求法高僧傳(Account of Buddhism sent from the South Seas & Buddhist Monks Pilgrimage of Tang Dynasty) are two of Yi Jing's best travel diaries, content covered his adventurous journey to Srivijaya and India, society of India, lifestyles and many more. He translated more than 60 sutras into Chinese, including: Tang could refer to: Tang Dynasty of China Tang (Shang dynasty ruler) Transliteration of Chinese family names such as 唐,湯,鄧,é‚“,滕 Tang Clan of Hong Kong, the first inhabitants to leave China and settle in Hong Kong. ... Map of Southeast Asia at end of 12th century. ... Location of Palembang Palembang is a city in the south of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. ... Luoyang (Simplified Chinese: 洛阳; Traditional Chinese: 洛陽; pinyin: Luòyáng) is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Wu Zetian (武則天) (625 - December 16, 705), personal name Wu Zhao (武曌), was the only female emperor in the history of China, founding her own dynasty, the Zhou (周), and ruling under the name Emperor Shengshen (聖神皇帝) from 690 to 705. ...

• Saravanabhava Vinaya (一切有部毗奈耶)
• Avadana, i.e. stories of great deeds (譬喻經) in 710.
• Suvarnaprabhascottamaraja-sutra, i.e. Sutra of the Most Honored King (金光明最勝王經) in 703.

// Events End of the Asuka period, the second and last part of the Yamato period and beginning of the Nara period in Japan. ... Events Births Deaths Empress Jito of Japan In Other Fields 703 is the area code for telephone numbers in the Northern Virginia region of the United States. ...

Buddhism in Srivijaya

Yi Jing praises the high level of Buddhist scholarship in Srivijaya, he advised Chinese monks to study there prior to making the journey to Nalanda India.

"In the fortified city of Bhoga, Buddhist priests number more than 1,000, whose minds are bent on learning and good practice. They investigate and study all the subjects that exist just as in India; the rules and ceremonies are not at all different. If a Chinese priest wishes to go to the West in order to hear and read the original scriptures, he had better stay here one or two years and practice the proper rules...."

Yi Jing's visits to Srivijaya gave him the opportunity to meet with others who had come from other neighboring islands. According to him, the Javanese kingdom of Ho-ling was due east of the city of Bhoga at a distance that could be spanned by a 4-5 days journey by sea. He also wrote that Buddhism was flourishing throughout island Southeast Asia. "Many of the kings and chieftains in the islands of the Southern Sea admire and believe in Buddhism, and their hearts are set on accumulating good actions."

References

• Dutt S, Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India, with a complete translation of Yi Jing's book:Buddhist Pilgrim Monks of Tang Dynasty as an appendix. London, 1952.
• A Record of the Buddhist Religion : As Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago (A.D. 671-695)/I-Tsing. Translated by J. Takakusu. Reprint. New Delhi, AES, 2005, lxiv, 240 p., ISBN 81-206-1622-7. https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no43511.htm

See also

• I Ching
• Fa Xian
• XuanZang

Alternative meaning: I Ching (monk) The I Ching (Traditional Chinese: 易經, pinyin y jīng; Cantonese IPA: jɪk6gɪŋ1; Cantonese Jyutping: jik6ging1; alternative romanizations include I Jing, Yi Ching, Yi King) is the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. ... Faxian (pinyin, Chinese characters: 法顯, also romanized as Fa-Hien or Fa-hsien) (ca. ... See also: Xuanzang (fictional character) A portrait of Xuanzang Xuanzang (Chinese: 玄奘; Pinyin: Xuán Zàng; Wade-Giles: Hsüan-tsang; Cantonese IPA: jyn4tsɔŋ1; Cantonese Jyutping: jyun4zong1) (602-644/664) was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk. ...

External links

• Personal response to the writing of I Ching
• Translators in Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty
• http://www.buddhanet.net/bodh_gaya/bodh_gaya01.htm
• http://www.andaman.org/NICOBAR/book/history/prehistory+general/prehistory.htm
• http://www.iranchamber.com/culture/articles/iranian_cultural_impact_southeastasia.php
• http://www.symyi.com