Lokaksema (Ch: 支谶, Zhi Chan).

Lokaksema (Ch: 支娄迦谶 Zhi Loujiachan， sometimes abbreviated 支谶 Zhi Chan), born around 147 CE, The name "Lokaksema" translates into 'welfare of the world' in Sanskrit. He is the earliest known Buddhist monk to have translated Mahayana Buddhist scriptures into the Chinese language. Yuezhi Buddhist monk Lokaksema (c. ... Yuezhi Buddhist monk Lokaksema (c. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Events First year of Jianhe of the Chinese Han Dynasty Births Deaths Categories: 147 ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ... Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ... Relief image of the bodhisattva Guan Yin (Avalokitesvara) from Mt. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ...

Origins

Lokaksema was a Kushan of Yuezhi ethnicity from Gandhara. His ethnicity is described in his adopted Chinese name by the prefix Zhi (Ch:支), abbreviation of Yuezhi (Ch:月支). As a Yuezhi, his native tongue was a version of Tocharian, an Indo-European language. Boundary of the Kushan empire, c. ... The migrations of the Yuezhi through Central Asia, from around 176 to 30 BCE. Yuezhi (Chinese 月氏; Wade-Giles: Yüeh-Chih) or Da Yuezhi (Chinese 大月氏, Great Yuezhi) is the Chinese name for an ancient Central Asian people. ... Buddhas First Sermon at Sarnath, Kushan Period, ca. ... Tocharian refers to an Indo-European culture that inhabited the Tarim basin in what is now Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwestern Peoples Republic of China. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ...

He was born in Gandhara at a time when Buddhism was actively sponsored by the Kushan king Kanishka, who convened the Fourth Buddhist Council. The Council probably marked the official recognition of the pantheistic Mahayana Buddhism and its scission with Nikaya Buddhism, opening the way to prozelitism by monks such as Lokaksema. Second century Gandhara was also a center of Greco-Buddhist art, a fusion of Buddhist and Hellenistic influences. Gold coin of Kanishka I with a representation of the Buddha (c. ... // 1st Buddhist council (5th century BC) The first Buddhist council was held soon after the death of the Buddha under the patronage of king Ajatasatru, and presided by a monk named Mahakasyapa, at Rajagaha (todays Rajgir). ... Pantheism literally means God is All and All is God. It is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent God; or that the universe, or nature, and God are equivalent. ... Relief image of the bodhisattva Guan Yin (Avalokitesvara) from Mt. ... Nikaya Buddhism is a general term for those schools of Buddhism that accept only the class of sutras collected in the Pāli Canon as authentic. ... Gandhara Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE. Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century... Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ... The term Hellenistic (established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen) in the history of the ancient world is used to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, however scattered geographically, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance...

Lokaksema came from Gandhara to the court of the Han dynasty at the capital Loyang as early as 150 and worked there between 178 and 189. A Prolific scholar monk, many early translations of important Mahāyāna texts in China are attributed to him, including the Daoxing banruo jing 道行般若經, Banzhou sanmei jing 般舟三昧經, Ashe shiwang jing 阿闍世王經, Za biyu jing 雜譬喩經, Shou lengyan jing 首楞嚴經, Wuliang qingjing pingdeng jue jing 無量淸淨平等覺經, and the Baoji jing 寶積經.
Han commanderies and kingdoms AD 2. ... Luoyang (Simplified Chinese: 洛阳; Traditional Chinese: 洛陽; pinyin: Luòyáng) is a city in Henan province, China. ... For other uses, see number 150. ... Events First condemnation of the Montanist heresy Last (7th) year of Xiping era and start of Guanghe era of the Chinese Han Dynasty. ... Events Pope Victor I succeeds Pope Eleuterus The Prince of Hongnong succeeds Han Lingdi as Chinese emperor of Han Dynasty Dong Zhuo has the Prince of Hongnong poisoned and installs Han Xiandi as emperor. ...

Dictionary References
Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) p.287b/319
Fo Guang Shan Dictionary, p. 1416
Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa), p. 569
Index to the Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono), p. 341
Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki)(v.1-6), p. 2858a

Activity in China

Lokaksema's work includes the translation of the Pratyutpanna Sutra, containing the first known mentions of the Buddha Amitabha and his Pure Land, said to be at the origin of Pure Land practice in China, and the first known translations of the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (The "Astasahasrikaprajnaparamita Sutras", or "Perfection of Wisdom Sutras of the practice of the Way", a part of the "Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 lines"), a founding text of Mahayana Buddhism. The Pratyutpanna Sutra (also Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra, lit. ... The Big Buddha or Daibatsu in Kamakura, an image of Amitabha Amitābha (阿彌陀佛 Ch. ... The Buddha Amitabha, 13th century, Kamakura, Japan. ... The Buddha Amitabha, 13th century, Kamakura, Japan. ... Perfection of Wisdom is a translation of the Sanskrit term prajñā pāramitā (Hanzi. ...

Lokaksema's translation activities, as well as those of the Parthians An Shih Kao and An Hsuan slightly earlier, or the Yuezhi Dharmaraksa (around 286 CE) illustrate the key role Central Asians had in propagating the Buddhist faith to the countries of Eastern Asia. Reproduction of a Parthian warrior as depicted on Trajans Column The Parthian Empire was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BCE and 224 CE. Origins Bust of Parthian soldier, Esgh-abad Museum, Turkmenia. ... An Shih-kao (?-~170) (安世高; pinyin Ān Shígāo) was a prince of Parthia that renounced his throne in order to serve as a Buddhist missionary monk. ... The migrations of the Yuezhi through Central Asia, from around 176 to 30 BCE. Yuezhi (Chinese 月氏; Wade-Giles: Yüeh-Chih) or Da Yuezhi (Chinese 大月氏, Great Yuezhi) is the Chinese name for an ancient Central Asian people. ... Dharmaraksa (Ch: 竺法护, Zhu Fahu) was one of the greatest translators of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. ...

Another Yuezhi monk and one of Lokaksema's students named Zhi Yao (Ch:支曜)，translated Mahayana Buddhist texts from Central Asian around 185 CE, such as the "Sutra on the Completion of Brightness" (Ch:成具光明经 Chengiu guangming jing).

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Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived between approximately 566 and 486 BCE in India. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Several Buddhist terms and concepts lack direct translations into English that cover the breadth of the original term. ... The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present, starting with the birth of the Buddha Siddharta Gautama. ... An image of Gautama Buddha with a swastika, traditionally a Buddhist symbol of good luck, on his chest. ... Buddhist beliefs and practices vary according to region. ... The percentage of Buddhist population of each country was taken from the US State Departments International Religious Freedom Report 2004 [1]. Other sources used were CIA Factbook [2] and adherents. ... Contents: Top - A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z The following is a List of Buddhist topics: A Abhidharma Ahimsa Ajahn Ajahn Chah Ajanta Aksobhya Alexandra David-Néel Amara Sinha B... // Before Common Era Trad. ... The Buddhist temple Wat Chiang Man, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which dates from the late 13th century Buddhist temples and monasteries, sorted by location. ... There is great variety in Buddhist texts. ... The cultural elements of Buddhism vary by region and include: Buddhist cuisine Buddhist art Buddharupa Art and architecture of Japan Greco-Buddhism Tibetan Buddhist sacred art Buddhist music Buddhist chant Shomyo Categories: Buddhism-related stubs ...

See also

• History of Buddhism
• Buddhist texts
• Silk Road transmission of Buddhism

The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present, starting with the birth of the Buddha Siddharta Gautama. ... There is great variety in Buddhist texts. ... Blue-eyed Central Asian and East-Asian Buddhist monks, Bezaklik, Eastern Tarim Basin, 9th-10th century. ...

References:

"Religions of the Silk Road" Richard C.Foltz ISBN 0312233388