Skip to content

Dharma Documentaries

Dharma. Culture. Ecology.

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

Eminent Buddhists 1, Kumarajiva and Xuang Zang

Posted on August 31, 2018July 28, 2021 by Dharma Documentaries
First of four documentaries about eminent Buddhists in the old Chinese capital city (Mandarin, with English subtitles)

Eminent Buddhists 1, Kumarajiva and Xuang Zang

This is the first of four documentaries from Chinese Central Television’s Channel 9 in a series about Eminent Buddhists in Ancient Chang’an. (Part Two, Part Three and Four).

In this episode we see something of the life story of one of the greatest of Chinese translators, Ven. Kumarajiva, who was born in the kingdom of Kucha, which now lies in what is Xinjiang in western China.

At the young age of seven he was ordained and sent to India to study, returning to Kucha when he was twelve. By the age of twenty he was already a famous monk, with his own disciples.

Eventually he founded the Caotang Temple near the ancient capital Chang-an, and it was here that he did his main translation works, which included some of the most difficult of the philosophical works that had been written in the schools in India.

This film also begins the story of his most influential of the Chinese translators, Xuan Zang, a story that will be continued next week, when we see his travels and work on return. This part focuses on his writing of the A Record of the Western regions of the Tang Dynasty.

 

if this video is no longer available please leave a comment so I can update the page
(the comment is not published)

 

to see an album of stills click here

 

TAGS:
Dharma, Central Asia, China, Translators

3 thoughts on “Eminent Buddhists 1, Kumarajiva and Xuang Zang”

  1. Yap Pak Choong says:
    August 31, 2018 at 3:25 pm

    The ancient tribal state of Kucha is in the present day Xinjiang, which is a province in Westernmost China.

    Reply
    1. Anandajoti says:
      August 31, 2018 at 3:34 pm

      Thanks for the correction, included in the text above now.

      Reply
  2. Billi Lim says:
    December 16, 2020 at 3:17 pm

    The video is very good. You must make sure that the Amitabha Sutra , and connect it with Master Shandao , his experience and his mastery of Amitabha Sutra…He reached enlightenment. In this Dharma ending age, we must convert all who has a bit of Buddhism knowledge to
    Recite Namo Amitofo , and to be born in
    the pureland…to reach buddhahood. The
    Dharma door of reciting is the last method we have . “This Dharma is most
    difficult to believe , extremely difficult, really hard to believe,” says Sakyamuni
    Buddha. In order that they believed these
    words by our own historical Buddha, your
    Connection to it is very important. Other
    Method won’t really work. We all must reach the stage of being reborned in the pureland to learn to become the Buddha. It’s now 2,600 years after the Buddha goes into stillness. Kamarajiva said “Everything is made from the true mind alone. ”
    Amitofo
    Gou Soon

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Anandajoti Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe to our Feed

Subscribe by Email

Email


Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/3oo

Donations

This site has taken more than a dozen years and 1000s of hours to build, and has 800+ documentaries on it. If you would like to help, you can do so here. Even small amounts make a difference.


Donations in Litecoin can be sent to:
LQZ9fVHF3wL6ihwEUcRFiCpcD7f2dfd3Kp

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Rights

Popular Posts

  • The Freedom of being a Buddhist Nun
  • Bright and Shining Mind in a Disabled Body
  • The Leshan Giant Buddha Statue
  • The Silk Road Series 7/16: Khotan-Oasis of Silk and Jade
  • David Eckel: Buddhism 3-4 of 24
  • The Tibetan Oracles
  • The Mountain Yogi, Lama Govinda
  • Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: The Untold Truth
  • Indian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism
  • Avalokiteshvara (Chinese Movie)

Recent Posts

  • Milked, White Lies in Dairy Land
  • Return to the Wolves
  • A Simple Life (Thai Monasticism)
  • A Monk’s Life (Thailand)
  • The Path of Ordination
  • The Making of a Novice Monk (Wat Ban Khun)
  • The Sacred Journey
  • A Different Pilgrimage 3, Cambodia
  • A Different Pilgrimage 2, Indonesia
  • A Different Pilgrimage 1, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam

Random Posts

  • Reconstructing the Ruined Buddhist Complex of Banteay Chhmar
  • Devour the Earth
  • Forbidden City, Beijing (Expoza)
  • China Cultural Heritage: The Epic of King Gesar
  • Cambodia, the Water Kingdom
  • Enlightened, an unauthorised story of the Dalai Lama
  • Bagan, Myanmar (Expoza)
  • Secrets of Shangri-La: Quest for Sacred Caves
  • Angkor (Access 360 World Heritage)
  • Mysteries of Ban Chiang (Folkways of Indochina)

Related Posts

  • Dunhuang, Edge of the World 5, Hong Bian
  • Dunhuang, Edge of the World 2, Cang Ci
  • Dunhuang, Edge of the World 1, Ban Chao
  • Eternal Smiles, Buddhist Sculptures of China
  • The Mystery of Bezeklik
  • Hermits, Modern Chinese Practitioners
  • China's Frozen Desert
  • The Silk Road Series 44, From Wasteland to Motherland
  • Colin Thubron, The Silk Road
  • Eminent Buddhists 3-4, Yijing and the West Market
© 2022 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme