China | Buddhism Teachers

Master Shandao

Shandao (Shan-tao, 613-681) was born at Suzhou in the present Anhui Province. When young, he entered the priesthood and devoted himself to the study of the Larger Sūtra of Amitābha and the Vimalakīrti Sūtra. One day he saw a painting of the Pure Land, which led him to aspire for it. He visited Mt. Lu and other places to study and practice the Pure Land

Shandao | Biography

Shandao (613–681) was an eminent Buddhist scholar and major figure in the Chinese Pure Land (Jingtu) movement. His writings had a strong influence on later Pure Land masters including Hōnen and Shinran in Japan. Shandao (Shan-tao, 613-681) was born at Suzhou in the present Anhui Province (according to another tradition, Zhucheng in the Shandong Province) and was ordained while still a youth.,

Xuanzang statue | Wild Goose Pagoda

Xuanzang (fl. 602 – 664), also known as Hsüan-tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645, his efforts to bring over 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts. Author of Great Tang Records on the Western Regions

Faxian travels statue

Faxian (337 – c. 422) was a Chinese Buddhist monk, translator, and the earliest successful Chinese Buddhist pilgrim to India. After being fully ordained at the age of 20, Faxian recognized that the Buddhist monastic rules (the Vinaya) available in China at the time were incomplete and confused and thus vowed to journey to India to search for Vinaya texts. A party of 5 monks