Fotu Cheng
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Template:Buddhism and China Fotu Cheng (Sanskrit: Buddhacinga?; Template:Zh) (ca. 232–348 CE[1]) was a Buddhist monk and missionary from Kucha. He studied in Kashmir and came to Luoyang in 310 CE, and was active in the spread of Buddhism in China.[1]
Life
Early life
Fotu Cheng came from Kucha in Central Asia to China in 310 CE and propagated Buddhism widely. He is said to have demonstrated many spiritual powers and was able to convert the warlords in this region of China over to Buddhism.[2] He succeeded in converting the Jie warlord Shi Le and became his closest advisor as he founded the Later Zhao dynasty in 319 CE. Fotu Cheng uttered the only phrase that reached us in the Jie language, cited in connection with Shi Le's successful war against Liu Yao of Former Zhao in 328 CE, and recorded in the Chinese annals in Chinese transcription with a Chinese translation.[3] This phrase was analyzed in several publications.[4][5][6][7][8]
As a teacher of meditation
Fotu Cheng is well known for his teaching methods of meditation, especially ānāpānasmṛti ("mindfulness of breathing"). Fotu Cheng widely taught ānāpānasmṛti through methods of counting breaths, so as to temper the breathing, simultaneously focusing the mind into a state of peaceful meditative concentration (Skt. samādhi).[9] By teaching meditation methods as well as doctrine, Fotu Cheng popularized Buddhism quickly. According to Nan Huai-Chin, "Besides all its theoretical accounts of emptiness and existence, Buddhism also offered methods for genuine realization of spiritual powers and meditative concentration that could be relied upon. This is the reason that Buddhism began to develop so vigorously in China with Fotu Cheng."[9]
Legacy and successors
Eventually, Fotu Cheng became a Later Zhao government official under Shi Hu, who allowed him to found a great number of Buddhist temples. Among his disciples were Dao An, Zhu Faya, Zhu Fatai, Fa-he and Fa-ch'ang. These disciples had a great impact on Buddhism in China, and continued to revere the memory of their teacher. In his history of China, John Keay writes:[10]
See also
References
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- ↑ a b Buswell, Robert. Lopez, Donald. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. 2013. p. 304
- ↑ Nan, Huai-Chin. Basic Buddhism: Exploring Buddhism and Zen. 1997. pp. 80-81
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Vol. 95, pp. 12b-13a.
- ↑ Ramstedt G.J., "Zur Frage nach der Stellung des Tschuwassischen" (On the question of the position of the Chuvash), JSFOu 38, 1922, pp. 1on
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1". p. 264.
- ↑ Shervashidze I.N. "Verb forms in the language of the Turkic runiform inscriptions", Tbilisi, 1986, pp. 3-9
- ↑ a b Nan, Huai-Chin. Basic Buddhism: Exploring Buddhism and Zen. 1997. p. 81
- ↑ Keay, John. China: A History. 2009. pp. 207-208
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