Biographies of Eminent Priests of the Great T'ang Dynasty Who Sought the Law in the Western Regions, The
Biographies of Eminent Priests of the Great T'ang Dynast Who Sought the Law in the Western Regions, The
大唐西域求法高僧伝 (Chin Ta-t’ang-hsi-yy-ch’iu-fa-kao-seng-chuan; Jpn Daito-saiiki-guho-koso-den )
Also known as The Biographies of Eminent Priests Who Sought the Law in the Western Regions and The Biographies of Eminent Priests Who Sought the Law. A collection of biographies of sixty priests of the T'ang dynasty in China who journeyed to Central Asia}} or India in the seventh century in search of Buddhist scriptures and teachings. This work, completed by the Chinese pilgrim Iching in 691 before his return to China, also contains the record of his own travels in India and other southern countries. Because of his reverence for Fa-hsien and Hsüan-tsang, who had journeyed to India in search of the Buddha's teachings in the fifth and seventh centuries, respectively, Iching left Canton in 671 and journeyed to India by sea. In 695 he returned to Lo-yang with numerous Sanskrit scriptures. Iching's work is highly esteemed because of descriptions it contains of the religions and circumstances of India and the other countries south of China.
