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Jianzhen (鑒真; 688 – 763), born with the surname Chunyu (淳于),[1] was a Chinese monk who helped to propagate Buddhism in Japan. He was a friend of the poet Abe no Nakamaro.
Biography[]
Jianzhen was born in Guangyang (江陽) in modern-day Jiangsu province. At the age of fourteen, he left home to join Dayun Temple (大雲寺) to become a monk, and at eighteen, he took his Bodhisattva vows with the monk Dao'an (道岸) and devoted himself to the studies of Risshū Buddhism. At the age of twenty-one, Jianzhen was ordained into the ascetic tradition of upasampadā in Chang'an and spent the next six years [citation needed] travelling between the capital and Luoyang for research into the Tripiṭaka. Afterwards, he returned to his hometown and became a teacher of Risshū at Daming Temple, becoming a famed instructor of the monastic commandments in and around the Jianghuai region.[1]
In 742, the first year of the Tianbao Era, after receiving an invitation from Japanese monks Yoei and Fushō, Jianzhen sought to travel east to Japan with his disciples and made a total of five failed attempts to do so between 742 and 748.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Jianzhen is a character in Assassin's Creed: Dynasty who has only been mentioned in the letters of Abe no Nakamaro for his pivotal role in protecting the śarīra.
Background information about his life is given in the special issue of Volume 1: The Flower Banquet, originally written in Chinese. However, Tokyopop's English edition states that Chunyu was his "former name", which can be considered a mistranslation since it suggests that it was his original given name. The original text specifically states that it was his "secular surname", i.e. his family name prior to becoming a monk. The English edition also mistakenly states that his hometown of Guangyang is in "present-day Jiangsu, Yangzhou", as though Jiangsu is the city and Yangzhou the province, a confusion stemming from Chinese convention being to order larger political units before smaller political units.
Appearances[]
References[]
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