Dao'an

Dao'an
道安
File:Daoan.jpg
Personal life
Born	312 Jizhou District, Hengshui, Hebei, China
Died	385 (aged 72–73) Chang'an, Shaanxi, China
Nationality	Chinese
Religious life
Religion	Buddhism
Temple	White Horse Temple Tanxi Temple Wuchong Temple (379–385)
Dharma names	Dao'an
Senior posting
Teacher	Fotucheng (佛圖澄)
Students Huiyuan Huichi

Dao'an (Chinese: 道安; pinyin: Dào'ān; Wade–Giles: Tao-an; 312–385) was a Buddhist monk, author and bibliographer, during the Eastern Jin dynasty. He was from what is now Hebei. His main importance was that of overseer of translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese, organizer of the Chinese sangha, author of exegetical works and compiler of the most important early catalogue of Chinese Buddhist translation in 374. Although this catalogue is itself lost, Sengyou reproduces much of it in his catalogue (T2145) completed in 515.

Dao'an is thought of as the founder of the cult of Maitreya in China.

Life

According to his traditional biography, after the loss of his parents he was raised by an elder cousin. Dao'an left home to join the monastic order at twelve. Ca. 335 CE he visited Linzhang and became a disciple of the famous Kuchean monk and missionary Fotudeng (232–348).One of his disciples was the monk Huiyuan, whose teachings inspired Pure Land Buddhism. He was active in Xiangyang until the Former Qin ruler Fu Jian captured the city in 379 and brought Dao'an to Chang'an. He spent the last years of life translating and interpreting scripture as well as compiling a catalogue of scriptures. He also advocated that all monks and nuns take Shi 釋 as a surname, from the first character of Gautama Buddha's title in Chinese, Shìjiāmóuní (Chinese: 釋迦牟尼 "Śākyamuni").

External links

• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (log in with userID "guest")
• Dao´An, Encyclopædia Britannica Online