Zhi Qian

Of all the translators to take part in the study of Buddhist texts during this period, Zhi Qian has been described as the "most versatile" and "most prolific".

Life

Zhi Qian was born in Luoyang to a notable family of Yuezhi origin. The medieval biographer, Sengyou, stated that Zhi Qian's grandfather was a Yuezhi named Fadu who along with "several hundreds" of his fellow countrymen, submitted himself before Emperor Ling of Han. As a reward "he was honored [by the Han court with the title] shuai shan zhonglang jiang (率善中郎將)".

At an early age Zhi Qian became a disciple of Zhi Liang, who in turn had been a disciple of the famous translator of Mahāyāna scriptures, Lokakṣema (fl. c. 168–189 CE), who was likewise of Yuezhi ancestry. Toward the end of the Han dynasty, as chaos spread throughout the north, Zhi Qian migrated with several dozens of his countrymen to the southern Wu kingdom. Settling first at Wuchang, then in Jianye after 229 CE. According to the earliest extant biography, contained in Sengyou's Chu sanzang ji ji, completed c. 518 CE, the Wu ruler, Sun Quan was so impressed with Zhi Qian's abilities that he appointed him tutor to the crown prince.

Toward the end of his life, Zhi Qian became an upāsaka, taking the five lay precepts and retiring to a monastic environment in the mountains. When he died at the age of sixty (in 252 CE or shortly after), the Wu ruler of the time, Sun Liang, is said to have written a letter to the monastic community mourning his death.