Jianzhen

Jianzhen (688–763), also known by his Japanese name Ganjin (Japanese pronunciation: [ɡaꜜɲ.dʑiɴ]¹), was a Tang Chinese monk who helped to propagate Buddhism in Japan. In the eleven years from 743 to 754, Jianzhen attempted to visit Japan some six times, arriving in the year 753 and founding Tōshōdai-ji in Nara. When he finally succeeded on his sixth attempt, he had lost his eyesight as a result of an infection acquired during his journeys, although Fukushima Giichi, a Japanese expert in the history of ophthalmology, suggested that he may have suffered from age related cataracts ². Jianzhen's life story and voyage are described in the scroll, "The Sea Journey to the East of a Great Bonze from the Tang Dynasty."³

Life

Jianzhen was born in Jiangyin county in Guangling Prefecture (present day Yangzhou), China, with the surname of Chunyu (淳于). At the age of fourteen, he became a disciple of Dayun Temple (大云寺). At twenty he travelled to Chang'an for study and returned six years later, eventually becoming abbot of Daming Temple. Besides his learning in the Tripiṭaka, Jianzhen is also said to have been an expert in medicine. He opened the Buddhist temple as a place of healing, creating the Beitian Court (悲田院)—a hospital within Daming Temple.

In autumn 742, an emissary from Japan invited Jianzhen to lecture in Japan.⁴ Despite protests from his disciples, Jianzhen made preparations and in spring 743 was ready for the long voyage across the to Japan. The crossing failed and in the following years, Jianzhen made three more attempts but was thwarted by unfavourable conditions or government intervention.