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Jian Zhen's Travel to Japan

The sitting statue of Jian Zhen in Japan's Toshodai Temple
During the golden years (between the 7th-8th centuries) of theTang Dynasty(618-907), China's economy and national power reached a new high, which led to unprecedented prosperity in the friendly relations and cultural exchanges between China and Japan.

In order to learn of the political system and the profound culture of the Tang Dynasty, Japan sent various envoys -- including students, monks, and scholars as well as knowledgeable intellectuals -- to China by sea many times.

Chinese envoys also sailed to Japan for cultural exchanges, among whom Monk Jian Zhen made the most significant contributions in the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.

Surnamed Chunyu, Jian Zhen was born in 688 in today'sYangzhouCity of East China'sJiangsu Province. He began to studyBuddhismat age 14 in Yangzhou's DayunTemple. Under the guidance of his teacher, Jian Zhen became well versed not only in Buddhism, but also in literature, art, medicine, and architecture.

In 713, Jian Zhen, who by that time had become a renowned Buddhism master, went back to Yangzhou to preach Buddhism, attracting a following of around 40,000. Besides, he also organized the transcription of over 33,000 rolls of scriptures, and designed more than 80 temples and monasteries. Many Japanese monks studying Buddhism in China highly admired him.

In 742，two Japanese monks studying Buddhism in China made a special trip to Yangzhou to invite Jian Zhen to do missionary work in Japan, which was also the wish of the Japanese Government．The next year, Jian Zhen, then 55, together with some of his disciples and some artisans, started off for Japan by sea。

During the next ten or so years, they made six attempts to cross the sea，but almost all ended in failure due either to governmental interference or natural disasters.

The sea route taken by Jian Zhen
In the fifth attempt in 748, the fatigue and hardship endured during the long journey on land and at sea inflicted a heavy toll on them．Jian Zhen became blind after this trip, while Eiei，one of the Japanese monks accompanying him，died of disease．Still,JianZhen's determination to go to Japan remained firm．

Undeterred by his blindness, Jian Zhen made the sixth attempt five years later at the age of 66. On October 19, 753, he left fromLongxing Templein Yangzhou and started off for Japan from Huangsipu inSuzhou(in East China's Jiangsu Province) on a ship of the Japanese envoys to China. On December 20, the determined blind monk finally set his foot on Japan's land, despite having experienced enormous hardship, hence at last achieving his dream of preaching Buddhism in Japan．

Forty days later, Jian Zhen and his entourage arrived in Nara, the then capital of Japan, and were welcomed by the whole country headed by the Japanese Emperor.

Jian Zhen lived in Japan for ten years until his death in 763 at the age of 76 in Nara，Japan．Jian Zhen passed away in Japan's Toshodai Temple, where a sitting statue of him is still well kept.

During his ten-year stay in Japan, he not only preached Buddhism but also imparted his knowledge about Chinese medicine，language，literature，architecture，sculpture,calligraphy, andprintingto the Japanese people, thereby contributing greatly to the cultural exchanges and development between China and Japan．

Entrusted by Jian Zhen's disciples, a famous writer of the Nara Era (710-784) wrote a book, which recorded the hardships of Jian Zhen's six attempts to cross the sea, enabling later generations to understand both China and Japan's shipbuilding and navigation technologies during the Tang Dynasty.