The Thai Translation of biography of Kang senghui in Gāosēng zhuàn (1)

Invoking on the Relics of Buddha in the Time of Sūn Quán During the Three Kingdoms Period

Abstract

The Gāosēng zhuàn, or Lives of Eminent Monks, written around 530 A.D. by the monk Huìjiǎo (慧皎), is one of the most important works dealing with the history of Chinese Buddhism from 67-519 A.D. The scripture contains 257 biographies of prominent monks as well as more than 200 biographies of subordinate monks and upāsakas. These biographies are divided into ten categories, the first of which – the one that contains 35 biographies of great contributors to translating the Sutra – Huìjiǎo placed great emphasis on. The authors attempt to study one of the figures in this category, i.e. Kāng Sēnghuì, who lived in the Three Kingdoms period. Kāng Sēnghuì’s biography was detailed in the periods of two different rulers: during the reign of Sūn Quàn, and during the reign of Sūn Hào.

In this paper, the authors focus on the study and translation of Kāng Sēnghuì’s biography during the reign of Sūn Quàn. The study found that before Kāng Sēnghuì began translating the scripture to diffuse the Buddha's teachings, he was determined to found the first Buddhist temple in Jiànyè (建鄴), and devoted his life to invoking the Buddha’s relics to gain official ermission from Sūn Quán to construct the temple, stupa, and to propagate the Buddhist teachings.