Countless remains of Buddhist monasteries, large statues, and various Buddhist stu-pas survived from this era.. From Peshawar, Buddhist culture, religion, and art were spread to the Far
Trang 1the human form While exquisite pieces of art from 50
b.c.e to 400 c.e survived, probably the most
recog-nizable is the Fasting Buddha, which depicts a
meditat-ing Buddha whose bones are literally exposed due to
his starvation
The golden age of Gandhara took place during the
rule of the Kushans Countless remains of Buddhist
monasteries, large statues, and various Buddhist
stu-pas survived from this era The Kushan monarch
Kan-ishka (128–151 c.e.) ruled his kingdom from
Pesha-war in Gandhara The empire stretched from southern
India to the border of Han China From Peshawar,
Buddhist culture, religion, and art were spread to the
Far East
After 241 c.e Gandhara became a vassal of the
Sassanians Until the fifth century it remained a center
of culture, artistic activity, and commerce This period
was marked by the production of giant statues of the
Buddha that were carved into mountainsides and other
large statues that were placed in monasteries By the
middle of the fifth century the Huns invaded Gandhara,
and the culture slid into a period of decay Buddhism
fell into decline, while some practice of Hinduism
resur-faced The Sassanids drove out the Huns in the middle
of the sixth century
Even though the Sassanid Empire came under the
control of Islam after 644, the Arabs seemed to have
little interest in Gandhara Buddhism continued there
under Turkish rule until the area’s conquest by
Hindu-shahi around 870 The HinduHindu-shahi capital was moved
to Udabhandapura in Gand, and the kingdom once
again prospered, at least through the early part of the
Middle Ages Around 1021 the region was taken over
by Muslim leaders, and the kingdom of Gandhara was
absorbed into the Islamic world British archaeologists
revived interest in the history of the region in the
mid-19th century
See also Kushan Empire
Further reading: Dani, A H Gandhara Art of Pakistan
Peshawar, Pakistan: University of Peshawar, 1968; Dani,
A H., and V M Mason, eds History of Civilizations
of Central Asia Paris: UnESCo, 1992–2005;
Geoffroy-Schneiter, Berenice Gandhara: The Memory of
Afghani-stan new York: Assouline, 2001; Hussain, J An
Illus-trated History of Pakistan oxford: oxford University
Press, 1983; Salmon, Richard Ancient Buddhist Scrolls
from Gandhara Seattle: University of Washington Press,
1999
Tim Davis
Ganjin
(688–763 c.e.) Buddhist monk
Ganjin traveled to Japan to spread the Buddhist faith
He was born in the Chinese county of Jiangyin in Guangling (Yangzhou, Jiangsu) His name in Chinese
is Jianzhenis (Chien-chen); Ganjin is the Japanese ver-sion He entered the Buddhist temple of Daming at the age of 14 He studied at Chang’an (Ch’ang-an) for six years, starting at the age of 20 He then returned to the Daming Temple where he eventually became the abbot
of the temple He also trained in medicine and opened
a hospital, the Beitian Court, at the Daming Temple
In 732 c.e the Japanese government sent an emissary
to China, including two priests searching for a precept transmitter to come to Japan In 742 they met with Ganjin and his followers none of Ganjin’s followers was willing to go, so he decided to go himself The crossing from China to Japan across the East China Sea was dangerous, and it took six tries before Ganjin reached Japan in 753 During the fifth attempt, he lost his eyesight
Ganjin was welcomed at the Japanese capital in
754 That summer, in front of the Great Buddha Hall
at Todai-ji, a ceremony was held in which the retired emperor Shomu, the empress dowager Komyo, the reigning empress Koken, and 440 clergy received the precepts An order was issued to build a precept hall and living quarters for Ganjin Ganjin’s arrival in Japan brought the transmission of the precept, in Japan, back toward a more orthodox way of doing it
In 756 Ganjin was appointed to the bureau of
cler-gy, which controlled the issuing of certificates for ordi-nation The Japanese viewed protecting the nation as part of the clergy’s mission The Japanese government expected the priests to work in support of the nation’s prosperity The fact that Ganjin, who was Chinese, was appointed to the bureau speaks volumes about his skill and the level of his understanding of the Bud-dhist religion Ganjin resigned from the bureau in 758 and returned to training priests Ganjin continued to teach up until his death on June 22, 763 He is con-sidered one of the founding fathers of Sino-Japanese medicine
See also Buddhism in China
Further reading: Hanayama, Shinsho A History of Japanese
Buddhism Trans by Kosho Yamamoto Tokyo: Bukkyo
Dendo Kyokai, 1960; Kashiwahara, Yusen, and Koyu
Sono-da Shapers of Japanese Buddhism Translated by Gaynor
Sekimori Tokyo: Ksei Publishing, 1994; Tamura, Yoshiro