Kumarajiva and Kucha in His Time

Abstract

Of Kumarajiva (c. 400), outstanding translator of Buddhist texts into Chinese, especially of the Mahayana tradition, is known to us only from Chinese sources. This article collects such information as is available about his antecedents and youth during which he turned into a brilliant scholar of Buddhist doctrine at Kucha (Xinjiang). His family background explains his deviations from a monk’s conduct at the very time he rendered undying service to Mahayana Buddhism in China.