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Kasyapa Matanga

Indian monk said to have come to Luoyang under Emperor Ming and to have translated the Sutra in Forty-two Sections

Also known as Matanga · Shemoteng

Kasyapa Matanga, also written Shemoteng, was a monk from central India. Huijiao's Biographies of Eminent Monks says that when Emperor Ming of Han sent Cai Yin and others to India for the Buddhist teaching, he came to Luoyang at their request, and the emperor housed him outside the west gate, the later White Horse Temple; tradition says a white horse carried the scriptures and images, giving the temple its name. An old record cited there credits him with the Sutra in Forty-two Sections. He died in Luoyang. His dates are unrecorded; tradition puts his arrival in 67.

Life and times

  1. 1 CEBornHan
  2. 68Arrival of Buddhism in ChinaTook partEmperor Ming welcoming Indian monks on white horses, establishing White Horse Temple and Chinese Buddhism.
  3. 73 CEDied
  4. 300Buddhism Spreading EastPrecursorBuddhist monks and texts reached Han lands through Central Asia; translation and monasteries gradually embedded the new religion in local society.

Works

  1. Literature · Prose1
    1. Sutra of Forty-Two SectionsHanBuddhist sayings credited to Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna, held the first sutra in Chinese

Connections

  1. Shared events2
    1. Xiao Yan464 CE–549 CE
    2. Emperor Ming of Han28 CE–75 CE
  2. Interactions2
    1. DharmaratnaPhysical: Travelled to Luoyang together · 1 CE–75 CEArrival of Buddhism in China
    2. Cai YinPhysical: Travelled to Luoyang together · 20 CE–80 CEArrival of Buddhism in China

Records

Kasyapa Matanga comes to Luoyang and translates scripture

Eastern Han (years not given)

The Biographies of Eminent Monks says Kasyapa Matanga was a native of Central India, of dignified bearing, who understood both Mahayana and Hinayana scriptures and made roaming and teaching his work. After the court sent the Palace Attendant Cai Yin and others to India in search of the Buddhist teaching, he vowed to spread it, braved the hardships, crossed the desert sands and reached Luoyang. A lodge was built for him outside the west gate of the city, and the place where he lived was, in the biographer's day, the White Horse Temple outside Yong Gate. He translated the Sutra in Forty-two Sections in one scroll and died in Luoyang not long after.

References (1)