Chinese Buddhist honored in Sri Lanka

In memory of Master Fa Xian, a Buddhist monk who lived more than 1,600 years ago, an international cultural conference was held at the Sri Lankan Parliament Building on August 28, 2019, to commemorate his contribution to China-Sri Lanka cultural exchange and the Maritime Silk Road.

The international conference was attended by Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka, Cheng Xueyuan, Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka, and official representatives from Sri Lanka’s ministries and delegates of Buddhist organizations.

According to Camini Jayawickrama Perera, minister of Buddhasasa and Wayamba Development of Sri Lanka, the bronze statue of Master Fa Xian is the only statue of a foreign Buddhist figure standing in Sri Lanka’s Buddhist temple.

Master Fa Xian was born during the fourth century, the time of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), when Buddhism enjoyed an imperial favor seldom equaled in Chinese history. He was stirred by a profound faith to go to India in order to visit the sites of the Buddha’s life and to bring back Buddhist texts that were still unknown in China.

On return from his pilgrimage, instead of once more taking the overland route, he took the sea route sailing to Sri Lanka (called Ceylon then), at the time flourishing hotbed for Buddhist studies.

He stayed there for two years, visiting several places of worship and studying Buddhist literature before sailing back to China along the ancient maritime Silk Road. His journey was described in A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms, in which he noted down the local customs and practices and Buddhist development in Sri Lanka.