Wukong (monk)
| Wukong | |
|---|---|
| Born | 730 CE Yunyang (蕓陽), in the district of Chang'an, China |
| Died | after 790 CE Chang'an, China |
| Occupation | Buddhist monk, traveller |
| Wukong | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 梧空 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 梧空 | ||||||||
|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Wukong |
| Wade–Giles | Wu-k'ung |
Wukong (Chinese: 梧空; Wade–Giles: Wu-k'ung; EFEO: Ou-k'ong; 730 to after 790 CE) was a Tang dynasty Chinese Buddhist monk. His earlier religious name was Fajie (Chinese: 法界) (Sanskrit: Dharmadhātu = 'Realm of the Dharma’.) His family name was Ju (Chinese: 車; Wade–Giles: Chü and his personal name was Che Fengzhao. He was descended from the 拓跋 (Tuoba) clan of the Xianbei - the Northern Wei dynasty which ruled China from 365 to 534 CE.
In 750 CE an embassy from the Kingdom of Jibin/Kāpīśi (罽賓國) in the north-east of modern Afghanistan, and adjoining Pakistan, arrived in the Chang'an asking for an alliance with China. Emperor Xuanzong (ruled 712 to 756) sent an official, Zhang Taoguang, with about forty men including Che Fengzhao (later Wukong) to go to Jibin and Wukong accompanied them from the capital, Chang'an, in 751.
The party followed the route taken by a Chinese army under General Gao Xianzhi in 747 from Kashgar. The route, as described in the biography of Wukong, is of great geographical and historical interest. From Kashgar (Sulei) they crossed the Pamir mountains (Congshan, literally, 'Onion Mountains') to Shighnan ('the kingdom of the five Chini'), on to Wakhan (Humi) and Yasin (Juwei), then through two small unidentified states (Helan and Lansuo) to Gilgit (Yehe) and then Uddiyana in the Swat valley (Wuzhangna or Wuchang) through two more unidentified kingdoms and the unidentified "Indus city" (Sindu) near the Indus River (Sindu). On the 15th March, 753 they finally reached Gandhara (Qiantuoluo), which is said to have been the eastern capital of Jibin. The king lived here in the winter to avoid the cold, and during the summer in Jibin itself to avoid the heat. After arriving in Gandhara, Wukong became very sick and so he stayed in the kingdom and did not return to China with the ambassador.
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Wikipedia