The Indian Buddhist Missionary Dharmaksema (385-433): A New Dating of his Arrival in Guzang and of his Translations.

The important Indian Buddhist missionary Dharmašema (385-433) spent most of his time in China at Guzang...(present-day Wuwei..., Gansu), the capital city of the Northern Liang (397-439). Scholars are divided as to the date of his arrival in Guzang. What is at stake here is not merely how to pin down the most critical turning point in the career of this significant figure, or to date a number of Buddhist translations prepared under his direction, but also how to understand some central aspects of the state-church relationship in the Northern Liang, which had far-reaching impact on north China after it was unified by the Northern Wei rulers in 439. In addition to proposing a new solution to this thorny issue, this article also intends to show that an appropriate understanding of some events and figures important in Chinese Buddhism may well hinge on an apparently trivial philological conundrum. It also underscores the necessity and worthwhileness of closely reading monastic materials against secular ones when we are addressing certain issues which might appear to be purely monastic ones at first glance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]