Kumarajiva

• Born: 350
• Died: c. 409

Kumarajiva was one of a number of early translators of Buddhist texts into Chinese. Originally from Central Asia, he first came to Chang'an in 401, and directed a thousand monks in the project of translating a number of texts. Among these were works which significantly introduced Madhyamika ideas into China, such as the doctrine of emptiness known as sunyata.

References

• Conrad Schirokauer, et al, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 87-88.