Śīladharma was a ninth-century Buddhist monk and translator from the

Kingdom of Khotan The Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient Buddhism, Buddhist Saka kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin (modern-day Xinjiang, China). The ancient capital was origina ...

. Śīladharma was mainly active in the Western territories of

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

where he stayed in Longxingsi monastery, now situated in

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

. Śīladharma was familiar with multiple languages and worked to translate Buddhist texts from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

but also from Mandarin to Tibetan. One of the main sources of information regarding Śīladharma's life is the sixth-century text, the

Memoirs of Eminent Monks The ''Memoirs of Eminent Monks'' (), also known as the Biographies of Eminent Monks, is a compilation of biographies of monks in China by Hui Jiao 慧皎 of Jiaxiang Temple in Kuaiji Mountain, Zhejiang from the introduction of Buddhism to China ...

by Hui Jiao which was a compilation of the lives of notable monks who were active in China. Other than detailing his Khotanese origins, it also detailed how while staying at Longxingsi, he translated two Buddhist sutras that had been brought to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by the monk Wu Kong. These have been identified as the ''Daśabhūmika Sūtra'' and the ''Pariṇāmacakrasūtra'' and the process of translation took approximately four years starting in 785 CE and ending in 789 CE. Śīladharma then presented his translations to the Tang Emperor in

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

after which he returned to Khotan. The Tibetan Bka' 'gyur also records two translations made by Śīladharma. This was probably during the period when Khotan became a subject of the

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (,) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. It expanded further under the 38th king, Trisong De ...

after 798 CE when the King of Khotan, Vijaya Vāhana, was demoted to a mere governor of Khotan. These texts have been identified as the ''Pariṇāmacakrasūtra'' and the ''Samādhicakrasutra''.

References

{{reflist Chinese Buddhist missionaries Buddhist monks from the Western Regions 9th-century Buddhist monks People from Khotan