Tanwujie is said to have originally from Huanglong 黃龍國 in Youzhou 幽州 (in Northern Yan 北燕; modern Chaoyang 朝陽 in Liaoning 辽宁 Province), with the secular surname Li 李. He has a biography in the Gao seng zhuan 高僧傳 (T2059:50.338b26-339a2; cf. Yoshikawa and Funayama [2009]: 251-256). He was one of a group of monks, also including Sengmeng 僧猛 and Tanlang 曇朗, who travelled to the West and India, departing around 420-422. He is said to have obtained an Indic original of the *Mayopamasamādhi-sūtra 觀世音受記經 T371 as he passed through the Kashmir/Gandhāra region 罽賓, which he translated in Yangzhou 揚州 after his return to China. A Fayong 法勇 is also said to have been active in translation work. He is described as a disciple of Baoyun 寶雲, and to have assisted in the actual translation work of a group of texts ascribed to Guṇabhadra 右十三部 during the reign of 文帝 of the Liu Song dynasty (424-453) (Chu sanzang ji ji 出三藏記集 T2145:55.13a5-8). Extant texts in that list (as named by Sengyou) include the Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing 過去現在因果 T189; the (Mahāyāna) Aṅgulimālīya-sūtra 央掘魔 T120; the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra 相續解脫波羅蜜了義 T679; the Saṃyuktāgama 雜阿鋡 T99; the *Mahābherīhāraka-sūtra 大法鼓經 T270; the Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanāda 勝鬘經 T353; and the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra 楞伽阿跋多羅寶經 T670. The date at which this Fayong was active makes it plausible that it was the same Tanwujie famous for his travels, and his travels make it plausible that he would have had the language skills necessary to take this part in the translation process. However, we should be cautious in identifying the two figures, since Huijiao 慧皎 does not mention any translations except T371 in his biography, and ends rather by saying that it is not known what became of Tanwujie in the end 後不知所終.
Date: fl. ca. 420-453.
| Text | Role | Is preferred? | Has other assertions? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| translator 譯 | No | Yes | [CSZJJ] Sengyou 僧祐. Chu sanzang ji ji (CSZJJ) 出三藏記集 T2145. | |
| translator 譯 | No | Yes | [CSZJJ] Sengyou 僧祐. Chu sanzang ji ji (CSZJJ) 出三藏記集 T2145. | |
| translator 譯 | No | Yes | [Fei 597] Fei Changfang 費長房. Lidai sanbao ji (LDSBJ) 歷代三寶紀 T2034. | |
| 傅譯出 | No | Yes | [Bie lu (DH mss)] "Liu Song" Zhongjing bie lu 劉宋眾經別錄, S.2872, P.3747. Dating complex and unclear. |