Wuwei City Kumarajiva Temple

Kumarajiva Temple is located on North Street in Wuwei City, Gansu Province. It was first built in the Later Liang Dynasty, and the tower and temple were greatly expanded during the Tang Dynasty, and were repaired during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was built in memory of the Western Region monk Kumarajiva and has a history of more than 1600 years. It is a precious relic for studying the culture of the Five Liang, Han Buddhism, and Western Region Buddhism. Kumarajiva Temple was built in the first year of Linjia (389) of the Later Liang Emperor Lv Guang to settle Kumarajiva's body and mind. He recruited craftsmen from all over the country and built it on a large scale. It was the place where Kumarajiva first settled in the mainland to preach and teach. Kumarajiva vowed during his lifetime: "If the translated scriptures are correct, the tongue will not rot after death." And left a will, after death, the tongue was buried in Guzang. In 409, Kumarajiva passed away, and the people of Liangzhou built the Rosh Tower in Guzang in memory of Kumarajiva, and buried Kumarajiva's tongue relics under the tower according to his will. Kumarajiva (344—409), Chinese translation name Tongshou, is the first of the four major translators in the history of Chinese Buddhism, and the first person in the history of Chinese Buddhism to systematically and deeply spread Buddhist scriptures in Chinese, opening a new era in the history of translation. He studied Buddhist scriptures from a young age and had a deep attainment. The King of Kucha regarded him as a national teacher. Whenever Rosh lectured, the king and the public often knelt beside him, allowing Rosh to step on his back and ascend, and his reputation was very high in the Western Regions; in 386, Lv Guang returned to the east and brought Kumarajiva to Liangzhou. Since then, Kumarajiva has been preaching in Liangzhou, greatly promoting Buddhism, and has been living for seventeen or eighteen years; in 403, Yao Xing of the Later Qin extinguished the Later Liang and invited Kumarajiva to Chang'an to translate Buddhist scriptures. Kumarajiva has a deep research on Buddhist scriptures and is proficient in Chinese. He has translated about seventy or more scriptures and more than three hundred volumes, many of which have been passed down to later generations and have a profound impact on the spread of Buddhism.