{{Short description|Chinese Buddhist monk and author (312–385)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox religious biography | honorific-prefix = | name = Dao'an | honorific-suffix = | native_name = 道安 | native_name_lang = zh | image = Daoan.jpg | image_size = | caption = | religion = Buddhism | school = |lineage = | temple = White Horse Temple<br>Tanxi Temple<br>Wuchong Temple (379&ndash;385) | alma_mater = | other_names = | dharma_names = Dao'an | pen_name = | posthumous_name = | nationality = Chinese | birth_name = | birth_date = 312<!-- {{birth date and age|||}} or {{birth year and age|}} --> | birth_place = Jizhou District, Hengshui, Hebei, China | death_date = {{death year and age|385|312}} | death_place = Chang'an, Shaanxi, China | education = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|latitude|longitude|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} --> | spouse = | children = | parents = | title = | period = | predecessor = | successor = | rank = | teacher = Fotucheng ({{lang-zh|s=|t=佛圖澄|labels=no}}) | students = Huiyuan<br>Huichi | works = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> | background = #FFD068 }} '''Dao'an''' ({{lang-zh|c=道安|p=Dào'ān |w=Tao-an}}; 312–385) was a Buddhist monk, author and bibliographer, during the Eastern Jin dynasty. He was from what is now Hebei.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Buswell |editor1-first=Robert Jr |editor2-last=Lopez |editor2-first=Donald S. Jr. |editor1-link=Robert Buswell Jr. |editor2-link=Donald S. Lopez Jr. |title="Dao'an", in Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. |date=2013 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |page=213 |isbn=9780691157863}}</ref> His main importance was that of overseer of translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese, organizer of the Chinese sangha, author of exegetical works and compiler of the most important early catalogue of Chinese Buddhist translation in 374. Although this catalogue is itself lost, Sengyou reproduces much of it in his catalogue (T2145) completed in 515.

Dao'an is thought of as the founder of the cult of Maitreya in China.<ref>Digital Dictionary of Buddhism. http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?q=道安</ref>

==Life== According to his traditional biography, after the loss of his parents he was raised by an elder cousin. Dao'an left home to join the monastic order at twelve. Ca. 335 CE he visited Linzhang and became a disciple of the famous Kuchean monk and missionary Fotudeng (232–348).<ref name="Yiu, Wusun2014">{{cite book|author1=Martha Cheung Pui Yiu|author2=Lin Wusun|title=An Anthology of Chinese Discourse on Translation (Version 1): From Earliest Times to the Buddhist Project|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZC3AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA70|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-63928-2|pages=69–71}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Knechtges|editor-first=David R.|date=2013 |title= Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature (vol. 2): A Reference Guide, Part Two|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfN0AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA889 |location= |publisher=BRILL |pages=888–889 |isbn=978-90-04-20164-4 |access-date=30 August 2025}}</ref> One of his disciples was the monk Huiyuan, whose teachings inspired Pure Land Buddhism.{{Sfn|Zheng|972|p=304}} He was active in Xiangyang until the Former Qin ruler Fu Jian captured the city in 379 and brought Dao'an to Chang'an. He spent the last years of life translating and interpreting scripture as well as compiling a catalogue of scriptures. He also advocated that all monks and nuns take Shi 釋 as a surname, from the first character of Gautama Buddha's title in Chinese, ''Shìjiāmóuní'' ({{lang-zh|c=釋迦牟尼}} "Śākyamuni").

==References== {{Reflist}}

== Sources ==

* {{Cite book|last=Zheng|first=Changji|title=Hawai'i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|year=972|isbn=0824827856|editor-last=Mair|editor-first=Victor H.|location=Honolulu|publication-date=2005|pages=304–339|translator-last=Sen|translator-first=Tansen|chapter=The Tale of Master Yuan of Mount Lu|editor-last2=Steinhardt|editor-first2=Nancy S.|editor-last3=Goldin|editor-first3=Paul R.|translator-last2=Mair|translator-first2=Victor H.}}

==External links== * [http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?90.xml+id('b9053-5b89') Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (log in with userID "guest")]{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} * [http://www.britannica.com/biography/Daoan Dao´An], Encyclopædia Britannica Online

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Daoan}} Category:314 births Category:385 deaths Category:Sixteen Kingdoms translators Category:Sanskrit–Chinese translators Category:Chinese bibliographers Category:Former Qin Buddhists Category:Sixteen Kingdoms Buddhist monks Category:People from Hengshui Category:Writers from Hebei Category:Later Zhao Buddhists Category:Jin dynasty (266–420) Buddhist monks Category:Ran Wei Category:4th-century Chinese writers Category:4th-century translators Category:Jin dynasty (266–420) translators