Editing Bodhidharma (section)

=== Principal sources ===
[[File:Western Regions 1st century BC(en).png|thumb|left|The Western Regions in the first century BCE]]

There are two known extant accounts written by contemporaries of Bodhidharma. According to these sources, Bodhidharma came from the [[Western Regions]],{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=54–55}}{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=8}} and is described as either a "Persian Central Asian"{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=54–55}} or a "South Indian [...] the third son of a great Indian king."{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=8}} Later sources draw on these two sources, adding additional details, including a change to being descended from a ''Brahmin'' king,{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=89}}{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=87}} which accords with the reign of the [[Pallavas]], who "claim[ed] to belong to a brahmin lineage."{{sfn|Jorgensen|2000|p=159}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Francis |first=Emmanuel |date=2011 |url=https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/ROSA/article/view/15172 |title=The Genealogy of the Pallavas: From Brahmins to Kings |journal=Religions of South Asia|volume=5 |issue=1/5.2 |doi=10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.339 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603021936/https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/ROSA/article/view/15172 |archive-date=2018-06-03 }}</ref>

The ''[[Western Regions]]'' was a historical name specified in the Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE{{sfn|Tikhvinskiĭ|Perelomov|1981|p=124}} that referred to the regions west of [[Yumen Pass]], most often [[Central Asia]] or sometimes, more specifically, the easternmost portion of it (e.g. [[Altishahr]] or the [[Tarim Basin]] in southern [[Xinjiang]]). Sometimes, it was used more generally to refer to other regions to the west of China as well, such as the [[Indian subcontinent]] (as in the novel ''[[Journey to the West]]'').

==== ''The Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang'' ====
[[File:Central Asian Buddhist Monks.jpeg|thumb|left|Blue-eyed [[Buddhism in Central Asia|Central Asian monk]] teaching an East Asian monk. A fresco from the [[Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves|Bezeklik]], dated to the 9th or 10th century; although [[Albert von Le Coq]] (1913) assumed the [[red hair|red-haired]] monk was a [[Tocharians|Tocharian]],{{sfn|von Le Coq|1913|loc=[http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-1-B-31/V-1/page-hr/0107.html.en Tafel 19]}} modern scholarship has identified similar [[Caucasian race|Caucasian figures]] of [[:File:BezeklikSogdianMerchants.jpg|the same cave temple]] (No. 9) as ethnic [[Sogdia]]ns,{{sfn|Gasparini|2014|loc=[http://heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/index.php/transcultural/article/view/12313/8711#_edn32 note 32]}} an [[Eastern Iranian people]] who inhabited [[Turpan|Turfan]] as an ethnic minority community during the phases of [[Tang dynasty|Tang Chinese]] (7th–8th century) and [[Kingdom of Qocho|Uyghur rule]] (9th–13th century).<ref>Hansen, Valerie (2012), ''The Silk Road: A New History'', Oxford University Press, p. 98, {{ISBN|978-0-19-993921-3}}.</ref>]]

The earliest text mentioning Bodhidharma is ''The Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of [[Luoyang]]'' ({{zh|t=洛陽伽藍記}} ''Luòyáng Qiélánjì'') which was compiled in 547 by [[Yang Xuanzhi]] ({{lang|zh|楊衒之}}), a writer and translator of [[Mahayana sutras]] into Chinese. Yang gave the following account:
{{blockquote|At that time there was a monk of the [[Western Regions|Western Region]] named Bodhidharma, a [[Buddhism in Central Asia#Iranian Buddhism|Persian Central Asian]].{{refn|group=note|Bodhidharma's first language was likely one of the many [[Eastern Iranian languages#Classification|Eastern Iranian]] languages (such as Sogdian or Bactrian), that were commonly spoken in most of Central Asia during his lifetime and, in using the more specific term "Persian", Xuànzhī likely erred. As Jorgensen has pointed out, the Sassanian realm contemporary to Bodhidharma was not Buddhist. Johnston supposes that Yáng Xuànzhī mistook the name of the south-Indian Pallava dynasty for the name of the Sassanian Pahlavi dynasty;{{sfn|Jorgensen|2000|p=159}} however, Persian Buddhists did exist within the Sassanian realm, particularly in the formerly [[Greco-Buddhist]] east, see [[Buddhism in Central Asia#Iranian Buddhism|Persian Buddhism]].}} He traveled from the wild borderlands to China. Seeing the golden disks on the pole on top of Yǒngníng's [[stupa]] reflecting in the sun, the rays of light illuminating the surface of the clouds, the jewel-bells on the stupa blowing in the wind, the echoes reverberating beyond the heavens, he sang its praises. He exclaimed: "Truly this is the work of spirits." He said: "I am 150 years old, and I have passed through numerous countries. There is virtually no country I have not visited. Even the distant Buddha-realms lack this." He chanted homage and placed his palms together in salutation for days on end.{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=54–55}}}}

The account of Bodhidharma in the Luoyan Record does not particularly associate him with meditation, but rather depicts him as a [[thaumaturge]] capable of mystical feats. This may have played a role in his subsequent association with the martial arts and esoteric knowledge.<ref name=eob_ma>{{cite encyclopedia
 | title = Martial Arts
 | encyclopedia = MacMillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism
 | last = Powell
 | first = William
 | pages = 214–18
 | year = 2004
 | publisher = MacMillan Reference USA
 | location = New York
 | isbn = 0-02-865719-5
 | volume = 1
}}</ref>

==== Tanlin – preface to the Two Entrances and Four Acts ====
[[File:Le patriarche Bodhidharma (V&A Museum) (9471398169).jpg|thumb|[[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1683) sandstone statue of a seated Bodhidharma ([[Chinese language|Chinese]]: 達磨; [[Pinyin]]: ''Dámó''). 1484.]]
The second account was written by Tanlin (曇林; 506–574). Tanlin's brief biography of the "[[Dharma]] Master" is found in his preface to the ''[[Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices]]'', a text traditionally attributed to Bodhidharma and the first text to identify him as [[Dravidian peoples|South Indian]]:
{{blockquote|The Dharma Master was a South Indian of the Western Region. He was the third son of a great Indian king. His ambition lay in the Mahayana path, and so he put aside his white layman's robe for the black robe of a monk […] Lamenting the decline of the true teaching in the outlands, he subsequently crossed distant mountains and seas, traveling about propagating the teaching in Han and Wei.{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=8}}}}

Tanlin's account was the first to mention that Bodhidharma attracted disciples,{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=9}} specifically mentioning Daoyu ({{lang|zh|道育}}) and [[Dazu Huike]] ({{lang|zh|慧可}}), the latter of whom would later figure very prominently in the Bodhidharma literature. Although Tanlin has traditionally been considered a disciple of Bodhidharma, it is more likely that he was a student of Huike.{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=53}}

==== ''Record of the Masters and Students of the Laṅka'' ====
The ''[[Lengqie shizi ji|Record of the Masters and Students of the Laṅka]]'' (Léngqié Shīzī Jì 楞伽師資記), which survives both in Chinese and in Tibetan translation (although the surviving Tibetan translation is apparently of older provenance than the surviving Chinese version), states that Bodhidharma is not the first ancestor of Zen, but instead the second. This text instead claims that [[Guṇabhadra]], the translator of the ''[[Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra]]'', is the first ancestor in the lineage. It further states that Bodhidharma was his student. The Tibetan translation is estimated to have been made in the late eighth or early ninth century, indicating that the original Chinese text was written at some point before that.<ref name="TibetanZen">{{citation |last=van Schaik |first=Sam |title=Tibetan Zen, Discovering a Lost Tradition |pages=71–78 |year=2015 |location=Boston |publisher=Snow Lion}}</ref>

Tanlin's preface has also been preserved in Jingjue's (683–750) ''Lengjie Shizi ji'' "Chronicle of the ''Laṅkāvatāra'' Masters", which dates from 713 to 716.{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=88}}/ca. 715{{sfn|McRae|2003|p=26}} He writes, 
{{blockquote|The teacher of the Dharma, who came from South India in the Western Regions, the third son of a great Brahman king."{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=89}}}}

==== "Further Biographies of Eminent Monks" ====
[[File:Bodhidarma.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|This Japanese scroll calligraphy of Bodhidharma reads, "[[Zen]] points directly to the human heart, see into your nature and become [[Buddhahood|Buddha]]." It was created by [[Hakuin Ekaku]] (1686 to 1769).]]

In the 7th-century historical work "Further Biographies of Eminent Monks" (續高僧傳 ''Xù gāosēng zhuàn''), [[Daoxuan]] ({{lang|zh|道宣}}) possibly drew on Tanlin's preface as a basic source, but made several significant additions:

Firstly, Daoxuan adds more detail concerning Bodhidharma's origins, writing that he was of "South Indian [[Brahmin|Brahman]] stock" (南天竺婆羅門種 ''nán tiānzhú póluómén zhŏng'').{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=87}}

Secondly, more detail is provided concerning Bodhidharma's journeys. Tanlin's original is imprecise about Bodhidharma's travels, saying only that he "crossed distant mountains and seas" before arriving in Wei. Daoxuan's account, however, implies "a specific itinerary":{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=56}} "He first arrived at [[Nanyue|Nan-yüeh]] during the [[Liu Song dynasty|Sung period]]. From there, he turned north and came to the Kingdom of Wei"{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=87}} This implies that Bodhidharma had travelled to China by sea and that he had crossed over the [[Yangtze]].

Thirdly, Daoxuan suggests a date for Bodhidharma's arrival in China. He writes that Bodhidharma makes landfall in the time of the Song, thus making his arrival no later than the time of the Song's fall to the [[Southern Qi]] in 479.{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=56}}

Finally, Daoxuan provides information concerning Bodhidharma's death. Bodhidharma, he writes, died at the banks of the [[Luo River (Henan)|Luo River]], where he was interred by his disciple Dazu Huike, possibly in a cave. According to Daoxuan's chronology, Bodhidharma's death must have occurred prior to 534, the date of the Northern Wei's fall, because Dazu Huike subsequently leaves Luoyang for [[Ye (ancient China)|Ye]]. Furthermore, citing the shore of the Luo River as the place of death might possibly suggest that Bodhidharma died in [[Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei#The Heyin Massacre and aftermath|the mass executions at Heyin]] ({{lang|zh|河陰}}) in 528. Supporting this possibility is a report in the [[Chinese Buddhist canon]] stating that a Buddhist monk was among the victims at Héyīn.{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=139}}