On the first eastward journey to Japan, 21 people including Jianzhen and his disciple Xiangyan set out from Yangzhou, but failed due to interference from the government.
On his second trip eastward, he bought a warship and purchased a lot of Buddha statues, Buddhist utensils, sutras, medicines, spices, etc., and he was accompanied by 85 disciples and technical personnel. However, as the ship left the Yangtze River Estuary, it was damaged by the wind and had to return for repairs.
The third time he went to sea, he sailed to the surface of Zhoushan and failed again because he hit a rock.
In 744 AD, Jianzhen was preparing to go to sea from Fuzhou, but he was caught up by the government on his way to Wenzhou and forced to return to Yangzhou. His fourth eastward journey failed again.
On June 27, 748, Jianzhen made his fifth eastward journey. He set off from Yangzhou and anchored at Zhoushan Islands for three months. He encountered a typhoon when crossing the East China Sea and drifted at sea for 14 days. , arrived at Yaxian County at the southern tip of Hainan Island. On the way back to Yangzhou, his disciple Xiangyan and the Japanese monk Rongrui died one after another. Jianzhen himself also contracted the heat and became blind due to the long journey.
On October 15, the twelfth year of Tang Tianbao (AD 753), on the eve of the 10th time Japan sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty to return home, they sent Ambassador to the Tang Dynasty, Fujiwara Qinghe, deputy envoys Yoshibe Mabei, Otomo Komaro and Shi Tang. Abe Nakamaro (Chinese name Chao Heng), a Japanese student who had served as Tang Guanglu's doctor, censor Zhongcheng, secretary and supervisor for many years, was also preparing to return to China. They went to Yangzhou Yanguang Temple to pay a visit to Jianzhen. Ambassador Fujiwara said: "I have heard that the great monk has traveled east to Japan five times to preach. I am extremely honored to meet him today. If the great monk still has this wish, the disciples will have four ships to return to Japan with all the necessary supplies. I don't know if he will. Are you traveling with me? "Although Jianzhen is 66 years old and blind, in order to impart teachings and for the sake of friendship and cultural exchanges between the Chinese and Japanese people, he agreed to Japan's request.
After the news spread in Yangzhou that Jianzhen wanted to go to Japan again, the relevant temples took strict precautions to prevent the trip. At this time, Ren Qian, a disciple of Jianzhen, came to Yangzhou from Wuzhou (now Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province). He secretly knew that his master was about to travel far, so he secretly agreed that he would prepare a boat to meet him at the head of the river. On the evening of October 29th, 24 people including Jianzhen and his apprentice craftsmen sneaked from Longxing Temple in Yangzhou to Jiangtou. They immediately boarded a ship and set off, leaving the Grand Canal and entering the Yangtze River, heading straight to Huangsipu, Suzhou (now Huangsi, Changshu County, Jiangsu Province). That is, Huang Xie Pu) met up with the fleet of Japanese envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty.
The items brought by Jianzhen include 8 Buddha statues such as Tathagata and Avalokitesvara, 7 kinds of Buddhist utensils such as relics and Bodhisattva, 84 Buddhist scriptures such as Huayan Sutra and more than 300 volumes, as well as authentic works of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi There are three types of calligraphy and calligraphy.
Before leaving, fearing that the government would discover that the scriptures were missing, Jianzhen and his party took the second, third, and fourth boats on November 15th. It was not until November 16th that Jianzhen boarded the second ship of Otomo Komaro before the fleet set sail. After sailing into the East China Sea, the fleet was blown away by the strong northeasterly wind, and the fourth ship disappeared without a trace. The remaining three ships struggled to sail forward. On November 21, the first and second ships arrived at Okinawa together and were already southwest of Tami Island (today’s Tanegashima Island, Japan). A third boat had anchored in the same place last night. On December 6, the longed-for south wind blew on the sea. Three ships set sail one after another and moved forward with the wind. However, the first ship on which Ambassador Fujiwara and Abe Nakamaro ran ran aground (hit a rock) and was unable to move. The second boat that Jianzhen took sailed for Tomi and arrived at Yijie Island (today's Yakushima Island, Japan) on the seventh day. Anchor for 10 days to wait for the wind and wait for other ships. After the first ship was repaired, it continued sailing. Due to a northerly storm, it drifted to Annan Prefecture (now in Vietnam). More than 180 people on the ship were killed, and more than 170 people died. Only more than 10 people including Ambassador Fujiwara Kiyawa and Abe Nakamaro survived. . The third ship later also sailed back to Japan. On December 18, the second ship set off from Ijiu Island to continue its voyage. On the 19th, it encountered a storm and could not distinguish between east, west and north. Jianzhen and others went through many hardships and arrived in Satsuma, Kyushu, Japan at noon on December 20. Tagun Akizumayaura (today's Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan). On December 26, Jianzhen and his party entered Dazaifu, Japan, under the guidance of the Japanese monk Yanqing, and on February 1 of the following year (AD 754), they sailed to Namba, the departure port of the Japanese envoy fleet to the Tang Dynasty. near today's Osaka, Japan). On February 4th, Jianzhen arrived in Nara, the capital of Japan, and received a grand welcome from the whole country. The royal family, nobles, and monks all came to pay their respects.
In March, Jibei Zhenbei read the emperor's edict to Jianzhen as an emissary: ??"The great monk traveled far away from Cangbo and came to our country. I am very pleased. From now on, I will teach you the precepts and laws." They are all held by great monks. "In early April, an ordination altar was set up in Todaiji Temple, and Jianzhen took the stage to preside over it. He successively ordained Emperor Shomu, the Empress Dowager, the prince and more than 400 monks.
In 756, Emperor Koken appointed Jianzhen as the Great Monk Capital to oversee the affairs of Japanese monks and Buddhists. He resigned in 758 and was honored as "Yamato-sama" and was respectfully supported. In 759, Jianzhen led his disciples to design and build Tangzhaoti Temple based on the pattern of Daming Temple in Yangzhou. It still exists today and is regarded as a national treasure of Japan. It has an important influence on Japanese architectural art. Later, Jianzhen gave oracles and lectures here, and spread the Vinaya to Japan, becoming the founder of the Japanese Vinaya. Although Jianzhen is blind, he can proofread Buddhist scriptures from memory. He was also proficient in medicine, identifying herbs by smell and treating people's illnesses. He left behind a volume of medical books called "Secret Instructions of Master Jian", which contributed to the development of Japanese medicine. The printed Chinese Buddhist scriptures and calligraphy inscriptions he brought to Japan had a great influence on Japanese printing and calligraphy arts.
In 763, Almanac passed away in the Shodai Temple in Japan. There is still a seated statue of Jianzhen in the temple, which is also a national treasure of Japan. This was made for him by Jianzhen's disciples Ren Ji and Si Tuo using the Chinese dry lacquer clamping method. Jianzhen has been in Japan for 10 years and has made great contributions to Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.
Entrusted by Jianzhen's disciples such as Si Tuo and others, 16 years after Jianzhen's death, the famous writer Yuan Kai in the Nara period (710-784 AD) wrote "Tang Dahe Shangdong" "Zheng Biography". The book details Jianzhen's six arduous voyages to the east, allowing future generations to understand the shipbuilding and navigation skills of China and Japan during the Tang Dynasty.
--Reference from university liberal arts textbooks