More than 100 Buddhists from China and Japan gathered at Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, over the weekend to mark the 1,660th birthday of ancient Buddhist scholar and translator Kumarajiva, or Jiu Mo Luo Shi in Chinese.

The symposium on Kumarajiva's translation of the Buddhist scriptures and the development of Buddhism in China and Japan was held at Caotang Temple in Huxian county, where Kumarajiva used to teach and is at rest.

Kumarajiva (344-413), born in what is today the Kucha area in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, translated 35 Buddhist Scriptures, or 294 volumes, from Sanskrit into Chinese.

His translation of Buddhist scriptures helped the Mahayana Buddhism to take root in China and popularized Buddhism in Japan, too.

A 2.3-meter tall dagoba was built for him at the Caotang Temple during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2004)