Shigao

Shigao, commonly romanized as An Shigao (安世高), is traditionally regarded as one of the earliest Buddhist translators in China. Flourishing in the late 2nd century CE, he is often described as a monk who traveled from the Parthian or Central Asian region to China to help bring Buddhist scriptures into the Chinese linguistic and cultural sphere. The historical record is fragmentary, and details of his life vary among sources.

According to traditional accounts, Shigao arrived in the eastern Chinese capital of Luoyang and established or joined an early.translation effort or translation workshop. Working with Chinese assistants, he rendered Buddhist texts from Prakrit or Sanskrit into Chinese. The translations attributed to him are among the earliest Buddhist writings used in China and are said to have laid foundations for later translation practice, including terminology and methods still visible in later Chinese Buddhist literature. Because the surviving corpus is incomplete and later translators built upon it, precise attribution to Shigao is often difficult to assess.

Shigao’s work is frequently linked with the broader introduction of Buddhism to the Han heartland and with the early spread of Buddhist doctrine in China. While later translators, notably Kumārajīva in the 4th century, played a more prominent role in shaping the Chinese canon, Shigao is remembered as an early pioneer whose translations helped establish the presence of Buddhist texts in East Asia.

See also: White Horse Temple, Chinese Buddhism, Taishō Tripiṭaka.