The Greatly Virtuous Indian Bhikshu, K'ang Seng Hui of the Third Century, A.D., mastered all worldly knowledge by an early age. His father, a businessman who travelled throughout India and South-east Asia, settled his family in Chiao Chih, the present day Vietnam. When K'ang Seng Hui was eleven or twelve years old, both his parents died simultaneously. After observing the practices of filial piety, he left home, vowing to spread the Buddhadharma. His vow power and conduct were lofty, and he strictly upheld the Vinaya; he studied many sutras and was able to read thirty-thousand gathas every day.

Earlier in Chung Kuo, a Buddhist Upasaka named Chih Ch'an, had translated many Sutras and had instructed a fellow student, Chi Ming. He, in turn, transmitted the teaching to Chih Ch'ien, a contemporary of K'ang Seng Hui, who was an exceptionally gifted Bhikshu. He had penetrated the principles of the entire Tripitaka and spoke six languages.

At that time, Emperor Sun Ch'uan had just established the kingdom of Wu. As Wu was a peaceful country, Chih Ch'ien decided to travel there to avoid the political unrest brought about under the reign of Emperor Hsien of the Eastern Han Dynasty. When Emperor Sun Ch'uan heard that the famous and talented Chih Ch'ien had come to his country, he asked for his advice and conferred upon him the honorary title of Doctor of Philosophy. Chih Ch'ien was as tall and thin as a bamboo pole. His bright eyes had shining gold pupils, and people said of him:

Chih's eyes are yellow in the middle;
His frame is thin, He is a bag of wisdom.

He was tall and thin, and full of wisdom, but because he was a foreigner, he is not recorded in the historical documents of Wu.

When Chih Ch'ien died in Chung Kuo, K'ang Seng Hui in India knew about his death and decided that since Chih Ch'ien had not established any temples in Chung Kuo, he would go there and establish some. He wore monk's clothes, hat, shoes, socks, and robes. When he arrived, he built a small hut, made offerings to a Buddha image, and cultivated. However, in his cultivation, he had trouble. Although there was some Buddhadharma in Chung Kuo, Shramanas were rarely seen. "Look at him!" people would exclaim,
wearing such strange clothes and doing strange things! see? He gets down on the ground and then gets up, gets down on the ground and then gets up. Just what does he think he is doing?"

The government sent the "F.B.I." to investigate. when K'ang Seng Hui was called before the Emperor Sun Ch'uan, the Emperor said, "Why, the Han Emperor Ming saw such a person in a dream! He is a member of the Sangha, a student of the Buddhadharma!" Then he asked K'ang Seng Hui, "What are you doing?"

Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in a dream saw a golden god flying in fron of his palace. His astrologer, Fu-i, told him that this was the Buddha, an Indian Sage who had attained Enlightenment, and whose body was a golden color.

"I am studying the Buddhadharma," K'ang seng Hui replied.

"And who is the Buddha?" the Emperor asked. "The Buddha was a Indian prince who cultivated in the Himalayas for six years. then he sat beneath the Bodhi Tree, saw a star, and became enlightened. After his entry into Nirvana, King Ashoka built eighty-four thousand stupas to hold his sharira. The Buddha is a most awesome and powerful person!"

Sharira are precious relics which remain after the cremation of a Buddha or a saint. They are placed in reliquaries, called stupas, for veneration.

"You are deliberately overstating this," said the Emperor, "by making the Buddha so mysterious and wonderful. There is no such person, no such principle. But if you can show me a sharira, I will build you a stupa."

Surrounded by his many disciples, K'ang Seng Hui answered boldly, "In one week we shall give you sharira!"

K'ang Seng Hui and his disciples put on clean clothes, placed a small brass urn on a table before the Buddha, and vowed, "In this week we shall certainly obtain a sharira!"

K'ang Seng Hui then addressed his disciples: "The success or failure of Buddhism in Chung Kuo will be decided right here. If we obtain sharira, Buddhism will flourish; if we do not, Buddhism is finished. It is fitting that the Dharma comes to Chung Kuo. Therefore, we must be extremely sincere in our efforts this week."

Although they worshipped the Buddha all week, when Emperor Sun Ch'uan asked to see the sharira, K'ang Seng Hui could only reply that there were none yet, and he requested another week. Sun Ch'uan agreed. With utmost sincerity, they prayed before the Buddha, but the second week passed and still there were no sharira. Emperor Sun Ch'uan was displeased: "You lied to me!" he said, "I have laws in my country. Do you know about them?" He wished to have K'ang Seng Hui put to death, but K'ang Seng Hui exclaimed, "Give us one more week!" Being wise and magnanimous, the Emperor assented.

K'ang Seng Hui said to his disciples, "If we obtain no sharira this week, we should not wait for the Emperor to execute us; we should all commit suicide together! The Buddhadharma should be efficacious. If we elicit no response, what right have we to continue to propagate the Law? Accordingly, they vowed, "If we obtain no sharira, we shall all die." They bowed to the Buddha night and day, but by the evening of the sixth day, nothing whatsoever had happened. They had not even had any dream. Remembering their vow, they were afraid. Tomorrow we die!" they cried. But at about five o'clock in the morning on the seventh day, suddenly they heard from the brass urn: "BANG!"

K'ang Seng Hui rushed forward to look in the urn. There was a brilliant five-colored sharira. Emperor Sun Ch'uan and the scholars and officials of the Court were amazed. When Sun Ch'uan overturned the urn onto a brass try, the sharira rolled out and shattered the tray. "This is a miracle," said the Emperor, "a true jewel." "This is a manifestation of the Buddha's might." said K'ang Seng Hui. "The fire at the end of the kalpa cannot burn this sharira."

Sun Ch'uan said, "We shall see." He placed that sharira on an anvil and struck it with a large hammer. The anvil and hammer were dented, but the sharira was unscratched. "This is harder than a diamond." he said. Everyone who saw this incredible sharira believed in the Buddha, and the Emperor Sun Ch'uan spread the dharma for and wide. At the end of a kalpa there are the three disasters of: fire, flood, and wind.

Seeing the sharira which appeared in response to K'ang Seeing Hui's prayers, emperor Sun Ch'uan came to believe in the Buddhadharma. He built First Established Monastery in Fo T'o (Buddha) Village. Here, at the Emperor's request, K'ang Seng Hui was asked to live. The monastery, as well as its stupa, were the first in Chung Kuo. After that, most of the people of the country of Wu became Buddhists. To this day in Su-Chou, Hang-Chou and Nanking, many believe in the Buddha because of this incident.

The Buddhadharma has its ups and downs; some believe and some do not. Emperor Sun Ch'uan may have believed in the Buddha, but his son Sun Hao (reign dated; A.D. 264-280), did not. He thought that his father was a stupid dolt, while he felt himself to be supremely intelligent. He wanted the Buddhist monasteries burned and the Buddhist practices discontinued. "Who started this Buddhism?" he asked his court officials. "Who is responsible for these meaningless rituals? Ultimately, what use are they? If Buddhism is useful, we should keep it, but if it doesn't benefit mankind, society, and the world, we should get rid of it!"

"The spiritual power and awesome virtue of the Buddha are inconceivable," replied the court officials. "You cannot just burn down Buddhist temples."

Sun Hao then sent a famous debater to visit the High Master K'ang Seng Hui, but no matter what principles or rhetoric he used, he could not defeat the Master. As the debater was leaving, he saw that in a small temple beside the monastery gate, people were sacrificing chickens and pigs to the gods.

"How can such an improper place stand beside a proper, orthodox Buddhist monastery?" he asked. K'ang Seng Hui replied, "Thunder may rend the mountains, but the deaf do not hear it. The Buddha is efficacious, but these senseless ones pay no attention."

"That has principle," said the debater. He returned to the Emperor and said, "Shramana K'ang Seng Hui is a man of great wisdom and intelligence. I cannot fathom his wisdom with my knowledge. The Emperor had best go see for himself." So the Emperor got into a beautiful four-horse cart and rode off to seek K'ang Seng Hui.

"What is magical about the Buddhadharma?" the Emperor asked. "What is meant by good and evil retribution? And what about ghosts and spirits? How do you explain these things?"

K'ang Seng Hui replied, "The Book Of Changes (I Ching), states that "A family that does good will have reason to rejoice; A family that does evil will encounter calamities." If you do evil in secret, the ghosts pay you back, and if you do evil openly, other men take revenge--they will kill you. Such is the retribution of good and evil." The Emperor said, "Confucius and the Duke of Chou taught these principles long ago. What's so great about Buddhism expounding them now?"

"What was taught before was obvious and superficial. the Buddhadharma explains "retribution" in such profound and far-reaching terms that it leads men to refrain from evil and do good. Is this not fine?" Although Sun Hao was intelligent, he had no way to defeat K'ang Seng Hui or discredit the Buddhadharma. He just said, "Okay, forget it." But he didn't believe or study the Buddhadharma. There are many like Emperor Sun Hao!

Later, one of his attendants discovered a gold statue in the palace gardens. Not knowing it was a statue of the Buddha, the Emperor placed it in a hole beneath his outhouse so that all the excrement and urine landed on the Buddha image. He and his ministers laughed and joked. "This is really something." they said, "What kind of efficacy does it have now?" Then trouble came for Sun Hao; his entire body swelled up and his genitals really hurt. As he lay there, rolling over and over and calling out in pain, one of his diviners said, "You have offended a great spirit." Not knowing it was the Buddha, he just called it a great spirit. Sun Hao sent his attendants to the temples to offer incense and bow to the spirits, but his condition did not improve and his pain was not relieved at all. finally, one of his concubines, who was a Buddhist, asked, "Have you sought forgiveness in the temples of the Buddha?"

Sun Hao lifted his head, "Is the Buddha a great spirit?" he asked. "The Buddha is the greatest of spirits," she replied.

Hearing this, Sun Hoa woke up and realized what he had done. He had the statue removed from the toilet and told his concubine to wash it clean with scented water. Sun Hao got up and bowed before the statue. He lit incense and repented, setting forth all of his past mistakes; soon he was completely cured and had no more pain. Later he went to First Established Monastery to request the speaking of the Dharma. K'ang Seng Hui spoke to him in eloquent detail of the principles of offenses and blessings, cause and effect, and the Emperor reformed, took refuge, and received the five precepts. He wanted to read the Bhikshu Precepts, but lay people are not allowed to see them, so K'ang Seng Hui wrote out two hundred and fifty vows all of which began, "I vow that living beings...etc." The vows increased the Emperor's faith and he instructed his attendants and laborers to take refuge, cultivate, and help spread the Buddhadharma.

K'ang Seng Hui translated many Sutras with great skill and accuracy, but during the fourth year of the T'ien Chi (A.D. 280) reign period, the Wu Dynasty fell to the Tsin Dynasty. In the ninth month of that year, K'ang Seng Hui died of a sudden illness. A stupa was built for him. Later a rebel named Su Tsun burned it down and it had to be rebuilt. There was also General P'ingHsi Ch'ao Yu who did not believe in the Buddhadharma and slighted the Triple Jewel saying, "This is nothing but superstitious nonsense!" until one night the had a dream. He dreamt that he went into K'ang Seng Hui's stupa and said to the cultivators, "I have heard that this stupa emits light, but I will believe it when I see it." Just then, a five-colored light exploded from the stupa, totally filling up heaven and earth.

When the general woke up, he believed in the Buddha and never dared to slander the Triple Jewel again. These are the main events in the life of K'ang Seng Hui.