JIZANG (549–623), Chinese Buddhist monk of the Sanlun (Three-Treatise) tradition. Although half Parthian by birth, Jizang's upbringing and education were entirely Chinese. At the age of ten he became a novice under the Sanlun master Falang (508–581) and resided at the Xinghuang temple in the Southern Dynasties (c. 420–589) capital of Jinling (modern Nanjing), the center of Buddhist culture in southern China. Until the age of thirty-two, he was under the tutelage of Falang, studying primary Sanlun sources as well as the important texts of his age, the Prajñāpāramitā (Perfection of Wisdom) canon, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra (Lotus Sūtra), and the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Sūtra of the great decease). Following Falang's death in 581, Jizang spent some eight years at the Jiaxiang temple, east of the capital on Mount Qinwang (his posthumous title, Master of Jiaxiang Temple, is derived from his...