Bianji (619-649) was born in Wuzhou (present-day Jinhua Municipality) and became a monk at the age of fifteen. He followed the teachings of eminent monk Daoyue 道岳 (538-636)—Buddhist monk of the Sarvāstivāda school at Dazongchi Temple 大总持寺—and entered Huichang Temple 会昌寺 in Jinchengfang, northwest of Chang’an (present-day Xi’an). There, he worked with Xuanzang 玄奘 (602-664) on the translation of Buddhist texts and the composition of The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (completed in 646).

The closing volume of the Records, “Jizan” 记赞, narrates that Bianji was a young man with a beautiful appearance and a unique temperament when he decided to “shave his head and depart from home” at the age of fifteen. Officially assigned to the Dazongchi Temple in Yongyang, southwest of Chang’an, he became a disciple of Daoyue. When Daoyue was made abbot of Puguang Temple 普光寺, Bianji moved to Huichang Temple.

For more than ten years, Bianji devoted himself to the study of Buddhism, until 645 (the 19th year of the reign of Zhenguan), when Xuanzang returned to Chang’an, settled in Hongfu Temple 弘福寺, and started his work as a translator. Having mastered knowledge of both Hinayana and Mahayana scriptures and possessing the right qualifications, Bianji was selected as one of the literary masters for Xuanzang’s translation team. At that time, Bianji was about 26 years old. Among the earliest translation assistants of Xuanzang, Bianji was famous for his talent, knowledge, and comprehensive translation skills, and is also recognized as the major assistant of Xuanzang in writing The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions.

Later, because of an affair with one of Emperor Taizong’s daughters, Princess Gaoyang, Bianji was executed. A number of scholars praise him for his talent and regret his early death. In fact, in the history of Buddhism as well as in the history of ancient China, Bianji is a character whose merits and crimes are difficult to judge, and debates about him remain controversial and unsettled. (Translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Kendra Fiddler)