Hui Shen

Hui Shen or Hoei Shin (zh-stp|s=慧深|t=慧深|p=hùi shēn; literally: "intelligent profound") was a legendary Chinese Buddhist monk. According to legend, after a voyage into the Pacific, he reached a land he named Fusang after a plant growing there.

Fusang is about twenty thousand Chinese miles in an easterly direction from Tahan, and east of the Middle Kingdoms [China] . Many fusang trees grow there, whose leaves resemble the "Dryanda cordifolia"; the sprouts, on the contrary, resemble those of the bamboo tree, and are eaten by the inhabitants of the land. The fruit is like a pear in form but is red. From the bark they prepare a sort of linen which they use for clothing... The houses are built of wooden beams; fortified and walled places there unknown... They have written characters in this land and prepare paper from the bark of the Fusang.³

It has been claimed that he taught Buddhism to the natives of central America, and was even responsible for naming Guatemala in honour of Gautama Buddha [ [http://www.carnaval.com/columbus/diffusion.htm Diffusion: Celebrate our History of Diversity ] ] . Such claims are given no credence by modern historians.

ee also

*Chinese Buddhism

External links

* [http://terra.msrc.sunysb.edu/~dmyers/engines/fusang]