ABSTRACT
The first critic of Buddhist thought in China, Seng Rui became a monk at the age of eighteen. He studied under the master Samghabhadra and later under the master Seng Lang. When he was twenty-four, he traveled extensively. He also served the master Dao An, who specialized in editing and cataloguing Buddhist sutras from the time of the introduction of Buddhism into China. Seng Rui, on the other hand, specialized in exploring the philosophical and theoretical development of Buddhism in China. When Kumarajiva came to China and began to translate Buddhist sutras into Chinese, Seng Rui became one of his chief assistants. He served as the Recorder and helped with the editing. Seng Rui also wrote the prefaces to most of Kumarajiva's translations. When the translation of Satyasiddhi-sastra was complete, Kumarajiva asked Seng Rui to lecture on it. Seng Rui probably ranked the highest among Kumarajiva's disciples. He died at the age of sixty-seven.
