Jianzhen

Jianzhen (688–763), also known by his Japanese name Ganjin, was a Tang Chinese monk who helped to propagate Buddhism in Japan. In the eleven years from 743 to 754, Jianzhen attempted to visit Japan some six times, arriving in the year 753 and founding Tōshōdai-ji in Nara. When he finally succeeded on his sixth attempt, he had lost his eyesight as a result of an infection acquired during his journeys, although Fukushima Giichi, a Japanese expert in the history of ophthalmology, suggested that he may have suffered from age related cataracts. Jianzhen's life story and voyage are described in the scroll, "The Sea Journey to the East of a Great Bonze from the Tang Dynasty."