On December 20, the 12th year of Tang Tianbao, that is, 753 AD, the 66-year-old monk Jianzhen, who was blind and blind, accompanied by the Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty, Fujiwara Qinghe and his party, realized his long-term wish. After five failed eastward crossings, the sixth eastward crossing to Japan finally succeeded and set foot on Japan's soil.

Jianzhen, with the common surname of Chunyu, was from Jiangyin County, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. He came from a Buddhist family. In 708, at the age of 21, he was ordained at Chang 'an Shiji Temple and officially obtained his monk status. Five years later, in the 40 years until his eastward journey, he taught scriptures, built temples, and made statues. The number of monks he gave orders to more than 40,000, many of whom were eminent monks who became famous later. In 733, he was praised as a master of ordination in the Jianghuai area. He held a high status among Buddhists and became the leader of a party.

In China during the seventh and eighth centuries, that is, the prosperous Tang Dynasty, class conflicts were relatively relaxed, people's lives were stable, the economy was prosperous, and great achievements were made in all aspects of culture and technology. Therefore, surrounding countries sent envoys and international students to China to study. Japan was in a slave society at that time, and the seeds of feudalism were gradually growing. After the 7th century, with the increase of exchanges with China, they sent missions and international students directly to China to learn from China's experience. In 743, Japanese learned monks Rong Rui and Pu Zhao went to Yangzhou to ask Jianzhen to go east to promote the Dharma. Rong Rui and Pu Zhao were sent by Japan in 733 to China to invite eminent monks to Japan to teach Dharma and precepts. They found Jianzhen after 10 years of inspections. Jianzhen was 55 years old at that time. In order to promote Buddhism and spread Tang Dynasty culture, he readily accepted the invitation of Rong Rui and Pu Zhao and decided to sail eastward to Japan.

On their first eastward trip to Japan, Jianzhen and his disciple Xiangyan and 21 others set out from Yangzhou, but failed due to interference from the government office. On his second eastward trip, he bought a military ship and purchased many Buddha statues, Buddhist utensils, scriptures, medicines, spices, etc., accompanied by as many as 85 disciples and technicians. However, when the ship exited the Yangtze River estuary, it was damaged by the wind and had to return for repair.

The third time he went out to sea, he sailed to Zhoushan and failed because he hit a reef.

In 744 AD, Jianzhen prepared to sail from Fuzhou, but on the way to Wenzhou, he was chased by the government and forced to return to Yangzhou. His fourth eastward crossing failed.

On June 27, 748, Jianzhen made his fifth eastward crossing. He set out from Yangzhou and anchored in the Zhoushan Islands for three months and encountered a typhoon while crossing the East China Sea. After drifting at sea for 14 days, he arrived at the southern tip of Hainan Island. Ya County. On the way back to Yangzhou, disciple Xiangyan and Japanese scholar Rong Rui passed away one after another. Jianzhen himself fell ill due to the long journey and became blind.

Jianzhen was not discouraged by his blindness. Five years later, the 66-year-old blind man resolutely decided to sail again. On October 19, 753, he left Longxing Temple in Yangzhou. On November 16, he took the second Tang envoy ship from Huangsipu in Shazhou and sailed straight to Japan. At noon on December 20, this blind monk, whose long-cherished aspirations remained unchanged and determined to go eastward to promote the Dharma, finally set foot on the soil of Japan and landed in Akimepu, Fōsu-cho, Kagoshima Prefecture, accompanied by Puzhao, Fa Jin and Sito. others.

More than 40 days later, Jianzhen and his party arrived in Nara, Kyoto at the time. They were warmly welcomed by the whole country headed by the Emperor, causing a sensation across Japan. He lived in Japan for 10 years and passed away in Japan on May 6, 763, at the age of 76.