According to Huijiao’s 慧皎 Gaoseng zhuan 高僧伝, Kang Senghui 康僧会 arrived at Jianye 建業 in 247, converted the political leaders Sun Quan 孫権 and Sun Hao 孫晧 to Buddhism, and built the first temple, Jianchu si 建初寺 in Jiangnan 江南. He was a monk who established the foundation of the later development of Jiangnan Buddhism.
At present, almost all Kang Senghui’s biographies are based on the Gaoseng zhuan. However, there are other documents tracing Kang Senghui’s life. In this paper, I classify them into three versions and compare the different accounts of when he reached Jianye. In the past, the Gaoseng zhuan was not necessarily always trusted. There are two theories of 247 and 241 for the date of his arrival in Jianye. There is one more theory of his arrival in 241 and meeting with Sun Quan in 247. The key points are the Poxie lun 破邪論 written to refute Taoism and the Wu Shu 呉書, being the authority on this point. Introducing the debate on the authenticity of the Wu Shu, I examine how to consider the two dates.
