Zhu Fahu

Zhu Fahu, also known as Dharmarksa, was a prominent monk during the Western Jin Dynasty. His ancestors were originally Yuezhi people with the surname Zhi who resided in Dunhuang for generations. At the age of eight, he became a monk under a renowned monk surnamed Zhu from the Western Regions, adopting the surname Zhu as per custom. During the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Jin Dynasty, Zhu traveled with his master across various countries in the Western Regions, where he learned and mastered the languages and scripts of those nations, simultaneously collecting a large number of Sanskrit texts to bring back to China.

In 284, Zhu returned to Dunhuang and began translating Sanskrit texts. With the assistance of his disciples and lay followers including Zhu Fasheng, he translated Yoga-cārya-bhūmi-sūtra and Avinivartanīya-sūtra into Chinese. He established a community of monks and lay followers around him in Dunhuang. Later, Zhu traveled to Chang'an and Luoyang to teach Buddhism while dedicating his life to translating Sanskrit texts. Over his lifetime, he translated 165 Buddhist scriptures, producing faithful translations that contributed notably to the spread of Buddhism in China. Outside Xuanping Gate in Chang'an stands Dunhuang Temple, where Zhu Fahu spent over 20 years translating scriptures and promoting Buddhist teachings. He was highly respected and gained a following of thousands of monks and laypeople, earning him the title of "Bodhisattva of Dunhuang" in his time.

竺法護

竺法護，又名竺曇摩羅剎，西晉時期著名的僧人。他的先祖本是月氏人，本姓支氏，世代居住在敦煌。8歲時他隨西域竺姓高僧出家，依照習俗改姓竺。晉武帝時，竺法護隨師父游歷西域各國，學習并通曉西域各國的語言文字，同時搜集大量梵文經典帶回中國。

太康五年（284），竺法護回到敦煌后就開始翻譯佛經，在弟子竺法乘等僧俗信徒的幫助下，將《修行道地經》和《阿難越致遮經》譯成漢文，并在敦煌形成了一個以他為中心的漢胡僧俗信徒團體。后來竺法護又曾到長安、洛陽等地傳教，并將翻譯梵文典籍視為自己畢生的事業。他一生共譯佛經165部，譯文忠實原文，為佛法在中國的流傳做出了重要貢獻。漢長安城宣平門外有“敦煌寺”，竺法護在此譯經弘道20余載，德高望重，僧徒信眾數千，被時人譽為“敦煌菩薩”。