Bodhidharma In China

There are various sources with conflicting information about Bodhidharma arrival in China. The Further Biographies of Eminent Monks is more detailed on the origin in Bodhidharma in that it claims that he traveled to Nanyue (now modern day northern Vietnam and Chinese Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan) during the Liu Song Dynasty. The Liu Song Dynasty ruled from the years 420-479. The Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices claims that Bodhidharma, after giving up his royal life in India, “Put aside his white layman’s robe for the black robe of a monk… and subsequently crossed distant mountains and sea, traveling about and propagating the teaching in Han and Wei.” Han and Wei probably refers to the states of Cao Wei

There is virtually no country I have not visited. Even the distant Buddha-realms lack this." This quote is rather confusing in and of itself due to Bodhidharmas odd reference to Buddha-realms. The Buddha realms themselves are conceptual states of being, or heavenly places depending on buddhist interpretation. Here, Bodhidharma is saying that the Buddha-realms lack the quality of being ‘well-traveled’. Perhaps he is alluding to the spread of Buddhist values in and of itself. This quote, obviously, is to be taken as legendary, as there is no human who has ever literally lived to one hundred and fifty, and no person in ancient times who had been to every country. There are two ways to interpret this. Either this quote, in and of itself, was created by a writer to give Bodhidharma legendary god-like qualities, or, Bodhidharma did actually say this quote, and was attempting to ascribe god-like qualities to himself. Ascribing god-like qualities to Bodhidharma wouldn’t be unusual, as other sources claimed that he had a direct lineage to Mahatma Buddha himself. The Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices and the Further Biographies of Eminent Monks do not reference a legendary level of travel, but rather both claim that Bodhidharma traveled from the west around