Kumarajiva(鳩摩羅什), a very important translator of Buddhist sutras into Chinese, is said to have died in 409 or 413 A.D. but the exact date of his death has not yet been fixed. In this article, the author reexamines the records concerning Kumarajiva's life and attempts a solution of this problem. In the first chapter, previous studies of the date are outlined. In the second chapter, the author examines "The Eulogy of Kumarajiva"(鳩摩羅什法師誄), especially focusing on the passage in it admiring the two kings of Former and Later Chin(前秦・後秦). It is demonstrated that the "Eulogy" is a forgery and that it was written by neither Seng-chao(僧肇)nor anybody else under the Later Chin dynasty. In the third chapter, other materials concerning Kumarajiva's life are examined. Among them, only the three records mentioned below turn out to be reliable: (1) Seng-chao's reply to Liu Yi-min(答劉遣民書), which shows that Kumarajiva was still alive on August 15,410. (2) The biographies of Buddhabhadra(仏駄跋陀羅)and Hui-guan(慧観)in Chu san zang ji ji(出三蔵記集)and Liang gao seng zhuan(梁高僧伝), whose descriptions of their fleeing to Lu-shan(盧山)and Jing-zhou(荊州)indicate that Kumarajiva had died in early 412 at the latest. (3) The biography of Tan-yong(曇〓)in Liang gao seng zhuan, which shows that Kumarajiva lived in Chang-an(長安)for over ten years. Judging from these records, Kumarajiva died ca.411(=弘始13年), though the exact date of his death did not come down to the Liang(梁)period and afterwards.
