The most influential Indian Tantric master in Chinese history; Amoghavajra (Bù-kōng 不空 = “Indestructible”; also 不空金剛 Bù-kōng Vajra = Amoghavajra). One of the Three Great Tantric Masters (三大士) of Kāi-yuán Tángmì alongside Śubhakarasiṃha 善無畏 and his master Vajrabodhi 金剛智. Lifedates 705 – 774 (born 神龍元年 = 705, died Dà-lì 9 = 774). Native of North India (some sources Sogdiana) — accompanied his uncle to Java as a youth, then to China where he met Vajrabodhi at fifteen. Returned briefly to India and Sri Lanka (741–746) for further Tantric initiation. Returned to Chang-an in 746 with new texts and apparatus.
Served as imperial Tantric tutor under Xuánzōng, Sùzōng, and Dàizōng — three successive emperors. Court titles included Kāifǔ yítóng sānsī, tèjìn shì Hónglúqīng, Sùguógōng, shíyì sānqiānhù, cì zǐ zèng Sīkōng, shì Dàzhèngjiān, hào Dàguǎngzhì 開府儀同三司特進試鴻臚卿肅國公食邑三千戶賜紫贈司空謚大正監號大廣智 — the most elevated court titles ever conferred on a foreign monk in Táng China. Resident at Dàxìngshànsì 大興善寺.
Translated 110+ texts including the Vajraśekhara cycle, the Mahāvairocana-sūtra apparatus, and the Lǐ-qù-jīng (KR6c0120 Dà-lè jīn-gāng bù-kōng zhēn-shí sān-mó-yē jīng 大樂金剛不空真實三麼耶經, T8 no. 243) — the most influential Chinese rendering of the Adhyardhaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā and a foundational text of Japanese Shingon Buddhism via Kūkai’s transmission. Established the formal Tángmì lineage continued by his disciples Huì-guǒ 惠果, Hán-guāng 含光, and others; the Japanese Shingon school traces its lineage through Kūkai (空海) → Huì-guǒ → Bù-kōng.