Zhú Fóniàn 竺佛念 was a native of Liángzhōu 涼州 (in present-day Gānsù) who became one of the most prolific Chinese-language collaborators in the Fú-Qín 苻秦 and Yáo-Qín 姚秦 translation enterprises. According to the Gāosēng zhuàn 高僧傳 (T2059, 329a–b) and the Chū sānzàng jì jí 出三藏記集 (T2145, 111b) he was a child-monk of unusual diligence who, in addition to memorizing extensive sūtra material, made a special study of “outer texts” (外典) — i.e. non-Buddhist Chinese learning — and so was uniquely placed to render Indic recitation into elegant literary Chinese. He served as Chinese-language assistant under Saṅghabhadra 僧伽跋澄, Dharmanandi 曇摩難提 and, most famously, Buddhayaśas — collaborating with 佛陀耶舍 on the Sìfēn lǜ 四分律 (Dharmaguptaka Vinaya) and the [[KR6a0001|Cháng Āhán jīng 長阿含經]] / Dīrgha-āgama (413 CE). Translations attributed primarily to him include the Chūyào jīng 出曜經 (T0212), the Púsà yīngluò běnyè jīng 菩薩瓔珞本業經 (T1485), the Púsà cóng Dōushuòtiān jiàngshén mǔtāi shuō guǎngpǔ jīng 菩薩從兜術天降神母胎說廣普經 (T0384) and the Apítán bā jiāndù lùn 阿毘曇八犍度論 (T1543, the Aṣṭagrantha of Kātyāyanīputra). He is regarded by tradition as the leading “translation-bureau master” (譯經宗師) of the Fú-Qín / Yáo-Qín period. He died in Cháng’ān; his year of death and final age are not recorded.
In Sēngzhào’s preface to the Cháng Āhán jīng the name appears in the textually transmitted form 佛忘 — universally treated by later editors as a scribal slip for 佛念.