[1] The temple is named after a Korean Buddhist monk known as Ximing Fashi (西明法师).
[2] It was at Ximing that pilgrim and traveller Xuanzang (602-664) translated the scriptures he had brought back from India.
Another traveller Yijing (635-713) also based himself at Ximing while working on translations of Indian scriptures.
Shubhākarasimha, an Indian scholar monk, was responsible for the introduction of the Mahavairocana Sutra and the tantric traditions associated with it.
Kukai, a Japanese monk, studied Sanskrit there under the tutelage of Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734-810?)