An Shigao 

(2 w. n.e.) was an early Buddhist missionary to China, and the earliest known

translator of Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese. According to legend, he was a prince of
Parthia, nicknamed the "Parthian Marquess", who renounced his claim to the royal throne
of Parthia in order to serve as a Buddhist missionary monk in China.
The prefix An in An Shigao's name has raised many questions and hypotheses as to his
origin and story. Some believe that it is an abbreviation of Anxi, the Chinese name given
to the regions ruled by the Parthian Empire. Most visitors from that country who took a
Chinese name received the An prefix to indicate their origin in Anxi.
Nothing more is known about his life; the stories about his peregrinations in Southern
China recorded in his biographies must be relegated to the realm of hagiography. An
Shigao has never been successfully identified with any Parthian prince figuring in
occidental sources.
He translated thirty-five texts from the Theravada and Mahayana schools of Buddhism,
including works on meditation, psychology, and techniques of breath control. An Shih-
kao is the first Buddhist missionary to China to be named in Chinese sources. Another
Parthian monk named An Xuan is also said to have followed An Shih-kao, where he took
charge of translating Mahayana texts.

An Shigao was probably the author of the first Chinese editions of the Buddhist
scriptures. He was also the first translator to be mentioned in Chinese records.