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His secular surname was Chunyu, and he was a Buddhist master of the Tang Dynasty, born in the fourth year of Chuigong (688) and passed away in the second year of Guangde (764).

Jian Zhen was originally from Jiangyang, Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu). His family was poor during his childhood. In the first year of Chang'an (701), at the age of 14, he became a monk at the Dayun Temple in Yangzhou (later renamed Quxing Temple) with his father. In the first year of Shenlong of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (705), he received the Bodhisattva Precepts from Zen Master Dao'an. In the early years of Jinglong (708), he followed his teacher to Luoyang and Chang'an, where he repeatedly studied under renowned masters. By the first year of Kaiyuan (713), when he returned to Yangzhou, he had become a highly accomplished monk in Buddhist studies and was appointed as the abbot of the Daming Temple in Yangzhou.

In the 21st year of Kaiyuan of Tang (733), Japanese monks Rong Rui and Pu Zhao came to China with the Japanese embassy to study and invited eminent monks to Japan to propagate Buddhism and confer precepts. In the first year of Tianbao (742), Jian Zhen accepted the invitation from the Japanese. In the second year of Tianbao (743), Jian Zhen and his disciples Xiang Yan, Dao Xing, and others began their journey to cross the sea to Japan. Over ten years, they attempted to cross the sea five times, enduring great hardships and dangers, but all attempts failed. After the fifth failed attempt, the 62-year-old Master Jian Zhen became blind, his chief disciple Xiang Yan passed away, and the Japanese monk who had invited him also died. However, Jian Zhen's determination to cross to Japan remained unwavering. On the fifteenth day of the eleventh month of the 12th year of Tianbao of Tang (753), he led more than 40 disciples on their sixth attempt to cross the sea. They landed at Satsuma no Ata no Ura (now Otsukiura, Kagoshima, southern Kyushu) in Japan that same year, passing through Dazaifu, Osaka, and other places, and arrived in the Japanese capital Heijō-kyō (now Nara, Japan) the following year, where they were warmly welcomed by the Japanese court, monks, and laypeople.

Jian Zhen was the first Chinese master to establish the Vinaya school of Buddhism in Japan. At that time, the Japanese Emperor, Empress, Crown Prince, and other high-ranking officials all received the Three Masters and Seven Witnesses Precept Conferral from Jian Zhen and became his disciples. In the second year of Qianyuan of Tang (759), which was the third year of Tenpyō-hōji in Japan, Jian Zhen founded the Tōshōdai Temple in the suburbs of Nara and authored the Three Sutras on Precepts , which were printed and circulated, marking the beginning of Japanese printing.

Jian Zhen was well-versed in medicine and proficient in materia medica. He brought Chinese medicinal identification, processing of materia medica, formulation, storage, and application techniques to Japan, where he taught medicine and enthusiastically treated patients. In the first year of Zhide (756), which was the eighth year of Tenpyō-shōhō in Japan, Jian Zhen and his disciple Fa Rong cured Emperor Shōmu's illness. Although Jian Zhen was blind by then, he used his sense of taste, smell, and touch to identify the authenticity of medicinal herbs without error. As a result, he held a highly esteemed position in the Japanese medical community and was revered as the founder of Kampo medicine and the Japanese Shennong. Japanese medical historian Fujikawa Yū noted in his History of Japanese Medicine : "Although there were many famous ancient Japanese doctors, only Jian Zhen and Tashiro Sanki are honored with statues" (Fujikawa Yū, History of Japanese Medicine ).

Jian Zhen passed away on the sixth day of the fifth month of the second year of Guangde of Tang (764), which was the seventh year of Tenpyō-hōji in Japan. He was buried at the Shimotsuke Yakushi Temple in Japan, where a square pagoda was erected with the inscription "Great Monk Jian Zhen" on its front. The Japanese National Bibliography records a "Secret Prescriptions of Master Jian, Volume One," also known as Jian Zhen's Secret Prescriptions . Although the book has long been lost, excerpts can be found in the Ishinpō .