Chinese Sources of South Asian History in Translation : Data for Study of India-China Relations Through History, Vol. 3. The Buddhist Trilogy Book

Contents: Foreword. Preface. Reading guide. Table of transliteration. Measures. Chinese chronology. Introduction. Texts translated: XVI. Lives of eminent monks (Gaoseng Zhuan). XVII. A record of the Sangharamas of Luoyang (Luoyang Qielan Ji) about the author. XVIII. An essay on Sakyamuni and Laozi (Shi Lao Zhi). Bibliography. General glossary. Chinese glossary. General index.

"This book reconstructs an interesting chapter in the history of Buddhism in China, and how China absorbed and internalised the teachings of Buddha. It forms the third volume of Chinese Sources of South Asian History in Translation subtitled Buddhist Trilogy the work includes three texts not studied thoroughly before in India. Gaoseng Zhuan (c.530 A.D) by Hui Jiao affords us an insight into how the major Buddhist proselytisers from South Asia carried out the Herculean and hazardous task of disseminating their creed in a foreign and unknown land under hostile conditions. By the time we come across Luoyang Qielan Ji (547) by Yang Xuanzhi, Buddhism had already become a flourishing creed in China, its capital, Luoyang, being turned into a picturesque city dotted with Buddhist temples of all descriptions scattered all over the city. The author's inclusion of travels of Song Yun and Hui Sheng to Udyana and Gandhara in 518 (map provided) is an important contribution.

The last text in the book is the piece on Sakyamuni, the Buddha, included in Juan 114 of the History of the Wei Dynasty (Weishu) (554) by Wei Shou which provides the only official account of Buddhism ever included in a dynastic history of China. It sums up the growth of Buddhism in China through various stages of ups and downs. Less than a century thereafter came the Tang dynasty rightly called the golden period of our relations which constitutes the fourth volume of this set.

By the time a reader finishes reading this tome he will be convinced of the historical process under which Buddhism became a religion and philosophy encompassing all aspects of Chinese life after overcoming all vicissitudes." (jacket)