Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Faxian and the history of Buddhism
A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms is a good reference source that takes into account the religious tradition of Asia as witnessed by Chinese Buddhist Monk Faxian.Although his travelogue is brief and appears more as a journal, one should not discount the succinct appearance because the contents and all 40 chapters are a wealth of information are an important piece of history that also implements significant figures who helped to contribute to the influence of Buddhism throughout the Asian landscape bridging a great relationship between the East and West, Alexander the Great, Kanishka, and Indian leaders Chandragupta and Asoka as well as what Faxian observed within the kingdoms in terms of the display of ritual, tradition, and community that Buddha initially encountered during his path of enlightenment at Sankasya Kingdom.

Overall, the electronic edition of this primary document provides readers the convenient access to refer to the source at any time. And the brief accounts along with the footnotes allow readers to easily find the definitions and explanations of what is being discussed.

Not a good travelogue
Normally I love these ancient travelogues, but this is the worst one I've read yet. It follows a Chinese monk as he goes through China and India between 399 and 414. The translator wrote it in 3rd person, which makes it very impersonal. I can't imagine that it was written that way originally. The footnotes are so long and detailed that there are more footnotes than text. One chapter is half a page of text and 2 + 1/2 pages of footnotes. The book isn't very long, and when you remove all of the footnotes and the long introduction, there isn't much left about the journey. This book is more for scholars of ancient China than someone who just wants to read an entertaining travelogue.
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