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Along with Commentary on the Waterways by Li Daoyuan, A Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Luo-yang by Yang Xuanzhi, a Chinese writer and translator of Mahayana Buddhist texts into the Chinese language, has been acclaimed as a prose classic of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Adopting the attitude of a historian, Yang provided complete, detailed and accurate records of Buddhist temples distribution in Luo-yang, as well as major monasteries history, architecture and relevant Buddhist activities. Owing to its description of the popularity of Buddhism in Luo-yang, the book, as well became an important Buddhist classic. His book also contains the first known account of the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, founder of Zen, whom he met in Luoyang around 520. He describes him as a man of Central Asian origin, who claims to be 150 years old and to have traveled extensively throughout Buddhist lands. In addition, from palace coups to the life of ordinary people, it presents a panorama of the capital city including its government setup and social economy. What's more, Yang used the past to criticize the present, with narration interspersed with bits of comments, highlighting the book's role as "a mirror for government".
What's presented here is a bilingual English-Chinese edition. Professor Cao Hong of Nanjing University translates the ancient Chinese prose into contemporary Chinese, while Wang Yitong translates it into English.

 

 

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