Description

Taishō 2125

Volume 54

Buddhist Monastic Traditions of Southern Asia is also known as A Record of the Buddhist Religions as Practiced in India and the Malay Archipelago. Yijing left China in C.E. 671 for India and Southeast Asia, and this work is a detailed record of his observations on monastic discipline and life in the monasteries he visited. These works were sent as dispatches back to China. Yijing wanted to help the monks at home to reflect upon the state of their own discipline by giving an indication of the strict rules observed by monks in India and neighboring countries. The resulting collection is thus a valuable source of material on the organization of the Buddhist community in these countries and the state of monastic discipline at the time.

Source
Ch. Nanhai jigui neifa zhuan (南海寄歸内法傳), compiled by Yijing. 4 fascicles.