5 h 43 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What sends an aging monk across deserts and mountains in search of rules for life back home?
Faxian leaves Chang'an on foot with a clear purpose: to find the complete Vinaya, the rules his fellow monks in China lack. In A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, his search takes him across western deserts and mountains toward India, through lands where Buddhist communities preserve texts, relics, and stories.
His account looks beyond the journey itself. Faxian records which kings protect monks, how people live, and what he finds at places associated with the Buddha. At Pataliputra, he studies Sanskrit and copies the rules he seeks. This short, factual record brings the concerns of a pilgrim close without turning his travels into a long, elaborate story.
What you’ll discover
- A purpose worth pursuing Follow Faxian's search for the monastic rules missing from Buddhist life in China.
- Across sands and mountains Travel with the pilgrims through Dunhuang and into the vast western desert.
- Places held sacred Visit sites linked by Buddhist tradition to the Buddha's life and earlier lives.
- Life beyond the monasteries See what catches Faxian's eye as he observes people and rulers in Buddhist India.
- Patient work with texts Discover the Sanskrit study and careful copying at the heart of his quest.
Who will love it
For readers who love first-hand travel, the history of Buddhism, or the Silk Road and Indian Ocean routes.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A monk sets out to find the rules
- Deserts and mountains test the pilgrims
- Northwest India holds relics and great towers
- The Middle Kingdom shows an orderly society
- Sacred sites mark the life of the Buddha
- Copying texts and the long road home
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Bericht über buddhistische Königreiche
by Faxian · 414
Faxian crosses deserts and mountains to bring the monastic rules back to China.
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In short
Around the year 399, a Chinese Buddhist monk named Faxian sets out from Chang'an. He has a plain aim.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A monk sets out to find the rules
Faxian lived in China during the Eastern Jin period, when Buddhism was growing but its books were uneven. Monks lacked a complete Vinaya, the body of rules that governs monastic life. Faxian felt this gap keenly. He decided to go to India himself and bring back authentic texts.
He did not go alone. He began with several fellow monks, and the names Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying and Huiwei appear in his story. Over the years some of them turn back, some settle abroad, and some die on the road. Faxian carries on, and he often says what the loss of a friend cost him.
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What is A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms about?
It is Faxian's account of his journey from China to India and Sri Lanka. He describes the lands, kings, monasteries, relics and sacred sites he saw, and how he gathered Buddhist texts.
Why did Faxian travel to India?
He wanted to find a complete set of the Vinaya, the monastic rules, because the Chinese monks lacked a reliable version. He walked west to the land of the Buddha to collect and copy the texts.
Is Faxian's account a true story?
Yes. It is a first-hand travel record written by a real monk, and historians treat it as a valuable source. Some details rely on local belief, but its places and customs have been confirmed by archaeology.
The author
Faxian
337–422 · Chinese Buddhist pilgrim and writer
Chinese Buddhist monk (bhikkhu), pilgrim to India, and travelogue author during the Jin and Liu Song dynasties.
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