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.

이 책에서 발견할 것들

• 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.

이런 분들이 좋아할 거예요

실제 여행 기록, 불교 초기 역사, 아시아의 순례길, 고대 왕국을 직접 본 기록, 길 위에서 피어난 우정과 용기 이야기를 좋아한다면 이 책이 마음에 들 거예요.