The Daisaku Ikeda Library

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The introduction of Buddhism to China is a fascinating story of the meeting of two great civilizations: India, the land of the Buddha's birth, and China, where Buddhism was transformed into a world religion and from where the Buddhist scriptures eventually spread to Japan.

Picking up where his earlier volume, The Living Buddha, leaves off, Ikeda gives narrative to Buddhist missionaries and translators, the first Chinese Buddhist leaders, the development of distinctly Chinese schools of Buddhism, and the eventual decline of Buddhism in China after the tenth century. He describes the career and achievements of Kumarajiva, famed for his renditions of the sutras, among them the Lotus Sutra, and the philosophical treatises that form the core of East Asian Buddhist literature.

The careers and major works of the Hui-ssu, Chih-i and Chan-jan, and master interpreter-advocates of the T’ien-t’ai school of Buddhism in China, are outlined. This presents a useful introduction to the T'ien-t'ai school that arose in Japan and informed the teachings of Nichiren in the 13th century.

Translated by Burton Watson, The Flower of Chinese Buddhism offers insightful account of one of the key time periods in the spread of Buddhism across Asia.

The Flower of Chinese Buddism is also available in Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Thai, Danish, Indonesian, Spanish and Chinese (traditional and simplified versions).

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