This work describes the course of the so-called 'Basic Schism' of Buddhism into the Theravada and Mahasamghika Schools, which took place over 100 years after the death of Sakyamuni，and the subsequent division of the Hinayana into 20 minor sects. It is written from the standpoint of the Sarvastivadins, but also describes in detail the doctrinal characteristics of the other sects.
This work is thus not only indispensable in the study of the history of sectarian division in Buddhism，but，when one considers that the majority of extant doctrinal treatises of Hinayana belong to the Sarvastivadins, it is also an invaluable source of material in the elucidation of the tenets of sects other than the Sarvastivadins.
