On the surface, this book is a collection of twelve papers the author published between 2000 and 2014 on various aspects of Buddhist thought and practice in China during the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui 隋 and Tang 唐 periods, with some additional discussion newly written for the book (pp. vi–viii). !e merits of the individual papers collected in this book require no further explanation. Since their original publication, they have come to constitute a foundational part of our current knowledge of medieval Chinese Buddhism and have become a must-read for any scholar working in this 8eld.
