Luoyang Qielan Ji Xuejian

Author: (Northern Wei) Yang Xuanzhi / Yang Yong annotated
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-02-01
Features: Yang Xuanzhi's Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang is an important historical text that has survived from the Northern Wei period. Although the content primarily focuses on the Buddhist monasteries in Luoyang and is titled accordingly, it actually includes many records of the politics, personalities, customs, geography, and legends of the time. It holds great value for understanding the urban system, architectural styles of Buddhist monasteries, and historical relics of Luoyang during the Northern Wei era. Moreover, Yang Xuanzhi's concise narrative and elegant prose make it an outstanding literary work. The original Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang was divided into main text and annotations, but after the Northern Song Dynasty, the annotations were merged with the text, causing confusion for readers. Although scholars have since attempted to separate them, they ultimately failed to restore the original format due to their lack of understanding of the book's structure. Yang Yong, a specialist in medieval literature at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, has deep expertise in this field. After years of dedicated effort, he meticulously annotated and collated the text, not only clarifying the separation between the main text and annotations but also ensuring well-organized annotations and thorough proofreading. This work represents a significant contribution to the modern study of Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang.