Bodhi Tree Parables -- An Ancient Chinese Collection of Leisure Literature

Author: Shi Nianlin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: This is a popular book that spreads Buddhist teachings in the form of fables, often referred to as the "Aesop's Fables of Buddhist Scriptures." The Hundred Parables, also known as The Hundred Proverbial Parables, was written by the ancient Indian monk Ghésana and translated by the Southern Dynasties monk Qian Niadi of the Three Baskets School. The title The Hundred Parables refers to one hundred parable stories, but the original text actually contains ninety-eight parable stories. The reason it is called "hundred" has two explanations: one is for the sake of convenience, and the other is that it includes the preface and postscript, totaling one hundred entries. The full text of The Hundred Parables is over 20,000 characters long, with a simple structure. Each entry follows a two-step format: the first step is to tell a story, serving as an introduction, and the second step is to draw a parallel, explaining a Buddhist principle. It was translated from Sanskrit to Chinese over 1,500 years ago. As soon as this scripture was circulated, it was well-received by readers.