Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Late Han vernacular elements in the earliest Buddhist translations -- Life of the Buddha -- Buddhism in a pre-modern bureaucratic empire : the Chinese experience -- Buddhist influence on early Daoism : a survey of scriptural evidence -- Eschatology and messianism in early Chinese Buddhism -- "Prince Moonlight" : messianism and eschatology in early medieval Chinese Buddhism -- Perspectives in the study of Chinese Buddhism -- Mahā-Cīna : the Buddhist reinterpretation of the history of China -- Buddhism and education in Tang times -- The impact of Buddhism on Chinese culture in an historical perspective -- Han Buddhism and the western region -- The spread of Buddhism and Christianity in imperial China : spontaneous diffusion versus guided propagation -- Nuns and convents in old Chinese Buddhism -- A new look at the earliest Chinese Buddhist texts -- A new preface to The Buddhist conquest of China -- Obscure texts on favourite topics. Dao'an's anonymous scriptures -- Buddhist art in medieval China : the ecclesiastical view -- Vernacular elements in early Buddhist texts : an attempt to define the optimal source materials -- Buddhism across boundaries : the foreign input -- Xu Guangqi and Buddhism -- Tidings from the south Chinese court Buddhism and overseas relations in the fifth century CE -- Buddhist Chanhui and Christian confession in seventeenth-century China.

This book gathers together for the first time the most central and influential papers of the great scholar of Chinese Buddhism, Erik Zürcher, presenting the results of his career-long profound studies following on the 1959 publication of his landmark 'The Buddhist Conquest of China'. The translation and language of Buddhist scriptures in China, Buddhist interactions with Daoist traditions, the activities of Buddhists below elite social levels, continued interactions with Central Asia and lands to the west, and typological comparisons with Christianity are only some of the themes explored here. Presenting some of the most important studies on Buddhism in China, especially in the earlier periods, ever published, it will thus be of interest to a wide variety of readers.

Text in English with some Chinese.

Print version record.