The Hye Ch’O Diary: Memoir of the Pilgrimage to the Five Regions of India

Description

Translation of memoir of a Korean Buddhist monk rediscovered in 1908 in the Library Cave of Mogao Caves, who traveled to Indian and then as far as Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage before returning to China. "The first English translation of the travel diary of a Korean Buddhist monk who traveled from his homeland to India in the eighth century. While the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims have been much studied, Hye Cho's pilgrimage has not been given the consideration it deserves. His description of the Silk Road communities, the Central Asian political situation and the state of Buddhism in India at the time is our only eyewitness account from any source for this area during that time period. Hye Cho describes the impact of the Muslim culture on the region as well. The documents forming this diary were discovered in Cave 17 at Tun-huang. The translation and the extensive notation will be of value for historians of India and Central Asia as well as those interested in the history of Buddhism in general."