Study of Famous Monasteries of the Chan Sect in Jiangxi

According to the 45th volume of Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, in Emperor Ming of Han (58-75) "e;The emperor learnt that there was a deity in the West called Buddha, and dispatched emissaries to India to study Buddhism and obtain Buddhist scripts."e; This was the earliest record of the introduction of Buddhism to China. The emperor's attendant Cai Yin and Doctor Qin Jing were sent on the diplomatic mission and returned with a white horse carrying the Sutra of Forty-two Sections, along with the eminent monk Kasyapamatanga and Dharmaratna, which marked the introduction of Buddhism to China. The earliest Buddhist temple is the White Horse Temple in Luoyang. With many difficulties and setbacks, Buddhism emerged as an important ideology, a part of Chinese culture, thought and religious belief. Temples and monasteries of all sizes mushroomed in China. In Jiangxi, according to historical records, the first Buddhist temple appeared as early as the time of Emperor Zhang of Han (76-88). But some scholars are not convinced. The book is a product of the research topic "e;Study of Famous Monasteries of the Chan Sect in Jiangxi"e; undertaken by Jiangxi Studies Institute, Nanchang University. Due to the large number of monasteries of Chan sect in Jiangxi and the schedule requirements of the topic, the research will also be phased. This book focuses on four famous temples dating back millennium, namely Jingju Temple in Qingyuan Mountain, Youmin Temple in Nanchang, Baizhang Temple in Fengxin and Zhenru Temple in Yunju Mountain. It will expand its scope and study more temples in the future, in order to make some academic breakthrough in this field.