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Along with Commentary on the Waterways by Li Daoyuan, A Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Luo-yang by Yang Xuanzhi has been acclaimed as a prose classic of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Adopting the attitude of a historian, Yang provided complete, detailed and accurate records of Buddhist temples' distribution in Luo-yang, as well as major monasteries' history, architecture and relevant Buddhist activities. Owing to its description of the popularity of Buddhism in Luo-yang, the book, as well became an important Buddhist classic. In addition, from palace coups to the life of ordinary people, it presents a panorama of the capital city including its government setup and social economy. What's more, Yang used the past to criticize the present, with narration interspersed with bits of comments, highlighting the book' s role as "a mirror for government".

What's presented here is a bilingual English-Chinese edition. Professor Cao Hong of Nanjing University translates the ancient Chinese prose into contemporary Chinese, while Wang Yitong translates it into English.

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