A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago

The book opens with a map of I-tsing’s route to India and back, followed by introductory material that discusses the chronology of I-tsing’s journey, his relationship to earlier Chinese pilgrims, the Mūlasarvāstivāda school, Buddhist schools in India, and the geographical names mentioned in his record. The section on the life and travels of I-tsing covers his boyhood, departure from China, journey to India, stay in India and the Southern Sea, and return home. The main body of the book, “A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea,” is arranged into forty chapters. These chapters examine monastic discipline and Buddhist practice in detail, including the observance of varṣa, honoring senior monks, sitting at meals, rules about food, water, tooth-wood, reception on upavasatha days, funeral regulations, summer retreat, robes, consecrated grounds, ordination, bathing, sleep, health practices, mutual respect, teacher–pupil conduct, treatment of strangers, medicine, chanting, post-mortem arrangements, common property of the Saṅgha, cremation, hair-cutting, and improper customs not practiced by the virtuous elders.