Hui-yüan (334-416) was the most famous monk of the early period of Chinese Buddhism, combining in his person and in his thought profound understanding of Chinese culture and philosophy with real faith in Buddhist doctrine and religion.

In the 4th century China was torn in two by continual warfare. The North was occupied by barbarian dynasties who were generally very fond of Buddhism and who had close ties with Buddhists of central Asia. The South remained Chinese, and the Buddhism practiced there was really an amalgam of native, Taoist philosophy and Indian Buddhism. Hui-yüan was at once the most perfect practician of southern "gentry" Buddhism and the adumbration of what Chinese Buddhism was to become when it was completely assimilated and digested.

Throughout his life Hui-yüan, whose family name was Chia, gives witness of having been a man of great refinement and...