This book unravels some of the complex factors that allowed or hampered the presence of (certain aspects of) Buddhism in the regions to the north and the east of India, such as Central Asia, China, Tibet, Mongolia, or Korea.

Ann Heirman, Ph.D. (1998) in Oriental Languages and Cultures, is Professor of Chinese Language and Culture at Ghent University, Belgium. She has published extensively on Chinese Buddhist monasticism including Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya (2002).
Stephan Peter Bumbacher, Dr. phil. (1996) teaches sinology and religious studies at the universities of Tübingen and Zürich. He is author of The fragments of the 'Daoxue zhuan' (2000) and articles on Chinese Buddhism, Daoism, and religious studies.