Philosopher, Practitioner, Politician : The Many Lives of Fazang 643-712, Hardcover by Chen, Jinhua, ISBN 9004156135, ISBN-13 9789004156135, Like New Used, Free shipping in the US Chen (U. of British Columbia) presents a biography of Fazang, a third-generation Sogdian immigrant to China who became one of the greatest Buddhist metaphysicians in medieval Asia and founder of the Avatamsaka tradition whose influence spread to Korea and Japan. Previous studies, he says, have focused so exclusively on his philosophical tracts that the biographical, political, religious, and political context of his work and life have been neglected. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR ()