Few Buddhist texts landed in China as decisively as the Sutra of Forty-Two Sections—a pithy anthology of the Buddha’s core teachings “without mincing words.” Tradition holds that two Indian monks, Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna, gathered these forty-two brief discourses and set about rendering them into Chinese.

Emperor Ming of the Han dynasty (r. 57–75 CE) famously dreamed of a radiant figure—later identified as the Buddha—and dispatched emissaries to the West. In 67 CE, Kasyapa Matanga (迦葉摩騰) and Dharmaratna (竺法蘭) arrived at what became known as the White Horse Temple in Luoyang. There, they produced the very first Chinese translation of this sutra, planting Buddhism’s earliest roots on Chinese soil.

That initial translation not only introduced vital Buddhist concepts—karma, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path—but also set a pattern for centuries of Sino-Indian cultural exchange. It’s remarkable to think that over 1,950 years ago, this slim volume—barely more than forty bite-sized teachings—served as the springboard for a tradition that now enriches the lives of millions across East Asia.