The book, offered to the reader’s attention, opens the publication of the Russian translation of the Buddhist biographical collection of Hui-jiao (497—554) “Gao sen zhuan” (“Lives of Worthy Monks”). This is the most important source on the history of early Chinese Buddhism, a monument of Chinese literature, an exemplary work in the genre of Buddhist biography, which became widespread in China, and then in Korea and Japan. The first volume of this publication includes an additional investigation, which provides a comprehensive analysis of the monument, as well as a translation the first section “Translators”, equipped with commentary and indexes.