As capital of the Russian empire from the early eighteenth century until the fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917, St Petersburg has often been seen as Russia's 'window onto Europe'. From its origins as an isolated military settlement at its foundation, St Petersburg grew rapidly to become a major European capital under Catherine the Great. This book examines the city's development in the crucial period before Catherine's accession and its development as a suitable seat for the Russian imperial court. The court played a leading role in fostering the various cultural changes that were introduced in Russia during the eighteenth century. In exploring the ceremonial and social life of St Petersburg during this period, the foundation for the glittering courts of the later Romanov rulers, the book highlights another important aspect of the relationship between Russia and Europe.

This book focuses on the city of St Petersburg, the capital of the Russian empire from the early eighteenth century until the fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917. It uses the Russian court as a prism through which to view the various cultural changes that were introduced in the city during the eighteenth century.

Three Short Treatises collects brief and important explorations in Mahayana Buddhism. A Mahayana Demonstration on the Theme of Action is Vasubandhu's meditation on karma, here translated from the earlier Chinese translation of Xuan-zhuang. The work presents a systematic view of various theories on karma from the perspective of the Mind Only school. Essays of Sengzhao presents four works by Sengzhao, an important disciple of Kumarajiva; the collection is said to have exerted considerable influence on later Chinese Buddhism, in part because it relates issues in Buddhist doctrine to traditional Chinese philosophy. The Treatise on the Origin of Humanity by Zong-mi explores the basis of human existence in the context of Confucianism, Taoism, Theravada, and certain Mahayana understandings-which he finds unsatisfactory-to present what he considers a true Mahayana view of human existence.

The basic sutra of the Fa-hsian School, The Scripture on the Explication of Underlying Meaning expounds the thought of the Yogacara, or Mind-Only School (Vijnanavada), stating that all phenomena are manifestations of the mind. It belongs to the middle period of Indian Mahayana Buddhism and is considered to have been composed at the start of the fourth century A.D.