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Xuanzang describes thousands of monasteries and stupas in northwest India. Above: the ruins of Dharmarajika stupa, Taxila. Xuanzang arrived in Taxila, after crossing a river with "poisonous dragons and evil animals". There, he visited a major Buddhist monastery of the Sautrantika school.
Xuanzang (born 602, Goushi, Luozhou, now Yanshi, Henan province, China—died 664, Chang’an, now Xi’an, China) was a Buddhist monk and Chinese pilgrim to India who translated the sacred scriptures of Buddhism from Sanskrit into Chinese and founded in China the Buddhist Consciousness Only school.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Xuanzang: The Monk who Brought Buddhism East. The life and adventures of a Chinese monk who made a 17-year journey to bring Buddhist teachings from India to China. Xuanzang subsequently became a main character in the great Chinese epic Journey to the West.
- Early Life
- Pilgrimage
- India
- Return to China
- Chinese Buddhism
- Autobiography and Biography
- Legacy
- Relics
- Further Reading
- External Links
Xuanzang was born Chen Hui (or Chen Yi) around 602 in Chenhe Village, Goushi Town (Chinese: 緱氏鎮), Luozhou (near present-day Luoyang, Henan) and died on 5 February 664 in Yuhua Palace (玉華宮, in present-day Tongchuan, Shaanxi). His family was noted for its erudition for generations, and Xuanzang was the youngest of four children. His ancestor was Chen...
In 627, Xuanzang reportedly had a dream that convinced him to journey to India. Tang China and the Göktürks were at war at the time and Emperor Taizong of Tang had prohibited foreign travel. Xuanzang persuaded some Buddhist guards at Yumen Pass and slipped out of the empire through Liangzhou (Gansu) and Qinghai in 629. He subsequently travelled acr...
Xuanzang left Adinapur, which had few Buddhist monks, but many stupas and monasteries. His travels included, passing through Hunza and the Khyber Pass to the east, reaching the former capital of Gandhara, Purushapura (Peshawar), on the other side. Peshawar was nothing compared to its former glory, and Buddhism was declining in the region. Xuanzang ...
On his return to China in AD 645, Xuanzang was greeted with much honor but he refused all high civil appointments offered by the still-reigning emperor, Emperor Taizong of Tang. Instead, he retired to a monastery and devoted his energy in translating Buddhist texts until his death in AD 664. According to his biography, he returned with, "over six h...
During Xuanzang's travels, he studied with many famous Buddhist masters, especially at the famous center of Buddhist learning at Nalanda. When he returned, he brought with him some 657 Sanskrit texts. With the emperor's support, he set up a large translation bureau in Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), drawing students and collaborators from all over Ea...
In 646, under the Emperor's request, Xuanzang completed his book Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (大唐西域記), which has become one of the primary sources for the study of medieval Central Asia and India. This book was first translated into French by the Sinologist Stanislas Julienin 1857. There was also a biography of Xuanzang written by the ...
Xuanzang's work, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is the longest and most detailed account of the countries of Central and South Asia that has been bestowed upon posterity by a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim. While his main purpose was to obtain Buddhist books and to receive instruction on Buddhism while in India, he ended up doing much mor...
A skull relic purported to be that of Xuanzang was held in the Temple of Great Compassion, Tianjin until 1956 when it was taken to Nalanda - allegedly by the Dalai Lama - and presented to India. The relic was in the Patna Museum for a long time but was moved to a newly built memorial hall in Nalanda in 2007. The Wenshu Monastery in Chengdu, Sichuan...
Bhat, R. B., & Wu, C. (2014). Xuan Zhang's mission to the West with Monkey King. New Delhi : Aditya Prakashan, 2014.Sen, T. (2006). The Travel Records of Chinese Pilgrims Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing, Education About Asia 11 (3), 24-33Weerawardane, Prasani (2009). Journey to the West: Dusty Roads, Stormy Seas and Transcendence, biblioasia 5 (2), 14-18Kahar Barat (2000). The Uygur-Turkic Biography of the Seventh-Century Chinese Buddhist Pilgrim Xuanzang: Ninth and Tenth Chapters. Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies. IS...Learn about Xuanzang, a famous Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India and translated many scriptures. Explore his life, his journey, and his contribution to the Faxiang School of Yogacara philosophy.
Aug 9, 2024 · An influential Buddhist monk of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Xuanzang not only brought Indian sutra to China, but also brought Chinese culture to the West and contributed to the spread of other cultures throughout the world.
Learn about the life and achievements of Xuanzang, the monk who traveled to India to bring back Buddhist teachings to China in the seventh century. This book by Benjamin Brose explores the historical facts and legends of his journey and legacy.
