Xuanzang was born in 602 AD, when China was under the rule of the short-lived Sui Dynasty . He started a seventeen-year journey that year, much of it spent as a fugitive and traveling under the cover of darkness. Xuanzang traveled along what we now know as the Silk Road. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Learn more. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Xuanzang, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Biography of Xuanzang, Asia Society - Xuanzang: The Monk who Brought Buddhism East, Xuanzang - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Not finding any solution from his Chinese masters, he decided to go to India to study at the fountainhead of Buddhism. Sun was refused to go to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan was restricted from her. Xuanzang, a brilliant and devout man, in the end believed that going to India was the only way to answer questions that troubled Chinese Buddhists. Xuanzang respected authority and he struggled with a decision on whether or not to make the journey. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Nalanda University in Rajgir is one of them. In the 7th Century when China was ruled by rival emperors who regarded India to be a land of barbarians, Hsuan Tsang (Xuanzang) set out on a journey west along the ancient Silk Road to India, the home of Buddhism. The life and adventures of a Chinese monk who made a 17-year journey to bring Buddhist teachings from India to China. Two studies of Xuanzang are Arthur Waley’s The Real Tripitaka, pp. Xuanzang subsequently became a main character in the great Chinese epic Journey to the West. From there he sailed down the Ganges River to Mathura, then on to the holy land of Buddhism in the eastern reaches of the Ganges, where he arrived in 633. Dunhuang Art and History in the Desert. Xuanzang: The Monk who Brought Buddhism East. If it was not for his guide other Buddhist sites would not have been discovered. On the third year of Zhenguan of Tang Emperor Taizong, he left for Dunhuang from 3. While Xuanzang and Kuiji lived, the school achieved some degree of eminence and popularity, but with the passing of the two masters the school rapidly declined. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Xuanzang was still officially a fugitive in his homeland, China, because he had left without permission. Shigeki Moro1 1. Introduction In the Fǎxiàng / Hossō 法 相 2 school, one of the East Asian transmissions of Yogācāra, the single-vehicle (ekayāna) theory has occupied an important position although it was not the central topic in Indian tradition. On his journey he traveled north of the Takla Makan Desert, passing through such oasis centres as Turfan, Karashar, Kucha, Tashkent, and Samarkand, then beyond the Iron Gates into Bactria, across the Hindu Kush (mountains) into Kapisha, Gandhara, and Kashmir in northwest India. Where is Chang’an, and Why is it Important? He may have thought that the support from these rulers would make his travels in foreign lands and his ultimate return to China free of bureaucratic intrusions. Xuanzang wrote a letter to the emperor describing what he had learned and as a result, the emperor not only welcomed him back, but appointed him a court advisor. His intelligence and calm devotion to Buddhism convinced these leaders to help him in this quest to reach India. He was to have many adventures as he worked his way through India, on to Nepal, the home of the Buddha, and then to Nalanda where he spent many years living with the greatest teachers and thinkers of this time. Eusebius of Caesarea dies. Born into a family in which there had been scholars for generations, Xuanzang received a classical Confucian education in his youth, but under the influence of an older brother he became interested in the Buddhist scriptures and was soon converted to Buddhism. The first really unified Chinese empire, that of the Qin, had its capital just north of the current city of Xi'an. Xuanzang’s main interest centred on the philosophy of the Yogacara (Vijnanavada) school, and he and his disciple Kuiji (632–682) were responsible for the formation of the Weishi (Consciousness Only school) in China. As part of the International Buddhist Conclave 2018 the conference delegates were brought to several important Buddhist sites in India. Takeshi said that the feminization of Xuanzang Sanzang was influenced by a drama masterpiece where Xuanzang was performed by Miss Masako Natsume, he ended up arguing and drafting up to 3 or 4 designs. So the Heart Sutra is one of the most popular sutra in Mahayana Buddhism, said to be the summary and heart of the Prajna Paramita Sutra. The main thesis of this school is that the whole world is but a representation of the mind. Its doctrine was set forth in Xuanzang’s Chengweishilun (“Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine of Consciousness Only”), a translation of the essential Yogacara writings, and in Kuijhi’s commentary. Asia Society takes no institutional position on policy issues and has no affiliation with any government. Omissions? Several important Buddhist pilgrims and translators resided there in the early 5 th century, among them Faxian, who travelled to India, and the scholar Kumarajiva. Born in 602 CE in Luoyang 落陽市, Henan Province 河南省, China, he died in 664 CE in Chang’an 長安市, now Xi’an 西安市, in Shaanxi Province 陝西省. In India, Xuanzang visited all the sacred sites connected with the life of the Buddha, and he journeyed along the east and west coasts of the subcontinent. The memorial is devoted to Xuanzang (c. 602–64), a Chinese monk who served the Chinese emperor and traveled to India to learn more about Buddhism, bringing back (and translating) the Heart Sutra, among other scriptures.The structure of the memorial is comprised of a single spacious gallery. Silk Road: The Silk Road, one of the best known trade routes of the ancient and medieval worlds, had its eastern terminus in China. ©2021 Asia Society | Privacy Statement | Accessibility | About AsiaSociety.org | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap | Contact. 11–130 (1952), a popular biography written in a lively and interesting style, and the more complete biography by René Grousset, Sur les traces du Bouddha (1929; In the Footsteps of the Buddha), which discusses the life of the Chinese pilgrim against the background of Tang history and Buddhist philosophy. His illegal departure from China was one of the reasons why Xuanzang wanted to have an audience with important foreign rulers in Central and South Asia. His illegal departure from China may have been one of the reasons why Xuanzang deliberately sought audience with important foreign rulers in Central and South Asia. Xuanzang spent the remainder of his life translating the Buddhist scriptures, numbering 657 items packed in 520 cases, that he brought back from India. Chang’an, now known as Xi’an, was the former capital of Imperial China and the seat of power in the Han Dynasty (c. 206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) as well as subsequent dynasties, most notably the Tang Dynasty (c. 618 A.D. – 906 A.D.) during which trade and the arts largely flourished. He survived the dangerous Taklamakan Desert and continued through the high and harsh mountains of Tian Shan (literally, mountains of the heavens or sky). Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The central location of Xi'an in what is now Shaanxi Province near the confluence of the Wei and Feng Rivers helps explain why the area was the site of several important imperial capitals for about a millennium of Chinese history. The record of his pilgrimage helps us to study and understand Buddhism and the cultures along the Silk Roads. The return trip was no less difficult and he slowly made his way back studying, teaching, and learning about the cultures of the people he met along the way. Why was the Silk Road so important in China's development? Athanasius's letter defines New Testament canon. The most significant part of Xuanzang’s journey is his account of India; it is believed to be important resource for the history of India as before him there are very few authentic historic resources that deal with the pre-modern history of India. The major portion of his time, however, was spent at the Nalanda monastery, the great Buddhist centre of learning, where he perfected his knowledge of Sanskrit, Buddhist philosophy, and Indian thought. While he was in India, Xuanzang’s reputation as a scholar became so great that even the powerful king Harsha, ruler of North India, wanted to meet and honour him. Before he returned home, Xuanzang had converted priates who meant to rob and kill him, survived deadly typhoons, and won a Great Debate in front of thousands of wise men in India. 1. Updates? Although Xuanzang received a classical Confucian education as a youth, he became interested in Buddhist teachings, thanks to his older brother’s influence. From Wikipedia: 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. The Silk Road was an important channel for ancient trade between East and West. He was able to translate only a small portion of this huge volume, about 75 items in 1,335 chapters, but his translations included some of the most important Mahayana scriptures. Students study his motives and actions and evaluate his continuing significance. Along with silk and less glamorous articles of trade, the great trans-Asian roads carried ideas and religions which were to prove far more significant than silk. He chose to be nun at the age of thirteen and received full ordination at the age of twenty-one. It was said that he chanted this sutra when he was lost in the Taklamakan Desert on the way from China to India. the most important of the production by Xuanzang and his team of seventy-seven works because it is ‘the very scripture which triggered the Chinese master’s extraordinary ability’.7 Yet, prior to the produc-tion of typeset [reproductions] of the Buddhist canon in Chinese in Japan during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Xuanzang, who was born in 600 CE in Zhenliu (today called Kaifeng), China, had become one of the most renowned and influential men in Asian history by the time of his death in 664 at Jade Flower Palace Monastery near Changan (the capital). Xuanzang, a seventh century Buddhist pilgrim, made a historic pilgrimage to India along the Silk Road, one of the longest and oldest trade routes known to mankind. Why is the ekayāna theory so important for the East Asian Yogācāra studies? Xuanzang, Wade-Giles romanization Hsüan-tsang, original name Chen Yi, honorary epithet San-tsang, also called Muchatipo, Sanskrit Mokshadeva, or Yuanzang, (born 602, Goushi, Luozhou, now Yanshi, Henan province, China—died 664, Chang’an, now Xi’an, China), 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. Xuanzang: The Monk who Brought Buddhism East, Asia Society Museum: The Asia Arts & Museum Network, Asia Society Museum: The Asia Arts & Museum Network. The rationale behind this decision is the agency urbanization plays in the transition between nomadic … Xuanzang started his pilgrimage to India without getting formal authorization from the Tang court. The reason for choosing Xuanzang (pronounced Shwanzang) (602–664 CE/AD) is because his influence on religion, culture, learning, politics and government and his use of power was so broad and deep. 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