During the seventh century CE, Xuanzang (玄奘) was the Chinese Buddhist monk whose travels helped to open the interaction between China and India during the Tang Dynasty.
A portrait of Xuanzang is shown above.
A statue of Xuanjang in the Great Wild Goose Pagoda is shown above.
Xuanzang was born Chen Hui (陳 禕) in what is now Henan province in 602. He was raised in a traditional Confucian family which was known for its scholarly studies. By the age of 8, he had mastered the Confucian rituals. As a boy he read the Chinese classics and the writings of the ancient sages. Even though he had been raised in a Confucian family, he expressed a desire to become a Buddhist. After the death of his father in 611, he went to live with his older brother at the Jingtu Monastery (淨土寺) which was supported by the Sui Dynasty.
At the Jingtu Monastery he studied Mahayana Buddhism. At the age of 13, he entered a Buddhist monkhood. In 618, he went to Chengdu (成都) in Sichuan after the fall of the Sui Dynasty in order to avoid the political and social unrest at this time. He continued his study of Buddhism and in 622, he became fully ordained as a Buddhist monk.
Xuanzang travelled throughout China searching for Buddhist books. His travels eventually took him to Chang’an (長安), a city which was under the rule of Emperor Taizong (唐太宗) of Tang. The city at this time was peaceful. Emperor Taizong is often considered one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history and his reign was regarded as an exemplary model for the emperors who followed him.
It was here that Xuanzang developed the desire to visit India, the birthplace of Buddhism. Xuanzang had learned about Faxian (法顯), the Chinese Buddhist monk who had travelled to India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka between 399 and 412. Faxian had been seeking Buddhist manuscripts. Like Faxian, Xuanzang was concerned about the Buddhist writings which had reached China as he felt that they were incomplete and their nature often misinterpreted.
To prepare to travel to India, he began studying Sanskrit in 626. There is some indication that he also studied Tocharian. During his studies at this time, Xuanzang became interested in Yogacara (योगाचार) Buddhism, which is often described as metaphysical Buddhism. Yogacara, which means “yoga practice,” includes yogic and meditative practices.
In 629, Xuanzang had a dream that convinced him that it was time to journey to India. However, there was a war waging at this time between the Tang Dynasty and the Göktürks and Emperor Taizong had prohibited any foreign travel. Xuanzang’s desire to visit India was strong and he managed to persuade the Buddhist guards at the city gates to let him pass.
Xuanzang’s initial travels took him across the Gobi Desert to Turpan (吐魯番). Here he met with the Buddhist King of Turpan who provided him with letters of introduction and with valuables to help finance his travels.
At Kuchi (龜茲) on the Silk Road, he toured some non-Mahayana Buddhist monasteries. From here he crossed the Bedel Pass in the Tian Shan mountain range into what is now Kyrgyzstan. At Tokmak in northwestern Kyrgyzstan he met with the great Khan of the Western Türk. At this time, the Khan was friendly with the Tang emperor. Following a feast with the Khan, Xuanzang travelled to Tashkent in what is present-day Uzbekistan. From here he crossed the desert into Samarkand.
In Samarkand, which was under Persian influence at this time, Xuanzang and his party came across some abandoned Buddhist temples. Turning south, Xuanzang travelled to Temez. Here he found a community of more than a thousand Buddhist monks.
At Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, Xuanzang witnessed the funeral of Prince Tardu and met the monk Dharmasimha. In the third century CE, Kunduz had become a great center for Buddhist learning. From here he went west to Balkh to see the Buddhist sites and relics.
Balkh is described as one of the oldest cities in the world and had been a center of Zoroastrianism. This was the place where Zoroaster had first preached and it was the place where he died. By 400 CE, Hinayana Buddhism was widely practiced in Balkh. According to oral traditions, Buddhism had been originally brought into the region by the monk Bhalika, a disciple of the Buddha. Trapusa and Bhalika had offered the Buddha his first meal after enlightenment and had become his first disciples. When Xuanzang visited Balkh in 630 it was a flourishing center of Hinayana Buddhism. At this time there were about a hundred Buddhist convents in the area, as well as 30,000 monks and a number of religious monuments.
In Balkh, Xuanzang met with Prajnakara (般若羯羅)with whom he studied the early Buddhist scriptures. It was here that he acquired the Mahāvibhāṣa (大毗婆沙論), an important text which he translated into Chinese.
Xuanzang and Prajnakara journeyed south to Bamyan (“the place of the shining light”) where Xuanzang met the king. They visited a number of monasteries and the two large Bamyan Buddhas carved out of the rockface. This area marked the western-most point of Buddhist expansion.
Next Xuanzang and his party crossed the Shibar Pass and descended into Kapisi, a regional capital. Kapisi, located about 60 km north of present-day Kabul, was home to over 100 monasteries and 6,000 monks. Here Xuanzang engaged in a religious debate in which he demonstrated a depth of knowledge about many of the different Buddhist traditions. It was here that he first encountered Jains and Hindus.
Xuanzang travelled into India where he found that Buddhism was in decline in many areas. He finally arrived at Taxila (呾叉始羅), a Mahayana Buddhist kingdom, where he found 100 monasteries with 5,000 Buddhist monks. Taxila was a major center of learning and it was here that the Mahayana branch of Buddhism had developed.
Between 632 and 633, Xuanzang studied with a number of different monks. During this time he wrote about the Fourth Buddhist Council that had taken place in Kashmir under the order of King Kanishka of Kushana.
In 634, Xuanzang travelled to Jalandhar in eastern Punjab, and then visited the monasteries in the Kulu valley. In 635 he arrived at the Matipura Monastery and in 636 he arrived in Govishan where he found 100 monasteries with 10,000 monks. He spent some time here studying Buddhist scriptures.
In 627, Xuanzang visited Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha; Kusinagara, the place where the Buddha died; and Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon. He then travelled to Nalanda, the great Buddhist university. He spent two years here studying logic, grammar, Sanskrit, and the Yogacara school of Buddhism. Next, he continued his travels, visiting many different countries and monasteries.
The Buddha’s birthplace is shown above.
In 645, he finally returned to China. While he was greeted with much honor, he declined high civil appointments which were offered to him by Emperor Taizong. He had returned to China with 657 Buddhist texts. He withdrew to a monastery where he devoted his energy to translating the Buddhist texts until his death in 664.
In 646, Xuanzang completed his book Great Tang Records of the Western Regions (大唐西域記). This is considered one of the primary sources for the study of medieval Central Asia and India.
Xuanzang’s influence on Chinese Buddhism led to the establishment of the Faxiang school of Buddhism (法相宗). While this school was short lived, many of its theories found their way into other schools of Buddhism.