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玄奘 Xuanzang (circa AD 602-664) - Well-traveled wordsmith
By Zhang Ciyun |
March 13, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
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Xuanzang was born with his layman name Chen Hui in today's Yanshi County in central China's Henan Province. His father once served as a county magistrate, but tired of the political struggle, he later gave up his office and lived in seclusion.
As a conservative Confucian, he taught his children doctrines of orthodox Confucianism. Chen Hui, the third son of the old Chen, was a highly gifted child who could recite many Confucian treatises when he was only eight.
However, under the influence of one of his elder brothers, Chen Hui became strongly interested in Buddhism. So, after the death of his father, Chen followed his second elder brother to enter the Buddhist monkhood and was given his religious name Xuanzang when he was only 13. He was fully ordained at the age of 20.
After the unification of the country under the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), Xuanzang moved to the capital Chang'an, (today's Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province in northwest China) to further his study of Buddhism. Xuanzang found numerous discrepancies in the Buddhist texts available in China at that time, so in order to search for the complete, original documents of Buddhism, Xuanzang began to plan a long journey to the religion's birthplace, India.
In AD 629, Xuanzang left Chang'an and traveled the Silk Road all the way to India. Along the journey, he visited monasteries of all kind of Buddhist schools in 110 states. Eventually, he went to study at Nalanda in Bihar, India. He spent nearly five years there reading and discussing classic Buddhism treatises with local monks. Later, he also visited and studied in many other parts of India.
Xuanzang returned to China in AD 645. He hired more than 20 horses to help him carry back 657 Sanskrit texts. He received a hero's welcome when he entered Chang'an. But he declined many offers for civil appointments and with support from the Emperor, he retired to the Hongfu Monastery to concentrate on translating the Buddhism texts into Chinese.
He recruited many students and scholars all across the country and East Asia to help. He himself translated 75 Buddhist works, amounting to a total of 1,335 scrolls.
Later, he even created a Buddhist school of his own. Although it didn't thrive, his theories on many Buddhist concepts have greatly influenced the thinking of other Buddhist schools throughout East and Southeast Asia.
At the request of the Emperor, Xuanzang wrote a book entitled "Great Tang Records on the Western Regions," which describes his 17-year travel between Chang'an and India and contains detailed accounts of political, social and geological facts about more than 100 Central and South Asian states.
His legendary journey later provided the inspiration for many Chinese folk stories, operas and literature, including "Journey to the West," one of the Four Great Chinese Classic Novels.
Xuanzang died in AD 664. He is remembered as a great Buddhist monk, master translator, legendary traveler and well-learned scholar.
As a conservative Confucian, he taught his children doctrines of orthodox Confucianism. Chen Hui, the third son of the old Chen, was a highly gifted child who could recite many Confucian treatises when he was only eight.
However, under the influence of one of his elder brothers, Chen Hui became strongly interested in Buddhism. So, after the death of his father, Chen followed his second elder brother to enter the Buddhist monkhood and was given his religious name Xuanzang when he was only 13. He was fully ordained at the age of 20.
After the unification of the country under the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), Xuanzang moved to the capital Chang'an, (today's Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province in northwest China) to further his study of Buddhism. Xuanzang found numerous discrepancies in the Buddhist texts available in China at that time, so in order to search for the complete, original documents of Buddhism, Xuanzang began to plan a long journey to the religion's birthplace, India.
In AD 629, Xuanzang left Chang'an and traveled the Silk Road all the way to India. Along the journey, he visited monasteries of all kind of Buddhist schools in 110 states. Eventually, he went to study at Nalanda in Bihar, India. He spent nearly five years there reading and discussing classic Buddhism treatises with local monks. Later, he also visited and studied in many other parts of India.
Xuanzang returned to China in AD 645. He hired more than 20 horses to help him carry back 657 Sanskrit texts. He received a hero's welcome when he entered Chang'an. But he declined many offers for civil appointments and with support from the Emperor, he retired to the Hongfu Monastery to concentrate on translating the Buddhism texts into Chinese.
He recruited many students and scholars all across the country and East Asia to help. He himself translated 75 Buddhist works, amounting to a total of 1,335 scrolls.
Later, he even created a Buddhist school of his own. Although it didn't thrive, his theories on many Buddhist concepts have greatly influenced the thinking of other Buddhist schools throughout East and Southeast Asia.
At the request of the Emperor, Xuanzang wrote a book entitled "Great Tang Records on the Western Regions," which describes his 17-year travel between Chang'an and India and contains detailed accounts of political, social and geological facts about more than 100 Central and South Asian states.
His legendary journey later provided the inspiration for many Chinese folk stories, operas and literature, including "Journey to the West," one of the Four Great Chinese Classic Novels.
Xuanzang died in AD 664. He is remembered as a great Buddhist monk, master translator, legendary traveler and well-learned scholar.
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