![]() During this time he studied Mahayana as well as various early Buddhist schools. After the death of his father in 611, he lived with his older brother Chen Su ( Chinese: 陳素), later known as Zhangjie ( Chinese: 長捷), for five years at Jingtu Monastery ( Chinese: 淨土寺) in Luoyang, supported by the Sui state. Inspired, at a young age, Xuanzang expressed interest in becoming a Buddhist monk like his brother. His elder brother was already a monk in a Buddhist monastery. Xuanzang's former residence in Chenhe Village near Luoyang, Henan. "Sanzang" is the Chinese term for the Buddhist canon, or Tripiṭaka ("Three Baskets"), and in some English-language fiction and English translations of Journey to the West, Xuanzang is addressed as "Tripitaka." Early life Part of a series on ![]() 'Sanzang Dharma (or Law) Teacher'): 法 being a Chinese translation for Sanskrit " Dharma" or Pali/ Prakrit Dhamma, the implied meaning being "Buddhism". Īnother of Xuanzang's standard aliases is Sanzang Fashi ( simplified Chinese: 三藏法师 traditional Chinese: 三藏法師 pinyin: Sānzàngfǎshī lit. Tang Monk (Tang Seng) is also transliterated /Thang Seng/. It is this form that accounts for such variants as Yuan Chang, Yuan Chwang, and Yuen Chwang. The sound written x in pinyin and hs in Wade–Giles, which represents the s- or sh-like in today's Mandarin, was previously pronounced as the h-like in early Mandarin, which accounts for the archaic transliterations with h.Īnother form of his official style was "Yuanzang," written 元奘. Hsüan, Hüan, Huan and Chuang are also found. Less common romanizations of "Xuanzang" include Hyun Tsan, Hhuen Kwan, Hiuan Tsang, Hiouen Thsang, Hiuen Tsang, Hiuen Tsiang, Hsien-tsang, Hsyan-tsang, Hsuan Chwang, Huan Chwang, Hsuan Tsiang, Hwen Thsang, Hsüan Chwang, Hhüen Kwān, Xuan Cang, Xuan Zang, Shuen Shang, Yuan Chang, Yuan Chwang, and Yuen Chwang. Statue of Xuanzang in the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an Nomenclature, orthography and etymology Names His text in turn provided the inspiration for the novel Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming dynasty, around nine centuries after Xuanzang's death. Selections from it are used, and disputed, as a terminus ante quem of 645 CE for events, names and texts he mentions. His travelogue is a mix of the implausible, the hearsay and a firsthand account. This Chinese travelogue, titled the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is a notable source about Xuanzang, and also for scholarship on 7th-century India and Central Asia. His return was welcomed by Emperor Taizong in China, who encouraged him to write a travelogue. He departed from India with numerous Sanskrit texts on a caravan of twenty packhorses. He visited, among other places, the famed Nalanda monastery in modern day Bihar, India where he studied with the monk, Śīlabhadra. He defied his nation's ban on travel abroad, making his way through central Asian cities such as Khotan to India. Īt age 27, he began his seventeen-year overland journey to India. He sought original untranslated Sanskrit texts from India to help resolve some of these issues. He was also concerned about the competing Buddhist theories in variant Chinese translations. He knew about Faxian's visit to India and, like him, was concerned about the incomplete and misinterpreted nature of the Buddhist texts that had reached China. At length, he came to Chang'an, then under the peaceful rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang, where Xuanzang developed the desire to visit India. He later travelled throughout China in search of sacred books of Buddhism. Due to the political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty, he went to Chengdu in Sichuan, where he was ordained as a bhikṣu (full monk) at the age of twenty. Xuanzang was ordained as a śrāmaṇera (novice monk) at the age of thirteen. Like his elder brother, he became a student of Buddhist studies at Jingtu monastery. As a boy, he took to reading religious books, and studying the ideas therein with his father. Xuanzang was born on 6 April 602 in Chenliu, what is now Kaifeng municipality in Henan province. He was only able to translate 75 distinct sections of a total of 1335 chapters, "but his translations included some of the most important Mahayana scriptures." He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645 CE, his efforts to bring over 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts. Xuanzang (, Chinese: 玄奘 6 April 602 – 5 February 664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi ( 陳 禕), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mōkṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator.
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