Xuanzang Returns to China
In 645 AD, the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang arrived back in the Tang capital of Chang'an after roughly sixteen to seventeen years abroad, carrying hundreds of Sanskrit manuscripts and relics from India. His journey, and the vast translation project that followed, transformed Chinese Buddhism and left a detailed record of Central and South Asia in the seventh century. Traditional accounts give the number of texts he brought back as 657.
Xuanzang was born in the late sixth century and ordained young. As he studied in China, he grew frustrated by gaps and contradictions in the Buddhist scriptures available in Chinese translation, especially on the Yogācāra school of philosophy. He resolved to go to India to study the sources directly. Around 629, though some sources suggest a slightly different year, he set out without official permission, since the Tang government had restricted foreign travel during a period of war with the Turks. He crossed the deserts and oasis kingdoms of the Silk Road, passed through Central Asia, and entered the Indian subcontinent.
In India, Xuanzang visited sacred sites associated with the Buddha's life and spent years at Nalanda, the great monastic university in present-day Bihar. There he studied under the elder master Śīlabhadra, mastering Yogācāra and other doctrines. He also traveled widely and met rulers, among them Harsha, who held power over much of northern India. For the return journey he traveled with a large collection of manuscripts, images, and relics, taking a route back across the mountains and the Taklamakan region. He reportedly petitioned the emperor Taizong for forgiveness for leaving unauthorized, and was received with honor.
Xuanzang spent the rest of his life, until his death in 664, directing a team of translators. Working in Chang'an, they rendered dozens of major works into Chinese, often with greater precision than earlier versions. His efforts helped establish the Faxiang school, the Chinese form of Yogācāra, though that school declined in influence after a few generations.
Xuanzang also dictated the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, a rich account of the geography, customs, politics, and religious life of the places he visited. Modern archaeologists and historians still rely on it, and it helped identify sites such as Nalanda and aspects of the Buddhist holy places in India.
His story later passed into legend. The sixteenth-century novel Journey to the West, attributed to Wu Cheng'en, turned his pilgrimage into a fantastical adventure with the Monkey King, which is far removed from the historical journey but has kept his name famous across East Asia.