Journeyer to the west.docVIP

Journeyer to the west Most Chinese know of Tang Dynasty 618-907 monk Xuanzang 玄奘 via his depiction in the classic Ming Dynasty 1368-1644 novel “Journey to the West” as a hapless muddler who’s easily duped and perpetually in need of rescue by his disciple, the Monkey King. But that’s a harsh treatment of the man himself―a battling Buddhist monk who trekked from China to India nearly 1,500 years ago― who deserves to be ranked as one of China’s, if not the world’s, greatest ever wanderers. 　　Some people might be aware that the monk Xuanzang was a translator of Buddhist sutras, and others that he racked up a few miles during his travels on the job. But consider this for a moment: in 19 years, Xuanzang covered an epic 250,000 kilometers across 110 countries and regions. He survived windswept deserts and snow-capped mountains, evaded bandits and murderous attacks, all the while scribbling down observations in his book, 揋reat Tang Records on the Western Regions? an《大唐西域记》 . 　　At age 26, Xuanzang was already a well-known monk in Chang’an now Xi’an , the capital of the newly founded Tang Dynasty. Yet having pored over all the Buddhist sutras available and visited a medley of monks nationwide, he still found the existing schools of Buddhism conflicting and confusing. He resolved to return to the source of the sutras themselves, India, in an attempt to straighten out the issues. Aside from his own journals, which focused mostly on geography, we have to rely on Xuanzang’s disciples for details of his exploits. While it may be necessary to take some of their tales with a pinch of salt, there’s no doubting the sincerity and difficulty of his endeavors. 　　Initially, Xuanzang’s toughest obstacle wasn’t the natural world, but the political one. The Tang Dynasty was only three years old and mired in border disputes with the Eastern TürkG?ktürks. Under pain of death, residents were forbidden to travel abroad without special permission, and Xuanzang’s request to Emperor Taizong fel