Written by: Mahnoor Fatima
Posted on: July 13, 2020 | 
| 中文
(Left) Xuanzang's Statue at the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, China and A Portrait of Xuanzang (Right)
In today’s age of connectivity and fast travel, it is difficult to imagine what it once must have been like to travel to unknown territories at a time without vehicles or information on one’s destination. Travel over a long distance would have only been done so for larger-than-life causes. And the Buddhist monk Xuanzang sought to do just that, being one of the first Chinese travelers to journey to India, along the historic Silk Route.
His pilgrimage to sacred Buddhist sites all over the Subcontinent lasted 16 years, and have been an important milestone in understanding what life was like in pre-Islamic India.
Buddha or Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born in what is now India in 656BC, centuries before Xuanzang. Although the monk was brought up with a Confucian education, he followed his brother to a Buddhist monastery at the age of 13. At the time, there were Buddhists in China, but there was much confusion about the tenets of Buddhism, and poor translation of religious texts caused many schisms in the practice of Buddhism in China. Xuanzang sought to rectify this by going to the land of Buddha and studying the sacred texts.
Due to ongoing border clashes, Emperor Tang Zhen Guan had closed down roads to the West in 629 AD for everyone, except traders and merchants. When the monk applied for permission to travel to India, he was rejected. However, he remained convinced in his beliefs, and with the help of a few other monks, escaped China in the dead of night. He started from the city of Chang’an (now Xi’an), evading arrest until he reached the Taklamakan Desert, which was then considered the edge of China.
An 8th Century Painting of Xuanzang Crosing the Pamirs
Once on the Silk Route, it took him three years to reach India. His journey took him to key locations on the Route, including the famous city of Samarkand, and the prosperous city of Turfan. However, he traveled the desolate plains, deserts, and mountains of snow alone. When he finally reached modern-day Jalalabad in the North of Afghanistan, he felt like Alexander the Great who had entered India 9 centuries ago; Xuanzang felt as though he had discovered a new world for the first time.
Xuanzang's Route and Return Trip
In his travels through what is now Pakistan, he recalls the Swat Valley, the famous Bala Hisar Fort (which was a fortified royal residence even at the time). As a fan of art and architecture, he spent a lot of time in Taxila to admire the stupas left behind by Ashoka. According to other translations of his travels, he also briefly visited the cities of Chiniot and Lahore and wrote the earliest accounts of both cities. He wrote in such detail, that modern archaeologists could find the current locations of the ancient sites.
That is not to say that his journey was without trouble: he was held hostage, threatened, and robbed at multiple points of his journey. Many times he was also struck by illness or a loss of spirit. Much of his accounts are devoted to spiritual visions which helped him through periods of hardship and gave him the will to continue the journey.
He crossed Punjab right into Kashmir, a hub for Buddhist activity and learning. Central Asian scholar Aurel Stein credits Xuanzang with writing the first ethnographic survey of the people of Kashmir. He stayed there for two years, studying under the tutelage of various Buddhist Monks in various monasteries.
As his journey took him to East India, his accounts become more focused on Buddhist mythology and teachings. After years, he reached his final destination of Nalanda, which is now in the Bihar state. There, he enrolled in Nalanda University, which was one of the earliest and most prestigious Buddhist universities to exist in the world.
Nalanda University in Modern Bihar (photo credits to the Wire)
He learned philosophy, Sanskrit, mathematics, astrology, and literature, which only increased his desire to know more about Buddhist teachings; his accounts of South India are much less detailed than the earlier counterparts.
A Statue of King Harsha
Near the end of the trip, the monk found himself caught between the King of Assam and King Harsha, the last great Buddhist King of India. King Harsha had already made contact with China, and his meeting with the monk can only be described as a diplomatic meeting to strengthen ties between the two empires. Thoroughly impressed by the monk’s skills in debate as well as his remarkable journey, Harsha gave Xuanzang his best elephant, an escort to carry his books, and thousands of gold and silver coins for his journey back home.
Instead of going back the way he came, Xuanzang climbed the Pamir Mountains till he reached Kashgar, and took the same route as Marco Polo did to China. Upon returning to China in 645 AD, Xuangzang refused all accolades and retired to a monastery with the hundreds of texts he had brought back.
He passed away in 664AD, having only completed a few of his translations, and his disciples completed his work. Presently, his records compiled together as “Xuanzang’s Records of the West”, is available in both Chinese and English for use.
It is nothing short of fantastical to imagine what Xuanzang would have experienced in an unknown and undiscovered land, that was very different from his own. A translator, linguist, historian, holy man, and a folk hero, his convictions allowed him to complete his goals, and bring back knowledge to his people. Besides paving the way for the evolution of Chinese Buddhism, Xuanzang’s rich details of the Subcontinent have been vital in understanding India’s ancient kingdoms and societies, and ancient history owes much to Xuanzang’s contributions.
Xuanzang's Temple
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