7-ғасырдағы буддалық монах Хуаньцзанның өмірі мен саяхаты

7th century Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar
the historical Buddhist monk

Xuanzang (, (Hsüen Tsang) ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (陳 / 陳), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, 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. Xuanzang was born on 6 April 602 in Chenliu, what is now Kaifeng municipality in Henan province of China. As a boy, he took to reading religious books, and studying the ideas therein with his father. Like his elder brother, he became a student of Buddhist studies at Jingtu monastery. Xuanzang was ordained as a śrāmaṇera (novice monk) at the age of thirteen. 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. He later travelled throughout China in search of sacred books of Buddhism. 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 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. He was also concerned about the competing Buddhist theories in variant Chinese translations. He sought original untranslated Sanskrit texts from India to help resolve some of these issues. His travelogue is a mix of the implausible, the hearsay and a firsthand account. as a terminus ante quem of 645 CE for events, names and texts he mentions. 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.

Xuanzang was born Chen Hui (or Chen Yi) on 6 April 602 in Chenhe Village, Goushi Town , Luozhou (near present day Luoyang, Henan) and died on 5 February 664 in Yuhua Palace (玉華宮, in present day Tongchuan, Shaanxi). His family was noted for its erudition for generations, and Xuanzang was the youngest of four children. His elder brother was already a monk in a Buddhist monastery. Inspired, at a young age, Xuanzang expressed interest in becoming a Buddhist monk like his brother. After the death of his father in 611, he lived with his older brother Chen Su , later known as Zhangjie , for five years at Jingtu Monastery in Luoyang, supported by the Sui state. During this time he studied Mahayana as well as various early Buddhist schools. Taking the monastic name Xuanzang, he was fully ordained as a monk in 622, at the age of twenty. The myriad contradictions and discrepancies in the Chinese translations at that time prompted Xuanzang to decide to go to India and study in the cradle of Buddhism. He knew about Faxian's visit to India and, like him, sought original untranslated Sanskrit texts from India to help resolve some of these issues.

In 630 CE, he arrived in the kingdom of Agni (Yanqi, in a place called Turpan). Here he met the king, a Buddhist along with his uncle Jnanachandra and precept Mokshagupta, who tried to persuade him to quit his journey and teach them Buddhist knowledge. He declined and they equipped him further for his travels with letters of introduction and valuables to serve as funds. Xuanzang observed that the country of Agni had more than ten monasteries following the Sarvastivada school of Hinayana Buddhism, with two thousand monks who ate "three kinds of pure meat" with other foods, rather than vegetarian food only that would be consistent with Mahayana Buddhist teachings. Therefore, the Buddhists in this country had stagnated in their Buddhist teachings. The biographies of Xuanzang then describe implausible tales of a dragon race. This region was created by dragons from the waters metamorphosing into horses to mate and create dragon horses, also into men and mating with women near this region to create dragon men who ran as fast as the dragon horses. These were men who would massacre an entire city and leave a deserted place. From here, he crossed a desert, icy valleys and the Pamir range (which link Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Uparisyena and the Himalaya mountain ranges). Here, observed Xuanzang, the wind is cold and "blows with a piercing vehemence" (Li Rongxi translation). Ferocious dragons live here and trouble the travellers particularly those who wear "reddish brown" color clothes. Thereafter, he crossed past a salty sea, one narrow from north to south and long from east to west, he calls the Great Pure Lake. He describes supernatural monsters, fishes and dragons living in this lake. The Xuanzang travelogues then rush through the names of many countries, stating that more details are provided in the return part of his journey, as he crosses into country of Bactra (modern Balkh). He adds that the Hinayana Buddhist schools were followed in all these regions.

South of Bactra is the country of Kacik, then the Great Snow Mountains with valleys "infested with gangs of brigands" (Li Rongxi translation). Crossing this pass, thereafter is the country of Bamiyana (a part of modern Afghanistan).

To Xuanzang, he entered India as he crossed the Black range and entered the country of Lampa. His travelogue presents India in fascicles separate from those for Central Asia. He, however, does not call it India, but the phonetic equivalent of what previously has been variously interpreted as "Tianzhu" or "Shengdu" or "Xiandou". More recent scholarship suggests the closest pronunciation of the 7th century term in his travelogues would be "Indu". The kingdoms of India have numerous villages and cities. Their towns and cities have square walls, streets are winding and narrow, with shops lined along these roads. Wine is sold in shops on the side streets. Those whose profession is butchering, fishing, executioners, scavengers (people that kill living beings and deal with products derived from them) are not allowed to live inside the cities. The cities are built from bricks, while homes are either made mostly from bricks or from "wattled bamboo or wood". Cottages are thatched with straw and grass. Xuanzang includes a section on the differences between the Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhist communities. There are eighteen sects in Buddhism, according to Xuanzang. They stand against each other, debate "various viewpoints, as vehemently as crashing waves". Though they share the same goal, they study different subjects and use sharp words to argue. Each Buddhist sect has different set of rules and regulations for their monks. To its southeast is the country of (modern Nangarhar), with many Buddhist monasteries and five Deva temples. The number of monks here, however, are few. The stupa are deserted and in a dilapidated condition. The local Buddhists believe that the Buddha taught here while flying in the air, because were he to walk here, it caused many earthquakes. Nagarahara has a 300 feet high stupa built by Ashoka, with marvellous sculptures. Xuanzang paid homage by circling it. Both Lampaka and Nagarahara countries were independent with their own kings, but they have become a vassal of the Buddhist Kingdom of Kapisa found near Bamiyana. The travelogue states that Xuanzang went into a dark cave here where dangerous beings lived, recited Srimaladevi Simhanadasutra, and they became Buddhists. Thereafter they all burnt incense and worshipped the Buddha with flowers. Some five hundred li (~200 kilometer in 7th century) to the southeast is the country of Gandhara – which some historic Chinese texts phonetically transcribed as Qiantuowei. On its east, it is bordered by the Indus river, and its capital is Purusapura. This is the land of ancient sages and authors of Indic sastras, and they include Narayanadeva, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Dharmatrata, Monaratha and Parshva. He was received by the king, and numerous monks from the Jayendra monastery. Kashmira is land with a very cold climate and is often calm without any wind. The region has lakes, grows plenty of flowers and fruit, saffron and medicinal herbs. Kashmira has over 100 monasteries and more than 5000 monks. The residents revere four large stupas that were built in ancient times by Ashoka. Emperor Kanishika too built many Buddhist monasteries here. He also had treatises with 960,000 words written on copper plates and had them stored in a newly built great stupa. The Kashmira region has numerous monks well versed with the Tripitaka, states Xuanzang. He stays in Kashmira for two years and studies the treatises with them.

The country of Takka is south of Kashmira, extending from the Indus river to its west and Vipasha river to its east. They produce abundant quantities of non sticky rice and wheat, also gold, brass, iron and other metals. They do not believe in Buddhism, and pray in several hundred deva temples. This country has ten Buddhist monasteries left. There were many more before, states Xuanzang. These were destroyed few hundred years ago, during the rule of a king named Mahirakula (Mihirakula). The king did this in anger because when he asked the monasteries in his domain for a Buddhist teacher to teach him Buddhism, the Buddhists did not send to him any learned scholar. Mahirakula cruel deed against the Buddhists triggered the king of Magadha to go to war with him. Mahirakula is defeated, forgiven but returns to power by assassinating the king of Kashmira and Gandhara. Xuanzang recites the hearsay stories he heard about Mahirakula's continued cruelty and destruction of 1600 stupas and monasteries. Xuanzang then describes the surviving monasteries in Sagala with hundreds of Buddhist monks, along with its three colossal stupas, each over 200 feet tall, two built by Ashoka. Xuanzang visited the country of Chinabhukti next, which he states got its name because a region west of the Yellow river was a vassal state of Emperor Kanishka. From there, during Kanishka's reign, peaches and pears plantations were imported into Chinabhukti, northern India. Further northeast, he visited a Buddhist monastery of the Sarvastivada school with 300 monks. He describes another colossal stupa that is over 200 feet tall built by Emperor Ashoka. Near this, states Xuanzang, are numerous small stupas and large Buddhist caves. Around this monastery in the Himalayan hills are "hundreds and thousands of stupas, built so closely together than their shadows touch one another" (Li Rongxi translation). From there, he visited Jalamdhara. It grows non sticky rice and cereals, its forest are luxuriant, the region is lush with flowers and fruits. They have 50 monasteries with over 2000 monks studying Mahayana and Hinayana traditions of Buddhism. They also have deva temples where heretics smear their bodies with ashes (Shiva Hinduism). From Jalambhara, Xuanzang travelled northeast through jagged peaks, deep valleys and dangerous trails into the Himalayan country of Kuluta. It is surrounded by mountains, and has abundant fruits, flowers and trees. It has twenty monasteries and over a thousand Buddhist monks studying mostly Mahayana Buddhism. It has fifteen deva temples frequented by heretics (Hindus). This region has many caves where Buddhist arhats and Rishis (saints) live. He then headed south, into the country of Shatadru. Here, writes Xuanzang, people wear "gorgeous, extravagant" clothes, the climate is hot and citizens are honest and friendly by custom. It has ten monasteries, but ruined and with few monks. East of this region is the Ganges river with dark blue waters and strange creatures living in it, but these creatures do not harm people. The water of Ganges is sweet in taste, and the heretics believe it to contain the "water of blessedness", and that bathing in it causes sins to be expiated. The current monarch is Harshavardhana, a Hindu of Bais Kshatriya lineage. Three of his ancestors were also monarchs, and they were all known to the Chinese monarchs as virtuous. Xuanzang then recites, at length, the story of prince Shiladitya and how he constructed both major monasteries and temples, feeding hundreds of Buddhist monks and hundreds of Hindu priests on festive days. He describes numerous monasteries in the southeast of its capital, along with large Buddhist temple made of stone and brocks, with a thirty feet tall Buddha statue. To the south of this is temple, states Xuanzang, is a Surya temple built from bluestone. Next to the Surya temple is a Mahesvara (Shiva) temple also made from bluestone. Both are profusely carved with sculptures. About 100 li to the southeast of Shiladitya's capital, states Xuanzang, is the Navadevakula city on the eastern bank of Ganges river. It is surrounded by flowery wood, has three monasteries with five hundred monks, and a multi tiered terraced deva temple that is "exquisitely constructed" (Li Rongxi translation). About 700 li southeast is the country of Prayaga, on the banks of Yamuna river. It has luxuriant fruit trees and cereal crops, its people are kind and helpful. Most of them believe in heretical religions, and Prayaga has several hundreds of deva temples. Five hundred li from Prayaga is the country of Kausambi. It produces abundant quantities of non sticky rice and sugarcane. The citizens are bold, furious and dedicated to good deeds by custom. It has ten deserted and dilapidated Buddhist monasteries, attended by about three hundred monks. The country has fifty deva temples and numerous non Buddhists. In the capital, within the palace is a Buddhist temple with a Buddha statue made from sandalwood. This Buddha image "emits divine light" sometimes, states Xuanzang. He adds that Kausambi is the place that Buddhists text predict is where the Buddha Dharma will come to an end in a distant future, therefore anyone who comes to this place feels sad and "sheds tears" (Li Rongxi translation). He headed northeast, crossed Ganges river again, and this came to the country of Vishaka. He calls its people sincere and honest by custom, fond of learning. It has twenty monasteries and three thousand monks studying Hinayana Buddhism. Vishaka has numerous non Buddhists and over fifty deva temples. He saw the decaying remains of Prasenajit's palace, then to its east the Great Dhamma Hall stupa, another stupa and a temple for the maternal aunt of the Buddha. Next to these, states Xuanzang, is the great stupa of Angulimala. About five li (~2 kilometers in 7th century) south of the city is the Jetavana garden with two 70 feet high pillars standing, but the monastery there is in ruins. One pillar has a wheel carved at its top, the other a bull. Xuanzang saw all the monuments associated with the Shravasti legends with the Buddha, though many of these were in dilapidated condition. He also saw a Buddhist temple 60 feet high with a seated Buddha image, and a deva temple about the same size as the Buddha temple, both in good condition. Over sixty li to the northwest of Shravasti capital, he saw a series of stupas built by Ashoka for Kashyapa Buddha, one who lived for "twenty thousand" years, states Xuanzang. After Kapilavastu, he went eastward to the country of Ramagrama (Rama). The region is sparsely populated, the towns and villages in a dilapidated condition. He mentions a stupa where a snake dragon comes out of the pond to circumambulate it, as well as elephants pick flowers and come to scatter on this stupa, according to Xuanzang. There is a monastery near this special stupa, where monks study Hinayana. Some hundred li to the east is another colossal stupa in good condition, one built by Ashoka. Past this forest is the country of Kushinagara, where towns and villages are deserted and in a dilapidated condition. He describes a large brick temple with reclining Buddha. He describes many monuments and sites he was able to see where numerous legends of the Buddha played out, including the site where he was cremated. On the west bank of Varana river near Baranasi, is a great stupa that is 100 feet tall and was built by Ashoka. Before it is a standing green stone pillar polished as smooth as a mirror, states Xuanzang. He describes many more stupas, pillars and monasteries in Baranasi country. From there he walked to Vaishali, where says Xuanzang, people are honest and simple by custom. They study both orthodox Buddhist and heterodox non Buddhist doctrines. The country of Vaishali has hundreds of monasteries, but only a few have monks and are in good condition. He describes the Svetapura monastery with lofty buildings and magnificent pavilions. He then travelled to the country of Nepala, near the Snow Mountains. It has many flowers and fruits, yaks and two headed birds. The people here, says Xuanzang, are rude and disparaging by nature, but skilled in craftsmanship. Their Buddhist monasteries and deva temples touch each other, and people simultaneously believe in Buddhist and non Buddhist doctrines. The country has two thousand monks who study Hinayana and Mahayana teachings. According to Xuanzang, there is city south of river Ganges in Magadha. It is very ancient. When human life was "innumerable years" long, it was called Kusumapura. One can see the very ancient foundations of Kusumapura. Later, when human life span reduced to "several thousand years", its name was changed to Pataliputra. Towards the north of his royal city is a huge standing pillar of Emperor Ashoka. There once were many monasteries, deva temples and stupas here, but several hundred such Buddhist and non Buddhist monuments are in dilapidated and ruined condition, states Xuanzang. He then describes several legends associated with Ashoka, along with several stupas and monasteries he found in good condition. He visits Gaya and the Bodhi tree. Near the tree, he states there is the Mahabodhi monastery with many buildings and courtyards. Inside these buildings are "most wonderful, and exquisitely done decorative paintings", states Xuanzang. It is painted in gold, silver, pinkish blue, lustrous white and semitransparent pigments, with the Buddha's ornaments in the panel embedded with gems and jewels. After crossing the Maha river, visiting many stupas, monasteries, Rishi Vyasa's hill, Vipula hill, Pippala Cave, Bamboo temple and other monuments, Xuanzang arrived in Rajagriha (present day Rajgir) and Nalanda University. He stayed and studied at Nalanda. At Nalanda, he was in the company of several thousand monks. Xuanzang studied logic, grammar, Sanskrit, and the Yogacara school of Buddhism during his time at Nalanda with Silabhadra. He describes Nalanda as a place with "azure pool winds around the monasteries, adorned with the full blown cups of the blue lotus; the dazzling red flowers of the lovely kanaka hang here and there, and outside groves of mango trees offer the inhabitants their dense and protective shade" (translation of Rene Grousset). According to Grousset, the founders of Mahayana idealism, Asanga and Vasubandhu trained Dignaga, who trained Dharmapala and whose student was Silabhadra. Thus Xuanzang had reached his teacher Silabhadra, who made available to Xuanzang and through him to the Sino Japanese world the entire heritage of Buddhist Mahayana thought, and the Cheng Weishi Lun, Xuanzang's great philosophical treatise, is none other than the Summa of this doctrine, "the fruit of seven centuries of Indian Buddhist thought." In this scripture, Xuanzang appears to a certain extent as the continuator of both Asanga and Vasubandhu. From Nalanda, Xuanzang travelled through several kingdoms, including Iranaparvata, Champa, from there to Pundravardhana and Sylhet (in present day Bangladesh. There Xuanzang found 20 monasteries with over 3,000 monks studying both the Hinayana and the Mahayana. One of them was the Vāśibhã Monastery, where he found over 700 Mahayana monks from all over Eastern India. He visited Kamarupa (present day Assam and northeastern India), Samatata, Tamralipti, Kalinga and other regions, which Xuanzang calls as "domain of east India".

Xuanzang turned southward and travelled towards Andhradesa to visit the viharas at the Amaravati Stupa and Nagarjunakonda. He stayed at Amaravati and studied the Abhidhammapitakam texts. He observed that there were many viharas at Amaravati and some of them were deserted. He later proceeded to Kanchi, the capital of the Pallavas and has visited the Vaikunta Perumal Temple and also said that Kanchi was a strong center of Buddhism. He continued travelling to Nasik, Ajanta, Malwa; from there he went to Mulasthana and Pravata before returning to Nalanda again.

On his return to China in 645 CE, Xuanzang was greeted with much honor but he refused all high civil appointments offered by the still reigning emperor, Emperor Taizong of Tang. Instead, he retired to a monastery and devoted his energy to translating Buddhist texts until his death in 664 CE. According to his biography, he returned with "over six hundred Mahayana and Hinayana texts, seven statues of the Buddha and more than a hundred sarira relics." In celebration of Xuanzang's extraordinary achievement in translating the Buddhist texts, Emperor Gaozong of Tang ordered renowned Tang calligrapher Chu Suiliang (褚遂良) and inscriber Wan Wenshao (萬文韶) to install two stele stones, collectively known as The Emperor's Preface to the Sacred Teachings in Chinese (雁塔聖教序), at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda.

During Xuanzang's travels, he studied with many famous Buddhist masters, especially at the famous center of Buddhist learning at Nalanda. When he returned, he brought with him some 657 Sanskrit texts. With the emperor's support, he set up a large translation bureau in Chang'an (present day Xi'an), drawing students and collaborators from all over East Asia. He is credited with the translation of some 1,330 fascicles of scriptures into Chinese. His strongest personal interest in Buddhism was in the field of Yogācāra (瑜伽行派), or Consciousness only (唯識), and he founded a school taking after that tradition in China. The force of his own study, translation, and commentary of the texts of these traditions initiated the development of the Faxiang school (法相宗) in East Asia. Some of Xuanzang's students, such as Kuiji (窺基, 632–682) and Wŏnch'ŭk (613–696), become influential authors in their own right. Xuanzang was known for his extensive but careful translations of Indian Buddhist texts to Chinese, which have enabled subsequent recoveries of lost Indian Buddhist texts from the translated Chinese copies. He is credited with writing or compiling the Cheng Weishi Lun as a commentary on these texts. His translation of the Heart Sutra became and remains an important milestone in all East Asian Buddhist sects.

Xuanzang returned to China with three copies of the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra. Xuanzang, with a team of disciple translators, commenced translating the voluminous work in 660 CE, using all three versions to ensure the integrity of the source documentation.

Though Xuanzang is mainly known for his translation work, he also wrote a few original works. In 646, under the Emperor's request, Xuanzang completed his book, The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which has become one of the primary sources for the study of medieval Central Asia and India. This book was first translated into French by the Sinologist Stanislas Julien in 1857. Xuanzang also wrote a large treatise on Yogacara Buddhist philosophy, the Cheng Weishi Lun. There is also another original text called Bashi guiju song 八識規矩頌 (Verses on the Structure of the Eight Consciousnesses). An English translation with copious notes by Thomas Watters was edited by T. W. Rhys Davids and S. W. Bushell, and published posthumously in London in 1905.

Xuanzang's work, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is the longest and most detailed account of the countries of Central and South Asia that has been bestowed upon posterity by a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim. While his main purpose was to obtain Buddhist books and to receive instruction on Buddhism while in India, he ended up doing much more. He has preserved the records of the political and social aspects of the lands he visited. His record of the places visited by him in Bengal — mainly Raktamrittika near Karnasuvarna, Pundranagara and its environs, Samatata, Tamralipti and Harikela— have been very helpful in the recording of the archaeological history of Bengal. His account has also shed welcome light on the history of 7th century Bengal, especially the Gauda kingdom under Shashanka, although at times he can be quite partisan. Xuanzang obtained and translated 657 Sanskrit Buddhist works. He received the best education on Buddhism he could find throughout India. Much of this activity is detailed in the companion volume to Xiyu Ji, the Biography of Xuanzang written by Huili, entitled the Life of Xuanzang. His version of the Heart Sutra is the basis for all Chinese commentaries on the sutra, and recitations throughout China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. His style was, by Chinese standards, cumbersome and overly literal, and marked by scholarly innovations in terminology; usually, where another version by the earlier translator Kumārajīva exists, Kumārajīva's is more popular. The Wenshu Monastery in Chengdu, Sichuan province also claims to have part of Xuanzang's skull. Part of Xuanzang's remains were taken from Nanjing by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army in 1942, and are now enshrined at Yakushi ji in Nara, Japan. In November 1965, the relic of Xuanzang was returned by the Japanese government to Taiwanese government and eventually enshrined in Xuanzang Temple, Taiwan.