Xuanzang

Xuanzang (Chinese玄奘, Pinyin Xuanzang, Hsuan - tsang W.-G.; jap玄奘 三 蔵, Genjo Sanzo ) (* 603, † 664 ) was a Buddhist pilgrim monk from China, the Silk Road and India toured 629-45.

He came from Henan, his original family name was Chen. At 13, he became a monk, but after a few years, he traveled across the country. 629 he left in spite of an imperial ban on foreign travel China in order along the lines of an earlier pilgrim monk named Faxian ( Dongjin traveled, 399-412 ) to study Buddhism in its country of origin, India.

His path led him here through the Silk Road ( accumulation / Hami, Samarkand, Balkh and on the way back Khotan ). From 630-643 Xuanzang traveled to India and stayed here the last eight years, mainly in the Harsha Empire. He studied for a long time in Nalanda and took 643 as the representative of Mahayana Buddhism at a large religious dispute in part.

With twenty horses, 657 Buddhist texts and 150 relics he made ​​his way back to China. 645 he returned to Chang'an. The Tang Emperor Taizong supported him financially so that Xuanzang was able to translate 74 scriptures from Sanskrit into Chinese ( including Nyāyamukha ( 649 ) and Nyāyapraveśa ( 647 ) ), which contributed significantly to the spread of Buddhism in China. His Cheng Wei Shi Lun was under the name Jōyuishiki - ron to the main text of which emerged from the Faxiang Japanese Hosso shū.

Furthermore, Xuanzang left a travelogue under the title Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty ( Da Tang Xiyu ji), are today more insight into what was then India. His writings have been preserved in the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Chang'an, he became the main character of the classic Chinese novel The Journey to the West.