Journey to the West

Xuanzang · 629 CE – 645 CE · Earth

Study Buddhism at the source in India.

Historical context

Xuanzang travelled when Buddhism was flourishing in India and Tang China was opening to the west. His journey and translations shaped East Asian Buddhism for a millennium.

The voyage, step by step

1. Leaving Chang'an in secret

   629 CE

   Barred from travelling abroad, Xuanzang slips out of China to study Buddhism in India.

2. Across the Gobi and the Silk Road

   630 CE

   He crosses the desert near death and follows the oasis towns west.

3. Nalanda

   633 CE

   He studies and later teaches at the great monastic university of Nalanda.

4. Return with the texts

   645 CE

   He returns to Chang'an with hundreds of scriptures and spends his life translating them.

Outcome

Studied at Nalanda and returned with hundreds of texts.

Xuanzang

Tang monk and traveller whose sixteen-year journey to India shaped Chinese Buddhism and inspired Journey to the West.

Read on Wikipedia

Sources

• Xuanzang — Wikipedia

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