Faith & Community
Landmark
Xuanzang
602 β 664
Buddhist monk who journeyed to India and translated its scriptures
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the China Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
The Tang dynasty monk who travelled overland to India in search of Buddhist texts and spent the rest of his life translating them into Chinese.
Xuanzang left China in 629, crossing Central Asia to study at the great monastery of Nalanda in India. He returned to Chang'an in 645 with hundreds of texts, which he and his assistants translated over the following two decades.
His account of his travels, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is an invaluable source on the history of Central and South Asia, and his journey inspired the classic novel Journey to the West.
His account of his travels, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is an invaluable source on the history of Central and South Asia, and his journey inspired the classic novel Journey to the West.
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