In 602, a boy was born in a family surnamed Chen in present-day Luoyang, Henan Province, and was named Chen Yi.
Coming from a family of scholars, he received a good Confucian classic education at an early age, but the good times did not last long, and his mother died when he was five years old, and his father died at the age of ten. Due to family changes, he had to turn to Buddhism at a young age.
Xuanzang turned to the Buddha
In 612, the Sui court selected monks. In a rigorous examination, the thirteen-year-old was officially ordained with his extraordinary endowment and wisdom, and his legal name was Xuanzang. At that time, Buddhism had been introduced to China for more than 600 years, and Luoyang was one of the major Buddhist centers in China, with many monasteries and a strong Buddhist atmosphere, and Xuanzang grew up in this environment.
In 618, the flames of the peasant revolt at the end of the Sui Dynasty reached Luoyang, and Xuanzang left Luoyang for Chang'an. At this time, Chang'an was already the capital of the Tang Dynasty, but the war in the whole country was not over. Looking at the dilapidated monastery after the war, Xuanzang decided to go south, officially starting his seven-year study tour across most of China.
The army of the late Sui Dynasty
During the study tour, Xuanzang read and studied each Buddhist scripture, visited senior monks from all over the world, and exchanged views with each other. He gradually discovered that there were many schools of Buddhism, many translated classics were full of ambiguity and disputes, and many places in the same classic could not be coordinated, nor could they distinguish between right and wrong, and Xuanzang fell into confusion.
In 625, the 24-year-old Xuanzang came to Chang'an after a study tour, at this time the Tang Dynasty had basically unified the world, and society gradually stabilized. In Chang'an, Xuanzang met a monk from Tianzhu named Bopo who was lecturing on the scriptures. After communicating with him, Xuanzang told him about the confusion he had encountered, and Bopo told Xuanzang that there was a Buddhist monastery called Nalanda in Tianzhu, where there was a senior monk named Jiexian who knew all the Dharma and was a Buddhist master in the world.
So Xuanzang decided to go to Tianzhu to seek the true sutras of Buddhism and understand the true meaning of the Dharma.
Magnificent Datang
Xuanzang united a group of like-minded monks to petition the imperial court asking for permission to seek Buddhist scriptures in Tianzhu, but the court refused. At that time, the Tang Dynasty had just opened the country, and the Turkic cavalry in the northwest frontier once came to Chang'an City, and the nearby gates and gates were closed and martial law was not allowed to enter and exit at will.
But Xuanzang did not give up, and he studied Sanskrit while waiting for the opportunity. Soon, due to the outbreak of famine caused by the frost disaster, the imperial court allowed the victims to go out and flee, so Xuanzang also took the opportunity to leave Chang'an and embark on a westward journey along the Silk Road, which was 627 AD.
Shortly after his departure, Xuanzang encountered the first problem, when the Tang and Tubo swords and crossbows were on the verge of breaking out, and the entire city of Liangzhou (present-day Wuwei City, Gansu Province) was under martial law, and no one was ordered not to leave the Guanxi, and Xuanzang was stranded in Liangzhou for more than a month. Subsequently, the secret agent discovered Xuanzang's intention to travel west, so he reported it, and the highest governor of Liangzhou ordered Xuanzang to return to Chang'an. Determined to go west, Xuanzang finally risked his life to quietly leave Liangzhou and continue his journey westward with the help of the local religious leaders.
Xuanzang traveled west
Leaving Liangzhou, Xuanzang traveled day and night along the Hexi Corridor, and then came to the military town of Guazhou in the west of the Tang Dynasty. Here, Xuanzang encountered a similar situation to Liangzhou, and how to leave Guazhou once again became a problem in front of him.
At that time, Xuanzang did not know that he had become a wanted criminal in Liangzhou, and the wanted documents had been sent to Guazhou. Fortunately, Li Chang, the highest governor of Guazhou, was a devout Buddhist, and he tore up the documents and asked Xuanzang to find a way to leave as soon as possible. Subsequently, Xuanzang, who was stranded in Guazhou, took in a Hu disciple named Shi Panda and left Guazhou with his help.
To continue westward, you first need to smuggle through the heavily guarded Yumen Pass, and then walk through a desert to fetch water near the last five beacon towers that Datang built on the western border, and prepare enough drinking water to cope with the next 800 miles of desert, the vast desert has almost no water source.
Jade Gate Closed
Shi Pantuo led Xuanzang around the Yumen Pass, and the Hu disciple regretted it on the way to the beacon tower to get water. Since the Tang Dynasty law at that time stipulated the execution of those who smuggled across the border without permission, he was worried that if Xuanzang was caught fetching water near the beacon tower, he would implicate himself, so he wanted to kill Xuanzang. Finally, after Xuanzang swore that even if he was caught, he would never confess to Shi Panda before he left in sorrow, and Xuanzang walked alone into the depths of the desert.
After passing through more than eighty miles of desert, Xuanzang came to the first beacon tower to fetch water, and although it was night, he was captured by the defenders. Unexpectedly, the keeper of the beacon tower was also a Buddhist, and he warmly entertained Xuanzang after he knew the reason.
Beacon Tower
The next day the keeper prepared enough water and dry food for Xuanzang and sent him directly to the fourth beacon tower, where the keeper would be his relatives and also believed in Buddhism. After replenishing the supply of the fourth beacon tower, Xuanzang bypassed the fifth beacon tower and officially left the border of the Tang Dynasty and went to the eight hundred miles of sand sea, to the strange western region, to the unknown.
In the desert of a desolate person, there is a dead silence, lifeless, and only shadows accompany the empty desert. The harsh and harsh natural environment coupled with hunger, thirst and fatigue, Xuanzang hallucinated. He saw all kinds of strange phenomena, and all kinds of strange figures accompanied his surroundings for a long time.
What is even more frightening is that after entering the desert for more than a hundred miles, Xuanzang got lost, accidentally overturned the water bladder in a hurry and lost drinking water, and Xuanzang's westward journey was suddenly in trouble. After thinking for a moment he began to turn back, but after walking more than ten miles, he turned around and decided to continue westward.
Eight hundred miles of sand sea
Soon, Xuanzang, who was walking in the desert with severe water shortages, fell into a semi-coma, and he had not dripped water for four days and five nights. Half-awake also face terrible hallucinations, and at night, the surrounding "demons and ghosts" hold fire palm lights around the neighborhood for a long time. Not long after, Xuanzang, who had been starving of water, fell into a complete coma under extreme conditions.
Another night came, the cool breeze blew, and Xuanzang was awakened. He struggled to his feet and dragged his heavy body further west. Soon, his jujube red horse found the source of the water, and behind a water weed was a pond hidden, and the water was clear and sweet. Here, Xuanzang rested for two full days, and then prepared enough water to set off again, and finally walked out of the eight hundred miles of yellow sand and bitter sea.
Xuanzang film and television picture
Xuanzang finally reached Yiwu, the first small country in the Western Regions. Then he met King Gaochang, who wanted to keep Xuanzang as the religious leader of Gaochangguo under the threat of repatriation, and finally forced The King of Gaochang to compromise with Xuanzang's hunger strike, and the two worshiped as brothers.
In the winter of that year, Xuanzang continued his journey westward, and the King of Gaochang gave Xuanzang a large amount of gold, silver, clothes, horses, and other travel necessities, in addition to four apprentices, there were thirty-five retinues and an official to accompany Xuanzang. King Gaochang not only prepared generous gifts for the kings of the twenty-four countries along the way, but also wrote a letter to the Turkic Khan, asking him to order some of the countries along the route to give care and escort to Xuanzang on the westward journey.
Xuanzang's westward journey to the film and television map
Xuanzang led the team slowly westward through several countries, where he was warmly received by the king and coldly received in some countries. In the area of present-day Turpan, part of the money was exchanged for the release of a band of bandits on the way, and when he was about to reach the Green Ridge, he was robbed by turkic rebels.
After escaping by chance, Xuanzang re-set off with his entourage and luggage, and crossed the snowy and snowy mountains of the Green Ridge, where the snow and snow were heavy and snowy, and the storm and avalanche caused more than half of the team to lose. After crossing the Pamir Plateau, where natural conditions are harsh, the group finally arrived at the steppe of Central Asia.
Snowy mountains of the Pamir Plateau
Then crossed over today's Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and dozens of small countries were distributed in this area at that time. After a long life of hardship and nine deaths, Xuanzang and his party finally traveled east to the present-day Pakistani city of Peshawar and entered India, in the autumn of 628 AD.
After arriving in India, Xuanzang went to the birthplace of the Buddha in present-day Nepal, and then to Nalanda Temple, the Buddhist holy place in Tianzhu at that time, where he spent five years of study. During this time, he studied Buddhism and debated with senior monks, receiving great favors and gaining fame. Xuanzang then spent nearly a decade traveling around India.
Xuanzang's westward journey to take the road map
In 643, Xuanzang returned to the Tang Dynasty with about 657 Buddhist scriptures, and after a two-year trek, he returned to the capital of his homeland, Chang'an. Nearly 19 years have passed since he left Chang'an.
Xuanzang's return caused a sensation throughout Chang'an City and even the Tang Empire, and Emperor Taizong of Tang personally received Xuanzang. Of course, Tang Taizong was not very interested in buddhist scriptures, but more of a way to learn from this monk about the country, history, geography and popular customs of the Western Regions and even the other side of the Pamir Plateau.
The Tang Dynasty
Subsequently, at the request of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Xuanzang dictated the completion of the Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, which became an important guide to the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty. For the next nineteen years, Xuanzang devoted all his energy to translating Buddhist scriptures.
In 664 AD, the legendary monk died.
With the accumulation of time, the monk became a legend, and the legend became a myth. His spirit of perseverance, never giving up, and perseverance has melted into the blood of our nation and become the eternal spiritual wealth and memory of future generations in China.
CCTV version of journey to the west film and television map
Well, that's the end of today's sharing. If you like it, please like it. The character biography will tell you about those people, those things, those who left us with enlightenment and wisdom across time and space!