Xuanzang was ordained in Chengdu?

Xuanzang was ordained in Chengdu?

The Tang monks in "Journey to the West" are indeed his own people according to historical records, the legal name is Xuanzang, commonly known as Tang monks, famous travelers of the Tang Dynasty, and great translators of Chinese Buddhism.

Portrait of Xuanzang in Xuanzang's Journey to the West

According to the "Biography of the Continuing High Monk", "The Biography of the Three Tibetan Masters of the Great Ci'en Temple", and the "Deeds of the Three Tibetans Xuanzang Master of the Tang Dynasty", Xuanzang's original surname was Chen, and his name was Yi, a native of the Luozhou Clan (present-day Yanshi Zhen town, Henan), and he was ordained at the age of 13, with the legal name Xuanzang. In the fifth year of Tang Gaozu Wude (622 AD), Xuanzang was ordained in Chengdu at the age of 23. In the third year of Tang Taizong's reign (629 AD), he set out from Chang'an to india, and on the way experienced eight hundred miles of uninhabited desert, climbed dangerous mountains and mountains, and trekked through snow-capped mountains all year round, although it was not as difficult as the exaggerated "Pansi Cave", "Tongtian River", "Flame Mountain" and other "nine-nine eighty-one difficulties" in "Journey to the West", but it can also be regarded as suffering hardships and nine deaths. He traveled 50,000 miles, round-trip for 17 years, and experienced all kinds of difficulties and dangers, to nalanda Monastery in the Central Indian kingdom of Matta, and then traveled to 110 countries, and brought back 657 Buddhist sutras from India in the nineteenth year of Tang Taizong Zhenguan (645 AD), adding glory to the cultural undertakings of the motherland. He will write the 12 volumes of the "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" along the way, which has become a precious historical material for our study of the ancient cultures of South Asia and Central Asia today.

"Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty"

Master Xuanzang was an epoch-making figure in the history of Chinese translation, and was highly praised by people, and his ordination in Chengdu was also glorified by the four Buddhist monks. Therefore, there is a lot of debate about the temple where Xuanzang was ordained. One of the theories is that Xuanzang was ordained at the Great Ci Temple.

However, did Xuanzang really receive the ordination at the Daci Temple in Chengdu?

Chengdu Daci Temple

From the literature, Xuanzang's ordination in Chengdu is beyond doubt and is recorded, but the historical data does not mention Xuanzang's ordination at the Daci Temple. Tian Guanglie's "Philosophical Studies on Xuanzang" wrote that "in the first year of Tang Gaozu Wude (618 AD), he left Luoyang under the dark rule of Wang Shichong at the age of nineteen, and followed his second brother Jie to Chang'an, and then from Chang'an to Chengdu, and then from Chengdu to Jingzhou..." "Tang Gaozu Wude was ordained in Chengdu at the age of twenty-three in the fifth year (622 AD)."

During the Republic of China period, historians generally acknowledge that Xuanzang was ordained in Chengdu in the fifth year of Tang Gaozu Wude (622 AD). The founding date of Daci Temple is generally believed to have been built in the Tang Dynasty (756-758 AD). "Great Qing Dynasty-Tongzhi": "In the east of Huayang County (Bureau)." Tang Zhide (756-758 AD) was built in the middle. Book of the Ming Emperor: The Great Sacred Ci Temple, that is, this temple also. The Old Zhi (referring to Jiaqing's Records of Huayang County) quotes the Records of the Buddha as saying: "Tang Yuan (Xuan) Zong Xing Chengdu, Shamen Yinggan gave porridge to save the poor, and built the Great Shengci Temple." "Shuzhong Guangji Mingshengji" Yun: "Daci Temple Tang Zhi De Nian built, the old Suzong Shu Dasheng ci temple four characters, Gai Ji Zhi Ye." ”

The mountain gate of Daci Temple

According to research, Xuanzang was ordained in Chengdu in the fifth year of Tang Gaozu Wude (622 AD), and the Daci Temple was founded during the Tang to De years (756-758 AD). In this way, the construction of the Great Ci Temple began 130 years after Xuanzang's ordination. Therefore, Xuanzang's theory of ordination at Daci Temple is untenable.

So, where was Xuanzang ordained in a temple in Chengdu?

According to research, Xuanzang's ordination was at the Shengshou Temple in Chengdu, and its ruins are in the area of present-day Xisheng Street. According to the Apocalypse's "Chengdu Fuzhi Ancestral Temple", "the temple was built in the Eastern Han Dynasty", and Jiaqing's "Sichuan Tongzhi Temple" said that it was built in the Han Dynasty. Is it the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty? There is no way to check. From the literature point of view, Shengshou Temple is an older temple in Chengdu. The "Biography of the High Monk" says that Jin Hui held into Shu, stopped Jin Yuan Jingshe, that is, its land, which shows that the Jin Dynasty had this temple. Historically, temple names such as Longyuan, Konghui, and Shengshou have been used, as well as shixi and shiniu. The building is magnificent, with a house of 400 trees, and has developed to 36 courtyards. In the second year of Tang Yifeng (677 AD), there were more than 700 resident monks. By the end of the Yuan dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by war. In the fifty-seventh year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty (1718 AD), the building was occupied.

Xuanzang Spirit Bone Tower

Judging from the founding age and architectural scale, from the Jin Dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty, Shengshou Temple was the crown of all temples in Chengdu, so the Jin Dynasty monk Hui held into Shu to live here, and When Xuanzang entered Shu, he would not live elsewhere. According to the Sichuan Provincial Museum of Culture and History, "Chengdu Chengfang Historic Site Kao Buddhist Shixi Temple": "According to the "Biography of Ci'en" and the Tang Dynasty's "Biography of a High Monk", Xuanzang tasted this temple and was ordained here." Therefore, Xuanzang should be ordained at Shengshou Temple.