Xuanzang (Chinese: 玄奘; pinyin: Xuán Zàng; Wade–Giles:
Hsüan-tsang Sanskrit:ह्वेनसांग ) (c. 602 – 664) was a famous
Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who
described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang
period. Born in Henan province of China in 602 or 603, from boyhood
he took to reading sacred books, including the Chinese Classics and
the writings of the ancient sages.
While residing in the city of Luoyang, Xuanzang entered Buddhist
monkhood at the age of thirteen. Due to the political and social
unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty, he went to Chengdu in
Sichuan (Szechuan), where he was ordained at the age of twenty. He
later traveled throughout China in search of sacred books of
Buddhism. At length, he came to Chang’an, then under the peaceful
rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang. Here Xuanzang developed the desire
to visit India. He knew about Faxian’s visit to India and, like
him, was concerned about the incomplete and misinterpreted nature
of the Buddhist scriptures that had reached China.
He became famous for his seventeen year overland journey to
India, which is recorded in detail in his autobiography as well as
a biography, both of which provided the inspiration for the epic
novel Journey to the West.
Xuanzang is also known as Táng-sānzàng (唐三藏), Xuánzàng Sānzàng
(玄奘三藏), Xuánzàng Dàshī (玄奘大師), or simply as Táng Sēng (唐僧), or Tang
(Dynasty) Monk in Mandarin;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanzang
Thanks for this. Is he now even after death still
chanting for the dead?
