The ''Great Tang Records on the Western Regions'' is a narrative of
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
's nineteen-year journey from
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...
in central China to the
Western Regions
The Western Regions or Xiyu (Hsi-yü; ) was a historical name specified in the Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of Yumen Pass, most often Central Asia or sometimes more sp ...
of
Chinese historiography. The Buddhist scholar traveled through the
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
regions of what is today
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
in northwest China, as well as neighboring areas in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
and south China. Beyond these Chinese locations,
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
also travelled around the perimeter of India, as far south as
Kanchipuram.
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
's travels demarcate not only an important place in cross-cultural studies of China and India, but also cross-cultural studies throughout the globe.
[ The text is set up as both an account of ]Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
's religious pilgrimage as well as his report of the surrounding towns and provinces of Tang China.[
The book was compiled in 646, describing travels undertaken between 626 and 645.][ Bianji, a disciple of Xuanzang, spent more than one year editing the book through Xuanzang's dictation.
]
Background
While trade relations between India and China had been ongoing since 1st century CE and had been strengthened through the introduction of Buddhism into China, it was not until the expansion of the Turkic Khaganate The Göktürks founded two major khanates known as the Turkic Khaganate:
* First Turkic Khaganate, which then fractured into
** Western Turkic Khaganate
** Eastern Turkic Khaganate
* Second Turkic Khaganate
See also
* Turkic khanate
* List of Turk ...
began to threaten the borders of India and China that embassies were sent between the two regions for military alliances. Xuanzang is credited as being one of the first diplomats to establish such a relation between Tang dynasty China and the Indian empire of Kannauj.
Xuanzang's travels were motivated by his deep interest in Buddhist lore. While he was not legally authorized by the Tang court to leave China, he managed to journey to India and record his meetings with kings of various Indian kingdoms. Of particular note is emperor Harsha
Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajy ...
, whom Xuanzang managed to convince to send an emissary to Emperor Taizong of Tang
Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty ...
. These diplomatic relations allowed Xuanzang to return to China without facing legal repercussions, instead granting him an audience with Taizong, who ultimately commissioned Xuanzang to write a record of his journeys to be entered into the official Tang records.
Overview
The book contains more than 120,000 Chinese character
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the Written Chinese, writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are k ...
s and is divided into twelve volumes, which describe the geography, land and maritime transportation, climate, local products, people, language, history, politics, economic life, religion, culture, and customs in 110 countries, regions and city-states from Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
to Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, among other regions.
Importance
The text is of a great value to modern historians and archaeologists. The ''Records'' is an important document of Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
during the early seventh century, as it provides information of a Buddhist culture existing in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
during that time and the earliest textual evidence for Buddhist sculptures at Bamiyan. His travels are also credited with being partially responsible for the spread of sugar-making technology in medieval China and India. This is significant because sugar plays a crucial role in Buddhist doctrine.[Sen, Tansen. "In Search of Longevity and Good Karma: Chinese Diplomatic Missions to Middle India in the Seventh Century." Journal of World History, vol. 12, no. 1, 2001, pp. 1–28. JSTOR, JSTOR, .] The text also has equal importance in the studies of India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and archaeologists have been using it to fill in certain gaps in Indian history.[ It also allowed historians to locate important sites in India.] The book is known for having "exact descriptions of distances and locations of different places",[ and has served as a guidebook for the excavation of many important sites, such as ]Rajagrha
Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the ...
, the Temple at Sarnath
Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pr ...
, Ajanta, the ruins of the Nalanda
Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.[Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...]
'', a Chinese novel published in the Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
.
References
Citations
Sources
* Zhu, Yunqiu and Wang, Lixin.
Da Tang Xiyu Ji Zhong De Yinduren Xingxiang (The Image of Indians in the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions)
'. Journal of Shenyang University. 2005.2. p. 98-102. ISSN 1008-9225.
* Tang, Qinfu (2001). ''History of Chinese Historiography''. Taiyuan: Shanxi Education Press. . p. 230-232.
* Xie, Fang
"Da Tang Xiyu Ji" ("Great Tang Records on the Western Regions")
''Encyclopedia of China
The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, begin ...
'', 1st ed.
* Zhang Xiuping et al. (1993). ''100 Books That Influenced China: Da Tang Xiyu Ji''. Nanning: Guangxi Renmin Press. . p. 392-398.
* T. C. Kuo and H. M. Chou, "The contribution of Xuanzang's Great Tang Records on the Western Regions to the research of religious culture," 2016 International Conference on Advanced Materials for Science and Engineering (ICAMSE), Tainan, 2016, pp. 322-324.
Translations
* Beal, Samuel (1884). ''Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, by Hiuen Tsiang''. 2 vols. Translated by Samuel Beal. London. 1884. Reprint: Delhi. Oriental Books Reprint Corporation. 1969
Volume 1
(PDF 21.5 MB
Volume2
(PDF 16.9 MB)
* Beal, Samuel (1911). ''The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang. Translated from the Chinese of Shaman (monk) Hwui Li'' by Samuel Beal. London. 1911. Reprint Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi. 1973
Internet Archive
(PDF 14.3 MB)
* Julien, Stanislas, (1857/1858). ''Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales'', L'Imprimerie impériale, Paris
Vol.1Vol.2
* Li, Rongxi (translator) (1995). ''The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions''. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. Berkeley, California.
*
Volume 2
*Sen, Tansen. “In Search of Longevity and Good Karma: Chinese Diplomatic Missions to Middle India in the Seventh Century.” Journal of World History, vol. 12, no. 1, 2001, pp. 1–28. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20078877.
Further reading
*Bhat, R. B., & Wu, C. (2014). Xuan Zhang's mission to the West with Monkey King. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2014.
*Jain, Sandhya, & Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books.
External links
— Chinaknowledge.de.
* 10 part (high quality) documentar
''Xuanzang's Pilgrimage''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Tang Records On The Western RegiOns
Chinese classic texts
Chinese prose texts
Tang dynasty literature
Travel books
7th-century Chinese books
Texts about the history of Buddhism