''Xuanzang'' or ''Xuan Zang'' is a 2016 Chinese-Indian

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

based on

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 seventeen-year overland journey to India during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

in the seventh century. The film is directed by

Huo Jianqi Huo Jianqi (; born January 20, 1958) is a Chinese film director. Like the cinematographer turned director Gu Changwei, Huo Jianqi began his cinematic career in the art department. Nearly all of Huo's films have been written by his wife and collabo ...

and produced by

Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...

. It stars

Huang Xiaoming Huang Xiaoming or Mark Huang (, born 13 November 1977) is a Chinese actor, singer, and model. He graduated from the Performance Institute of the Beijing Film Academy in 2000. Huang first rose to prominence in 2001 for playing Emperor Wu of Han in ...

Kent Tong Kent Tong (; born 29 September 1958) is a Hong Kong actor. He was a popular TVB actor during the 1980s, nicknamed "Prince" and one of the "Five Tiger Generals" of TVB. Early life Kent Tong was born to and grew up in a poor family in Hong Kong. His ...

Purba Rgyal Purba Rgyal (; born July 8, 1985), also known as Pu Bajia, is a Chinese singer and actor of Tibetan ethnicity. Life Early life Purba Rgyal was born on July 8, 1985, in Jinchuan County, Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan provi ...

Sonu Sood Sonu Sood (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian actor, film producer, model, humanitarian, and philanthropist who works predominantly in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. In 2009, he received the Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Award for Best Vill ...

and Tan Kai. It was released in China and India on 29 April 2016, with distribution in China by

China Film Group Corporation China Film Group Corporation (CFGC), is the largest, most influential film enterprise in the People's Republic of China, owned by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. According to ''Forbes'', it is a state monopoly that all ...

. It was selected as the Chinese entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the 89th Academy Awards but was not nominated. 'Xuan Zang' was screened at the 2nd Annual Asian World Film Festival on 31 October 2016 in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

Plot

During the Tang Dynasty's era of "Zhen Guan" (of Emperor

Taizong Taizong is the temple name used for several Chinese sovereign, monarchs of China. It may refer to: * Tai Jia ( 16th-century BC), king of the Shang dynasty * Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng (202 BC–157 BC, reigned 180 BC–157 BC), also known as E ...

), Xuan Zang, a young Buddhist monk, in his quest to find the knowledge in

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, embarks on a journey to India, that is fraught with perils and dangers. He encounters natural disasters, and sees the sufferings of the common people. Soldiers get in his way, his disciple betrays him, he struggles through deserts, and is short on food and water. He finally arrives in India, and studies Buddhism in earnest. By the time he returns to China, he is 50 years old. This film is based on a folk tale told by Wu Ch'eng-en and translated by Arthur Waley in his allegorical book 'Monkey' published by Allen and Unwin Ltd in 1942. According to Waley, Wu Ch'eng-en lived between AD 1505 and 1580. Hsuan Tsang (Xuanzang) the monk, is known as Tripitaka in the book, and is a real person who lived in the seventh century AD.

Cast

Soundtrack

*"Heart Sutra" performed by

Faye Wong Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; born Xia Lin on 8 August 1969) is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong. Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and her debut album '' Shirley Wong'' ( ...

*"Qiannian Yibore" () performed by Huang Xiaoming &

Han Lei Han Lei (; born February 23, 1968), also known in Mongolian as Senbor, is a Chinese folk and pop singer-songwriter. Music Appearance Han rose to prominence in 1997 on the CCTV New Year's Gala, performing a song called "1997, A.D." (公元一� ...

Production

On 4 May 2015, the producers held the Sino-Indian Cooperation and Exchange News Briefing Film Conference in Beijing and announced that they would be producing the film with

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 ...

. The film is being produced by the Chinese state owned production company China Film Corporation and Eros International. Principal photography began on 6 June 2015, at the

Flaming Mountains The Flaming Mountains () or Huoyan Mountains, are barren, eroded, red sandstone hills in the Tian Shan of Xinjiang. They lie near the northern rim of the Taklamakan Desert and east of the city of Turpan. Their striking gullies and trenches caused b ...

Turpan Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015). Geonyms The original name of the cit ...

, Xinjiang.

played the most important role:

monk Xuanzang. Filming took place in

region,

Changji Changji is a county-level city situated about west of the regional capital, Ürümqi in Northern Xinjiang, China and has about 390,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture. At the northeast corner of the modern cit ...

, Altay, Aksu,

Kashi Kashi or Kaashi may refer to: Places * Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India **Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas **Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi * Kashgar, a cit ...

and nearly ten areas of

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

and other cross-border.

Reception

The film grossed on its opening weekend in China.

Awards and nominations

*12th

Chinese American Film Festival Chinese American Film Festival (CAFF) is an American film festival held every November since 2006 in California (with events in Los Angeles and San Francisco, previously also in San Diego). History In 2005, the Chinese American Film Festival w ...

**Golden Angel Award Film **Best Screenwriter *31st

Golden Rooster Awards The Golden Rooster Awards () are film awards given in mainland China. The awards were originally given annually, beginning in 1981. The name of the award came from the year of the Rooster in 1981. Award recipients receive a statuette in the shap ...

**Nominated – Best Cinematography (Sun Ming) **Nominated – Best Sound (Chao Jun) **Nominated – Best Art Direction (Wu Ming) **Nominated – Best Original Music Score (Wang Xiaofeng)

References

External links

* * {{Chinese submission for Academy Awards 2016 films Films set in ancient India Films shot in Xinjiang Films shot in Gansu Films shot in India 2010s Mandarin-language films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Huo Jianqi China Film Group Corporation films Films set in 7th-century Tang dynasty Chinese historical adventure films Chinese multilingual films Indian multilingual films 2010s historical adventure films Chinese biographical films 2010s biographical films Films about Buddhism Films with screenplays by Zou Jingzhi Indian historical adventure films