Portrait of Xuanzang
Xuanzang was born in 602 AD and died in 664 AD at the age of 62. Twenty-three years after his death, another Taoist priest was born in the Tang Dynasty. This man was Jian Zhen. Jian Zhen died in Japan at the age of 76. Both of them were rare monks in the Tang Dynasty and made similar moves. Xuanzang went west to Jian Zhen and crossed east. Although they have different purposes, they all pursue the truth of Buddhism and deserve respect from future generations.
Xuanzang's Journey to the West is famous at home and abroad because of The Journey to the West's masterpiece and TV series, but few people know Jian Zhen's Journey to the East. What's the difference between them? First of all, Xuanzang went to India and other places where Buddhism originated in order to find the correct ideas, because of the differences in Buddhist ideas, while Jian Zhen went to Japan to teach Buddhist truth, because Japan was very backward at that time and went to the Tang Dynasty to learn Buddhist knowledge many times.
The similarity between Xuanzang and Jian Zhen is that they both act in private. Xuanzang once asked the imperial court to go west, but was not approved, so he went alone. Jian Zhen wanted to teach his Buddhist thoughts to Japan, and at that time, he was one of the few famous monks in the Tang Dynasty. The imperial court didn't want to lose such talents, and sent people to stop Jian Zhen from going to Japan many times.
But in the end, Xuanzang went west, and Jian Zhen also successfully crossed east. The pursuit of Buddhist thought by these two holy monks is very valuable, and it is worth learning their spirit for future generations.
As we all know, the story of Tang Priest's encounter with the "Eighty-one Difficulties" on his way to learn Buddhist scriptures is actually based on Xuanzang's experience in the Tang Dynasty. So how many difficulties did Xuanzang encounter on his westward journey? How did he overcome it step by step and finally get the Buddhist scriptures?
Xuanzang statue
First of all, the first difficulty that Xuanzang encountered in his westward journey was the prevention from his own country. At that time, it was just decided that China people were not allowed to appear in the Tang Dynasty. So when Xuanzang first wanted the support of the state to hand in his application for going west, he didn't respond. Emperor Taizong didn't agree at all, which was very different from TV series and beautified Emperor Taizong. In fact, Xuanzang was able to successfully sail to the West because he disguised himself and sneaked away among the victims.
After leaving Chang 'an, Xuanzang also met troops and soldiers who stopped him all the way. With help from others, Xuanzang left Liangzhou. By this time, Xuanzang's situation was already very miserable. The horse died and the monk left, which means Xuanzang can only go alone now.
While crossing the desert, he was almost shot by soldiers. The harsh living conditions in the desert made it difficult for him to walk, and at this time, more unfortunately, the water he relied on was knocked over. In the desert, alone, without water, and lost his way, in such a difficult situation, Xuanzang actually persisted for five days, successfully walked out of the desert and reached the first country of his destination-Gao Changguo.
In Gao Changguo, because of the king's appreciation, he insisted on leaving Xuanzang, but Xuanzang refused to change his mind and went on a hunger strike. Finally, King Gao Changguo compromised and let Xuanzang leave. However, after leaving, Xuanzang met an avalanche again, and then only two apprentices accompanied him.
Xuanzang's westward journey encountered numerous difficulties and threatened his life many times. Fortunately, Xuanzang did not give up and finally arrived in India to learn authentic Buddhist classics.
The purpose of Xuanzang's westward journey is in The Journey to the West. Under the guidance of Guanyin, Xuanzang embarked on the road of learning from the scriptures. His purpose is to learn Mahayana Buddhism. Is the purpose of Xuanzang's westward journey really to learn Mahayana Buddhism? In history, Xuanzang embarked on the road to the west for many real purposes, not just this one.
Portrait of Xuanzang
First of all, the main purpose of Xuanzang's going to learn from the scriptures is to better explain Buddhism to people. Because Xuanzang discovered at that time that China's interpretations of Buddhism were quite different, and some even ran counter to each other. Xuanzang, who has a high attainments in Buddhism, realized that it is very difficult for the development of Buddhist thought, and he grew up under these different doctrines and lacked the ability to correctly interpret these doctrines, so he wanted to go to the birthplace of Buddhism to explore the true interpretation of these doctrines.
Secondly, Xuanzang had met Boromidoro before going west. The monk was ordained at the orthodox Indian Buddhist Institute. Many Buddhist scriptures that he could recite were not available in the Tang Dynasty at that time, and these Buddhist scriptures have always attracted Xuanzang. When he learned that there were so many profound Buddhist scriptures in India, Xuanzang wanted to go to India to teach them to the Tang Dynasty.
Thirdly, Buddhism flourished rapidly after it was introduced into China from India. However, the translation of Indian Buddhist scriptures is a difficult problem. In the Tang Dynasty, although there were many Buddhist scriptures translated, they were far from enough for monks to learn. Xuanzang saw this and wanted to go west. He hopes to improve his translation ability by traveling to India and other countries, so as to translate more and more correct Buddhist scriptures for the Tang Dynasty. In fact, Xuanzang did the same thing after returning to China.
Xuanzang's westward journey has many purposes, but in a word, it is to promote Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty.
Xuanzang's voyage to the West made great contributions to the development of ancient Buddhism in China. Both his Buddhist classics and his translation of Buddhist scriptures after returning to China have greatly promoted the prosperity of Buddhism in China. As we all know, in history, Xuanzang once went to the West to learn the scriptures alone. So when did Xuanzang go west? How long is it?
Portrait of Xuanzang
Xuanzang was born in 602 AD and died in 664 AD. During these 62 years, he devoted his life to Buddhism. /kloc-was still in the Sui Dynasty when he was 0/3 years old. He was appreciated by Dali Temple officials in the Sui Dynasty and became a monk in Du Dong Jingtu Temple. Since then, he has devoted himself to studying Buddhist scriptures.
In 622 AD, he was ordained, visited a famous monk and began to give lectures. In the next four or five years, he was guided by many eminent monks. On the basis of these people, he had his own opinions, and his fame gradually began to spread in Sichuan and other places. And realized that there were great hidden dangers in Buddhism in Tang Dynasty.
In 626 AD, due to the spread of Buddhist knowledge of Tianzhu monks, Xuanzang first had the idea of going west. In the second year of Zhenguan, 29-year-old Xuanzang officially embarked on the journey to the West. After that, he didn't return to Chang 'an until AD 645, during which it took nearly 19 years.
Xuanzang traveled westward, starting from Chang 'an, passing through the western regions of the Tang Dynasty, leaving the territory of the Tang Dynasty, passing through Gao Changguo and Gabon, and finally reaching India. He spent 19 years traveling to nearly 1 10 countries, learning local Buddhist knowledge in these countries, and finally achieved something, bringing these Buddhist theories back to the Tang Dynasty and spreading them.
The road map of Xuanzang's westward journey must have heard of the story of Xuanzang's westward journey, which tells the story of Xuanzang's departure from Chang 'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and his trip to India to learn from Buddhism. The Journey to the West, one of China's four classical masterpieces, is based on the story of Xuanzang's westward journey. So do you know the route map of Xuanzang's westward journey? Next, let's take a look at the specific route of Xuanzang's westward journey.
Xuanzang westbound road map
In 627 AD, Xuanzang set out from Chang 'an, first arrived in Qin Zhou, which is today's Tianshui, Gansu, then passed through Lanzhou, Liangzhou, Ganzhou, Suzhou and Guazhou to reach Yumenguan in the Tang Dynasty, then bypassed Baidunzi, Hongliuyuan, Xingxingxia and other places, and finally walked out of the border of the Tang Dynasty.
He marched to the northwest and entered the desert to reach Yiwu. Later, he went to Bai Licheng, Gaochang Wangcheng, Wuban City, Afu Shiquan and other places. He went to the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain today, and then entered Aini and Wangcheng. Then Xuanzang crossed the Peacock River and entered Qu Zhi. He walked more than 600 miles west to Balochistan, and then walked 300 miles northwest to Lingshan. After crossing the iceberg for seven days and seven nights, I arrived at Daqingchi. Today, this place is in Kyrgyzstan. After that, Xuanzang walked 500 miles along the northwest of the lake to reach Broken Leaf City. After that, it passed through 10 countries such as Los Angeles, Pekhan, Bresena, Sasa, Hewei, Shuijia, Vanana, Jieshuangna, Fan Yanguo, Jiabu and Luojie, and crossed many plateaus such as Pamirs. After more than ten years of history, I finally arrived at Tianzhu, a Buddhist holy place, which is today's India.
After visiting a famous teacher in Xuanzang, India, I studied Buddhism hard and finally gained something. Zhenguan returned to Chang 'an, the capital of Tang Dynasty, in January of 19th year, which lasted 19 years and traveled 50,000 kilometers. He also brought back more than 600 classic works, which were later translated into Chinese. Xuanzang's Journey to the West promoted the cultural exchange between China and foreign countries and the development of China's ancient translation. This is the whole westbound route of Xuanzang.