How Do You See XuanZang?

[welcomeJason]

Dear friends,did you ever konw some about XuanZang.If you did,how do you think about him?

 

[DARIUS]

There's a book written by Mishi Saran title "Chasing the monks shadow".A great read.In that book at one place the author describes the supernatural aura surrounding the meeting between Xuanzang and the rector of the Nalanda University Sheelbhadra and the events preceding and succeeding the event.It is said that the Buddha himself appeared before the rector in a dream and commanded him to accept Xuanzang as his disciple and impart him with the knowledge that he sorted!!Here's a small introduction by the author:

"An Indian woman with a China craze, a Chinese monk with an Indian obsession; we had the same schizophrenia, the monk and I. It seemed logical to take the same road.’ In the seventh century AD,the Chinese monk Xuanzang (earlier spelt as Hiuen Tsang or Hsuan Tsang) set off on an epicjourney to India to study Buddhist philosophy from the Indian masters. Travelling along the Silk Road, through the desolate wastes of the Gobi desert and the icy passes of Central Asia, braving brigands and blizzards, Xuanzang finally reached India, where his spiritual quest took him to Buddhist holy places and monasteries throughout the subcontinent. By the time he returned to China eighteen years later, carrying with him nearly 600 scriptures which he translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, Xuanzang had covered an astonishing 10,000 miles. He also left a detailed record of his journey, which remains a valuable source of historical information on the regions he traversed. Fourteen hundred years later, Mishi Saran follows in Xuanzang’s footsteps to the fabled oasis cities of China and Central Asia, and the Buddhist sites and now-vanished kingdoms in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan that Xuanzang wrote about. Travelling seamlessly back and forth in time between the seventh century and the twenty-first, Saran uncovers the past with consummate skill even as she brings alive the present through her vivid and engaging descriptions of people and places. Her gripping chronicle includes an extraordinary eyewitness account of Kabul under the Taliban regime, just one month before 9/11. Running parallel to the account of her travels is the moving story of the author’s inner journey towards a new understanding of her roots and her identity. With its riveting mix of lively reportage, high adventure, historical inquiry and personal memoir, this delightfully written book is a path-breaking travelogue."

 

[welcomeJason]

There's a book written by Mishi Saran title "Chasing the monks shadow".A great read.In that book at one place the author describes the supernatural aura surrounding the meeting between Xuanzang and the rector of the Nalanda University Sheelbhadra and the events preceding and succeeding the event.It is said that the Buddha himself appeared before the rector in a dream and commanded him to accept Xuanzang as his disciple and impart him with the knowledge that he sorted!!Here's a small introduction by the author:

"An Indian woman with a China craze, a Chinese monk with an Indian obsession; we had the same schizophrenia, the monk and I. It seemed logical to take the same road.’ In the seventh century AD,the Chinese monk Xuanzang (earlier spelt as Hiuen Tsang or Hsuan Tsang) set off on an epicjourney to India to study Buddhist philosophy from the Indian masters. Travelling along the Silk Road, through the desolate wastes of the Gobi desert and the icy passes of Central Asia, braving brigands and blizzards, Xuanzang finally reached India, where his spiritual quest took him to Buddhist holy places and monasteries throughout the subcontinent. By the time he returned to China eighteen years later, carrying with him nearly 600 scriptures which he translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, Xuanzang had covered an astonishing 10,000 miles. He also left a detailed record of his journey, which remains a valuable source of historical information on the regions he traversed. Fourteen hundred years later, Mishi Saran follows in Xuanzang’s footsteps to the fabled oasis cities of China and Central Asia, and the Buddhist sites and now-vanished kingdoms in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan that Xuanzang wrote about. Travelling seamlessly back and forth in time between the seventh century and the twenty-first, Saran uncovers the past with consummate skill even as she brings alive the present through her vivid and engaging descriptions of people and places. Her gripping chronicle includes an extraordinary eyewitness account of Kabul under the Taliban regime, just one month before 9/11. Running parallel to the account of her travels is the moving story of the author’s inner journey towards a new understanding of her roots and her identity. With its riveting mix of lively reportage, high adventure, historical inquiry and personal memoir, this delightfully written book is a path-breaking travelogue."

THANK YOU.I found a site:mishisaran.com saying that mishi saran was a foreignal student in BeiJing ,and I will read it.
hmm. Do you have read any other book about XUANZANG?I mean the book XUANZANG wrote himself or the english version.

 

[DARIUS]

THANK YOU.I found a site:mishisaran.com saying that mishi saran was a foreignal student in BeiJing ,and I will read it.
hmm. Do you have read any other book about XUANZANG?I mean the book XUANZANG wrote himself or the english version.

No I haven't really read any other book on him other than this but this book itself holds good authority over the life of XuanZang and satisfies all my queries.But as far as the treatises of Xuan Zang himself is concerned especially those regarding the Political extent and administrative set up of India during his visit,I haven't read those!!