Submitted by aier on
Than Hsiang's Pu Men Pin Online Gong Xiu’s Dharma Sharing（05/01/2024）
Teaching Assistant in International Buddhist College, Sister Chiew Suan Bee sharing “The Travels of Chinese Pilgrims - Fa hsien, Xuan zang and I tsing”
When Buddhism flourished in China, there was a need for Buddhist texts as there were some discrepancies in the translation works.
Chinese monks ventured to go to India to bring back these sacred materials.
Some of these monks used the overland routes through Central Asia to India. Others took the maritime route via Southeast Asian ports. Some returned to China after their pilgrimages, others either decided to stay in India or died before they could embark on the return voyage.
Fa hsien, Xuan zang, and I tsing were among hundreds of Chinese monks who left China and returned with records of their journeys.
Their written accounts are the only available writings describing the condition of Buddhism and the Buddhist sites which have been of great value to historians and archaeologists for the data it contains. Additionally, these accounts also throw light on the arduous nature of long-distance travel experienced by the travelers.
Fa Hsien (337-422) was the first Chinese Buddhist monk who took five years to walk from Ch'angan across Central Asia to India.
After spending six years in India, he sailed to Sri Lanka, where he spent two years. His homeward journey by sea took another year in which he stopped for five months in Java. His entire journey took fifteen years.
Returning to China he devoted the rest of his life to translating Buddhist texts from Sanskrit to Chinese.
He described his journey in his travelogue "A Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms"
(an account related to monastic life and pilgrimage sites he visited).
This passage described some of the terrifying conditions Fa hsien met as he travelled along the Silk Route.
"There is snow both in winter and summer, winds, rain, drifting sand and gravel stones. The road is difficult and broken, with steep crags and precipices in the way. The mountain side is simply a stone wall standing up 10,000 feet [3,000 metres] ... on going forward, there is no sure foothold." - Fa Hsien.
Xuan zang (602-664) started his journey to India at age twenty-seven, traveling overland following the Silk Road.
He traveled on foot, in caravans, on horseback or camel to Central Asia and then to India. His travel took him sixteen years.
He mentioned several Buddhist sites in Central Asia. An example,"In Khotan, the system of writing was found to have been taken from that of India. The people were Buddhists and there were above hundreds monasteries, with over five thousands priests, chiefly Mahayanists".
Xuan zang took back a corpus of Buddhist texts and translated seventy-seven texts into Chinese. His book, "Great Tang Records on the Western Region" is a classic Chinese literature which later served as an inspiration for the novel “Journey to the West”.
I tsing (635-713) took to the sea route to India and back. His travels covered the period twenty-four years in which he spent ten years studying in Nalanda and ten years in Srivijaya, Sumatra translating the scriptures.
He wrote his account in the "Record of the Inner Law sent home from the South Sea" is a detailed account of how Buddhist doctrines and monastic rules were practiced in India.
Another account on "Memoirs of Eminent Monks who Visited India and Neighboring Regions in Search on the Law during the Great Tang Dynasty" is a biographical information about fifty-six Chinese monks who traveled to India despite the perilous nature of the journey during the 7th century.
The detailed account of Chinese pilgrims and the circulation of Buddhist texts played an important role in the cultural interactions between India and China.
Descriptions of the Indian society and its virtuous rulers, the flourishing monastic institutions, and stories of the Buddha and his disciples contributed to a unique perception of India which elevated the Chinese impression of the Indian society.
The narratives of Fa Hsien, Xuan zang and I tsing make them more famous than other travelers and provided the Chinese Buddhist an opportunity to envision the sacred Buddha land.
For more information, please browse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AlIbXWDccI
Spread the Buddha's teachings to guide more people to study Buddhism.
Continue diligently in the path studying the Buddha's teachings and listening to the Dharma.
Follow us on:
https://linktr.ee/thanhsiang
