Xuanzang, born Chen Hui or Chen Yi, also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, 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 his journey to India in 629–645, his efforts to bring at least 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts. He was only able to translate 75 distinct sections of a total of 1335 chapters, but his translations included some of the most important Mahayana scriptures.
Faxian, formerly romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled on foot from Jin China to medieval India to acquire Buddhist scriptures. His birth name was Gong Sehi. Starting his journey about age 60, he traveled west along the overland Silk Road, visiting Buddhist sites in Central, South, and Southeast Asia. The journey and return took from 399 to 412, with 10 years spent in India.
Harshavardhana was emperor of Kannauj from April 606 until his death in 647. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana, the king of Thanesar who had defeated the Alchon Huns, and the younger brother of Rajyavardhana, son of Prabhakaravardhana and last king of Thanesar. He was one of the greatest kings of the Kingdom of Kannauj, which under him expanded into a vast realm in northern India.
Tashkurgan, historically known as Sarikol and Shitoucheng, is a town in the far west of China, close to the country's border with Tajikistan. It is seat of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, in the autonomous region of Xinjiang. Chinese Tajiks – ethnic Pamiris who live in the Pamir Mountains of Xinjiang – make up a little over half of Tashkurgan's population.
Yang Xuanzhi was a Chinese official and translator of Mahayana Buddhist texts into the Chinese language during the Tuoba Northern Wei Dynasty in China's Northern and Southern dynastic period. He is primarily remembered as the author of a history of the Buddhist temples and monasteries of Luoyang in Henan Province, at the time the capital of the Wei Empire.
The Western Regions or Xiyu was a historical name specified in Ancient Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of the Yumen Pass, most often the Tarim Basin in present-day southern Xinjiang and Central Asia, though it was sometimes used more generally to refer to other regions to the west of China as well, such as Parthia and Tianzhu.
Kapilvastu, formerly known by name of Taulihawa, is a municipality and administrative center of Kapilvastu District in Lumbini Province of southern Nepal. The municipality is located roughly 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the south-west of Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of Gautama Buddha.
Samuel Beal was an Oriental scholar, and the first Englishman to translate directly from the Chinese the early records of Buddhism, thus illuminating Indian history.
Bhaskarbarman was king of medieval Kamarupa and the last of the Barman dynasty. After being captured by the Gauda king during the reign of his father, he was able to re-establish the rule of the Varmans. He made political alliances with Harshavardhana of Thaneswar, against the alliance of the Gauda and East Malwa. He was visited by Xuanzang and Wang Xuance, the envoys of the Tang dynasty who have left accounts of the king and the kingdom.
Shiladitya is the title of a 7th-century Indian king mentioned in the writings of the Chinese traveler Xuanzang.
Bianji was a Buddhist monk who lived in the Tang dynasty. He was also the translator and author of Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. Little is known about his life, apart from that he translated several Buddhist scriptures and sutras. He was executed by Emperor Taizong for having an illicit affair with the emperor's daughter Princess Gaoyang.
Wang Xuance was a Chinese diplomat, military general, and travel writer. In 648, Tang Taizong sent him to India in response to Harshavardhana sending an ambassador to China. However once in India he discovered Harshavardhana had died and the new king Aluonashun attacked Wang and his 30 mounted subordinates. This led to Wang Xuance escaping to Tibet and then mounting a joint of over 7,000 Nepalese mounted infantry and 1,200 Tibetan infantry and attack on the Indian state on June 16. The success of this attack won Xuance the prestigious title of the "Grand Master for the Closing Court." He also secured a reported Buddhist relic for China. 2,000 prisoners were taken from Magadha by the Nepali and Tibetan forces under Wang. Tibetan and Chinese writings document describe Wang Xuance's raid on India with Tibetan soldiers. Nepal had been subdued by the Tibetan King Songtsen. The Indian pretender was among the captives. The war happened in 649. Taizong's grave had a statue of the Indian pretender. The pretender's name was recorded in Chinese records as "Na-fu-ti O-lo-na-shuen". The war had lasted 3 days.
Tilaurakot is a neighborhood in Kapilvastu Municipality in Kapilvastu District, in the Lumbini Province of southern Nepal. Previously it was a Village development committee. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 5684 people living in 944 individual households. It is situated 25 kilometers (15.5 mi) northwest of the Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini, and 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) southeast of Nigali Sagar in Nigalihawa.
Song Yun or Songyun was a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled to medieval India from the Tuoba Northern Wei kingdom during China's Northern and Southern dynastic period at the behest of the Empress Hu. He and his companions Huisheng, Fali, and Zheng or Wang Fouze left the Wei capital Luoyang on foot in 518 and returned in the winter of 522 with 170 Buddhist scriptures. Song and Hui's accounts of their journey are now lost but much of their information was preserved in other texts.
A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea, also known as the Nanhai Jigui Neifa Zhuan and by other translations, is a Buddhist travelogue by the Tang Chinese monk Yijing detailing his twenty five-year stay in India and Srivijaya between the years 671 and 695 CE.
Xuanzang is a 2016 Chinese-Indian historical adventure film that dramatizes the life of Xuanzang (602—664), a Buddhist monk and scholar. The film depicts his arduous nearly two-decade overland journey to India during the Tang dynasty on a mission to bring Buddhist scriptures to China, largely related to the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West. The film is directed by Huo Jianqi and produced by Wong Kar-wai. It stars Huang Xiaoming as the titular character, and includes cameo or short performances by other accomplished actors including Kent Tong, Purba Rgyal, Sonu Sood and Tan Kai. It was released in China on 29 April 2016, with distribution in China by China Film Group Corporation. It was selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards but was not nominated. It won the Golden Angel Award Film and the best screenwriter categories at the 12th Chinese American Film Festival and was nominated in several categories at the 31st Golden Rooster Awards.
Kapilavastu was an ancient city in the eastern Gangetic plains of the Indian subcontinent which was the capital of the clan gaṇasaṅgha or "republic" of the Shakyas in the late Iron Age, around the 6th and 5th centuries BC. King Śuddhodana and Queen Māyā are believed to have lived at Kapilavastu, as did their son Prince Siddartha Gautama until he left the palace at the age of 29.
Suvarṇapuṣpa was a King of the Tarim Basin city-state of Kucha from 600 to 625. He was known in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit (BHS) as Kucīśvara Suvarṇapuṣpa "Suvarṇapuṣpa, lord of Kucha". He was known in Chinese as Bái Sūfábójué as he sent an embassy to the court of the Tang dynasty in 618 CE acknowledging vassalship.
Giriyak Stupa, also known as Jarasandha-ka-baithak, is an ancient cylindrical stupa located in the Nalanda district of Bihar, India.
Huisheng or Hui Sheng, also known as Hoei Sing, Hwei Sang, and by other romanizations, was a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled to medieval India with Songyun and others.
