Records of the Western Regions | |||||||||
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![]() A page from the edition of the Records of the Western Regions compiled as part of the Siku Quanshu , an 18th-century Qing encyclopedia | |||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 《大唐西域記》 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 《大唐西域记》 | ||||||||
Literal meaning | Records of the Western Regions during the Great Tang | ||||||||
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The Records of the Western Regions,also known by its Chinese name as the Datang Xiyuji or Da Tang Xiyu Ji and by various other translations and transcriptions,is a narrative of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang's nineteen-year journey from Tang China through the Western Regions to medieval India and back during the mid-7th century. The book was compiled in 646,describing travels undertaken between 626 and 645. [1] Bianji,a disciple of Xuanzang,spent more than one year editing the book through Xuanzang's dictation. The text presents an account of Xuanzang's route with religious details as well as reports of the people and places he encountered. [2] It is now considered not merely a landmark work in the history of Buddhism and Indo-Chinese relations but also in crosscultural studies across the world. [2]
Xuanzang's pilgrimage began in the imperial capital of Chang'an (now Xi'an in China's Shaanxi Province) and followed the overland Silk Road through what is now Gansu and Xinjiang in northwest China. He travelled through Central Asia around the Himalayas to India,where he reached as far south as Kanchipuram. [2] He then returned to China where,despite the illegality of his departure,his travels and scholarship were celebrated by the emperor Taizong.
While trade relations between India and China had been ongoing from at least the 1st century and had been strengthened through the expansion of Buddhism in China from the time of the Three Kingdoms,it was not until the expansion of the Turkic Khaganate began to threaten the borders of India and China that embassies were sent between the two regions for military alliances. [3] Xuanzang is credited as being one of the first diplomats to establish such a relation between Tang dynasty China and the Indian empire of Kannauj. [4]
Xuanzang's travels were motivated by his deep interest in Buddhist lore. While he was not legally authorized by the Tang court to leave China,he managed to journey to India and record his meetings with kings of various Indian kingdoms. Of particular note is emperor Harsha,whom Xuanzang managed to convince to send an emissary to Emperor Taizong of Tang. These diplomatic relations allowed Xuanzang to return to China without facing legal repercussions,instead granting him an audience with Taizong,who ultimately commissioned Xuanzang to write a record of his journeys to be entered into the official Tang records. [4]
The book contains more than 120,000 Chinese characters and is divided into twelve volumes,which describe the geography,land and maritime transportation,climate,local products,people,language,history,politics,economic life,religion,culture,and customs in 110 countries,regions and city-states from Xinjiang to Persia,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan,Nepal,India,and Sri Lanka,among other regions.
The text is of a great value to modern historians and archaeologists. [1] The Records is an important document of Central Asia during the early seventh century,as it provides information of a Buddhist culture existing in Afghanistan during that time and the earliest textual evidence for Buddhist sculptures at Bamiyan. [5] His travels are also credited with being partially responsible for the spread of sugar-making technology in medieval China and India. This is significant because sugar plays a crucial role in Buddhist doctrine. [6] The text also has equal importance in the studies of India,and archaeologists have been using it to fill in certain gaps in Indian history. [1] It also allowed historians to locate important sites in India. [1] The book is known for having "exact descriptions of distances and locations of different places", [1] and has served as a guidebook for the excavation of many important sites,such as Rajagrha,the Temple at Sarnath,Ajanta,the ruins of the Nalanda Monastery in Bihar [1] and the ruins of Vasu Bihar of ancient Pundra City. The text inspired Journey to the West ,a Chinese novel published in the Ming Dynasty. [1]
Xuanzang, born Chen Hui / 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 CE, his efforts to bring over 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 a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Hun invaders, and the younger brother of Rajyavardhana, a king of Thanesar, present-day Haryana. He was a powerful Rajput king belonging to Bais Rajput clan.
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 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.
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.
Princess Gaoyang was the seventeenth daughter of Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty.
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. 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 north of 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.
Arunāsva, also known as Aluonashun by the Chinese, ruled Tirhut, Kannauj, and the surrounding area for a brief period after Harshavardhana, who died heirless. He usurped the throne, succeeding the Pushyabhuti dynasty. He is known for repulsing an invasion launched by the Arab Muslims of the Rashidun Caliphate.
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.
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