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Pilgrim And Translator

His Goal. In the early Tang period (618-907), Xuan Zang, one of the greatest persons in the history of Chinese Buddhism, was the most prominent pilgrim and translator. At the age of thirteen he went into the Buddhist temple, and in 629, provoked by a strong wish to visit the holy places in India, he began a journey that made him famous. When Xuan started out alone across the deserts of Central Asia, he was already one of the authorities on Buddhist beliefs. His goal was to obtain a manuscript of the great treatise on metaphysics titled Land of the Masters of Yoga and to expand his understanding so as to be able to solve the inconsistencies among the different philosophical schools of Buddhism.

Expedition. After a dangerous trip through the deserts and mountains of Central Asia, during which Xuan Zang several times...