Terms: Genjo Sanzo (111,000), Hsuan Tsang (53,600), Xuanzang (216,000), genjo sanzo complex (16), jion daish (4), bones of genjo sanzo (4), great tang records on the western regions (220),
Boolean: "journey to the west" +xuanzang (18,900),
Genjo Sanzo - Better known by his Chinese name, Hsuan-tsang, Genjo Sanzo was born in the early 7th century A.D. While still a boy he was ordained as a Buddhist priest and was transferred to the Temple of Great Learning in Chang-an - a monastic community devoted to the translation of sacred texts from India. Discouraged by the variety of interpretations for these texts, Hsuan-tsang setout on a daring journey following the Silk Road to India to bring back more authentic scriptures to China. His detailed accounts of this journey from 627 to 643 provide the first reliable information about the distant countries, terrain and customs he encountered. The bones of Genjo Sanzo were retrieved from China by Imperial Japanese army units in 1942 and are housed in Japan's Yakushiji temple. Better known by his Chinese name, Hsuan-tsang, Genjo Sanzo was born in the early 7th century A.D. While still a boy he was ordained as a Buddhist priest and was transferred to the Temple of Great Learning in Chang-an - a monastic community devoted to the translation of sacred texts from India. Discouraged by the variety of interpretations for these texts, Hsuan-tsang set out on a daring journey following the Silk Road to India to bring back more authentic scriptures to China. His detailed accounts of this journey from 627 to 643 provide the first reliable information about the distant countries, terrain and customs he encountered. The bones of Genjo Sanzo were retrieved from China by Imperial Japanese army units in 1942 and are housed in Japan's Yakushiji temple.
Wikipedia - Genjo Sanzo - Xuanzang (Chinese: ??; pinyin: Xuán Zàng; Wade-Giles: Hsüan-tsang, pronounced Shwan-dzang) [602 ? - 664] was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator that brought up the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period. Born in Henan province of China in 603 CE, he displayed signs of intellectual and spiritual greatness even at an early age. From boyhood he took to reading sacred books, mainly the Chinese Classics and the writings of the ancient sages. While residing in the city of Luoyang, Xuanzang entered Buddhist monkhood at the age of thirteen. Due to the political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty, he went to Xingdu in Sichuan (Szechuan), where he was ordained at the age of twenty. From Xingdu, he travelled throughout China in search of sacred books of Buddhism. At length, he came to Chang'an, then under the peaceful rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang. Here Xuanzang developed the desire to visit India. He knew about Faxian's visit to India and, like him, was concerned about the incomplete and misinterpreted nature of the Buddhist scriptures that reached China. He became famous for his seventeen year overland trip to India and back, which is recorded in detail in his autobiography and a biography, and provided the inspiration for the epic novel Journey to the West (fictional).
In 646, under the Emperor's request, Xuanzang completed his book Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (?????), which has become one of the primary sources for the study of medieval Central Asia and India. This book was first translated into French by the Sinologist Stanislas Julien in 1857. There was also a biography of Xuanzang written by the monk Huili (??). Both books were first translated into English by Samuel Beal, in 1884 and 1911 respectively. [6] [7] An English translation with copious notes by Thomas Watters was edited by T. S. Rhys Davids and S.W. Bushell, and published posthumously in London in 1905.
Wikipedia - Great Tang Records on the Western Regions - The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (traditional Chinese: ?????; simplified Chinese: ?????; pinyin: Dà Táng Xiyù Jì; Wade-Giles: Ta T'ang Hsiyü Chi) is a narrative of Xuanzang's nineteen year journey through Chang'an to India between 626 and 645. It was compiled in 646 by Bianji, a disciple of Xuanzang, who spent more than one year editing the book through Xuanzang's dictation. The book contain about 100,000 words 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 present-day Xinjiang to Sri Lanka. It has considerable historical material on India, the condition of Buddhist monasteries at the time, and has a high historical value for its descriptions of Central Asia during the early seventh century.
Wikipedia - Journey to the West (Fictional 1590's)
Xuanzang - (freedictionary.com) - (born 600, Guoshi, China—died 664, Chang'an) Chinese Buddhist monk and pilgrim to India. He received a classical Confucian education before converting to Buddhism. Troubled by discrepancies in the sacred texts, he left for India in 629 to study the religion at its source. He traveled by foot across Central Asia and reached India in 633. After study at the famous Nalanda monastery, he returned home in 645 to a hero's welcome, bringing back hundreds of Buddhist texts, including some of the most important Mahayana scriptures, and spent the rest of his life translating. Influenced by the Yogacara school, he established the Weishi (“Ideation Only”) school of Buddhism, which won many followers in Japan as the Hosso school. The classic novel Xiyou ji was inspired by his life.
Yakushiji is one of the Seven Great Temples of Nara and the head temple of the Hosso sect of Japanese Buddhism. It features a rare 7th-century pagoda as well as ancient statues of the Healing Buddha and Kannon. Founded 680. -- the Genjo Sanzo Complex behind the temple grounds. Built in 1981, it enshrines the relics of Genjo Sanzo (Hsuan Tsang), a Chinese priest who lived in the 7th century and is credited with first expounding the Hosso teachings (his disciple Jion-daish is considered the founder of the sect). The bones of Genjo Sanzo were taken from China by Imperial Japanese army units stationed in Nanjing in 1942 and brought to Yakushiji, the head temple of Hosso Buddhism.
Wikipedia - Yakushi-ji Temple - Nara Prefecture - Nara (???, Nara-shi) is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture. Eight temples, shrines and ruins in Nara, specifically Todai-ji, Saidai-ji, Kofuku-ji, Kasuga Shrine, Gango-ji, Yakushi-ji, Toshodai-ji and Heijo Palace Remains, together with Kasugayama Primeval Forest, collectively form "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", a UNESCO World Heritage Site.