 Xuan
Zang  Xuan
Zang or (Hsuan-tsang) was born in AD 602 during Tang dynasty.
As a child he became already absorbed in the study of the
Sacred Books of Chinese literature. While still a boy he was
ordained as a Buddhist priest to the Temple of Heavenly Radiance
in Hangchow, and soon there after was transferred to the Temple
of Great Learning in Chang-an, a community of monks who devoted
their lives to the translation of the Sacred Books from India.
Listening to the variety of their interpretations,young Xuan
Zang conceived the bold plan to travel to India and bringing
back more Sacred Buddhihs Books to China.
Xuan Zang traveled between AD 627-643. His detailed account
provides the first reliable information about distant countries,
terrain and customs. He traveled over land, along the Silk
Road west toward India. However, the further west he traveled
it became increasingly difficult to cross desert and mountain
ranges. Of the Taklamaken Desert he reports:
"As I approached China's extreme outpost
at the edge of the Desert of Lop, I was caught by the Chinese
army. Not having a travel permit, they wanted to send me to
Tun-huang to stay at the monastery there. However, I answered
'If you insist on detaining me I will allow you to take my
life, but I will not take a single step backwards in the direction
of China'."
The officer himself a Buddhist, let him pass. In order to
avoid the next outpost, he left the main foot-track and made
a detour, which brought him to a place 'so wild that no vestige
of life coult be found there. There is neither bird, nor four-legged
beasts, neither water nor pasture'. At the point of final exhaustion
his only companion, his horse, turned of in another direction,
following its animal instinct, and led him to a place where
there was water and pasture. His life was saved. Few days later
he arrived at Turfan, where he stayed for some time. The king
of Turfan enchanted by the monk's knowledge of the sacred Buddha
books, refused to let him leave, only reluctantly relenting
when Xuan Zang threatened a hunger strike. Thus, Xuan Zang had
peaceable conquered to royal will. The king gave him letters
of introduction the rulers of the oases along the way, thereby
providing the assistance that made his pilgrimage successful.
 Traveling
through Samarkand (today's Tukestan) he describes that "...this
great imperial city is surrounded by a wall, about seven miles
in circumference, which governs a powerful state. This is
a rich land, where the treasures of distant countries accumulate,
where there are powerful horses and skilled artisans, and
the climate is most pleasant."
Fifteen years later Xuan Zang reappeared on the northern
side of the Great Mountains again, but this time with his
face turned toward China. He was aware of the dangers between
Khotan and Tun-huang---the Taklamakan desert. He comments:
"...a desert of drifting sand without water of vegetation,
burring hot and the hound of poisonous fiends and imps. There
is no road, and travelers in coming and going have only to
look for the deserted bones of man and beast as there guide".
Xuan Zang crossed the dread waste of desert safely, reaching
Tun-huang and deposited his precious manuscripts in the monastic
library at the caves of the Thousand Buddhas.
His detailed travel accounts from the Silk Roads provides
reliable information about distant countries whose terrain
and customs had been known, at that time, in only the sketchiest
way. In later centuries he was immortalized as a saint and
his journey popularized in fables and vernacular literature.
However, for the historian and explorer he contributed a precise
and colorful account of the many countries along the Silk
Road.
Yi
Jing(635-713)
 Named
Zhang Wenming, a famous monk of the tang dynasty.He entered
into religion at 14.He set out by sea for India in search
of Buddhist principle in 671. On his way back to China with
some 400 volumes of holy Sanskirt scriptures after traveling
over 30 countries for more than 20 years, he once stayed on
Island of Sumatra in Indonesia for investigation. Yi Jing
translated altogether 56 volumes of scriptures in Da Jianfu
Temple(small wild goose pogoda) and wrote the book Biography
of Eminent Monks in the Tang dynasty in Search of Buddhist
Truth in India, which was regarded as a companion to Pilgrimage
to India by Xuanzang, and of great help to the study of Chinese
and Indonesian history and the cultural exchange.
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