Hinduism - Who Was Hsuan Tsang? What Were His Scholarly Works On India?

 


Hsuan Tsang (605–664) was a Chinese Buddhist scholar and translator whose account of his extended sojourn in India (629–645) is one of the few authentic sources on Indian society at the time.

Hsuan Tsang traveled to India in search of trustworthy copies of the Buddhist scriptures, which had become severely garbled and corrupted during their journey to China.

He was a scholarly man who spent years studying at Buddhist educational institutions, especially the Buddhist university in Nalanda, throughout his tenure.

He journeyed across northern India, and the rulers he encountered, including Emperor Harsha, praised him for his devotion and intelligence.

For more information, see Samuel Beal's translation of his Si-yuki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, 1969.

 


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