XUAN ZANG'S JOURNAL

2007-08-28T22:22:00.000+08:00

XUAN ZANG.. YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS HERE...

Hello there!

I am XUAN ZANG, a buddhist monk whose dream is to travel from China to India.

I would love to learn more about Buddhism and i am on this treacherous journey to the west.
As i quote
"I would rather die while travelling to the west than live by staying in the east."
I will not give up no matter what i do.
It's my dream..
i will fulfilL it.

The Mongols

2007-08-28T22:09:00.000+08:00

Empress Chabi, Consort of Khubilai Khan, 13th Century

Ghengkis Khan

Sorghaghtani Beki

Khubilai Khan as the First Emperor, Shizu, 13th Century

Emperor Chengzhong

2007-08-28T22:07:00.000+08:00

The name Mongols specifies one or several ethnic groups largely located now in Mongolia, China, and Russia. A narrow definition includes the Mongols proper, which can be roughly divided into eastern and western Mongols. In a wider sense, the Mongol peoples includes people who speak a Mongolic language but use other self-designations, such as the Kalmyks of eastern Europe.

The name Monggol appeared first in 8th century records of the Chinese Tang dynasty, but then only resurfaced in the 11th century during the rule of the Khitan. At first it was applied to some small and still insignificant tribes in the area of the Onon River. In the 13th century, it grew into an umbrella term for a large group of Mongolic and Turkic tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan.
The specific origin of the Mongolic languages and associated tribes is unclear. Some researchers have proposed that they developed from a Tungusic splinter group; others suspect Paleosiberian influences.

Today, people of Mongol origin live in Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia), Russia, and a few other central Asian countries.
The differentiation between tribes and peoples (nationalities) is handled differently depending on the country. The Tumed, Chahar, Ordos, Bargut (or Barga), Buryats, Dorbots, Torguut, Dariganga, Uzemchin (or Uzumchin), Bayid, Khoton, Mingat, Zakchins, Darkhats, and Oirats (or Oolds or Ölöts) are all counted as tribes of the Mongols.
Other geographically dispersed Mongol peoples include the Moghol, Hazara, and Aimak in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

2007-08-28T21:39:00.000+08:00

Dunhuang- The Silk Road

A unique place of interest- DUNHUANG is a perfect place with beautiful landscapes. This historical city is now a renowned tourist city the Mogao Caves.
It is situated in the common boundary of Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Xinjiang Province. Dunhuang, long ago referred to as 'Sha Zhou' (beautiful desert oasis), was the hub of middle and eastern silk routes in ancient times. The city landmark is an attractive statue, the idea of which comes from the mural in Mogao Caves, a shrine to the culture and arts of Dunhuang. From Mt.Qilian in the south, Mt. Mazong in the north and desert from east to west, the landform of Dunhuang City is a declining basin-plain from west to northeast, high in the north and south, and low in the middle. The western cities of China, especially those in the desert, are known for their sandstorms, so tourists should protect themselves with glasses, hats and gauze kerchiefs, etc.

In ancient times, Dunhuang was the centre of trade between China and its western neighbours. At that time, it was the most westerly frontier military garrison in China. With the flourishing of trade along the Silk Road, Dunhuang was prompted to become the most open area in international trade in Chinese history. It provided the only access westward for the Chinese Empire and eastward for western nationalities. Today, as a reminder of this historical area, the Mogao Caves is left, Yangguan Pass, Yumenguan Pass and many wonderful Chinese poems depicting the time. Although what remains of the two Passes are crumbling walls, one can still experience the atmosphere of that time while visiting in person.

Its splendid stone caves, tourism has become an indispensable industry to Dunhuang City. Surrounding establishments include various classes of hotels and restaurants for you’re choosing. As well, tourism personnel are knowledgeable and well trained these days. For a western city in China, it has become more accessible for people to come and go as they please. Transportation is much more efficient, ensuring that your wonderful trip runs smoothly. May to September is the best time to visit, so be sure to plan your trip during these months. Including Dunhuang City in your tour is a decision you won't regret!

Dunhuang City, an obvious pearl on the Silk Road, opens her arms to welcome tourists from all over the world. This is a place you will definitely enjoy your stay!

2007-08-21T22:11:00.000+08:00

Cultural Exchanges on the Silk Road

Standing Buddha, Gandhara, 1st century

The great Buddha resides here. It's peace within it. I am still continuing this journey. Every step I take, the closer i am to fulfilling my goal. This is something I will never regret.

Information on Buddha

The Buddhist faith and the Greco-Buddhist culture started to travel eastward along the Silk Road, penetrating in China from around the 1st century BC.

The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China started in the 1st century CE with a semi-legendary account of an embassy sent to the West by the Chinese Emperor Ming (58 – 75 CE). The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism essentially ended around the 7th century with the rise of Islam in Central Asia.

2007-08-21T22:03:00.000+08:00

The Silk Road essentially came into being from the 1st century BC, following these efforts by China to consolidate a road to the Western world and India, both through direct settlements in the area of the Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan, Parthians and Bactrians further west.

A maritime Silk Route opened up between Chinese-controlled Jiaozhi (centred in modern Vietnam [see map above], near Hanoi) probably by the 1st century.

I am still travelling this great road, on to my journey to Great India. I will not give up. I will survive. This is my goal, my wish, my dream, i want to fulfill.

2007-08-21T22:02:00.000+08:00

Trade on the Silk Road (Dunhuang, China)

2007-08-21T21:50:00.000+08:00

Chinese exploration of Central Asia

Zhang Qian leaving emperor Han Wudi, for his expedition to Central Asia from 138 to 126 BC, Mogao Caves mural, Dunhuang, 618–712.

2007-08-19T22:40:00.000+08:00

Coin depicting the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus (230–200 BC)

The first major step in opening the Silk Road between the East and the West came with the expansion of Alexander the Great's empire into Central Asia. This later became a major staging point on the northern Silk Route.

2007-08-19T22:38:00.001+08:00

I was finished studying Thervada scriptures and thus, headed to Ayodhya, homeland of the Yogacara school. I didn't stay there for long so I moved south to Kausambi , where I had a copy made from an important local image of the Buddha. I was delighted but no, I was not going to stop here. So I returned north to Sravasti through Terai and thence to Kapilavastu. This was my last stop before Lumbini, the birth lace of Bhudda. Now, I have reached Lumbini. I have seen the pillar near the old Asoka tree that Bhudda is said to have been born. I was in of ecstacy. I have come this far and I shall show my gratitude. I worshipped this spot. After being to the place Bhudda was born, I had to go to where Bhudda died, that is Kusinagara. I headed southwest to the deer park at Sanath, where Bhudda gave his first sermon. I felt so happy. So truly happy, free from all desire, all hate. This must be what Bhudda meant by enlightment.

2007-08-19T22:34:00.000+08:00

After learning from the monk-priest Vinitaprabha, I travelled west to Jalandhara in eastern Punjab before climbing up to visit Thervada monastaries in the Kulu valley. After that, I travelled southwards again to Bairata, then Mathura,on the Yumana River. Mathura was extrodinary with 2000 monks of major Bhuddist branches despite being Hindu-dominated. I later travelled up the river to Srughna then crossed over to Matipura. It was there and then, while travelling, I knew how lucky I was to have travelled so far. When will this journey end? I didn't want it to end. So I moved south to Sankasya. What was so special about this place was that it was said tobe where Bhudda descended from Heaven. Then, it was onward to King Harsha's grand capital of Kanyakubja. Here, I encountered 100 monasteries of 10,000 monks, both Mahayana and Theravada, and was impressed by the king's patronage of both scholarship and Buddhism. And now I am still here, studying Thervada scriptures. Where would I go next?

2007-08-15T13:42:00.000+08:00

It has been 3 years. I have spent these two of these three years, studying Mahayana from a talented Bhuddist monk. Around this time, I have wrote about the Fourth Bhuddist council that took place nearby under the order of the king Kanishka of Kushana. I know that this was disputed by some Theravadins. I then travelled south to Chinabhukti. There, I studied for one year with monk-prince Vinitaphraba. Yes, I have achieved my dream of travelling to India long, long ago. Now, I spend years to learn from the best. When I am about to sleep at night, I can't help but wonder what would have happened to me if I had stayed in China. And how is China right now? How about the people? I don't have regrets but I can't help but wonder.

2007-08-13T19:47:00.000+08:00

I am glad I managed to get through so many hardships, but I think it would have been better if I just took measures to prevent any of those hardships from happening. So here are some tips you travellers might find useful when travelling. The most important thing is to get body guards so you do not get robbed because that would waste most of your profit. Next, travel light so that you can move around easily without having tohire too many means of transport. Remember to stock up on food and water wherever you can because you can never know when you may get lost and also to travel with people you trust to ensure that they do not cheat you or abandon you. Most of all, remember not to forget your goal of travelling so you do not go back empty handed.

2007-08-08T21:46:00.000+08:00

I entered India proper, travelling through the Punjab, crossing the Ganges and passing through the topical rainforests of Southern Nepal to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha. I travelled to Patna and spent two years studying at the university at Nalanda before finally returning home to China in 645.

I have preserved in my eye witness accounts many aspects of ancient India that would have otherwise been lost to history. Keenly observing and accurately recording geographical details, architectural features, cultural practices, local histories and legends which have since proved to be of immeasurable value to modern scholars and archaeologists. These writings have led to several discoveries over the years, for example describing a great stupa, now lost, which had been built by the Buddhist monarch King Kanishka near his capital at Peshawar in the second century.

Among all [King Kanishka's] buildings one of his remarkable structures was his greatest Stupa (a place where the ashes of Buddhist priests, monks, nobles, etc. are enshrined, and a big domical structure erected on it, and it became a place of worship for the Buddhists).

2007-08-07T22:27:00.000+08:00

It is said that Gautama Buddha had predicted that four hundred years after his death a king would erect a stupa to contain many relics of the Buddha's bones and flesh. Kanishka had heard this story. One day while hunting a white hare in the forest (Peshawar area), he met a shepherd boy building a stupa of mud. Fa-hien said that the shepherd was Indra in disguise. Kanishka ordered to build a stupa on the spot and enshrined a number of relics of the Buddha in it.

Buddha had also predicted that the stupa would be seven times burnt down and seven times rebuilt, and the religion itself would disappear from here (Gandhara). At the time of Huan Tsang's visit, it had been again reduced to ashes for the fourth time. Both the pious travelers relate the same legend according to which after the seventh time, the law of the Buddha would become finally extinct in the country. A Chinese source said that Kanishka himself placed a ball of clay on the stupa praying that it might become an image of the Buddha and the image at once appeared. Huan Tsang had mentioned in his accounts that there were big images of Buddha on the eastern side of the stupa, some were painted and some were gold-washed. The stupa as having a square-shaped plinth which was 100 meters wide on each side and decorated with Stucco images of Buddha. Above this projected a stone tower some 50 meters metres high and above that a further 100 meters of wood.

The tower was capped with 10 metres of gold-leafed iron finial and was in total height the equivalent of a modern 13 storey building. This was quite a remarkable engineering feat and it would have undoubtedly been considered an architectural marvel in its time. The foundations of the lost stupa were identified in 1895-97 by Alfred Foucher and excavated by D. B. Spooner in 1908-09. In another example, Xuan Zang described a pillar at Lumbini in Nepal. The pillar had been erected by Asok, the great Mauryan emperor, near the tree which was said to mark the Buddha's birthplace. This pillar, which was subsequently lost for a millennia was only rediscovered in 1895.

2007-08-07T21:57:00.000+08:00

Finally, after years of travelling, I reached India. It feels so sweet to know that i have set foot on the country where Bhudisim originated. I reached Peshawar and visited a number of stupas, one of them the Kanishka Stupa. I travelled eastwards and reached Udnaya and found 1400 old monastaries. I was amazed at the number of old monastaries there and the numerous monks it used to support. I then headed to Taxila, a Mahayana Bhuddist kingdom that was a vassal of Kashmir. That was where I exactly headed next. There, I met a talented Mahayana monk. I plan to stay here to study Mahayana alongside other schools of Bhuddism.

2007-08-01T13:48:00.000+08:00

Travelling further east, I reached Kunduz, where I had time to witness the funeral rites of Prince Tardu. I feel so sorry for him. He was poisoned. There, I met a Bhuddist monk, Dharmasimha. On the advice of the late Tardu, i travelled westwards to Balkh to see the Bhuddist sites and relics. It was wonderful. I met 3000 Bhuddist monks there. I accomponied some of them to Baniyam where I met the king and saw Bamiyan Bhuddas carved on rock face. It was truly spectacular. I crossed the Shibar pass, and arrived in Kapisi which sported over 100 monastaries and 6000 monks. I am now in Gandhara, taking part in relegious debates and demonstrating my knowledge of Bhuddisim in many Bhuddist sects. I have yet to reach India, but it is drawing near.

2007-07-31T22:41:00.000+08:00

I met the great Khan of Western Gokturks. As his relationship with the Tang Emporer is still friendly, he had offered a feast to me. After the feast, I travelled westwards then southwest to Tashkent. I had been pondering about something at that time. When? When will I reach India? It's going to taking years. Will I really make it safely? I marched on. After crossing the dessert to Samarkand, I came across some abondoned Bhuddist temples. I impressed the local king with my preaching and continued south. I crossed a spur of the Pamirs and passed through the famous Iron gates. I am now in Amu Darya and Termez, where I have entered a community of more than a thousand monks. I feel so safe here. But the question that I had been pondering over still remains. When will I reach India?

2007-07-26T22:14:00.001+08:00

I still remember my dream that convinced me to travel to India. But no, I have not made it to India, not yet. After persuading the Bhuddist guards at the gates of Yumen, I have managed to sneak past. I travelled through the Gobi desert after many months. And I met the king of Turfan as well! He is a Bhuddist who equipped me with letters and valuables that served as funds. I was truly grateful. I knew this journey was indeed dangerous. But I remeber my promise to travel westward. Yes, I am still travelling westwards. Now, I'm touring the Therevada monastaries of Kucha. I am glad that I managed to escape China. There's no turning back.