Ancient Cultivation Stories: The Real Tang Monk in History

Journey to the West is one of the most famous works of classical Chinese literature. In the book, Tang Monk led his three disciples to the Western Paradise and achieved Consummation after experiencing a lot of troubles and difficulties. Some people regard it as been purely fictional. In history, there was a real Tang monk who risked his life and travelled tens of thousands of miles from China to India to bring Buddhist scriptures back to China. The journey he took was also the cultivation process of a cultivator who was eventually able to let go of life and death.

1. Becoming a Du Monk at the Tender Age of 13

Tang Monk is also known as Tang Sanzang. Before he became a monk, his name was Chen Wei. He was born in the township of Houshi in Luo County, Henan Province. Most historical records show that he was born in 600 A.D. There are also some historical records that claim he was born in 602 A.D. or 596 A.D. He passed away in 664 A.D. His Buddhist name was Xuanzang. Therefore he was also called Fa-master Xuezang.

Chen Wei's father was a devoted student of Confucianism and had four sons. Chen Wei's second oldest brother became a monk when he was young. He took the Buddhist name of Changjie and cultivated at Jingtu Temple in Luoyang City. Chen Wei was the youngest child of the family. He was bright and gifted as a small child. His appearance and gestures were also different from those of an ordinary child. When he was 8 years old, he started to follow his father to learn things. He studied diligently and unremittingly. Once, his father told him the story of Kong Rong getting up from his seat to show respect for his elders. As soon as he heard the story, Chen Wei rose from his seat as well. His father asked him why. He answered, "Kong Rong rose from his seat to show his respects to elder people. Now Father is giving me a lecture. How dare I sit down?" His father praised him.

In addition, Chen Wei had a special character when he was young. He didn't play with naughty children and didn't listen to gossips or flattering words. He often followed his second elder brother Changjie to study Buddhist literature.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Buddhism was very popular. The government established a very strict examination system for people who wished to leave home and cultivate in a temple. Those who wanted to become monks had to participate in the examination organised by the government. Only those who passed the examination were accepted as monks and called "Du Monk ("Du" means "been saved" in Chinese). In the 10th year of the Reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty (614 A.D.), the government posted a notice looking for 10 Du Monks. At that time, Chen Wei was only 13 years old and hadn't reached the age required to become a Du Monk. He wasn't allowed to even enter the examination site. He was very disappointed. He walked around the examination site and didn't want to leave. The main examiner was a minister named Zheng Shanguo who was a lay Buddhist. When he heard about Chen Wei, he called him in to talk to him. Zheng Shanguo felt that Chen Wei was gentle and educated and was very different from everyday people even though he was quite young. Zheng Shanguo asked him, "Why do you want to become a monk?" Chen Wei answered, "My wish is to become a Tathagata in the long term and to bring honour to the inherited Buddha Law in the short term." Although he was young, his words were quite magnificent and shocked the examiner for a long time. Zheng Shanguo broke the rule and allowed Chen Wei to become a monk. Later on, Zheng said to others, "It is difficult to find an elegant bamboo. If this young boy is allowed to be a monk, he will be a famous person in the Buddha school!"

2. Risking His Life to Bring Back Buddhist Scriptures

After becoming a monk, Fa-master Xuezang spent a period of time studying Buddhist scriptures and visiting different temples. He felt that what he had heard in various lectures at many places over the years was inconsistent, as different schools and branches had different answers to certain questions. In fact, the differences were quite dramatic. He felt it was too difficult to adjust to the differences, and made up his mind to travel to India and bring back genuine Buddhist scriptures.

In the first year of Zhenguan of the Tang dynasty (627 A.D.), Xuanzang made up his mind to travel to India to bring back the genuine Buddhist scriptures. But at that time, the Tang dynasty had just been established. The border region was in a state of unrest, and the government put tight restrictions on people travelling outside the country. He submitted formal applications to go to India twice. His request was declined each time. He was left with no choice but to sneak out of the country.

A famine soon broke out. The government allowed people to leave their homes and find employment elsewhere. Xuanzang used the opportunity to leave the capital city of Changan and travelled west. He passed the cities of Qinzhou, Lanzhou and arrived at the border town of Liangzhou. There he found a Mongol who was a martial arts expert called Shi Pantuo as his guide. They slept during the day and walked at night to sneak out the country at the Yumen Pass. After they were outside the Yumen Pass, Shi Pantuo could not tolerate the hardship of travelling on foot for such long distances and insisted on leaving. He did point out the locations of a few protective forts outside the border and asked Xuanzang to be very careful.

Shortly afterwards, Xuanzang was caught by a border guard. He was detained and questioned. The guard also happened to be a lay Buddhist. When he learnt Xuanzang's plan and saw how steadfast he was, the guard released him. Xuanzang started walking on foot day and night. He walked for three days and three nights straight and still couldn't walk out of a desert that was 400 kilometres wide.

He became extremely exhausted and passed out from thirst. He was awakened by a cool breeze and continued forward. Fortunately a miracle happened. A piece of green land appeared in the middle of the desolate desert. Xuanzang drank water from a spring and survived. It is hard to use words to describe the hardships he endured. It is best to be described from a paragraph from Journey to the West, "There is no bird flying in the sky and no animals walking on the ground. No grass and trees can grow and no trace of human beings is around. Sometimes there is blowing sand and stones in a tornado, and sometimes there is pouring rain and teaming heat. There is no water or food. One faints and then wakes up. One sees piles of bones from dead bodies or broken swords from the war. Sometimes there are evil and scary ghostly images."

After walking across the desert, Xuanzang arrived in the kingdom of Gaochang. Qu Wentai, the king of Gaochang, was a devoted Buddhist. When he heard about Xuanzang, he sent out an envoy to welcome him. Once he met Xuanzang, he used all the possible ways to show his respect and admiration to him and held a ceremony naming him as his brother. The king tried to force Xuanzng to stay in Gaochng by saying, "If you insist on not staying, I will have to send you back to China." Xuanzang protested with a hunger strike and refused to stay in Gaochang. Eventually his firmness moved the king. The king agreed to let him go. The king also sent 20 or 30 soldiers to accompany him and gave him many horses and valuable things. In addition, the king wrote a personal letter to the kings of neighbouring countries, asking them to treat Xuanzang nicely.

Xuanzang continued his journey west along the southern side of Tianshan Mountain. He passed the western highland, went through Afghanistan, and arrived at the kingdom of Jiashiminuo (today's Kashmir). The roads after that became even more difficult to travel. He had to climb over mountain peaks that were covered in snow year-round as well as a huge desolate desert. He led his white horse and walked on the narrow roads on the icy mountain peaks on foot. If one took a wrong step, he would fall into the abyss. There was a group of merchants travelling together with Xuanzang. From time to time, some merchants would either freeze to death or fall into the abyss. In Journal of Xuanzang, he wrote, "I don't even dare to look down because there were numerous dead bodies that had been frozen underneath." During this difficult part of the journey, Xuanzang encountered numerous dangers. It took him seven days and nights to climb over the mountain peaks and reach the land of India..

3. Receiving Hints from Bodhisattva's and Studying under a High-Level Monk

After two years of arduous travel, Xuanzang passed 110 countries in his journey to India. Eventually he arrived in the northwestern region of India during the 3rd year of Zhen Guan. He travelled to the Indian cities of Jiashimiluo and Jiantuoluo and studied Xiaosheng (or Hinayana) Buddhist scriptures from local masters. In order to better understand Buddhist theory, he learnt Feituo philosophy from Brahman scholars. He also concentrated on studying Sanskrit so that he could use it as a tool to do research on ancient Buddhist literature in Sanskrit. He lived in that area for 2 to 3 years. He then travelled to the middle region of India.

When Xuanzang was about to cross the Ganges river, he ran into a group of robbers. When they saw how handsome and elegant he was, they wanted to kill him as a sacrifice to gods to gain blessings for themselves. At such a dangerous moment, suddenly a strong gust of wind started to blow, along with lightning and thunder. The sky became dark with sand flying in the air and stones rolling on the ground. Those robbers were scared so badly that their faces became ashen. They dared not to do anything because they thought that they had made gods mad. They asked who Xuanzang was. When they learnt that he was a monk from China, they knelt down to the ground and begged for his forgiveness. They promised to correct their evil action and behave well from then on. The news spread widely and made Xuanzang famous near and far.

Lalantuo Temple was a famous Buddha temple in the middle of India. It was also the institution that offered Buddhist teachings at the highest level in all of India. Thirteen thousand Buddhist followers lived inside the temple. Among them were many high level Buddhist monks and scholars. When Xuanzang entered the temple, four high-level monks of Lalantuo Temple came out to welcome him. Over two hundred monks and thousands of lay Buddhists also stood outside in a circle to welcome him.

Xuanzang became a student of Jiexian, the abbot at the temple. The abbot was 100 years old and the leader of Buddhism in India. He was deeply respected by the king of India. Although he was quite wise and knowledgeable, he was suffering from a strange disease that would affect him from time to time, he would feel so much pain that he wanted to die. One night, three Bodhisattvas appeared in his dream. One was Wenshu Bodhisattva in the colour of gold, one was Guanyin Bodhisattva in the colour of silver, and the third one was Puxian Bodhisattva in the colour of crystal. Puxian Bodhisattva told him, "You were a king in this land in your previous life. Because you killed too many living beings, you have to suffer the pain in this life in return. Even though it is extremely painful, you should not wish to die. Three years from now, a monk from China will come to India to seek the Law. You should teach what you know so he can spread the teaching to the land of China. This way, your karma will be eliminated and your pain will disappear." After that dream, Jiexian eagerly waited the arrival of the Tang Monk. When Xuanzang finally arrived, Jiexian realised that his dream had been true. He was very happy and taught Xuanzang everything he knew. He also arranged for Xuanzang to travel outside of the temple and learn from various learnt teachers for a number of years.

Xuanzang spent a total of 17 years in India, including 5 years at the Lalantuo Temple where many Buddhist scholars gathered at the time. He wanted to go back to China to widely spread what he had learnt. In January of the 19th year of Zhenguan (645 A.D.), he finally went back to Changan city after a long distance travel. Hundreds of government officials along with tens of thousands of ordinary people welcomed him in Changan and held a celebration so grand that nothing like it had never been seen before.

Xuanzang's extraordinary journey drew the attention of Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty. The emperor met with him in person and asked him to record the things that he had learnt in his travel so others could learn from his experience. Xuanzang thus wrote what is known as Journey to the West by the Sanzang Monk of the Tang Dynasty. The whole book has 12 volumes and recorded Xuanzang's experience in 110 countries that he had personally travelled to and 28 additional countries and regions that he had heard of.

Starting from the 19th year of Zhenguan (645 A.D.), Xuanzhang concentrated his efforts on translating Buddhist scriptures. For the next 19 years, he translated more than 1000 volumes of Buddhist scriptures. At the same time, he also translated the famous ancient Chinese philosophy book Dao De Jing by Lao Zi into Sanskrit, allowing the dissemination of Lao Zi's teachings in India.

A year after he finished his translation work, he departed this world in February of 664 A.D. at the Yuhua Temple in Tongchuan. His remains were sent back to Changan City according to the Emperor's order and buried there. At the funeral, millions of people from regions within 250 km of the capital came to pay their respect. Thirty thousand people spent the night next to his tomb to honour him.