Is Xuanzang the first person to learn from Xitian?

When mentioning the first person to go to Xitian to learn Buddhist scriptures in China, the answer must be Tang Seng Xuanzang ! The character Xuanzang should be well known to women and children in China, and is well-known to every family.

Xuanzang

Master Xuanzang is indeed a great hero in the history of Buddhism in China and the world, and he is also the most accomplished and influential monk among the ancient monks seeking the Dharma from the west. But is he the first person to travel westward in Chinese history? There are still many different opinions.

Some books think that Xuanzang went to the West to learn the scriptures at the risk of smuggling, and the fellow monk withdrew halfway through. He was alone and still did not forget to show up and walked alone in the desert. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty In the third year of Zhenguan (629), he traveled from Chang'an West to issue sutras and burials, Dunhuang, Xinjiang and Central Asia. After experiencing hardships and dangers, he arrived in Central India. He toured various Buddhist sacred schools in Central India and studied a large number of Buddhist works. He returned to Chang'an in the 19th year of Zhenguan (645). She has been alone for 17 years, has traveled 50,000 kilometers, and has traveled through more than 100 countries.

Xuanzang's westbound route map

Master Xuanzang brought back a large number of Sanskrit scriptures after seeking the Dharma westward, and he wrote the " Great Tang Western Regions " what he saw and heard in India "Recounts the prosperity and decline of local customs and religions in various parts of India. This book is not only a treasure of historical research, but also provides an important basis for today's archaeological work. It can be said that Xuanzang is an important figure in the history of the spread of Buddhism in my country.

As everyone knows, the Buddha's heritage originated in India. In Chinese Buddhist teachings, Western Heaven is synonymous with the ultimate world in which truth exists. Because Buddhism was introduced from the Western Regions of China, Buddhism was founded in the Ganges River Basin in India in the sixth century BC and spread to neighboring countries shortly thereafter. Han Dynasty Zhang Qian 's mission to the Western Regions marked the opening of the Silk Road and promoted the spread of Buddhism to the east. But in the early days, it was the Western Region monks, not the Indian monks, who came to China to preach.According to Peking University scholar Ji Xianlin 's textual research, the earliest Buddhist scriptures in Handi were not directly translated from Sanskrit, but were translated from ancient Central Asia. Due to the grammatical problems of translation, it was more difficult for the Chinese to accept, and Buddhism did not prevail at that time.

Until the great spread of Buddhism in the Jin and Tang dynasties, there was an endless stream of people seeking Dharma from the west, and the number was still quite large. According to Yijing's "The Biography of Buddhist Monks in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty", there were nearly 60 people listed. However, under the ancient productivity level, the underdeveloped means of transportation can only rely on the western part of the feet to find the law. Whether it is by land or sea, it will take years and months to endure untold hardships, and even pay the price of life. According to the records of Buddhism history, among the thousands of eminent monks seeking the Dharma, only a few really survived and returned from their studies. In this way, Master Xuanzang should be the most successful among the lucky few.

Although Xuanzang is the one who really succeeded in obtaining the scriptures, he is not necessarily the first person to obtain the scriptures. So, if Xuanzang is not who, and the first person to learn from the Western Heavens? According to the existing historical records, Zhu Shixing in the Three Kingdoms period should be the earliest person who went west to seek Dharma in my country. He was a monk in the Wei Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period.

Zhu Shixing

Zhu Shixing became a monk when he was a teenager. After he became a monk, he immersed himself in studying the classics. He often felt the interpretation of the scriptures when he was teaching the Prajna Sutra in Luoyang. The scriptures were obscure and there were many. The deleted place is difficult to understand, so I hope to find the original in the Western Regions. In the five years of Wei Ganlu (260 years), Zhu Shixing set off from Chang'an and went through hardships and dangers, and finally arrived at Khotan (now Xinjiang Hotan), where the Mahayana classics were concentrated at that time. It took more than 20 years to find the original Sanskrit, "Bright Prajna Sutra" "Chapter 40, about 600,000 words, originally hoped to send the written scriptures back to the country independently, but because of the obstruction of the local apprentices. It was not until the third year of Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty (282 years) that ten people including his disciple Frutan were sent back to Luoyang. It was translated by Wu Luocha and Zhu Shulan in the first year of Yuankang (291),There are 20 volumes in total, but the master Zhu Shixing failed to return to Handi for life, and died of illness at the age of 80 in Khotan.

Although the classics he sought were only the "Bright Prajna Sutra", which was not too complete, it still had a great influence at the time. Many scholars, such as silk-fa bombing, Zhi Xiaolong, Zhu Fayun, and grammar, have promoted Prajnaism through the "Bright Prajna Sutra".

After Zhu Shi went to the west, monks who went west to seek the Dharma surged in an endless stream from the Three Kingdoms to the Tang Dynasty, but the number of successful people is really very small, and there are not many records in the history. "The road is long and long, I'm searching up and down." Perhaps it is this strong belief that is desperate to find the truth that gives the predecessors so much motivation and makes them willingly go forward and succeed in order to obtain the truth. Embarked on a westbound road full of surprises. Perhaps it was this kind of persistence for the truth that created the prosperous and prosperous world of the Tang Dynasty.