"Journey to the West", as the first full-length novel in Chinese history with the theme of Tang Xuanzang 's journey to the West, has always been deeply loved by the Chinese people. Especially after it was filmed as a TV series, more and more people can understand how difficult it was for Tang Xuanzang to go to the West to learn Buddhist scriptures.
So in real history, was there really such a monk who traveled thousands of miles to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures? How did and Tang Monk in history die in the end?
Stills of "Journey to the West" Tang Monk
Tang Monk
Like "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the story of "Journey to the West" actually draws on real historical stories. It's just that in comparison, the latter is more exaggerated and adds many mythical elements.
In real history, Tang Monk is actually the famous eminent monk Xuanzang in the Tang Dynasty. He was once known as the three major translators of Chinese Buddhism (today's translators of other countries) together with Kumarajiva and Zhenshi. Buddhist scriptures were translated into Chinese and widely sung).
The story about Monk Tang’s journey to the West is that Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty traveled 50,000 miles westward alone in the first year of Zhenguan. After going through untold hardships, he finally arrived in Tianzhu, retrieved the true scriptures from the Buddhist center in India, and brought them back to India. The corresponding Buddha relics , as well as Buddha statues and so on.
People can hardly imagine that in an era when transportation was purely based on walking power, how much hardship a person would have to pay and how much danger he would encounter if he wanted to achieve such an achievement. Such a spirit is definitely worth learning from future generations.
When Tang Monk returned to Chang'an , he immediately wrote "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty", "Huizong Lun", "On the Control of Evil Habits" and so on.
To this day, there are still many scriptures in the former residence of Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty. Many people are confused as to why the world prefers to call him Tang Seng instead of Master Xuanzang. The main reason is that such a title is easy to understand and can reflect the special feelings of people in his hometown towards Tang Seng.
So how did Tang Seng die in the end? The Tang Seng narrated in "Journey to the West" obtained the consent of Li Shimin . Even when traveling to various countries, Tang Seng was able to take out the Tang Dynasty's credentials and ask for customs clearance documents in exchange.
But in fact, Tang Seng had already set off not long after Li Shimin ascended the throne, so Li Shimin didn't know about it at all. It can be said that Tang Seng went his own way.
Portrait of Li Shimin
Tang Monk's Ending
When Tang Xuanzang returned to Chang'an, he also knew that the emperor had been changed. Under such circumstances, if he wanted to promote Buddhism, he must get Li Shimin's approval.
This may seem inconsequential in modern society, but in the ancient feudal society period, it could definitely be regarded as a threat to national rule. This is not alarmist. We must know that ancient emperors relied on the assistance of a certain theory to rule the people.
Taking Confucianism as an example, why was it possible for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to depose hundreds of schools of thought and only respect Confucianism? It is simply unrealistic to rely solely on the personal talents of the great scholar Dong Zhongshu or his eloquence. It must be in line with the basic interests of the royal family.
For this reason, Tang Monk immediately found Li Shimin to explain his behavior and told him that the scriptures he brought back would never threaten the rule of the Tang Dynasty, and could even help the Li Tang royal family better manage the country.
Fortunately, at this point, Li Shimin, as one of the few outstanding emperors in Chinese history, did not embarrass Tang Monk too much. Not only that, seeing Tang Seng's extraordinary conversation, Li Shimin also wanted to invite Tang Seng to become an official in the court.
In Li Shimin's eyes, if every official and every citizen in the court could put the country and the people first, then there would be no need to worry about the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. But how could Tang Xuanzang, who had been born for many years, enter the world easily?
In the end, with the support of Li Shimin, Tang Monk was able to go to the temple to translate Buddhist teachings and promote Buddhist ideas to the world. It's just that Taizong was enlightened, but many ministers were not.
Seeing the increasing popularity of Buddhism, many ministers were worried that this new "doctrine" would eventually affect the country's governance. So as one scripture after another was translated, the ministers gradually gave more and more memorials.
In desperation, Taizong had no choice but to let Tang Monk move to Yuhua Temple and continue to translate scriptures quietly. However, since then, basically none of the scriptures translated by Tang Seng have been published. It was not until the period of Wu Zetian that the country resumed support for the development of Buddhism, and these scriptures that were about to be buried officially entered the eyes of the world.
According to historical records, in 633 AD, after completing the translation of the Mahaprajna Sutra, Master Xuanzang was almost exhausted. Throughout Tang Seng's life, he perfectly interpreted the spirit and pursuit of the Chinese nation. When the country is at peace and the people are at peace, there are always people who come forward to pursue what the country still lacks.
No matter which dynasty there is, there seems to be no shortage of such characters. Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty , Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty, Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty . They use their actions to tell future generations that the Chinese nation is always moving forward and our spiritual pursuit will never stop. I believe the same will be true in the future.
