JOURNEY OF FA XIAN, XUAN ZANG AND I-QING

JOURNEY OF FA XIAN, XUAN ZANG, AND I-QING

As traders journeyed to distant lands in caravans and ships, pilgrims often travelled with them.

The best-known of these are the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, Fa Xian, who came to the subcontinent about 1600 years ago, Xuan Zang (who came around 1400 years ago), and I-Qing, who came about 50 years after Xuan Zang. They came to visit places associated with the life of the Buddha (Chapter 6(NEW QUESTIONS AND IDEAS)) as well as famous monasteries.

Each of these pilgrims left an account of his journey. They wrote of the dangers they encountered on their travels, which often took years, of the countries and the monasteries that they visited, and the books they carried back with them.

Xuan Zang, who took the land route back to China (through the north-west, and Central Asia) carried back with him statues of the Buddha made of gold, silver, and sandalwood, and over 600 manuscripts loaded on the backs of 20 horses. Over 50 manuscripts were lost when the boat on which he was crossing the Indus capsized. He spent the rest of his life translating the remaining manuscripts from Sanskrit into Chinese.

How Fa Xian returned to China

Fa Xian began his journey back home from Bengal. He boarded a ship belonging to some merchants. They had barely travelled for two days when they were caught in a storm. The merchants began throwing their merchandise overboard so as to lighten the load and save the ship from sinking. Fa Xian threw away his meagre personal belongings but clung to his books and the statues of the Buddha that he had collected. Finally, the storm subsided after 13 days. This is how he describes the sea:

“The sea itself is boundless in extent — it is impossible to know east or west, except by observing the sun, moon, or stars in their motions. If it is dark, rainy weather, the only plan is to steer by the wind.”

It took him more than 90 days to reach Java, where he halted for five months, before boarding another merchant ship that took him to China.

More to know

Pilgrims are men and women who undertake journeys to holy places in order to offer worship.

Activity:

1.Try and trace the route Fa Xian took on Map.

2. Why do you think he did not want to throw away his books and statues?

3. There are several major pilgrimages performed by people in India today. Find out about any one of them, and write a short description. (Hint: who can go on the pilgrimage — men, women or children? How long does it take? How do people travel? What do they take with them? What do they do when they reach the holy place? Do they bring anything back with them?)

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

NALANDA – A UNIQUE LEARNING CENTER

NALANDA – A UNIQUE LEARNING CENTER

Xuan Zang and other pilgrims spent time studying in Nalanda, (Bihar) the most famous Buddhist monastery of the period. This is how he describes it:

“The teachers are men of the highest ability and talent. They follow the teachings of the Buddha in all sincerity. The rules of the monastery are strict, and everyone has to follow them. Discussions are held throughout the day, and the old and the young mutually help one another. Learned men from different cities come here to settle their doubts. The gatekeeper asks new entrants difficult questions. They are allowed to enter only after they have been able to answer these. Seven or eight out of every ten are not able to answer.”

Activity:

List the reasons why Xuan Zang wanted to study in Nalanda.

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK