Buddhism · Texts & transmission
Xuanzang travels to India and returns with texts
629–645 CE
The Chinese monk Xuanzang traveled through Central Asia to India and returned to Chang’an with Buddhist texts. He spent his later years translating. His account of the journey preserves observations about the societies and religious institutions he encountered along the way.
Why it matters
Pilgrimage could become a scholarly undertaking, connecting religious practice with language study, the acquisition of manuscripts, and descriptions of distant communities.
About the date
Travel span; his geographical account was composed in 646.
Xi’an / Chang’an
Departure and return city; the point does not represent the full journey.
city orientation
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