Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim On The Silk Road [Paperback]

Sally Wriggins (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813334071 | ISBN-13: 978-0813334073 | Publication Date: October 9, 1997

The saga of the seventh-century Chinese monk Xuanzang, who completed an epic sixteen-year journey to discover the heart of Buddhism at its source in India, is a splendid story of human struggle and triumph. One of China’s great heroes, Xuanzang is introduced here for the first time to Western readers in this richly illustrated book.Sally Wriggins, who journeyed in Xuanzang’s footsteps, brings to life a man who transcended common experience. Eight centuries before Columbus, this intrepid pilgrim—against the wishes of his emperor—traveled on the Silk Road through Central Asia on his way to India. Before his journey ended, he had met most of Asia’s important leaders and traversed 10,000 miles in search of Buddhist scriptures. He was both a mountain climber who scaled three of Asia’s highest mountain ranges and a desert survivor who nearly died of thirst on the brutal flats; a philosopher and metaphysician; a diplomat who established China’s ties to Central Asian and Indian kings; and above all a devout and courageous Buddhist who personally nurtured the growth of Buddhism in China by disseminating the nearly 600 scriptures he carried back from India.Wriggins gives us vivid descriptions of the perils Xuanzang faced, the monasteries he visited (many still standing today), and the eight places of Buddhist pilgrimage in India. Detailed maps and color photographs provide striking evidence of the vast distances involved and the appalling dangers Xuanzang endured; reproductions of Buddhist art from museums around the world capture the glories of this world religion while revealing a cosmopolitan era in which pilgrims were both adventurers and ambassadors of goodwill.An engaging introduction to Buddhism and Buddhist art, this unique book takes the reader on a rousing adventure that also gives a compelling view of Asian history and civilization.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A remarkable and unprecedented pilgrimage to India in A.D. 639-645 by the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang is one of the great milestones in the history of China's long love affair with Buddhism. Xuanzang returned from that trip laden with Buddhist scriptures, artifacts and a treasure trove of spiritual learning for his homeland, thus transforming Buddhism's position in China and energizing its reception by the ruling classes. Wriggins has, in this small book, provided a practical introduction to Xuanzang and a useful text accompanied by maps and photographs. Despite the fact that Wriggins's prose is often dull (the stuff of guidebooks rather than of holy travel), Xuanzang's travels prove interesting enough to make even these flaws seem minor; and Wriggins's book will provide a significant introduction to an extraordinary traveler's extraordinary contribution to Buddhist history.

Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Sally Hovey Wriggins was the first Westerner and first woman to walk extensively in the footsteps of Xuanzang. Having lived and traveled in Asia for several years based out of Sri Lanka, she also studied with the Venerable Kheminda Thero. She is a regular contributor to Archeology and Orientations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press (October 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813334071
• ISBN-13: 978-0813334073
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,477,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A voyage on the ancient Silk Route, visually seminal, May 12, 2001

By 

Sarakani (Harrow United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim On The Silk Road (Paperback)

Since the destruction of the famous Buddhas at Bamiyan, Afghanistan in March 2001, the importance of this book has rocketted from its original publication.

Xuanzang wrote some eyewitness accounts of these gigantic statues around 630AD, and this book is an important starting point to finding out more about these monuments and what they originally looked like.

This is not an academic book but more a detailed compilation of events connected with a personage with whom the author has obviously felt a close connection. The text is well sectioned with good maps and useful information, notes and an extensive bibliography that makes the work substantive (e.g., it highlights the wider territory of ostriches in the past). Xuanzang becomes a portal through which we view the art and history of a predominantly Buddhist India before she entered a chaotic phase to re-emerge as a Mughal and Hindu civilisation later.

There is staggering insight into the mentality of the Chinese and Kings at the time and the art they bestowed on the world. The importance of the Chinese civilisation is highlighted at a time when Europe was in the grip of the dark ages.

The book contains minor errors, could have been more critical and Xuanzang's feet on the cover need alteration. Leaving this aside, there is a stunning picture from Bamiyan and we can see what was lost as well as related paintings and statues which are quite exquisite (at least one of them lost from the Kabul museum since the destructive episode recently).

A book worth treasuring as written by a professional, well travelled and strong minded author (and she found the time).

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on Xuan-Zang I've read, June 9, 2001

By 

Richard L. Rankin (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim On The Silk Road (Paperback)

Among the educated of the half of the planet that lives in China and India, the name of Xuan-Zang is very well known. The records of his journey from China through India and back provide a great deal of insight into the culture along his route at the time, as well as the state of Buddhism. The texts he brought back had a strong influence on the development of Buddhism in China. This is an excellent book. I visited many of the Buddhist sites in India and found Xuan-Zang's descriptions to still be of use to the pilgrim today. If you're interested in the history of the silk road and central asia, this book will be of use to you also.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a really beautiful book, November 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim On The Silk Road (Hardcover)

XuanZang's story has got to be one of humanity's most amazing adventures of discovery. I had heard brief references to him in various books about Buddhism, but when I read this book I was just amazed at what a prodigy he was. The amazing synchronicities that helped him on his travels really bespeak a divine providence.

I just wish there were longer direct quotes from his original book, so you could get a feel for his own writing. Also wish there was more discussion of his own spiritual journey or experience with the abbot of the Nalanda university, and the Yogacara/Vasubandhu philosophy.

Great pictures of Nalanda ruins. The story of Nalanda is really interesting in itself and the book gives you a good feel for what was happening there at its height.

All in all makes you want to read XuanZang's original book.

check out