Hsuan-Tsang's Journey To India

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Hsuan-tsang was one of a succession of Chinese Travellers who came to India in search of Buddhist wisdom. He was dissatisfied with the available translations of the sacred books and, at the age of twenty-eight, decided to procure the texts in the original and have the finer points of Buddhist doctrine explained and clarified to him by learned Indian scholars. Hsuan-tsang also wanted to visit the holy land and see the sites where various events in the Buddha's life occurred.

Hsuan-tsang had to brave many dangers and overcome many obstacles to fulfil his ambition. Journeying across vast stretches of desolate desert, and crossing forbidding icy mountains, he finally reached India after numerous adventures.

Hsuan-tsang stayed in India for thirteen years and the descriptions he has left of the places he saw and their inhabitants give us a valuable insight into the India of those days.

This is a record of Hsuan-tsang's travels and stay based on his writing.