Completed in at the request of Emperor Taizong, the 12-volume work documents Xuanzang's 16-to-19-year pilgrimage through Central Asia and India. He had secretly left China in 627 or 629 CE to find original Sanskrit Buddhist texts and resolve doctrinal uncertainties. Key Significance
The (known in Chinese as Da Tang Xiyu Ji ) is an essential 7th-century travelogue written by the Buddhist monk and scholar Xuanzang . The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Re...
Modern archaeologists have used its precise descriptions of distances and landmarks to rediscover major ancient sites, including the Nalanda Monastery , the Ajanta Caves , and the Sarnath Temple . Completed in at the request of Emperor Taizong,
It provides rare firsthand details on the geography, politics, and customs of over 110 kingdoms during a period for which few other written records exist. Modern archaeologists have used its precise descriptions of
The record documents early Silk Road trade and the spread of technology, such as sugar-making , between China and India. Notable Editions & Translations