The xuanzang ((HUIEN TSANG) A Chinese Pilgrim of Ancient India

XUANZANG (HUIEN TSANG)�Prince of Pilgrims � A CHINESE Traveler

1. XUANZANG ( HUIEN TSANG) Prince of Pilgrims A CHINESE TRAVelLeR BY:- AMAN KUMAR ENR. NO:- 1801001002 DEPT. OF ANCIENT INDIAN HISTORY, CULTURE AND ARCHAEOLOGY

2. CONTENTS WHO WAS XUANZANG WHEN HE COME TO INDIA HOW HE COME INDIA PURPOSE OF JOURNEY POLITICAL CONDITION OF INDIA DURING THAT TIME WHICH PLACES HE VISTED IN INDIA RETURN TO HIS NATIVE LAND RELATION OF XUANGZANG WITH INDIAN ARCHEAOLOGY

3. WHO WAS XUANZANG

4. Early life Xuanzang was born Chen Hui (or Chen Yi) around 602 AD in Chenhe Village, Goushi Town Luozhou (near present-day  Luoyang ,  Henan ) MOTHER– LADY SONG FATHER-- CHEN HUI Xuanzang was the youngest of four children or generations Buddhist monk and Chinese pilgrim to  India  who translated the sacred scriptures of  Buddhism  from Sanskrit into Chinese and founded in  China  the Buddhist  Consciousness  Only school

5. RECONSTRUCTED HOUSE OF XUANZANG IN CHINA

6. Born into a family in which there had been scholars for generations, Xuanzang received a classical Confucian education in his youth, but under the influence of an older brother he became interested in the Buddhist scriptures and was soon converted to Buddhism

7. WHEN HE COME TO INDIA IN 627, Xuanzang reportedly had a dream that convinced him to journey to India. The year was 630.

8. HE visit to India was an important event of the reign of  Harshavardhana . India is much indebted to this Chinese traveller for the valuable accounts he left behind with many details of political, religious, economic, social conditions of those days.

9. HOW HE COME TO INDIA BY ANCIENT SILK ROUTE

10. WHAT IS ANCIENT SILK ROUTE

11. The Silk Route was a historic trade route that dated from the second century BC until the 14th century AD and stretched from China to the Mediterranean. The Silk Route was so named because of the heavy silk trading during that period. This valuable fabric originated in China, which initially had a monopoly on silk production until the secrets of its creation spread. The Silk Route traversed China, India, Persia, Arabia, Greece and Italy. In addition to silk, the route facilitated the trade of other fabrics, spices, grains, fruits and vegetables, animal hides, wood and metal work, precious stones and other items of value. The Silk Route was also known as the Silk Road.

12. ABOUT HIS JOURNEY Through SILK ROUTE Turfan Hsuan-tsang stayed for some time in Turfan , where he got to know the king who was fascinated by the monk’s knowledge of sacred Buddhist texts. Regrettably, the king became so mesmerized that he banned Hsuan-tsang from leaving Turfan , and the monk had to threatened a hunger strike to make the ruler change his mind. To help the monk on his continued journey, the king provided him with letters of introduction that he could show other rulers along the way. Samarkand One of the cities that Hsuan-tsang passed through on his way to India was Samarkand, a major trading hub along the Silk Road. In his book, he describes Samarkand as a great imperial city, surrounded by a wall, an governing a powerful state. “ This is a rich land, where the treasures of distant countries accumulate, where there are powerful horses and skilled artisans, and the climate is most pleasant.”

13. Continuing to the south Balkh Balkh turned out to be home to over 3,000 Buddhist monks of the non-Mahayana kind, and Hsuan-tsang acquired the text Mahavibhasa which he later translated into Chinese. One of the monks living in Balkh was a man named Prajnakara , with whom Hsuan-tsang studied early Buddhist scriptures. When it was time for Hsuan-tsang to continue his trip to India, Prajnakara accompanied him. Bamyan In Bamyan , the two monks visited the two large Buddhas of Bamiyan ; enormous statues carved into the rock face.

14. Kapisi After Bamyan , the two monks traveled east, crossing the Shibar Pass and reaching the regional capital of Kapisi . Hsuan-tsang reports that there were over a hundred Buddhist monasteries there and circa 6,000 monks. This was also the place where Hsuang-tsang for the first time in his life met Jains and Hindu. Reaching India From Kapisi , the journey continued to Adinapur and Laghman . Now, in the year 630, Hsuan-tsang considered himself to have reached India. (Nowadays, this area is a part of eastern Afghanistan, near the border to Pakistan.)

15. PURPOSE OF JOURNEY  He longed for knowing more and more of Buddhism to satisfy his spiritual hunger. But without a visit to India, he knew his desire for learning would remain unfulfilled. When he was about 30, he secretly left China for an adventurous journey towards India.

16. POLITICAL SITUTION OF INDIA DURING 7 th CENTURY CE In the begining of 7th century  two great Kingdom were established first one was  Harsha vardhana Empire  and the second one was  Chalukya Empire (SOUTH)

17. PLACES HE VISTED IN INDIA LUMBNI (NOW IN NEPAL) KASHMIR VARANASI KUSHINAGAR UNIVERSITY OF NALANDA (MAIN MOTO OF COMING TO INDIA) DURING HIS STAY HE VISTED ALL THE SITES RELATED TO BUDDHA NORTH TO SOUTH, EAST TO WEST OF INDIA

18. RETURN TO NATIVE LAND Return to China in 645 CE Xuanzang was greeted with much honor but he refused all high civil appointments offered by the still-reigning emperor,   Emperor Taizong of Tang . Instead, he retired to a monastery and devoted his energy in translating Buddhist texts until his death in AD 664 According to his biography, he returned with, "over six hundred Mahayana and Hinayana texts, seven statues of the Buddha

19. RELATION OF XUANZANG WITH INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

20. ANCIENT NALANDA UNIVERSITY EXCAVATED BY RECORDS IN HIS DIARY WHICH HE WRITTEN DURING HIS STAY IN NALANDA IT WAS YEAR 1860s WHEN GREAT ARCHAEOLOGIST SIR ALEXCENDER CUNIGHAM IDENTIFIED THE SITE NALANDA AND IN THE YEAR 1915-1916 THE ARCHEALOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA STARTS THE EXCAVATION IN THIS SITE DURING EXCAVATION ARCHAEOLOGIST FOUND THAT IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 5 th CENTURY AD, AND WAS A FULLY RESIDENTIAL UNIVERSITY, IT WAS THE ONLY UNIVERSITY OF ITS KIND DURING THAT PERIOD.

21. THE CAMPUS HAVE SEPRATE COMPLEX FOR EACH FIELD OF STUDY. IT HAVE 10 MEDITATION HALL, PARKS, LAKES, WELL DRAINAGE SYSTEM, AND A GREAT LIBRARY WHICH UPHOLD OVER 9 MILLION MANUSCRIPTS UNIVERSITY ATTRACTED STUDENTS & SCHLORS FROM KOREA, JAPAN, CHINA, INDONESIA, TURKEY, PERSIA; ETC.

22. DECLINE OF UNIVERSITY According to the records Nalanda University was destroyed three times by invaders, but rebuilt only twice. The first destruction was caused by the Huns under Mihirakula during the reign of Skandagupta (455–467 AD). But Skanda’s successors restored the library and improved it with an even bigger building. The second destruction came in the early 7th century by the Gaudas . This time, the Buddhist king Harshavardhana (606–648 AD) restored the university. The third and most destructive attack came when the ancient Nalanda University was destroyed by the Muslim army led by the Turkish leader Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193.

23. धन्यवाद ಧನ್ಯವಾದ நன்றி ধন্যবাদ THANKS