As part of Shambhala Publications’ Lives of the Masters series, which seeks to give a comprehensive account of famous monks across various Buddhist traditions, Benjamin Brose’s Xuanzang: China's Legendary Pilgrim and Translator is a welcome addition that delves into the life, translations, and legacy of Xuanzang (600–662). A Tang dynasty Chinese monk who achieved unparalleled fame during his life, Xuanzang left numerous legacies that continue to reverberate throughout modern East Asia’s cultural and political sphere. Brose’s book first focuses on Xuanzang’s life story, summarizing his travels across Central Asia and his pilgrimage in India before he brought Buddhist sutras back to China for translation. Importantly, Brose highlights the paradox of having abundant primary sources describing Xuanzang but little of Xuanzang’s writings. Specific fundamental facts about Xuanzang’s personal motivations are supplied by second-hand accounts written by his disciples, who began to embellish the master’s life. Brose thus chose to also survey other aspects of Xuanzang by highlighting the importance of his own words and the outgrowth of his myriad legacies.
The book’s first section divides Xuanzang’s life into three approximate periods. For the first period, Brose primarily explores the motivations for Xuanzang’s travel and how it led to his personal account of the decline of Buddhism in India. While acknowledging that the primary sources may have amplified the dangers faced and accomplishments achieved by Xuanzang, Brose also affirms his authentic drive for more Buddhist knowledge, which impelled his departure to India. During Xuanzang’s trip around India, royal patrons were depicted as committed Buddhists. Paradoxically, Xuanzang also dutifully noted ruined Buddhist temples and the proliferation of non-Buddhist ascetics throughout India. Despite royal patronage, Xuanzang consistently portrayed an inevitable decline of Buddhism throughout the country. Therefore, Brose questioned the veracity of Xuanzang’s personal accounts throughout the book by suggesting the reality was that royal patrons adopted a syncretic attitude towards Buddhists and non-Buddhist traditions.
The second period centers on Xuanzang’s studies in Nālandā, his engagement in religious debates, and his eventual return trip to China. Brose succinctly summarizes the basic tenets of the Yogācāra doctrine that were taught to Xuanzang in Nālandā and presents Xuanzang’s subsequent involvement in religious debates that intertwined with regional politics. After declining two Indian monarchs’ insistence to remain in India, Xuanzang embarked on a shorter return trip to China, again lavished with gifts by various kings along this journey. The third period focuses on Xuanzang’s translation career in China, initially supported by imperial patronage under emperor Taizong of Tang (r.626–649), with Brose carefully weaving in the evolving political situations that affected the patronage as a new emperor succeeded the throne. This fascinating case study revolves around Xuanzang’s final years, where Brose agrees with the recent scholarship that Xuanzang fell out of favor with the succeeding emperor Gaozong of Tang (r.649–683). Xuanzang spent most of his later years unable to continue his translation career and only resumed it briefly before he passed away in 664.
The book’s second section consists of several translations of Xuanzang’s writings, along with an account of his final days written by his disciples. The selection of Xuanzang’s personal writings ranges from official reports to a few personal letters and two specific excerpts of translated works. Brose begins each translation with a short prologue to introduce and provide context for the selected text. These prologues are extremely helpful for readers unsure of the circumstances in which Xuanzang wrote the text. More importantly, Brose’s selection of different text genres presents Xuanzang as more than just a Buddhist translator; he is also a human with emotions and prejudices.
The book’s last section explores the varied ways Xuanzang’s influence continues until the present day. This section begins by examining the transmission of Xuanzang’s Yogācāra doctrine throughout East Asia. Brose notes that Yogācāra teachings remained a distinctive school in Japan but were eventually subsumed under other Buddhist schools in China and Korea. Nevertheless, a specific Yogācāra understanding of the characteristics of consciousness, such as the ālayavijñāna (storehouse consciousness), was adopted by other primary Chinese Buddhist schools. Brose also succinctly narrates Xuanzang’s travels recorded in his Records of the Western Regions, which paved the way for modern archaeological discovery in northern India by orientalists.
In an ironic twist of fate, Xuanzang’s image in fiction was utilized by a British explorer to acquire an extensive quantity of ancient manuscripts in Dunhuang that was transported back to Britain, just as how Xuanzang brought back Buddhist sutras from India back to China. This utilization of Xuanzang’s image continued in other modern nation-states’ diplomatic engagement with Xuanzang’s bodily remains (śarīra, or Buddhist relics) throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Brose analyzes and constructs a coherent narrative of how these different governments pushed their political or diplomatic agendas by enshrining, gifting, or even “dividing” Xuanzang’s bones. Further examining Xuanzang’s postmortem image, Brose delineates an evolving deification of Xuanzang almost immediately after his death, from a fearless pilgrim to a patron deity in the Japanese Buddhist pantheon to a superhuman who went to Buddhist pure lands and received teachings from buddhas and bodhisattvas themselves. This final portrayal of Xuanzang, focusing on his journey to Buddhist cosmological worlds, culminated in the 16th century novel Journey to the West, cementing Xuanzang’s most famous image as a timid monk protected by three superhuman disciples on a journey to obtain Buddhist sutras from the Buddha.
In presenting three intertwined aspects of Xuanzang, this book informs readers of more than the narrative presented by standard Buddhist hagiographies. Instead, Brose’s book consistently engages with modern academic scholarship to provide an objective and comprehensive picture of Xuanzang’s life. Critically, Brose also reviews the multivarious legacies of Xuanzang utilized by various stakeholders with differing agendas—unequivocal evidence of Xuanzang’s relevance in modern times. With an accessible summary of Xuanzang’s life and legacies, accompanied by eloquent translations of Xuanzang’s writings, this book is a gem for both general readers and scholars of Chinese Buddhism.
Tay Yu Xuan is a graduate student in the Department of History at the National University of Singapore.
Yu Xuan Tay
Date Of Review:
October 19, 2023
