中國與南亞之間的絲綢之路——以唐代取經僧人的記錄為中心=The Silk Road from China to Southern Asia——Based on Records Written by Monks Journeying to Retrieve Buddhist Scriptures during the Tang Dynasty
During the Han Dynasty, the statesman Zhang Qian journeyed to the Western Regions as a diplomat and opened up the Silk Road, which soon became one of the busiest transportation routes in the world. Although the tie between China and the world was greatly expanded by this new connection, the relations between China and its neighbors were by no means stable.Compared with West Asia and Europe, South Asia had the closest link to China, while the connection between China and India was unique because of the common influence of Buddhism. India continued to attract the attention of Chinese monks, who became a common sight on the Silk Road as they trekked west to retrieve Buddhist scriptures. The records of these monks’ travels to the Western Regions are precious documents about the Silk Road. Different from the accounts left by diplomats working toward political goals, these monks not only focused on the countries, geography, history and local customs of the places they visited, but also paid special attention to the state of local Buddhist practices and institutions. Besides visiting legendary Buddhist sites, another purpose of Chinese monks in India was to discover things that would be beneficial to China. Because of the efforts of these Buddhist monks, the transmission of Buddhism turned from a passive activity into a proactive movement that ultimately led to the successful Sinicization of Buddhism. The records written by monks as they traveled throughout Asia are extremely valuable first-hand materials for the study of the Silk Road.
