Xuanzang; China; Central Asia; Tang Dynasty; legends; Great Tang Dynasty of the Western Regions; Da Tang Xiyu Ji; medieval China; Chinese-Central Asian relations
摘要
In 626 C.E., the Buddhist monk Xuanzang left the Tang Empire for India in a quest to deepen his religious understanding. In order to reach India, and in order to return, Xuanzang journeyed through areas in what is now called Central Asia. After he came home to China in 645 C.E., his work included writing an account of the countries he had visited: The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions (Da Tang Xi You). The book is not a narrative travelogue, but rather presented as a collection of facts about the various countries he visited. Nevertheless, the Record is full of moral judgments, both stated and implied. Xuanzang’s judgment was frequently connected both to his Buddhist beliefs and a conviction that China represented the pinnacle of culture and good governance. Xuanzang’s portrayal of Central Asia at a crucial time when the Tang Empire was expanding westward is both inclusive and marginalizing, shaped by the overall framing of Central Asia in the Record and by the selection of local legends from individual nations. The tension in the Record between Buddhist concerns and secular political ones, and between an inclusive worldview and one centered on certain locations, creates an approach to Central Asia unlike that of many similar sources. The influence of the Record and Xuanzang as a figure continued far after its publication and his death, but the unique approach to Central Asia would be lost in later works. An understanding of how Central Asia was conceptualized in the Record and related works is crucial in understanding the history of Chinese thought regarding Central Asia, an issue which remains relevant today.
