(born 600, Guoshi, China—died 664, Chang'an) Chinese Buddhist monk and pilgrim to India. He received a classical Confucian education before converting to Buddhism. Troubled by discrepancies in the sacred texts, he left for India in 629 to study the religion at its source.
He traveled by foot across Central Asia and reached India in 633. After study at the famous Nalanda monastery, he returned home in 645 to a hero's welcome, bringing back hundreds of Buddhist texts, including some of the most important Mahayana scriptures, and spent the rest of his life translating. Influenced by the Yogacara school, he established the Weishi (“Ideation Only”) school of Buddhism, which won many followers in Japan as the Hossō school. The classic novel Xiyou ji was inspired by his life.
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