Hsüan-Tsang Forges a Link Between China and India
Overview
Though Fa-hsien in the fifth century was the first Chinese Buddhist pilgrim to visit India, the trip by Hsüan-tsang more than two centuries later was equal if not greater in terms of historical significance. As Fa-hsien spurred Chinese interest in Buddhism by bringing back scriptures from its birthplace in India, Hsüan-tsang helped influence much wider acceptance of the faith among Chinese. He also became the first Chinese visitor to go to all major regions of India, and he is remembered today as the initiator of Sino-Indian relations.
Background
Buddhism had its origins in the sixth century B.C. ministry of an Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 B.C.) After years of spiritual seeking in which he rejected wealth and worldly pleasures, as well as the precepts of both Hinduism and Jainism, he experienced a spiritual transformation, after which he was known as the Buddha, or "the awakened one." A faith grew up around his teachings, which included the idea that desire is the cause of pain. The Buddha also taught that only through reaching nirvana, a state of inner peace, can the individual transcend the cycles of reincarnation that characterize the Hindu worldview.
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