Over the past two months, we have explored the Chinese classic Journey to the West. Though a mythological narrative, it is rooted in historical events.
The legendary Buddhist pilgrimage
This is an ancient tale. During the Tang Dynasty, a Buddhist monk, accompanied by three disciples with unearthly looks and carried by a white horse, journeyed westwards to the country of Buddha to retrieve the authentic scriptures.
Since time unknown, there are always people searching for the origins of these outlandish characters. Did the story of Journey to the West truly happen? If so, why were the monk’s disciples depicted as monsters? Even if it contains fabrication, what is the real historical basis for this legendary Buddhist pilgrimage?
The real historical basis
In the 7th century, the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang embarked on a daring 17-year journey to India to study Buddhism and retrieve sacred scriptures. Defying a travel ban imposed by the Tang Dynasty, he left China secretly in 629 CE, crossing harsh deserts, mountains, and hostile territories along the Silk Road.
His pilgrimage took him to major Buddhist centers, including Nalanda Monastery in India, where he studied under scholars and mastered Sanskrit. Xuanzang collected over 600 Buddhist texts and relics, returning to China in 645 CE.
Emperor Taizong of Tang later sponsored his translation of the scriptures, which influenced East Asian Buddhist traditions.
Journey to the West and more adaptations
Over centuries, oral traditions, plays, and folktales—particularly those involving the mythical Monkey King, Sun Wukong—evolved around Xuanzang’s journey. Journey to the West is undoubtedly the most iconic adaptation so far. It fictionalizes Xuanzang’s pilgrimage with mythical characters like Sun Wukong (Monkey King), Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing. It blends Buddhist philosophy, folklore, and satire, forming one of China’s “Four Great Classical Novels”.
Great Tang Records on the Western Regions
Upon returning to China, the Tang Monk and his real disciples, not those mythical disciples in the novel, translated these scriptures into Chinese. His detailed travelogue, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, was document by one of his disciples.
Next, we will briefly review the real-life scripture-seeking journey, primarily through the lens of “Great Tang Records on the Western Regions”. We will delve into excerpts from the protagonist’s travelogue, comparing his factual accounts with their mythological counterparts in the novel. This analysis will reveal how the novel transformed historical rigor into mythological storytelling.
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