Shipantuo, Xuanzang’s first disciple, helped him secretly cross the river and traverse the Yumen Pass.
Travel alone
However, this disciple soon abandoned Xuanzang, forcing him to journey alone. Ahead lay five military beacon towers and the vast desert.
Captured and set free
At the first beacon tower, when Xuanzang attempted to fetch water, soldiers spotted him and fired arrows. Captured and brought before Lieutenant Wang Xiang, he was quickly identified as the wanted stowaway. Surprisingly, the lieutenant ignored the arrest order, seemingly moved by the monk’s determination, and set him free. This marked only the beginning of Xuanzang’s true ordeal.
Gobi Desert – sea of death
He would soon face the trials of the Gobi Desert—Mohe Yanqi, or the “Great River of Shifting Sands,” which served as the prototype for the Flowing Sands River in Journey to the West.
The Gobi was infamous for its dehydrating heat, capable of inducing hallucinations—a veritable sea of death. Winter approached. After narrowly escaping capture at the first beacon tower, Xuanzang abandoned the guarded route and ventured directly into the Gobi, leaving behind the only known path with water sources.
Lost in the desert without water
Following Lieutenant Wang Xiang’s advice, Xuanzang took a westward route bypassing the second and third beacon towers, heading straight for the fourth. This avoided further danger and saved over two hundred miles of travel. The fourth tower’s lieutenant, Wang Bolong—a relative of Wang Xiang—also aided Xuanzang, warning him to avoid the fifth tower, where the lieutenant might block his border crossing. Instead, he directed him to the “Wild Horse Well,” a water source a hundred miles from the fourth tower.
Searching for the well, Xuanzang lost his way—a fatal misstep in the desert. As the Chinese proverb goes: ”Blessings never come in pairs, but misfortunes never come alone.” Misfortune compounded when he accidentally spilled all his water into the sand.
Desperately prayed to Bodhisattva
Though returning to refill his sack would have been wise, Xuanzang vowed not to take a single step eastward until reaching India. He pressed on for four nights and five days, collapsing from dehydration, teetering on death’s edge. Desperate, he prayed to Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guan Yin).
The old horse and Chinese dragon
Yet it was not divine intervention but his old date-red horse—seasoned and wise—that saved him, leading him to a hidden well. In Journey to the West, this horse is reimagined as a powerful white steed, transformed from a Chinese dragon.
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