Xuanzang was about to leave the desert and enter an oasis. Ahead awaited the 36 Western kingdoms. How would these distant lands, far removed from Chinese civilization, receive a monk from the Tang Empire?
The Kingdom of Black Rooster does not appear in any real historical records and is a fictional nation created by the author of Journey to the West. However, the story and certain plot elements in the Black Rooster Kingdom evoke associations with the Liang Dynasty during Emperor Wu’s reign.
In traditional Chinese culture, the conflict and fusion between Buddhism and Taoism underwent a prolonged historical process, a phenomenon vividly expressed and embodied in Journey to the West.
We all know that Journey to the West recounts the story of Master Xuanzang and his disciples traveling westward to seek Buddhist scriptures.