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Hiouen-Tsang

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a celebrated Buddhist traveler of China, was born A.D. 603. At the age of twenty he took priest's orders. Even at this early age he had become famous for his vast information, especially in the Buddhist faith; and in the doctrines of Confucius and Laotse. A desire to study the origin of Buddhism made him overcome all the obstacles in his way, and he set out on a journey to India in the first half of the 7th century (629). He traveled sixteen years in that country, and on his return wrote a work describing his travels, which were published under the auspices of the Chinese emperor of his time. In this work he gave a very de, tailed and interesting account of the condition of Buddhism as it prevailed at that period in India. His inquiries having been chiefly devoted to Buddhism, he did not enter much into details concerning the social and political condition of the country; but many curious notices which he gives on other matters, besides those of Buddhist interest that came under his observation, and the high degree of trustworthiness which his narrative possesses, makes it one of the most important works on the history of India in general, and of Buddhism in particular, during this period. He traveled alone, or with a few occasional companions, wearing the garb of a religious mendicant, from China to India. He brought with him on his return to his native country, besides images of Buddha and various sacred relics, an immense collection of works, the extent of which may be estimated from the statement of Muller, "It is said that the number of works translated by Hiouen-tsang, with the assistance of a large staff of monks, amounted to 740, in 1335 volumes" (Chips, 1, 272). He died A.D. 664. Two of his friends and pupils have left an account of their instructor, and M. Stanislas Julien, who has lately translated the travels of Hiouen-tsang from Chinese into French (Voyages des Pelerins Bouddhistes, 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1853-1857), prefixes a translation of this biography to the translation of the travels of Hiouen- tsang. An abstract of this work, by the late Professor H. H. Wilson, appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 17, 106-137. A very full account of the life and works of Hiouen-tsang is given by Max Miller (Chips), with a review of the translation of M. Julien. — Mü ller, Chips from a German Workshop, 1, 232275; Julien, Histoire de la Vie de Hiouen-tsang; Memoires sur les Contrees Occidentales, par Hiouen- tsang; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gener. 24, 715 sq.; Chambers, Encyclop. 5, 372. (J.H.W.)