Xuanzang's Design of Buddhism for Tang Dynasty‐‐A Research on Buddhist Stories in Xuanzang's Travel Account

Kaiyang Chen

《International Journal of Social Science and Education Research》 4卷6期 (2021/06) Pp. 49-55

https://doi.org/10.6918/IJOSSER.202106_4(6).0009

摘要

Xuanzang's Travel Account in the Tang Dynasty has long been used as an important source for researching South Asian history and culture. In this paper, this travel account will be examined from a new perspective, in which the cultural background under which the account is written is emphasized. This paper will discuss Xuanzang's attempt to suggest a model of Buddhism that fits into the trends of thoughts and system of values in Tang dynasty and was able to maintain a balance with two other schools, Daoism and Confucianism. Three aspects of this attempt will be discussed: 1) Xuanzang's description of a humble and peaceful Buddhism; 2) Xuanzang's emphasis of the pragmatic and profitable characteristics of Buddhist practices; 3) Xuanzang's discussion on the impacts that Buddhism would have on the politics and the society. This paper discovers Xuanzang's Travel Account's new importance as a primary source from ancient China that has the potential to reflect the clash between cultures and religions during the Tang dynasty.

關鍵字

The Tang dynasty ； Buddhism ； Xuanzang ； Religious clash

參考文獻

Nan huai jin, “The Spread of Buddhism in China,” in Nan Huajin's Fifth Collection of Essays (Shang hai: Fudan University Press, 2003), pp. 402-420.

Mark Edward Lewis, China's Cosmopolitan Empire: the Tang Dynasty (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012), pp. 207-209

Yizheng Liu, The History of Chinese Culture (Changchun Shi: Jilin People's Press, 2013), pp: 675-685

Bianji and Xuanzang, in Travel to the West for Tang Dynasty in Ancient and Modern Chinese (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2014), pp. 244-244.

Bianji and Xuanzang, in Travel to the West for Tang Dynasty in Ancient and Modern Chinese (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2014), pp. 251-252.