The Strength of Belief

By Wang Jueren

This is the real “Journey to the West” in history

西安　玄奘像Statue of Master Xuanzang in Xi’an

Xuanzang, the famous monk Sanzang of Tang, was born in Goushi, Luozhou (Yanshi City of Henan Province today) and had the secular name of Chen Wei. When he was 11 years old, he was introduced by his second elder brother, Monk Changjie, to Buddhist doctrines in Jingtu Temple of Luoyang City. Two years later, in 608, by the emperor’s order, Zheng Shanguo, the Chief of the Supreme Court (“Dalisiqing”), came to Luoyang to “give government approval to the potentially qualified monks.”Xuanzang went to the interview.

Zheng had a good name for recognizing talent. He thought highly of Xuanzang by his disposition and appearance, so asked him why he would like to be a monk. “My intention is to carry on Buddha’s cause by widely spreading his teachings,” replied the boy. Zheng appreciated Xuanzang’s ambition. “If I give approval to this boy,” he said to his attendants, “he will be an invaluable treasure of Buddhism.”

According to the regulations,Xuanzang was too young to be approved as a monk. Luckily, Zheng made an exception for him. But even Zheng did not expect that little boy to be a person who would completely change the Buddhist history of East Asia.

玄奘，俗姓陳，名偉，洛州緱氏（今河南偃師）人，世稱“唐三藏”。玄奘十一歲時，跟隨他的二兄、已出家的長捷法師進(jìn)入洛陽凈土寺修學(xué)佛法。公元608年，大理寺卿鄭善果奉旨到洛陽度僧，年僅13歲的玄奘聞訊前往。

素有“知士之鑒”的鄭善果見其容貌俊逸、器宇不凡，就問他是否想出家，玄奘說想。鄭善果又問他為何想出家，他答：“意欲遠(yuǎn)紹如來，近光遺法?！编嵣乒鬄橘潎@，對身邊的人說：“若度此子，必為釋門偉器?！?/p>

當(dāng)時，玄奘年齡尚幼，本來是不能出家的，可鄭善果卻破格錄取了他，將他剃度為僧。

鄭善果預(yù)料到這個少年終將成為“釋門偉器”、一代高僧，可他無論如何也不敢想象，自己此刻的這個決定竟然會深刻地影響此后一千多年中國佛教的歷史。

偷越關(guān)卡

玄奘出家后，很快就精通了《大涅槃經(jīng)》《攝大乘論》等重要的大乘經(jīng)論。公元618年，天下分崩離析，熊熊戰(zhàn)火燃遍中原，洛陽首當(dāng)其沖。為了躲避戰(zhàn)亂，同時也為了進(jìn)一步深造，玄奘離開洛陽，前往天下的名山大寺參學(xué)，先是到成都，后來又輾轉(zhuǎn)荊州（今湖北江陵）、揚(yáng)州、相州（今河南安陽）、趙州（今河北趙縣）等地，于貞觀元年（公元627年）來到長安。

將近十年間，玄奘遍訪名師、究通各家，此時已成為備受贊譽(yù)的一位高僧。但是在多年參學(xué)的過程中，玄奘逐漸發(fā)現(xiàn)，眾多名師對佛法理解各異、歧義互見，而考諸現(xiàn)有各種佛典譯本，卻又頗多矛盾抵牾之處，令人無所適從，于是萌生前往印度求取更多佛學(xué)原典、尤其是大乘經(jīng)典的強(qiáng)烈愿望。

恰逢當(dāng)時中天竺（古印度）的僧人頗密多羅來到長安，給他介紹了著名佛教圣地那爛陀寺（在今印度比哈爾邦巴特那縣）的學(xué)術(shù)規(guī)模，以及天竺高僧、該寺住持戒賢法師弘講《瑜伽師地論》的盛況，更加堅(jiān)定了玄奘西行的決心。他立即向朝廷上表，要求出關(guān)前往天竺。

由于當(dāng)時出國之禁甚嚴(yán)，他的申請被駁回。但是玄奘始終沒有放棄“誓游西方，以問所惑”的決心和信念，一直做著各種準(zhǔn)備工作。

An Ominous Journey

In the early stage of Xuanzang’s religious career, he soon achieved mastery of the important Mahayana theories including the Mahapari-nirvana Sutra and Mahayana-samgraha. In 618,when Luoyang was under direct threat of the civil war, Xuanzang left Luoyang for other famous temples in China. He visited temples in Chengdu, Jingzhou(Jiangling County of Hubei Province today), Yangzhou,Xiangzhou (Anyang City of Henan Province today),Zhaozhou (Zhaoxian County of Hebei Province today), and then went to Chang’an, the imperial capital of Tang, in 627.

After a decade’s study and communication with various Buddhist schools, Xuanzang became a renowned master.However, only in the process of his studies did Xuanzang start to realize the essential incompatibility between the different understandings of Buddhism, and he further found that those different understandings were mostly caused by inconsistent translations of Buddhist scriptures. He then considered visiting India to study the original Sanskrit scriptures.

He became determined to see through his westward journey after meeting a monk from middle India, who introduced to Xuanzang the academic scale of Nalanda Monastery (which is located in Patna, Bihar state of India today), the famous shrine of Buddhism, and described the spectacular event when Master Silabhadra expounded the Yogacara-bhumi Sutra. Xuanzang promptly applied for an exit permit from the government.

By that time, such a permit was extremely difficult to get,and Xuanzang’s application was not surprisingly rejected. Yet he never gave up his resolution and belief. The monk made all the preparations and waited for an opportunity.

In August, 627, Chang’an and the surrounding areas were swept by serious frost and famine.When Xuanzang heard that the government allowed the victims to freely leave their homeland to make a living, he immediately grasped the opportunity. The monk disguised himself as a refugee, and snuck past the guards by hiding himself in a mob of refugees.

公元627年8月，長安和關(guān)東地區(qū)爆發(fā)了嚴(yán)重的霜災(zāi)和饑荒，朝廷同意災(zāi)民可以前往各地自謀生路。玄奘意識到時機(jī)成熟，做出一個大膽的決定——混在難民隊(duì)伍中偷越關(guān)卡，西行求法。

此行前途未卜，生死難料。

出發(fā)的這一刻，除了簡單的行囊和一腔求法的理想之外，玄奘什么都沒有。

沒有人知道，十九年后，這個孑然一身的“偷渡客”竟然會帶著震古爍今的偉大成就載譽(yù)歸來，不僅受到舉國上下的盛大歡迎，而且得到太宗李世民的親自接見。

沒有人知道，他邁出長安的這一步，是在書寫一頁前無古人、后無來者的歷史。

玄奘煢然西去的背影顯得寂寞而蒼涼……

艱難西行

走向天竺的這一路，充滿了常人難以想象的艱辛。

一路上雖然沒有白骨精和盤絲洞，沒有牛魔王和火焰山，沒有魑魅魍魎和九九八十一難，卻有一望無際的大漠黃沙，有荒無人煙的戈壁荒灘，有關(guān)卡盤查、官吏緝捕的困擾，有缺水?dāng)嗉Z、迷失方向的危險(xiǎn)。所有這一切，都足以讓他葬身在沒有人知道的地方，或者迫使他心生懊悔，黯然東返……

然而，這一切都沒有擋住玄奘的腳步。

早在邁出長安的那一刻，玄奘就已發(fā)出宏大的誓愿——

此行不求財(cái)利，無冀名譽(yù)，但為無上正法。

若不至天竺，終不東歸一步。

寧可就西而死，豈能歸東而生？（《大慈恩寺三藏法師傳》）

這就是信仰的力量！

正是這樣一種單純而偉大的信仰，使他能夠克服一切艱難險(xiǎn)阻，甚至蔑視死亡的威脅，頑強(qiáng)地走向自己生命中的圣地……

玄奘從長安啟程，經(jīng)秦州（今甘肅天水）、蘭州、涼州（今甘肅武威）、瓜州（今甘肅安西東南），出玉門關(guān)外五烽（五道重兵把守的關(guān)卡），進(jìn)入“上無飛鳥，下無走獸，復(fù)無水草”的八百里戈壁——莫賀延磧，在克服了四天五夜滴水未進(jìn)的困難之后，終于穿越這個可怕的死亡地帶，經(jīng)伊吾（今新疆哈密市）抵達(dá)高昌（今新疆吐魯番東）。

高昌國王麹文泰盛情接待了他，但執(zhí)意要求他留在高昌講經(jīng)說法，否則就要把他遣送回國。玄奘無奈，只好以絕食相抗，“水漿不涉于口三日”。最后，麹文泰被玄奘的至誠感動，提出兩個放行的條件：一、與他結(jié)為兄弟；二、求法歸來后在高昌停留三年。

玄奘同意。麹文泰大喜，當(dāng)即“為法師度四沙彌以充給侍，制法服三十具；以西土多寒，又造面衣、手衣、靴、襪等各數(shù)事；黃金一百兩，銀錢三萬，綾及絹等五百匹，充法師往返二十年所用之資；給馬三十匹，手力二十五人”。（《大慈恩寺三藏法師傳》）

What he faced was an unknown world and an ominous journey. All he had was a travelling bag, and his simple beliefs.

Nobody could foresee that this lone walker would come back in 19 years with astoundingly rich treasure, and would be welcomed by the whole empire and Emperor Taizong himself. Nobody could know that his departure was actually the beginning of a great, unprecedented page in the history.

The world just ignored that nondescript figure going westward.

Years of Peril

The journey was full of hardships. Although there were no such characters as Lady White Bone or Bull Demon King, as what we could read in the famous novel Journey to the West, the boundless deserts, the insolent foreign officials, and the danger of starvation and getting lost were all but real. He could have ended up a nameless corpse in an unknown place, or he could have regretted his reckless actions and turned around to home. But he continued his steps.

He already made his pledge the moment he left Chang’an:

I start this journey without longing for wealth or fame. What I need is only Saddarma.

I will not take a single step back east unless I arrive in India.

I would rather die in the westward journey than come back home to live.

——Biography of Master Sanzang, Daci’en Temple

此外，為了玄奘能順利西行，麹文泰還專門準(zhǔn)備了二十四封國書，命護(hù)送的大臣交給沿途的二十四國國王，每書奉送大綾一匹為禮物；還親手寫了一封文辭謙恭的信，隨信獻(xiàn)上“綾、綃五百匹，果味兩車”，請求西突厥統(tǒng)葉護(hù)可汗致信其勢力范圍內(nèi)的西域諸國，為玄奘法師提供盡可能的幫助。

就這樣，玄奘離開高昌，過焉耆、龜茲等國，翻越凌山（蔥嶺北部），到達(dá)碎葉城（今吉爾吉斯斯坦托克馬克西南），會晤了統(tǒng)葉護(hù)可汗。隨后，在統(tǒng)葉護(hù)可汗致所經(jīng)諸國的信件和護(hù)送使節(jié)的幫助下，玄奘順利經(jīng)過西域諸國，過鐵門關(guān)（今烏茲別克斯坦南部），入吐火羅（今阿富汗北部），而后沿今巴基斯坦北部，過克什米爾，進(jìn)入北印度。

聲名鵲起

貞觀五年（公元631年）秋天，玄奘終于抵達(dá)朝思暮想的佛教圣地——那爛陀寺。在這里，玄奘拜戒賢為師，潛心學(xué)習(xí)梵語，研習(xí)各種大小乘經(jīng)論，尤其專攻印度法相宗（唯識論）代表作《瑜伽師地論》，歷時五年。此后，玄奘遍訪五天竺，足跡留在了印度各地。

貞觀十五年（公元641年），玄奘重回那爛陀寺。此時他的學(xué)業(yè)已經(jīng)粲然大成，戒賢命其升座為眾講解大乘唯識經(jīng)典。在此期間，他著有《會宗論》，會通了印度大乘“瑜伽”“般若”二宗，將唯識與中觀學(xué)說相互融貫，自成一家。此外，由于當(dāng)時南天竺的小乘僧人著有《破大乘論》攻擊大乘學(xué)說，負(fù)面影響很大，玄奘應(yīng)戒日王之請，又撰寫了破除小乘見地的《制惡見論》。

從此，玄奘在印度聲名鵲起。

貞觀十六年（公元642年），玄奘又在戒日王舉辦的曲女城無遮大會上挫敗了五天竺所有的論敵，其盛名更是如日中天，幾乎取代戒賢，成為全印度造詣最深、聲譽(yù)最隆的佛教思想界領(lǐng)袖。

玄奘意識到自己的使命已經(jīng)圓滿完成，遂于貞觀十七年（公元643年）告別了戒賢法師和戒日王，返回中國。經(jīng)過兩年的時間，在貞觀十九年（公元645年）正月二十四日，玄奘終于回到了闊別將近二十年的長安。

和他一起回到中國的，是657部具有高度學(xué)術(shù)價值的梵文佛典。

玄奘大師的西行求法，前后歷時十九年，行程共計(jì)五萬里，堪稱世界中古史上一次艱難而偉大的探險(xiǎn)之旅、朝圣之旅，也是意義最為深遠(yuǎn)的一次學(xué)術(shù)和文化之旅。

玄奘回到長安的時候，受到了朝野上下隆重而盛大的歡迎，一切與他當(dāng)年偷越國境時寂寞而蒼涼的境況相去不啻霄壤。

然而，玄奘還是當(dāng)年的那個玄奘，信仰還是當(dāng)年的那個信仰?！?/p>

（摘自《唐朝原來是這樣》現(xiàn)代出版社）

Yes, this was the strength of belief, and only with this belief could Xuanzang ignore the threat of death and overcome all the difficulties in his journey to the holy place.

He left Chang’an, passed Qinzhou (Tianshui City, Gansu Province today), Lanzhou,Liangzhou (Wuwei City, Gansu Province today), Guazhou(southeast to Anxi County,Gansu Province today), Yumen Pass, and five more heavily guarded customs passes, and then entered Kumtag Desert, the 400 kilometers long Gobi Desert where “no birds, beasts, grass,or even a drop of water could be found.” After four days and five nights’ journey without supplies,he walked out of the horrible dead zone, stopped briefly at Yiwu(Hami City, Xinjiang Autonomous Region today), and reached Gaochang (also called Karakhoja,east to Turpan, Xinjiang today).

Xuanzang accepted the conditions, and the happy king“appointed four attendant monks to Xuanzang, gave him thirty kasayas, and lots of clothes,mittens, boots, and socks to protect them from western coldness; he also gave the master one hundred taels of gold, thirty thousand taels of silver coins,and five hundred rolls of silk for his traveling expenses in the next twenty years; other gifts included thirty horses and twenty-five servants.” (See Biography of Master Sanzang, Daci’en Temple)

As Xuanzang was going to pass another 24 kingdoms before he could reach India, Wentai also prepared 24 credentials;each was to be presented to a king along with a roll of silk as gift. Moreover, the friendly king wrote with his own hands a humbly worded letter in which he asked Tong Yabghu Qaghan, the powerful monarch of the Western Turkic Khaganate, to provide necessary help to Xuanzang in the Khan’s sphere of influence. Along with the letter, “five hundred rolls of silk and two carriages of dried fruits” were to be given to the Khan as Wentai’s gift.

Xuanzang left Gaochang and passed through kingdoms such as Karasahr and Kucha, crossed Lingshan Mountain (in the north of Congling Ridge), and then arrived in Suyab City (southwest to Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan today)where he met Tong Yabghu Qaghan. With the help of the Khan’s envoys (who carried the monarch’s letters to the kingdoms), Xuanzang passed the kingdoms of “the Western Regions,” the Tiemen Pass (south to Uzbekistan today), Tochari(north to Afghanistan today),and the regions now known as Pakistan and Kashmir, and finally entered northern India.

Became a Religious Leader

In the autumn of 631, Xuanzang finally arrived at the holy place of his dream, Nalanda Monastery.In the next five years, he became a student of Master Silabhadra and learned Sanskrit as well as theories of various schools(especially the master work of Dharmalaksana, Yogacara-bhumi Sutra) with great concentration.After that, Xuanzang visited the temples of all the five regions of India.

In 641, Xuanzang returned to the Nalanda Monastery. He was already a senior scholar by the time, and Master Silabhadra appointed him to expound the Dharmalaksana scriptures for the general monks. During that period, Xuanzang wrote On the Integration of Schools(Huizonglun) in which he integrated the theories of the two major schools of Mahayana,Yoga, and Prajna. When the Hinayana monks in south India wrote A Refutation against Mahayana, at the invitation of King Siladitya, Xuanzang wrote A Refutation against Heterodoxy and successfully defended the orthodoxy of Mahayana.

Xuanzang earned his fame in India through this work. That fame and respect reached a climax when he defeated all his opponents in the Kumbh Mela debate held by King Siladitya in the city of Kanyakubja in 642. Many thought he had replaced Master Silabhadra to be the religious leader of Indian Buddhism.

He knew that it was the right time to return back to China. In 643, he bid farewell to Master Silabhadra and King Siladitya.Two years later, on January 24,645 (according to Chinese lunar calendar), Xuanzang arrived in Chang’an, a place he had not seen in over 19 years, along with 657 invaluable Buddhist scriptures in Sanskrit.

19 years and 25,000 kilometers:Xuanzang’s arduous journey to the west was actually a great pilgrimage as well as a discovery of precious culture and academics in the ancient history of the world.

When Xuanzang went back to Chang’an, both the government and the people welcomed him with a grand ceremony.How different it was from his departure!

However, Xuanzang remained the same person as before; and his belief also remained the same as before.◆