Product Description

The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang tells the saga of the seventh-century Chinese monk Xuanzang, one of Chinas great heroes, who completed an epic sixteen-year-long journey to discover the heart of Buddhism at its source in India. Eight centuries before Columbus, this intrepid pilgrim traveled 10,000 miles on the Silk Road, meeting most of Asias important leaders at that time. In this revised and updated edition, Sally Hovey Wriggins, the first Westerner to walk in Xuanzangs footsteps, brings to life a courageous explorer and devoutly religious man. Through Wrigginss telling of Xuanzangs fascinating and extensive journey, the reader comes to know the contours of the Silk Road, Buddhist art and archaeology, the principles of Buddhism, as well as the geography and history of China, Central Asia, and India. The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang is an inspiring story of human struggle and triumph, and a touchstone for understanding the religions, art, and culture of Asia.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #517708 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 344 pages

Customer Reviews

Visually seminal
Since the destruction of the famous Buddhas at Bamiyan, Afghanistan in March 2001, the importance of this book has rocketted from its original publication.
Xuanzang wrote some eyewitness accounts of these gigantic statues around 630AD, and this book is an important starting point to finding out more about these monuments and what they originally looked like.

This is not an academic book but more a detailed compilation of events connected with a personage with whom the author has obviously felt a close connection. The text is well sectioned with good maps and useful information, notes and an extensive bibliography that makes the work substantive (e.g., it highlights the wider territory of ostriches in the past). Xuanzang becomes a portal through which we view the art and history of a predominantly Buddhist India before she entered a chaotic phase to re-emerge as a Mughal and Hindu civilisation later.

There is staggering insight into the mentality of the Chinese and Kings at the time and the art they bestowed on the world. The importance of the Chinese civilisation is highlighted at a time when Europe was in the grip of the dark ages.

The book contains minor errors, could have been more critical and Xuanzang's feet on the cover need alteration. Leaving this aside, there is a stunning picture from Bamiyan and we can see what was lost as well as related paintings and statues which are quite exquisite (at least one of them lost from the Kabul museum since the destructive episode recently).

A book worth treasuring as written by a professional, well travelled and strong minded author (and she found the time).