This is the route that Fa Xian travelled.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Hazards he encountered/ Whether he was sucessful in achieving his aim of his journey
Hazards they encountered:
Instead of taking one of the routes that skirted around the desert, they walked straight through it, experiencing many fears and hardships. Besides the anticipated shortages of food and water, and the extremes of heat and cold, there were also frequent sandstorms and other dangers, such as attacks from mounted bandits. Faxian says:
In the desert were numerous evil spirits and scorching winds, causing death to anyone who would meet them. Above there were no birds, while on the ground there were no animals. One looked as far as one could in all directions for a path to cross, but there was none to choose. Only the dried bones of the dead served as indications.
After staying for two years at Ceylon, he then sailed from Ceylon to Java, experiencing an extremely perilous journey:The sea was infested with pirates, whom to meet meant certain death. The boundless expanse of water spread out before us, the only aid to navigation being the sun, the moon, and the stars. If these were obscured by the weather, the ship had to run unguided before the wind. At night great waves, shining like fire, broke against one another, and we caught glimpses of huge turtles and other sea monsters. The merchants were panic-stricken, not knowing where they were going, but it was impossible to drop anchor because the sea was so deep . . . If we had hit a submerged rock there could have been no escape.
He was sucessful
He was successful in achieving his aim of his journey, as he had successfully found the Vinaya he was looking for in Pataliputra.
Instead of taking one of the routes that skirted around the desert, they walked straight through it, experiencing many fears and hardships. Besides the anticipated shortages of food and water, and the extremes of heat and cold, there were also frequent sandstorms and other dangers, such as attacks from mounted bandits. Faxian says:
In the desert were numerous evil spirits and scorching winds, causing death to anyone who would meet them. Above there were no birds, while on the ground there were no animals. One looked as far as one could in all directions for a path to cross, but there was none to choose. Only the dried bones of the dead served as indications.
After staying for two years at Ceylon, he then sailed from Ceylon to Java, experiencing an extremely perilous journey:The sea was infested with pirates, whom to meet meant certain death. The boundless expanse of water spread out before us, the only aid to navigation being the sun, the moon, and the stars. If these were obscured by the weather, the ship had to run unguided before the wind. At night great waves, shining like fire, broke against one another, and we caught glimpses of huge turtles and other sea monsters. The merchants were panic-stricken, not knowing where they were going, but it was impossible to drop anchor because the sea was so deep . . . If we had hit a submerged rock there could have been no escape.
He was sucessful
He was successful in achieving his aim of his journey, as he had successfully found the Vinaya he was looking for in Pataliputra.
One of the places Fa Xian visited
North India, when Chandra Gupta II ruled.
What impressed Faxian:
He was particularly impressed by the civic facilities for medical care in fifth-century Patna:
All the poor and destitute in the country...and all who are diseased, go to these houses, and are provided with every kind of help, and doctors examine their diseases. They get the food and medicines which their cases require, and are made to feel at ease; and when they are better, they go away of themselves.
This meant that the King cared for the people.
Despite the creation of the empire through war, the reign is remembered for its very influential style of Hindu art, literature, culture and science, especially during the reign of Chandra Gupta II. Some excellent works of Hindu art such as the panels at the Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh serve to illustrate the magnificence of Gupta art.
This symbolizes that the leader supports learning snd the arts, and for this to be carried out, the civilisation also must experience a time of peace.
Only marginally less successful than his father, Chandra Gupta II expanded his realm westwards, defeating the Saka Western Kshatrapas of Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra in a campaign lasting until 409.
This symbolises a powerful and prosperous civilisation.
What impressed Faxian:
He was particularly impressed by the civic facilities for medical care in fifth-century Patna:
All the poor and destitute in the country...and all who are diseased, go to these houses, and are provided with every kind of help, and doctors examine their diseases. They get the food and medicines which their cases require, and are made to feel at ease; and when they are better, they go away of themselves.
This meant that the King cared for the people.
Despite the creation of the empire through war, the reign is remembered for its very influential style of Hindu art, literature, culture and science, especially during the reign of Chandra Gupta II. Some excellent works of Hindu art such as the panels at the Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh serve to illustrate the magnificence of Gupta art.
This symbolizes that the leader supports learning snd the arts, and for this to be carried out, the civilisation also must experience a time of peace.
Only marginally less successful than his father, Chandra Gupta II expanded his realm westwards, defeating the Saka Western Kshatrapas of Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra in a campaign lasting until 409.
This symbolises a powerful and prosperous civilisation.
Fa Xian's Diary Of Events
From the Chinese capital of Chang'an, Faxian and his party passed through Dunhuang (Tunhuang) at the eastern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. Instead of taking one of the routes that skirted around the desert, they walked straight through it, experiencing many fears and hardships.
Two months after his departure, Faxian reached the Central Asian city of Khotan. From there he took the southern route across the "snowy mountains" (the Bolor-Tagh range) into northwestern India, where he visited Udyana, Gandhara, Peshawar, and Taxila. Faxian stayed in northern India for three years, studying Sanskrit, visiting Buddhist centres and holy sites, and collecting scriptures to take back to China. He found the Vinaya he was looking for in Pataliputra and began copying it out.
For the return voyage Faxian decided to go by sea. He went first to Tamralipti, a port at the mouth of the Ganges, where he took a ship to Ceylon. He stayed there another two years, obtaining more texts.
The ship sailed via the Straits of Malacca to the east coast of what is now Sumatra, where he spent five months. The vessel he took on the final part of his homeward journey was blown off course by a storm, and instead of landing at Canton ended up docking on the coast of Shandong (Shantung). It was then 414, fifteen years after Faxian’s original departure from Chang'an.
Two months after his departure, Faxian reached the Central Asian city of Khotan. From there he took the southern route across the "snowy mountains" (the Bolor-Tagh range) into northwestern India, where he visited Udyana, Gandhara, Peshawar, and Taxila. Faxian stayed in northern India for three years, studying Sanskrit, visiting Buddhist centres and holy sites, and collecting scriptures to take back to China. He found the Vinaya he was looking for in Pataliputra and began copying it out.
For the return voyage Faxian decided to go by sea. He went first to Tamralipti, a port at the mouth of the Ganges, where he took a ship to Ceylon. He stayed there another two years, obtaining more texts.
The ship sailed via the Straits of Malacca to the east coast of what is now Sumatra, where he spent five months. The vessel he took on the final part of his homeward journey was blown off course by a storm, and instead of landing at Canton ended up docking on the coast of Shandong (Shantung). It was then 414, fifteen years after Faxian’s original departure from Chang'an.
Fa Xian's reason for his trip
Traveller: Fa Xian
In the year 399 AD, when already in his sixties, the zealous monk Faxian (Fa-hsien) set out from Chang'an (Ch'ang-an) in China on an overland pilgrimage to India in quest of scriptures. At that time, before the invention of printing, Chinese Buddhists had a desperate need for scriptures. Sacred texts could only be obtained by copying out manuscripts by hand and such manuscripts were in short supply in China. Faxian's particular interest was in obtaining a complete text of the Vinaya, or monastic rules, in the original Sanskrit, to bring it back to China, and translate it into Chinese.
In the year 399 AD, when already in his sixties, the zealous monk Faxian (Fa-hsien) set out from Chang'an (Ch'ang-an) in China on an overland pilgrimage to India in quest of scriptures. At that time, before the invention of printing, Chinese Buddhists had a desperate need for scriptures. Sacred texts could only be obtained by copying out manuscripts by hand and such manuscripts were in short supply in China. Faxian's particular interest was in obtaining a complete text of the Vinaya, or monastic rules, in the original Sanskrit, to bring it back to China, and translate it into Chinese.
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