Xuanzang Legend
01 · Historical Records
The Xuanzang legend is a form of folk literature telling mainly of the legendary life of Xuanzang, the eminent monk of the Tang dynasty; it is current mainly in Luoyang and the surrounding area centred on Xuanzang's home village at Goushi town in the Yanshi district of Luoyang, Henan, and radiates to Gongyi, Yiyang and Yichuan. The legend originated in the Luoyang area centred on Xuanzang's home village at Goushi town in Yanshi, with Mount Huanyuan to the east, the Longmen Yique to the west, and nearby such related historical remains as the Phoenix Terrace, the Hui Spring Well, the Horse-Hoof Spring, the joint tomb of Xuanzang's parents, the Motou huai tree and the Long-Life poplar. The Xuanzang legend was born in the Tang, took shape in the Song and Yuan, was enriched in the Ming and Qing, and has been transmitted to the present.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xuanzang, whose secular name was Chen Yi, was a native of Goushi town in the Yanshi district of Henan, the ancient Goushi county of Luozhou, and is a historical cultural celebrity of world influence. The Xuanzang legend consists mainly of more than thirty kinds and forty-odd pieces of stories of Xuanzang as a youth, more than twenty kinds and thirty-odd pieces of stories of his western journey in search of the scriptures, and more than thirty kinds and forty-odd pieces of stories of his return east. These legends shape the image of Xuanzang as unswervingly devoted, seeking the truth and sacrificing himself for the Dharma, and preserve a great deal of traditional folk custom and the notion of the virtue of filial piety. Representative works include the youthful Xuanzang stories Learning the Classic of Filial Piety with His Father and Leaving Home at the Pure Land Temple, the western-journey stories Going Out the Pass at the Risk of Death, A Lone Campaign in the Great Desert, The Assembly at Kanauj and Danger on the Ganges, and the return-east stories Determined to Return East, Devoting Himself to Translating the Scriptures, The Legend of the Motou huai and Xuanzang Sacrifices to His Mother. In modern and contemporary times folk oral literature has fused with various folk literary and artistic forms so that the Xuanzang legend is ever transmitted and ever new, surviving widely among the Chen clan of Chenhe village, the villagers, intellectuals and artists, and becoming a classic subject for many literary and artistic forms—stories, ballads, xiqu, He-Luo drum ballads, folk song and dance, and film and television. As a component of Yellow River culture the Xuanzang legend is vivid testimony to the cultural fusion along the Silk Road.
Stories of Xuanzang as a Youth
More than thirty kinds and forty-odd pieces of youthful Xuanzang stories, such as Learning the Classic of Filial Piety with His Father and Leaving Home at the Pure Land Temple.
Stories of the Western Journey in Search of the Scriptures
More than twenty kinds and thirty-odd pieces such as Going Out the Pass at the Risk of Death, A Lone Campaign in the Great Desert, The Assembly at Kanauj and Danger on the Ganges.
Stories of the Return East
More than thirty kinds and forty-odd pieces such as Determined to Return East, Devoting Himself to Translating the Scriptures, The Legend of the Motou huai and Xuanzang Sacrifices to His Mother.
Xuanzang's Home Village and Xuanzang Temple as Venues of Transmission
The cultural venues preserving the Xuanzang legend and the transmission practice of the Chen clan telling it from generation to generation.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Xuanzang legend has a striking colouring of the ancient capital Luoyang and at the same time fuses Xuanzang stories from different regions, countries, ethnic groups and cultures along the Silk Road, having the typical character of cross-regional cultural fusion and being testimony to cultural exchange along the Silk Road.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The transmitting group of the Xuanzang legend is the villagers of Chenhe village with the Chen clan at its core, the Chen clan being descendants of Xuanzang's elder brother. Since Xuanzang's grandfather Chen Kang moved to Chenhe village in Goushi county of Luozhou, more than 1,400 years ago, the Xuanzang legend has been transmitted for forty-eight generations. At present the cultural venues preserving the Xuanzang legend are Xuanzang's home village and Xuanzang Temple, with more than two hundred volumes of related materials preserved and various materials such as The Story of Xuanzang compiled from the Xuanzang legendary documents. Transmitting the Xuanzang legend has positive significance for “telling the Yellow River story well”, carrying forward Chinese civilization and developing the tourist industry.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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