Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road by Johan Elverskog

A 7th Century Chinese monk travels thousands of miles to bring back all the books of Buddhism to China. A modern Chinese woman follows in his footsteps.

Uyghur man cooking food in Turpan, Xinjiang

Writer and TV producer, Sun Shuyun grew up in Communist China, but an opportunity to study in the West acquainted her with China's most important Buddhist monk. Xuanzang (Hsuan-tsang) travelled to India in search of Buddhist teachings in the 7th century. Sun Shuyun retraces his 10,000 mile journey along the ancient Silk Road from China through Central Asia and discovers her own emotional connection to the Buddhist legacy.

The account of her journey is published as Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud and you can read a transcript of Rachael Kohn's interview with Sun Shuyun on The Spirit of Things. This companion radio program, The Monk & The Modern Girl, has just won a World Gold Medal at the 2004 New York Festivals international radio competition.

The monk is Xuanzang. He was no ordinary monk. Xuanzang left a meticulous record of all the places he visited. The Record of the Western Regions is one of the most important historical sources for Seventh Century Asia.

Passing through the Iron Gates we arrive at the country of the Tu-ho-lo... They have twenty-seven states, divided by natural boundaries, yet as a whole dependent on the Tuh-kiueh (Turkic) tribes. The climate of this country is warm and damp and epidemics prevail...

With regard to the character of the people, it is mean and cowardly; their appearance is low and rustic. Their knowledge of good faith and rectitude extends so far as relates to their dealings one with another. Their language differs somewhat from that of other countries.

The number of radical letters in their language is 25; by combining these they express all objects around them. Their writing is across the page and they read from left to right. Their literary recourse have increased gradually, and exceed those of the people of Su-li.

The account of Xuanzang's journey wasn't known to modern Chinese, other than through the fictionalised account of the popular story and television series, The Monkey King.

That's how Sun Shuyun first encountered him. But eventually, studying in Oxford, Sun Shuyun discovered the untold story of Xuanzang and it revealed a world of Buddhism she didn't know before.

Her journey begins in Xian in Western China. The north western provinces of China today are home to a great number of Chinese Muslims. View our Picture Gallery.

From Xian, Sun Shuyun retraces Xuanzang's steps to the border town of Dun-huang.

In 1907 explorers discovered a vast treasure of ancient scrolls some of which were Christian. Dating from the 7th Century, the Jesus Sutras are Chinese accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. Read the story first broadcast on The Ark of how the ancient town of Dun-huang in north west China was home to Christian priests who brought their traditions there in the 7th century.

After Dun-huang, she sets out along the Silk Road, a collection of routes snaking across Eurasia from the first millennium BCE through to the middle of the second millennium AD. Get an overview of the rich history of trade and cultural exchange along the Silk Road.

The ancient Silk Road stretched from Japan to ancient Rome. View the present-day countries lining the Silk Road, and see some of the pathways that travellers once journeyed along.

Xuanzang's journey took him to Bodhgaya in India where the Buddha attained enlightenment

Source

abc.net.au

[[Category:Silk Road]]