Biography of the Tripitaka Master of Ta-tz'u-en-ssu Temple
Biography of the Tripitaka Master of Ta-tz'u-en-ssu Temple, The
大慈恩寺三蔵法師伝 (Chin Ta-tz’u-en-ssu-san-tsang-fa-shih-chuan; Jpn Daijion-ji-sanzo-hosshi-den )
A ten-volume biography of Hsüan-tsang (602-664), the patriarch of Ta-tz'u-en-ssu temple, completed in 688. It was written by Hui-li (b. 615) and revised by Yen-ts'ung. According to another account, the first five volumes are attributed to Hui-li, and the latter five volumes, to Yen-ts'ung. Its full title is The Biography of the Tripitaka Master of Ta-tz'u-en-ssu Temple of the Great T'ang Dynasty. The first five volumes contain the record of Hsüan-tsang's travels in Central Asia and India. The latter five recount his translation of Buddhist scriptures and the lectures he gave after his return to Ch'ang-an in China in 645. Together with The Record of the Western Regions by Hsüan-tsang himself, this work is valued as an important reference in the study of Central Asia and India of that period.
