玄奘
玄奘（公元602年—公元664年），姓陈名祎，唐朝高僧，河南洛州（今河南省洛阳市）人，中国汉传佛教四大佛经翻译家之一，中国汉传佛教唯识宗创始人。
玄奘从小学习各种佛法，因为感到各师所说不一，各种经典也不尽相同，于是决定西行求法，以解迷惑。公元629年，玄奘从长安出发，历经千难万险，后入天竺，诚心求学问贤，于公元645年携佛经佛像等抵达故土。公元648年，大慈恩寺落成，玄奘被任命为该寺的首任住持。在此后的十几年时间里，玄奘专心致志地翻译那些他从天竺带回的佛经。直至去世前，玄奘和他的弟子们一共翻译佛经75部1335卷，计1300万言。其所译经籍对丰富中国宗教文化作出了巨大贡献，并为古印度佛教保存了珍贵的典籍。此外，玄奘还将其在西域和印度的亲历见闻撰写成《大唐西域记》，为研究中国西北地区及印度、尼泊尔、中亚等地民间传说、文学与文化提供了重要材料。以玄奘西行为蓝本创作的著名古典小说《西游记》，被列为中国古代四大名著之一。
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (602-664), whose name is Chen Yi, is an eminent monk from Luozhou (present-day Luoyang, Henan Province) of the Tang Dynasty. He is one of the four great translators of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese language, and he founded the Weishi sect of Chinese Buddhism.
Xuanzang learned Buddhist scriptures at an early age. Bewildered by the discrepancies in different versions of scripture texts, he decided to travel to India in search of authentic Buddhist sutras. He set out from Chang'an, the capital city, in 629 and, after enduring tremendous difficulties and hardships, arrived in Tianzhu (present-day India) to study from Buddhist sages. In 645, Xuanzang came back to China with a large number of Buddhist scriptures and statues.
In 648, he was appointed the first abbot of the newly built Daci'en Temple (Temple of Mercy and Kindness), where he spent more than 10 years translating the scriptures he brought back. Before he passed away, Xuanzang and his disciples had translated 75 scriptures running to 1,335 rolls, totalling 13 million words, not only preserving precious classics for ancient Indian Buddhism, but also greatly enriching the religious culture in China.
Xuanzang recorded his experiences in the Western Regions and India in a travelogue titled Da Tang Xi Yu Ji (Great Tang Records on the Western Regions), which provides important references for the study of the folklore, literature, and culture in northwest China, India, Nepal, and Central Asia. The famous novel Xi You Ji (Journey to the West), authored by Wu Cheng'en (c. 1500-c. 1582), is based on Xuanzang's personal experiences and regarded as one of the four great classic novels of Chinese literature.
