Throughout the ages there have been journeys by various peoples and groups that have become significant points in history, one of which I recently became aware of in the city in China where I presently live. It, too, has become a memorial in the religious life of the Chinese people.

My town, Xi'an, used to be known anciently as Chang'an. It was the capital of the Tang dynasty during the period 618-907 A.D.—one of the four ancient capitals of China. At the time it was the most populous city in the world, and it still is one of the largest cities in China. From Chang'an, the Emperors of the Tang dynasty ruled over 50 million people covering most of the area of present-day China.

The Tang dynasty is regarded by many as the highpoint in Chinese culture, indeed the high point in Chinese civilization. The arts were alive in the Tang court, and some of China 's greatest poetry came from the Tang period. The citizens of Xi'an today are inordinately proud of the Tang dynasty as attested to by the amount of statuary in city parks depicting Tang era figures.

The Tang court was rich with the emperors and their ladies draped in silks and jewels. It was the eastern terminus of the fabled Silk Road along which passed the riches of the Orient on their way to the Occidental world.

While silks and spices flowed west, the Buddhist religion was flowing west into China brought by Buddhist monks from India about 2000 years ago. Over the next several centuries, Buddhism took root in China along side Confucianism and Taoism, many of whose beliefs it incorporated.

Chang'an became a Buddhist center of learning where scholars met to pore over what Buddhist texts existed at the time in either Sanskrit or Chinese. One of these scholars was a brilliant young monk known as Xuan Zang. During his studies he became concerned about the incompleteness and misinterpretations of the Buddhist texts. He resolved to travel to India to find these texts in their original form, and thus began a journey that has become an epic in Chinese history and culture.

In 628 A.D. Master Xuan Zang walked westward along the Silk Road and journeyed through what is present-day Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan before turning east through Pakistan into northern India. The journey took several years and was filled with many hazards and dangers. He climbed over snow-covered mountains and crossed burning deserts. On more than one occasion he was accosted by robbers and threatened with his life. He was often saved by miraculous means.

At each stop along the way he was welcomed at temples and monasteries and spent time, sometimes years, in scholarly exchanges with learned masters from the various branches of Buddhism. And he collected scriptures as he went. After more than a dozen years it was time to return over the same torturous path. By 645 A.D. he was back in Chang'an after a 17-year absence. On the day of his arrival, the imperial court held a great ceremony for him. The procession consisted of over 1500 decorated chariots with another 500 used to escort incoming and outgoing eminent monks. The columns of the temple were wrapped in special cloth embroidered with gold thread. People from high-ranking officials to common people burned incense and strewed flower petals along his path.

And then the real work began. Xuan Zang had brought with him 657 volumes of Sanskrit texts. With the Emperor's support he set up a translation center in Chang'an, and at the Da Ci'en Temple he spent many of the years of his life translating these Buddhists sutras—altogether a total of 1335 fascicles.

He also gave an oral account of his travels based on what he had seen in 110 cities and 28 countries and regions. His disciples turned this into a 12-volume epic titled, “Travel in the Western Regions.” A thousand years later this journey was fictionalized in an equally long account called, “Journey to the West,” one of the four great classic novel of Chinese Literature.

Much of Xuan Zang's translation work occurred in and around what is known today as the Da Ci'en Temple, a beautifully maintained, picturesque Buddhist temple and monastery complex that is a fitting memorial to Xuan Zang.

Before his death in 664 A.D., Xuan Zang petitioned the Tang court to build a pagoda in which to house the scriptures he had brought back from India.

What is known today as the Wild Goose Pagoda still stands although it has been rebuilt numerous times over the years. It is a unique structure with a rammed-earth core faced by bricks with no mortar. Though it may seem fragile, it has withstood both earthquake and war over the centuries.

And in front of the temple in a public square stands a large statue of Xuan Zang seemingly still guarding the scriptures he worked so hard to obtain and translate. On weekends families gather on the square to enjoy the out-of-doors and children play at the foot of the statue. On windy days, dozens of kites can be seen overhead. It seems a fitting way to honor Xuan Zang and his journey.