Re-traveling the path of Tang Monk to obtain Buddhist scriptures—following Xuanzang’s footsteps to explore the people’s sentiments in the Western Regions

More than 1,000 years ago, an ordinary monk from the Tang Dynasty traveled through deserts, turned over the Tianshan Mountains, and traveled through Central Asia. He traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other countries for 19 years, and wrote "The Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty". Leaving behind immeasurable morals... More than 1,000 years later, our reporter has traveled a total of 40,000 kilometers in a few years, becoming one of the few people in China who has almost traveled the footprints of Xuanzang's journey to the west. What he saw and heard along the way There are actually some twists and novelties in "Journey to the West".

The first time a reporter had the opportunity to follow Xuanzang’s footsteps in person was in 1999, because he participated in a United Nations event and had the opportunity to inspect along the Prairie Silk Road. In ancient times, the Silk Road was divided into two parts: land and sea. The land Silk Road was divided by historians based on geographical characteristics into the desert Silk Road east of the Pamir Plateau and the grassland Silk Road west of the Pamir Plateau. road. The specific route of the inspection team at that time was to fly from Moscow to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, and then make three zigzags in Central Asia, covering the route Xuanzang walked.

From a cultural perspective, the significance of the Overland Silk Road far exceeds that of the Maritime Silk Road. Because this commercial artery not only connected the Han Empire, Kushan Empire, Parthian Empire and Roman Empire in the core area of ??human culture, but also connected Nestorianism in Rome, Buddhism in India, Islam in Arabia, Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism in Persia. The most complete cultural connection. However, starting from 300 AD, the Silk Road had begun to decline. By the beginning of the 7th century AD when Xuanzang passed through here, the Silk Road was already in a bleak state and had lost its former glory.

Although the area we are traveling in is called the Prairie Silk Road, its landscape is actually dominated by desert surrounded by oases. Looking from afar, there is white snow on the high mountains. Below the white snow is green, and what emerges from the depths of green is yellow. The steaming heat in the distance is like a wrinkled plastic sheet under the influence of light, hanging in the desolate sun, and the human figures become small specks of mud on it. Thinking back to Xuanzang's hurried figure in the desert, I was filled with emotion.

I remember that the Ci’en Temple in Xi’an preserved the stone carvings of Xuanzang’s Buddhist scriptures: Xuanzang was wearing a monk’s uniform, with Buddhist beads hanging on his chest, and he looked like an emperor and a saint. He was wearing straw sandals, with clothes in a small package around his waist. He held a scripture in his left hand and a whisk in his right hand. He carried a scripture box on his back. The round cover on the top of the book box was an umbrella, and a small oil lamp hung in front of the umbrella. This is probably the scene when Xuanzang was reading scriptures on the roadside at night on his way to seek scriptures. The author of stone carvings from the Song Dynasty does not seem to have much travel experience. In the middle of nowhere, it is impossible for a person to read and walk at the same time.

The most rare thing in the desert is an oasis. Whenever we visit such a place, we will deliberately stop to see the lives of the descendants of the ancient caravans. The local distinguished elders will welcome us with bread and salt, which is a legacy of the Silk Road. They live a quiet and simple life here. The surrounding desert limits the development of the local economy, and these people basically maintain the living habits of 100 years ago. They brought out the best food to entertain us. Each person could get two slices of cucumber, three slices of tomatoes and a bowl of naan soaked in mutton soup. An elder here told me that his ancestors were mainly engaged in long-distance trafficking. When they walked here from Hami, China, it was said that a plague appeared in another oasis. They did not dare to go forward and settled here.

Xuanzang’s journey was really difficult. But compared to other monks who went to India to seek Buddhist scriptures, he was much luckier. There were many Chinese monks who were determined to go westward, but except for Faxian, Xuanzang, Yijing and a few others, the rest died of cold and starvation or were killed by thieves on the way. Therefore, every time I gaze at the image of Xuanzang, the reporter always feels that it is the accumulation of countless images of ancient Chinese monks.

After Xuanzang trekked through the uninhabited 800-mile desert and crossed the Lingshan Mountains, he must have looked back at the Tianshan Mountains, because here it was really "a dangerous journey and a fierce cold wind." In "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty", Xuanzang not only outlined its geographical location, but also accurately described it as "hundreds of cliffs, steep valleys, constant accumulation of ice and snow, and strong cold winds." The reporter had the opportunity to overlook the magnificent scenery of the Tianshan Mountains and the Pamir Plateau from the air.

Since there are many Soviet military bases on the west side of the Tianshan Mountains, the reporter’s helicopter can only fly over the Tianshan Mountains quickly and fly close to the cliffs. However, it is still very beautiful to overlook the "roof of the world" - the Pamir Plateau. Gives people a shocking feeling. This is a "knot" formed by the intersection of Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains and Hindu Kush Mountains. The huge energy deep in the rock formations offsets each other here, forming a gentle mountain range at an altitude of 4,200 meters. From the helicopter, you can see the clear stream in the ravine, surrounded by green grass and dotted with small yellow flowers. An unknown animal seemed to smell something at this time and nimbly ducked behind the rock. The local guide said it was a snow leopard, which lives at altitudes between 1,800 and 5,500 meters. The guide said that there are also legendary "snowman" activities in the Pamir Plateau area.

Beyond the Pamir is Central Asia. Central Asia's neighbors are all centers of ancient civilizations, so this place has become a collision and intersection of different civilizations, an eternal crossroads.

If you look at history, you will find that each dynasty in the early history of Central Asia was like a short-lived tornado, self-centered and arrogant for a while, and finally collapsed in the desert without exception. It was not until Islam entered Central Asia in the 7th century AD that Central Asia gradually gained its own identity and character.

Xuanzang seemed to be in a hurry when he passed by here, and he didn't pay much attention to the two ancient cities standing here - Bukhara and Samarkand. However, when Xuanzang entered the Western Regions, China and the Western Regions had already had exchanges for at least eight centuries. From Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan, we often hear local people talking about two animals, one is the Chinese silkworm, and the other is the horse from the Western Regions. When we visited the Komosol Horse Farm in Turkmenistan, the owner talked with great interest about how the Chinese emperor loved their "Pegasus". The Pegasus in his mouth is indeed extraordinary, elegant and noble, with chestnut hair as soft and bright as satin. However, when a reporter asked whether this kind of horse was the sweaty horse described in ancient Chinese books, the owner of the racecourse said that he had only seen a horse with sweaty blood on its shoulders once in his life, but the horse died soon after.

Among the places Xuanzang passed through, Bamiyan has become the most famous in recent years. Sadly, it is linked to a cultural disaster that shocked the world. The reporter set foot on the land of Bamiyan in 2002. The United States used force against the Taliban, which prompted the reporter's trip to Afghanistan. From the plane, Afghanistan looks like rolling, desolate hills, dotted with oases filled with honeycomb-like adobe houses. The river flows out of an oasis, emitting only a wave of light before evaporating into the sand and stones, leaving the trees in the distance waiting.

After Xuanzang entered Afghanistan from Central Asia, his walking speed slowed down significantly. He felt that Buddhism at that time was already in decline. He often lamented: "Although there are many garlands, there are few monks"; The sky is lonely and there are no monks at all.” However, Bamiyan, which has more than 6,000 large and small grottoes on the cliffs, and six huge Buddha statues in the grotto group, still gave Xuanzang a great surprise. In his writing, the giant Buddha was brilliant with "golden light and resplendent jewelery". But by the time the reporter visited here, the Bamiyan Buddha statues were in a desolate state. Inside the cave were the remains of the Buddha statues. The gravel and loess scattered outside the cave should be the "corpse" of the Buddha. A few pieces of plastic sheeting covered it with the words "UNESCO Protected" on it. There are empty seats in the Buddhist niches in nearby halls. The grotto on the mountain wall is a place for Buddhist believers to practice, and now more than 600 Afghan refugees live here.

Xuanzang continued westward from Afghanistan and entered today's Pakistan and India. In these two places, he visited many Buddhist centers, including Buddhist holy sites in Pakistan, Taxila where the level of Buddhist statues has reached its highest level, and Sarnath and Bodh Gaya in India. In May 2000, the reporter had the honor to visit these places. After becoming a correspondent in India, I visited them one after another, but the one that left the deepest impression among them, and one that must be mentioned, was the destination of Xuanzang’s journey to the west, the place in the west where he obtained the scriptures - the Nalanda Temple in India.

It was 630 AD when Xuanzang arrived at Nalanda Temple. At that time, Nalanda Temple was the largest temple in India and the center of world Buddhism. "There were often tens of thousands of monks and guests." In the 5th century AD, King Gupta built a Buddhist academy here, which not only taught the scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism, but also taught Brahmanical and Vedic literature, philosophy, astronomy and other subjects. When Xuanzang arrived, it was the time when Nalanda Temple had the richest collection of books. Xuanzang read and became familiar with various scriptures here. But he was still not satisfied. He left Nalanda Temple and traveled around various countries in India for six years. Finally, he returned to the temple and became a visiting professor, preaching to the monks in the temple "The Theory of Mahayana", "The Theory of Consciousness-Only Choice", etc. classic.

It is said that at that time, a Brahmin who relied on his talent and learned knowledge actually challenged Nalanda Temple, claiming that no one in the temple could refute his views. In order to safeguard the Buddhist status of Nalanda Temple, Xuanzang stepped forward and argued with the Brahmin. After a while, the Brahmin bowed his head and admitted defeat. The Tianzhu people who were watching saw that the Chinese monk with a short nose and small eyes could speak fluent Sanskrit, and they immediately admired him. By the time Xuanzang casually quoted him, he was so impressed that Xuanzang became famous. The Qunv City Buddhist Debate in 642 AD brought Xuanzang greater honors, but he declined invitations from various countries and resolutely set out to return home with 675 Buddhist scriptures.

Various religious doctrines have been discussed in Nalanda Temple for 800 years. However, the Muslim army came. In 1197 AD, after a period of burning, killing and looting, Nalanda Temple, the ideological home of Buddhism, was destroyed. Oblivion and oblivion. It was not until 1861 that people rediscovered this site with the help of "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty". Today, this once magnificent Buddhist building is a piece of dilapidated rubble and is protected by the Indian Archaeological Inspectorate. However, there is an introduction next to almost every site here, introducing when Xuanzang came here and what activities he engaged in here. Although the words are short, they express the infinite gratitude of the Indian people to Xuanzang, a pioneer in Sino-Indian cultural exchanges and the author of the most important historical document of Indian Buddhism - "The Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty".

The basic route of Xuanzang's trip: In 627 AD, Xuanzang set out from Chang'an, crossed Yumen Pass secretly, passed through Yiwu (today's Hami, Xinjiang), traveled west along the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and passed through the Agni Kingdom (today's Yanqi, Xinjiang). ), Quzhi State (today's Kuqa, Xinjiang), and Balukjia State (today's Aksu, Xinjiang), crossed the Lingshan Mountains (today's Shanmusul Ridge), and came to Suiye City (today's southwest of Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan). Afterwards, it passed through Sajiangjianguo (today's east of Samarkand), crossed the Iron Gate (today's Buzgara Pass in southern Uzbekistan) to Tocharo (today's northern Afghanistan), and then went south from there, passing through the Snowy Mountains (today's Xingxing). Kush Mountains), came to the Vanyana Kingdom (today's Bamiyan, Afghanistan), traveled east to the Gandhara Kingdom (today's Peshawar, Pakistan), and entered India. In the spring of 643 AD, Xuanzang traveled north via present-day Pakistan, passed through Afghanistan, crossed the Pamir Plateau, and returned to Chang'an along the southern line of the Tarim Basin.

Western cowboys get together once a year

One man tames a wild horse and jumps over a calf

Chen Te'an

Known as " Calgary, an important town in western Canada known as the "Cow City", is bordered by the Rocky Mountains to the west and the prairie to the east. Since 1912, cowboys from western Canada and the United States have held rodeos here every year. Calgary's rodeo has a strong local atmosphere and many competitions. It is called "the largest rodeo in the world."

The Calgary Stampede is held on the Friday of the first week of July every year and lasts for 10 days. Early in the morning, almost all locals and foreign tourists were wearing cowboy hats, jeans clothes and cowboy boots. After enjoying the free breakfast, people flocked to watch the opening parade of the Stampede.

At 8 a.m., the streets near the parade route were filled with people on both sides of the street. In some areas, multi-level stands have been set up. Among the waiting crowd, many people were wearing blankets or sitting on quilts or sleeping bags. It turned out that they had come from the suburbs or other places to watch the parade the night before. Calgary's summer has a large temperature difference between morning and evening, with the temperature at night as low as about 9 degrees Celsius. This does not affect people's enthusiasm for participating in the Stampede at all.

At 9:30, the parade officially started. The 4.5-kilometer-long parade was protected by police cars at the front and rear. Among the nearly 100 parade formations, there were Canadians and indigenous residents representing British, French, American, German, Italian, Korean, Arab and other ethnic groups. The performance of the sheepdogs driving the sheep in the parade is particularly eye-catching. I saw the shepherd dog lying down on the ground, and the sheep immediately stopped. The shepherd dog jumped up and ran, and the sheep immediately followed.

There are also cleaning vehicles in the shape of horse heads in the parade. They are lined up in the middle and at the end of the parade. Cleaning staff drove horse-drawn carts to clean up horse manure and other garbage on the road in a timely manner. After the two-hour march ended, hundreds of thousands of people dispersed, leaving no garbage on the streets.

Stampede Park in west Calgary is the most attractive place in the Stampede. This is not only a place for teenagers to have fun, cultivate their adventurous spirit and seek excitement, it is also a place for cowboys to show their bravery and wisdom. I saw a young cowboy being hooked and hung dozens of meters high in the air. Suddenly, the hook came loose and the cowboy fell from the sky. The onlookers immediately screamed. He landed safely in the net very close to the ground and excitedly gave a thumbs up to the onlookers.

In the saddle-shaped Saddledom Stadium, among the participating cowboys there are many heroic little riders around the age of 10. The performances at the racecourse are thrilling. The winners of the competition receive huge prizes. Although tickets are expensive, the most exclusive seats cost 33 Canadian dollars (1 Canadian dollar = 5 yuan). At a glance, all the seats in the stands were packed with people.

In horse racing shows, cowboys ride on the backs of wild, ferocious and violent horses or cattle, and they are thrown forward and backward. An unruly horse or cow will always try to throw the cowboy off his back. The participating cowboys have to use their arms, waist and legs to adapt to the rhythm of the horse or cow's jumping and firmly hold the reins. To win, the cowboy must stay on the back of a big bull for 8 seconds and be able to safely escape the attack of the angry bull after being thrown off; or when riding, the spurs must always be clamped on the horse's body, and the cowboy's hands must not touch the horse's body. . In the competition of catching a calf with bare hands, a cowboy riding a horse and galloping towards the running calf within a certain distance, grasping the horn of the calf with quick eyes and hands, using all his strength, twists the calf's neck. , the cowboy and the calf both fell to the ground.

The horse-drawn carriage race attracted many spectators. Four horses pulled a cart on the racecourse. The audience participated and cheered for the carriage. People shouted at the top of their lungs: "Run! Run!" Because there were too many galloping horses, some horses knocked each other down while fighting for the way, and the scene was really lively.

Cowboys are pioneer heroes in people’s hearts, full of youth and vitality. They are hard-working, courageous, determined, rugged and promote individuality. The clothing worn by cowboys has now become an important part of the world's popular culture. According to Brand Hencha, head of the Calgary Stampede News Center, the purpose of holding large-scale rodeos is to protect and promote local historical heritage, respect and inherit cowboy culture, and promote cowboy spirit. At the same time, this also adds vitality to the development of agriculture, trade, culture, entertainment, sports and education in western Canada.

Figures provided by the person in charge show that this year’s Stampede created 3,500 jobs in Calgary, attracted more than 1.2 million tourists, and generated a net income of 140 million Canadian dollars.