Foreign accounts: Part II: Accounts of Fa Hien, Hieun Tsang and I Tsing

Account of Fa Hien (Faxian, 337-422)

• Fa Hien (Faxian), a Chinese Buddhist, was one of the pilgrims who visited India in search of original Buddhist texts, during the reign of Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. selfstudyhistory.com
• He was one of the first Chinese monk to travel to India. In 399, he embarked on his trip from the ancient Chinese capital Chang’an, he was more than 60 years old.
  • By the time he returned 14 years later, he had trekked across the treacherous Taklamakan desert, visited major Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India, traveled to Sri Lanka, and survived a precarious voyage along the sea route back to China
• He stayed in India up to 411 CE. He went on a pilgrimage to Mathura, Kanauj, Kapilvastu, Lumbini, Kushinagar, Vaishali, Pataliputra, Kashi and Rajgriha and made careful observations about the empire’s conditions.
• His account tells us that the procurement of texts related to monastic rules (i.e. Vinaya) was the main purpose of his trip to India.
  • In the third and fourth centuries, a number of important Buddhist texts, including the Lotus Sutra, had been translated into Chinese.
  • Although a few Vinaya texts were available to Faxian, the growing Buddhist community in China was aware of the paucity of these texts essential for the establishment and proper functioning of monastic institutions.

• His travelogues (A Record of Buddhist Kingdom) give a fine impression about Chandra Gupta’s empire. The various aspects of his empire. i.e. political, religious, social and economic, were clearly reflected in his writings.

Social condition:

• Fahien noted the peacefulness of India, the rarity of serious crime, and the mildness of the administration. He stated that it was possible to travel from one end to another in the country without molestation, and without passports.
  • Hiuen Tsang had said he had been robbed twice which implies there were law and order problem during Harsha period.
• In his remarks on social custom he stated that all respectable persons were vegetarians, meat eating being confined to low castes and untouchables. Most citizens did not consume onions, garlic, meat, and wine.
  • Hiuen Tsang was also aware of the four classes and had mentioned many mixed classes, but he shows no clear knowledge of the existence of caste in its modern form. Yuan Chwang had mentioned both about vegetarian and non vegetarian.
• According to Fahien, the Shudras were kept outside the town and entered the town by making a noise with a stick. They were butchers, hunters, and fishermen.
  • Hiuen Tsang had also described this.

Religious condition:

• Fa Hien wanted to highlight Buddhist practices at the sites he visited. Thus his account includes the description of local Buddhist monasteries, the approximate number of Buddhist monks in the region, the teachings and rituals practiced by them, and the Buddhist legends associated with some of these sites.
  • Near Taxila, for instance, he points out that this was the site where Buddha in one of his previous birth had offered his body to a starving tigress.
  • He describes the conception of Buddha at Kapilvastu, his birth in a garden in Lumbini, and attainment of nirvana at Kapilvastu.
• He found Buddhism still flourishing, but theistic Hinduism was very widespread. His record shows that in place of the old sacrificial Brahminism, Hinduism has appeared.
  • But in the best days of the Gupta Empire Indian culture reached a perfection which it was never to attain again.
  • Humanitarian ideas, probably encouraged by Buddhism, were effective in Gupta period in moderating the fierce punishments of earlier days.
• Fahien stated that the death penalty was not imposed in north India, but most crime was punished by fines and only serious revolt by the amputation of one hand. Executions were rare.
  • Hiuen Tsang, 200 years later. reported that prisoners were not executed under Harsha. but were left to rot in dungeons. Punishments were rather mild as compared to the later times.
• He had given a detailed description of the Buddhist pilgrimages.
  • According to him, the Buddhist religion was divided into Mahayana and Hinayana.
  • He saw twenty Buddha vihars in Mathura. But in Kapilavastu, Gaya and Kushinagar the condition was deteriorating which indicated the weakening of Buddhism.
• In the description of Fahien, it is not clear whether Brahmin religion was prevalent in the country or not. He visited two vihars near the stupa of an Ashoka in Patliputra- in one of them the Mahayana monks resided and in the other the Hinyana monks. The ruler of Madhya Pradesh was a worshipper of Vishnu.
• According to F Hien, mutual relation was cordial and peaceful among the Hindus and the Buddhists. This indicates the religious tolerance of the society.
  • Hiuen Tsang had also described the religious conditions of India at that time. The Buddhist religion was clearly declining. Despite of this, hundreds of monks resided in the country.
• The veneration of the body of Buddha is also detailed in Fa Hien’s narrative. In Peshawar, for instance, he witnessed the rituals associated with the worship of the Buddha’s alms-bowl. In Sri Lanka, he describes the elaborate ceremony overseen by the local ruler to venerate the Buddha’s tooth.
  • These records of relic veneration contributed to the development of similar ceremonies in China.
  • They also triggered a demand for the bodily remains and other objects associated with the life of Buddha. The demand of Buddhist relics and ritual items in China resulted in the formation of a unique network through which Buddhist doctrines and ritual items circulated between South and East Asia.
  • This network also fostered a relationship of mutual benefit for Buddhist monks and itinerant traders. Buddhist monasteries provided accommodation and health care to the long distance traders, many of whom reciprocated by giving donations to the monastic communities.
• Fahien had mentioned about the Jainism, Shaiv and Vaishnav also. But there is no mention of the Jain religion in Hiuen Tsang’s texts.

Economic condition:

• From Fa Hien’s accounts, the Gupta Empire was a prosperous period, until the Rome-China trade axis was broken with the fall of the Han dynasty, the Guptas’ did indeed prosper.
• Fahien states that the income of the government was mainly based on the revenue taxes which were one-sixth of the total production. There was absence of poll-tax and land tax.
• Faxian wrote. “The people were rich and prosperous and seemed to emulate each other in the practice of virtue. Charitable institutions were numerous and rest houses for travelers were provided on the highway. The capital possessed an excellent hospital.” Fahien had made special note of free hospitals maintained by the donations of pious citizens.
• Government officials were given fixed income and there was no contribution from the people. Donation was prevalent in those times. Fahien had made special note of free hospitals maintained by the donations of pious citizens.
  • Hiuen Tsang had also reported that Nalanda was supported by the revenues of an enormous estate of one hundred villages, and by the alms of many patrons, including the great Harsha himself; it provided free training for no less than 10,000 students, who had a large staff to wait on them.
• Fahien was enamored by Patliputra and the huge palace of Ashoka.
  • According to Hiuen Tsang, Patliputra was not a main city of north India and its place was taken by Kannauj. Hiuen Tsang had mentioned about the social and economic conditions. He reported about varna system and marriage. Fahien had not described all this. But both of them had stated that the economy was based on agriculture.
• In 408, he traveled on a mercantile ship from the port of Tamralipti, in eastern India, to Sri Lanka. After 2 years of stay at the island, Faxian again boarded a seagoing vessel to return to China through Southeast Asia.
  • Faxian’s narrative of his voyage on the mercantile vessels demonstrates the relationship between Buddhist monks and itinerant traders as well as the existence of maritime trading channels linking the coastal regions of India and China.
  • It is also evident from his account that maritime travel between Southern Asia and China was perilous and the navigational techniques extremely rudimentary.

Political condition:

• As his main interest was religion, Fa-hien did not record anything specifically about the political condition of India. He did not mention even the name of Chandra Gupta II in whose dominion he must have lived for more than five years.
• But his account for other aspects of society does implies that the administration of the Guptas was benevolent and successful and the rulers not only maintained peace and security within the empire but also looked after the welfare of their subjects.
  • Hiuen Tsang had glorified Harsha, he said Harsha was a great King and he had a great army.

Criticisms of Faxian’s account

• Fahien, in comparison to Hiuen Tsang, had not been so observant and informative with regard to social, economic and political conditions of the society. Hiuen Tsang had completely described the period of king Harshavardhana but Fa Hien did not mention name of Chandragupta Vikramaditya.
• Faxian presented an idealized picture of Indian society, happy and content people enjoying life of peace and prosperity.
• Faxian’s account contains very few descriptions of lives of ordinary people and these tend to be rather idealized. He focused mainly on Buddhist monasteries, Buddhist practices, Buddhist pilgrimage sites etc.
• Descriptions given by him like no corporal punishment, no theft, no sale of liquor, vegetarianism etc are not supported by other contemporary sources and need to be refuted.
• Faxian came to India as a Buddhist adherent and wanted to present India as an ideal to Chinese people, so, he did not display descriptive and analytical approach.

He was 77 years old when he reached the Chinese coast. His “A Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms” was the first eyewitness account of the Buddhist practices and pilgrimage sites in Central and South Asia written in Chinese. Daozheng, one of the Chinese monks who accompanied Faxian, was so moved by the Buddhist sites and monastic institutions in India that he decided not to return to China

Account of Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang)

• Xuanzang’s work, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, (Si-yu-ki’) is the longest and most detailed account of the countries of Central and South Asia. It was written in 646 under the Emperor’s request.
• By the time he embarked on his trip to India in 627, monastic institutions and Buddhist doctrines had taken deep roots in China.
  • Almost all basic Buddhist texts had been translated into Chinese. Indigenous works explaining the teachings of the Buddha within the context of existing Daoist and Confucian ideas were being produced in large numbers and Chinese schools of Buddhism had started emerging.
  • The influence of Buddhism extended from the mortuary beliefs and artistic traditions of the Chinese to the political sphere.
  • Additionally, China was becoming an important center for Buddhist learning outside Southern Asia, from where the doctrines were transmitted to Korea, Japan and other neighbouring countries.
• One of the main reasons to visit India was to visit its sacred Buddhist sites.
  • Dissatisfied with the translations of Indian Buddhist texts available in China, he also wanted to procure original works and learn the doctrines directly from Indian teachers.
    • He says: “Though the Buddha was born in the West, his Dharma has spread to the East. In the course of translation, mistakes may have crept into the texts, and idioms may have been misapplied. When words are wrong, the meaning is lost, and when a phrase is mistaken, the doctrine becomes distorted.“
  • The success of his mission is evident not only from the 657 Buddhist texts he bought back with him, but also the quality of translation he undertook.
• He set out on his pilgrimage without formal authorization from the Tang court. His illegal departure from China may have been one of the reasons why he deliberately sought audience with important foreign rulers in Central and South Asia.
  • He may have thought that the support from these rulers would make his travels in foreign lands and his ultimate return to China free of bureaucratic intrusions.
  • Alternatively, perhaps, he wanted Chinese Emperor, the principal audience of his work, to appreciate the personal and intimate contact he made with powerful rulers in Central and South Asia.
  • His account thus provides rare insight into the political, diplomatic and religious activities undertaken by contemporary rulers in Central and South Asia.
• Like Faxian, he takes note of the Indic influences on Central Asian kingdoms. He reports, for example, that the people of Yanqi (Agni), Kuchi (Kucha), and Khotan used modified versions of Indic script.
• Also similar to Faxian, he narrates, although in more detail, the Buddhist legends and miracles associated with the sites he visited and the Buddhist relics he saw.
• In addition, the perilous nature of long-distance travel between India and China experienced by Faxian is also evident in the work of Hieun Tsang.
• The most noteworthy aspects of his account are the general discussions of India presented in fascicle two of The Records of the Western Regions and the details of the his interaction with the Indian ruler Harshavardhana in fascicle five.
• He begins fascicle two with a discussion of the names for India appearing in various Chinese records.
  • He concludes by stating that the correct Chinese term for India should be Yindu, a name that is still in use in China.
  • Next he explains the geography and climate, the measurement system and the concept of time in India He then provides a glimpse of urban life and architecture and narrates in details the existing caste system, the educational requirements for the Brahmins, the teachings of Buddhist doctrines, legal and economic practices, social and cultural norms, and eating habits of the natives, and lists the natural and manufactured products of India.
  • Then he gives a detailed account of the kingdoms and towns he visited in India, including, in fascicle five, the city of Kannauj, the capital of Harshavardhana. He reached the city in 637.
  • As with the other sections of his work, he begins the fascicle with a general description of Kanauj and a narration of the legend associated with its founding. He notes virtues, valor and sympathy for the Buddhist doctrines of the reigning king Harshavardhana.
  • Meeting between him and Harsha resulted in the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kanauj and Tang court.
    • The contribution of the Chinese pilgrim to the initiation of official exchanges is fully acknowledged by the official scribes of the Tang dynasty.
    • After returning to Tang China, Hieun Tsang continued to play a key role in promoting Buddhist and diplomatic exchanges between the two courts.
    • His motivation to promote such relations may have been related to the fact that the major Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India and the learning centre at Nalanda were part of Harsha’s empire.
    • He might have believed that a cordial relation between the two courts would facilitate Buddhist exchanges between Tang China and northern India.
  • In a conversation between his Indian hosts at Nalanda monastery just after he decided to return to Tang China, he was reminded of the peripheral position of China in regards to the Buddhist world in India. One of the monks at Nalanda enquired: “Why do you wish to leave after having come here? China is a border country where common people are slighted and the Dharma despised. As the people are narrow-minded, with deep moral impurity, saints and sages do not go there. The climate is cols and the land is full of dangerous mountains. What is there for you to be nostalgic about?”
    • Hieun Tsang replied:” The king of Dharma (i.e. Buddha) has founded his teachings and it is proper for us to propagate them. How can we forget about those who are not yet enlightened? He also argued that China was a civilised land with laws, principled officials, and cultured people.
    • Such dialogues between him and Indians make the account of his travel unique for the study of cross-cultural perspectives.
      • It not only offers the views on India and the Indian society of the Chinese pilgrim, it also provides rare glimpses into the Indian perception and knowledge of China, seldom available in contemporary Indian sources.
      • His account is also exceptional because of his meticulous records of Buddhist sites such as Bamiyan and Nalanda.
      • These notices have already aided the work of modern archaeologists and historians.
• His version of the Heart Sutra is the basis for all Chinese commentaries on the sutra, and recitations throughout China, Korea, and Japan.

Travel of Hiuen Tsang:

• He crossed the desert of Gobi, visited several places in Central Asia like Kashagar, Samarkand and Balkha and reached Afghanistan.
  • He met and found worshippers of the Sun, a large number of Buddhist monks and followers, Stupas and monasteries at different places.
• From Afghanistan he reached Taxila via Peshawar.
  • In Taxila, a Mahayana Buddhist kingdom that was a vassal of Kashmir, he found 5,000 more Buddhist monks in 100 monasteries.
• From Taxila, he went to Kashmir and then visited several places in India like Mathura, Kannauj, Sravasti, Ayodhya, Kapilvastu, Kusinagara, Sarnath, Vaisali, Pataliputra, Rajagraha, Bodha-Gaya and Nalanda.
• He went to Kashmir in 631, met a talented monk Samghayasas and studied there. Xuanzang writes about the Fourth Buddhist council that took place nearby, 100 AD, under the order of King Kanishka of Kushana.
  • He visited Chiniot and Lahore as well and provided the earliest writings available on the ancient cities.
• In 634, he went east to Jalandhar in eastern Punjab, before climbing up to visit predominantly non-Mahayana monasteries in the Kulu valley and turning southward again to Bairat and then Mathura, on the Yamuna river.
  • Mathura had 2,000 monks of both major Buddhist branches, despite being Hindu-dominated.
• He also visited Govishan present day Kashipur in the Harsha era, in 636, Xuanzang encountered 100 monasteries of 10,000 monks (both Mahayana and non-Mahayana), and was impressed by the king’s patronage of both scholarship and Buddhism.
  • Xuanzang spent time in the city studying early Buddhist scriptures, before setting off eastward again for Ayodhya (Saketa), homeland of the Yogacara school. Xuanzang now moved south to Kausambi (Kosam), where he had a copy made from an important local image of the Buddha.
• Xuanzang now returned northward to Sravasti, travelled through Terai in the southern part of modern Nepal (here he found deserted Buddhist monasteries) and thence to Kapilavastu, his last stop before Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.
• In 637, Xuanzang set out from Lumbini to Kusinagara, the site of Buddha’s death, before heading southwest to the deer park at Sarnath where Buddha gave his first sermon, and where Xuanzang found 1,500 resident monks.
  • Travelling eastward, at first via Varanasi, Xuanzang reached Vaisali, Pataliputra (Patna) and Bodh Gaya.
• He was then accompanied by local monks to Nalanda, the great Indian university, where he spent at least the next two years.
  • He was in the company of several thousand scholar-monks, whom he praised.
  • Xuanzang studied logic, grammar, Sanskrit, and the Yogacara school of Buddhism during his time at Nalanda.
• He, then, proceeded to Bengal and visited South India as well, as far as Kanchi.
• Xuanzang travelled through several countries, including Pundranagara, to the capital of Pundravardhana, identified with modern Mahasthangarh, in Bangladesh.
  • There Xuanzang found 20 monasteries with over 3,000 monks studying both the Hinayana and the Mahayana.
• After crossing the Karatoya river, he went east to the ancient city of Pragjyotishpura in the kingdom of Kamarupa at the invitation of its king Kumar Bhaskar Varman and spent three months in the region. He gives detailed account about culture and people of Kamrup.
  • Later, the king escorted Xuanzang back to the Kannauj at the request of king Harshavardhana, who was an ally of Kumar Bhaskar Varman, to attend a great Buddhist council there which was attended by both of the kings. Hiuen Tsang presided over that assembly.
  • He also participated in one of the religious assemblies called by Harsha at Prayag after that.
  • He described Harsha as a perfect devotee of Buddha.
• The facts and conditions of Indian education and culture had considerably changed since Fa-Hien’s time.
  • Hiuen Tsang testifies to the ascendancy of Brahmanism as a result of the impetus given to it by the official support of the Gupta emperors.
  • He also noticed the growth and extension of the Mahayana schools of Buddhism. Thus, at every centre of Buddhism he observed not merely the Mahayana and Hinayana monks living either in the same or independent monasteries, but also numerous Deva-temples and Brahmanical seats.
• Xuanzang turned southward and travelled to Andhradesa to visit the Viharas at Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda. He stayed at Amaravati and studied ‘Abhidhammapitakam’.
  • He observed that there were many Viharas at Amaravati and some of them were deserted.
  • He later proceeded to Kanchi, the imperial capital of Pallavas and a strong centre of Buddhism.

Religious condition:

• He described that Brahamanism, Buddhism and Jainism were all popular religions in India.
• There was complete tolerance among people of all religious faiths and people changed their religions voluntarily.
• He agreed that Hinduism was more widely popular in India at that time as compared to Buddhism.
  • He says: “The ascendancy of Brahmanism in his time is demonstrated by the fact that the general name for India was “country of the Brahmans. Among the various castes and clans of the country, the Brahmins were purest and in most esteem”.
  • The predominance of Brahmanism is further evident from the fact that Sanskrit became at that time the language of the cultured classes in which even wrote all the most famous Buddhist teachers.
• Though he did not write that Buddhism was on decline, yet, his description of cities indicates that Buddhism was, certainly, on decline and Brahamanism was progressing.
• Hiuen Tsang gave description of religious assemblies also which were organised by Emperor Harsha at Prayag (Allahabad) and Kannauj.

Political condition:

• The country embraced under the term India is generally spoken of as the Five Indies.
  • On three sides it is bordered by the great seas; on the north it is backed by the Snowy Mountains.
  • The northern part is broad, the southern part is narrow. Its shape is like the half-moon.
  • The entire land is divided into more than seventy countries.
  • The seasons are particularly hot; the land is well watered and moist.
  • On the north there is a series of mountains and hills, the ground being dry and salt.
  • On the east there are valleys and plains, which are fruitful and productive, as they are well watered and cultivated.
  • In the southern part there is an abundance of herbs and trees; in the western part the land is barren and stony.
• The throne of the reigning sovereign is exceedingly high and broad, and it is set with pearls and precious gems, covered with extremely fine drapery; it is called the lion-throne (Sanskrit simhasana).
  • The ordinary officials carve their seats in various ways and decorate them beautifully according to their taste.
• Hiuen Tsang praised emperor Harsha and his administration very much.
  • He described him as a laborious king who travelled far and wide and contacted his subjects personally to look after their welfare and supervise his administration.
  • Hiuen Tsang described that Harsha divided his income into four parts.
    • One part of it was spent on administrative routine of the state;
    • the second part of it was distributed among government employees;
    • the third of it was given to scholars; and
    • the fourth part of it was given in charity to Brahamanas and the Buddhist monks (religious bodies)
  • He described that the kingdom was well-governed; it was- free from revolts; there were a few cases of law-breaking.
    • The law of the state is sometimes violated by base persons, and plots are made against the ruler. The offenders are imprisoned for life.
    • There is no infliction of corporal punishment; they are simply left to live or die, and are not counted among men.
    • When the rules of propriety or justice are violated, or when a man fails in loyalty or filial piety, they cut off his nose or his ears, or his hands and feet, or expel him from the country, or drive him out into the desert wilds.
    • For other faults, except these, a small payment of money will commute the punishment.
    • In questioning an accused person, if he replies with frankness, the punishment is proportioned accordingly; but if the accused obstinately denies his fault, or in spite of it attempts to excuse himself, then in searching out the truth to the bottom, when it is necessary to pass sentence, there are four kinds of ordeal used – ordeal by water, by fire, by weighing, and by poison.
  • The burden of taxation was not heavy on the subjects; they were free from the oppression of the government servants and were, thus, happy. The state used to record its every activity.
  • He, however, described that travelling was not very much safe at that time.
• As the administration of the government is founded on benign principles, the executive is simple.
  • The families are not entered on registers, and the people are not subject to forced labour contribution.
  • In this way the taxes on the people are light, and the personal service required of them is moderate.
  • Each one keeps his hereditary occupation as he pleases and attends to his patrimony.
• Hiuen Tsang wrote that the army of Harsha consisted of 60,000 war-elephants, 50,000 strong cavalry chariots and a 1,00,000 strong infantry.
  • The chief soldiers of the country are selected from the bravest of the people, and as the sons follow the profession of their fathers, they soon acquire a knowledge of the art of war.
  • Some of weapons are – spears, shields, bows, arrows, swords, sabres, battle-axes, lances, halberds, long javelins, and various kinds of slings.
  • The military guard the frontiers, or go out to punish the refractory. They also mount guard at night round the palace.
  • The soldiers are levied according to the requirements of the service; they are promised certain payments and are publicly enrolled.
  • The governors, ministers, magistrates, and officials have each a portion of land consigned to them for their personal support.
• His record of the places visited by him in Bengal — mainly Raktamrittika near Karnasuvarna, Pundranagara and its environs, Samatata, Tamralipti and Harikela— have been very helpful in the recording of the archaeological history of Bengal.
  • His account has also shed light on the history of 7th century Bengal, especially the Gauda kingdom under Shashanka, although at times he can be quite partisan.

Economic condition:

• Hiuen Tsang described India as a rich and prosperous country.
• The towns and villages of India have gates; the surrounding walls are broad and high; the streets and lanes are narrow and crooked.
  • The thoroughfares are dirty and the stalls are arranged on both sides of the road with appropriate signs.
  • Butchers, fishermen, actors, executioners, scavengers, and so on, have their dwellings outside of the city.
  • In coming and going, these persons are bound to keep on the left side of the road till they arrive at their homes.
• Houses:
  • As to the construction of houses and the enclosing walls, the land being low and moist, the walls of the towns are mostly built of bricks or tiles, and the enclosures of the houses are matted bamboo or wood.
  • The houses have balconies and belvederes made of wood, as well as flat roofs with a coating of lime, and are covered with burnt or unburnt tiles.
  • The buildings are very high, and in style of construction they are like those in China.
  • Branches or common grasses or tiles or boards are used for covering them.
  • The walls are covered with lime, the floor is smeared with cow’s dung as means of purity, and it is strewn with flowers of the season. In such matters they differ from us.
  • Many Samgharamas (Buddhist monasteries) are constructed with extraordinary skill.
• Hiuen Tsang described the city-life of India.
  • The information we gather from his account is that the houses were of varied types and were constructed with wood, bricks and dung.
  • The city-streets were circular and dirty.
  • Many old cities were in ruins while new cities had grown up.
  • Prayag was an important city while the importance of Pataliputra was replaced by Kannauj.
  • Sravasti and Kapilvastu had lost their religious importance.
  • Instead, Nalanda and Valabhi were the centres of Buddhist learning.
  • Hiuen Tsang described Kannauj as a beautiful city.
• Hiuen Tsang gave a long list of Indian fruits and agricultural products.
  • Some fruits like date, the chestnut and the persimmon were are not known in India.
  • The pear, the wild plum, the peach, the apricot, the grape, and the like have all been brought from Kashmir.
  • The climate and the quality of the soil being diverse, the produce of the land varies in its character.
  • Among the products of the ground, rice and wheat are most plentiful. With respect to edible herbs and vegetables, we may name ginger and mustard, melons and pumpkins etc.
    • Onions and garlic are little grown, and few persons eat them; if any one uses them, they are expelled beyond the walls of the town.
    • The most usual food is milk, butter, cream, soft sugar, sugar-candy, the oil of the mustard-seed, and likewise all sorts of cakes made of corn.
    • Fish, mutton, the flesh of the gazelle, and venison they eat generally fresh, sometimes salted; they are forbidden to eat the flesh of the ox, the ass, the elephant, the horse, the pig, the dog, the fox, the wolf, the lion, the monkey, and all the hairy kind.
      • Those who eat them are despised and scorned, and are universally reprobated; they live outside the walls and are seldom seen among men.
    • With respect to the different kinds of wine and beverages, there are distinctions in usage. Wines from the grape and the sugar-cane are used by the Kshatriyas as drink; the Vaisyas take strong fermented drinks; the Sramanas and Brahmans drink a sort of syrup made from the grape or the sugar-cane, but not of the nature of fermented wine.
    • The mixed classes and low born (Sudras) differ in no way (as to food or drink) from the rest, except in respect of the vessels they use, which are very different both as to value and material.
    • There is no lack of suitable things for household use. Although they have saucepans and stew-pans, yet they do not know the steam-boiler used for cooking rice.
    • Their household utensils are mostly earthenware, few being of brass; they eat from one vessel, mixing all sorts of condiments together, which they take up with their fingers. Generally speaking, spoons and chop-sticks are not used. When sick, however, they use copper spoons.
  • India produced the best cotton, silk and woolen cloth at that time and prepared all sorts of garments from them.
  • He praised very much the quality of Indian pearls and ivory.
• He wrote that India had a brisk trade with foreign countries and there were prosperous city- ports on its sea-coast both in the East and the West.
  • India exported cloth, sandal­wood, medicinal herbs, ivory, pearls, spices etc. to foreign countries and imported gold, silver and horses.
• The main source of income of the state was land-revenue which formed 1/6th of the produce.
  • The river-passages and the road-barriers are open on payment of a small toll for merchants.
  • When the public works require it, labour is exacted but paid for. The payment is in strict proportion to the work done.
• Gold and silver, brass, white jade, and crystals are the natural products of the country, and are very abundant.
  • Rare precious substances of different sorts and various names are collected from the regions bordering upon the sea, and are bartered for merchandise.
  • But in their commercial transactions, gold and silver coins, cowries, and small pearls are the medium of exchange.’

Social condition:

• Dress:
  • He described that Indians used cotton, silk and wool for their garments and these were of varied types.
  • The rich people dressed well, lived in comfortable houses and enjoyed all comforts and amenities of life.
  • People affect pure white garments, but dislike those of mixed colour.
  • The men wind a cloth around the waist, gather it up under the armpits, and let it fall down across the shoulder to the right.
  • The women wear robes reaching to the ground and completely covering the shoulders. They wear a little knot of hair on the crown of the head and let the rest of their hair hang down.
  • The people crown their heads with garlands and wear necklaces on their borders.
  • In North India, where the climate is cold, the people wear short and close-fitting garments. Some wear peacocks’ feathers; some wear as ornaments necklaces made of skull bones; some have no clothing, but go naked; some use grasses or bark to cover their bodies;
  • Some pull out their hair and cut off their moustaches; others have bushy side-whiskers and their hair braided on the top of their heads.
  • The costume of the Shamans (the Buddhist monks) is the three robes. The cut of the three robes is not the same, but depends on the school.
  • Kshatriyas and the Brahmans are plain and simple in their dress, and they live in a homely and frugal way.
  • The king of the country and the chief ministers affect clothing of a good and fashionable style. They adorn their heads with garlands and jewelled caps; they ornament themselves with bracelets and necklaces.
  • Rich merchants and great traders have merely bracelets.
  • Most of the people go barefooted; very few wear sandals. They stain their teeth red or black; they wear their hair cut even and pierce their ears; they have handsome noses and large eyes.
• Food: (already discussed)
• Hindus generally wash themselves before each meal, and they never use that which has been left over (from a former meal), nor do they use their dishes a second time.
  • Pottery or wooden vessels, when used, must be thrown away; vessels of gold, silver, copper, or iron must be rubbed and polished after each meal.
  • After eating they cleanse their teeth with a willow stick, and wash their hands and mouth.
  • Every time they perform the functions of nature, they wash and rub their bodies with perfumes made from sandalwood or turmeric.

  • Before offering their religious worship and paying homage, they wash and bathe themselves.

  • In money matters they are without craft, and in administering justice they are considerate.
  • They dread the retribution of another state of existence and make light of the things of the present world.
  • They are not deceitful or treacherous in their conduct, and are faithful to their oaths and promises.
  • In their behaviour there is much gentleness and sweetness.

    With respect to the ordinary people, although they are naturally quick-tempered, yet they will not take anything wrongly and they yield more than justice requires.

• There are nine methods of showing outward respect: first, by greeting with a kind inquiry; second, by bowing the head reverently; third, by raising the hands with an inclination of the body; fourth, by bowing with the hands folded on the breast; fifth, by bending the knee; sixth, by an obeisance; seventh, by going clown upon the ground on one’s hands and knees; eighth, by going down upon the ground with the knees, elbows, and forehead; ninth, by prostrating oneself upon the earth.
  • Of these nine methods the most respectful is to make one prostration on the ground and then to kneel and laud the virtues of the one addressed.
• Hiuen Tsang wrote that caste-system was rigid.

  • He travelogue provides evidence of untouchability – segregation – existed at that time.

  • There are four castes:
    • The first is called the Brahman, men of pure lives.
      • They adhere to the teachings of the religion, live clean lives, and observe the most correct principles.
    • The second is called Kshatriya, the royal caste.
      • For ages they have been the ruling class: they apply themselves to benevolence and mercy.
    • The third is called Vaisyas, the merchant class; they engage in commercial transactions and seek for profit at home and abroad.
    • The fourth is called Sudra, the agricultural class; they engage in cultivating the soil and occupy themselves with sowing and reaping.
  • These four castes form different classes of various degrees of ceremonial purity.
    • The members of a caste marry within their own caste; the high and the low are kept quite separate.
    • They do not allow promiscuous marriages between relations either on the father’s side or on the mother’s side.
    • A woman once married can never take another husband.
    • Besides these there are mixed castes, a variety of classes formed by different grades of people intermarrying. 

• There was no purdah-system and women were provided education.
• However, the practice of sati prevailed.
• In general, the common people were simple and honest.
  • They used simple garments and avoided meat, onions and liquor in their food and drinks.
  • They observed high morality in their social and personal lives.

Sickness and death:

• Every one who falls sick fasts for seven days.
  • During this interval many recover, but if the sickness lasts they take medicine.
  • The character of these medicines is different, and their names also vary.
  • The doctors differ in their modes of examination and treatment.
• If a person dies, those who attend the funeral raise lamentable cries and weep together.
  • They rend their garments and tear their hair; they strike their heads and beat their breasts.
  • There are no regulations as to dress for mourning, nor any fixed period for observing it.
• There are three methods of paying the last tribute to the dead:
  • first, by cremation – wood being made into a pyre, the body is burnt;
  • second, by water – the body is thrown into a stream to float and fall into dissolution;
  • third, by desertion, in which case the body is cast into some forest-wild to be devoured by beasts.
  • In a house where there has been a death there is no eating allowed; but after the funeral they resume their usual habits.
  • There are no anniversaries (of the death) observed. Those who have attended a funeral are regarded as unclean; they all bathe outside the town and then enter their houses.
• The old and infirm ‘who are approaching death, or those who are suffering from some incurable disease – these persons, after receiving a farewell meal at the hands of their relatives and friends, – they place, amid the sounds of music, on a boat which they propel into the midst of the Ganges, and there these persons drown themselves.
  • They think in this way to secure a birth in Heaven.
• The Buddhist brethren are not allowed to lament or weep for the dead; when the father or mother of a monk dies, they recite prayers, recounting their obligations to them and recalling the past.
  • They expect by this to increase the happiness of the departed.

Condition of education:

• According to him, Indians received education between nine and thirty years of age and, in certain cases, all their lives.
• Mostly the education was religious and was provided orally. Many texts were put in writing and their script was Sanskrit.
• Debates and discussions were the most important means of providing education and also that of establishing superiority over rivals in knowledge.
• The period of studentship was fairly long. He mentions ascetics who consecrated their lives to learning.

• He was highly impressed by the high standard of learning in the Brahmanical system of education, its lofty aim, universal honour paid to the learning by kings and public at large and the untiring endeavour of the teachers and preachers in aiding in the spread of learning and public instruction.

• Many were the centres of Buddhist education and the monks availing themselves of it.
  • In the time of Hiuen Tsang Buddhist thought was represented by a good number of schools, each of which claimed and counted many monasteries specializing in the study of its doctrines and practices.
  • Hiuen Tsang visited a large number of monasteries throughout the country. He has left an exhaustive account of them.
• Primary education at monastery:
  • The monasteries were like colleges to which students were admitted on completion of their preliminary education, of which a separate account is given by Hiuen-Tsang.
  • A child is first introduced to a Siddham or a primer of twelve chapters. After his mastery of the Siddham, he was introduced at the age of seven to the great Sastras of the Five Sciences, viz. Vyakarana, Silpasthanavidya, Chikitsavidya, Hetu-Vidya (Logic), and Adhhyatmavidya (Inner science).
  • It is thus clear that the elements of both secular and religious knowledge, of philosophical and practical subjects, entered into the composition of this elementary course of education.
• Higher education at monastery:
  • As regards the higher education as imparted by the monasteries, the best details are given by Hiuen Tsang in connection with the working of the Nalanda University.
  • The education of the monasteries may be best considered under two aspects, theoretical (concerning curricula and studies) and practical (concerning conduct and discipline).
  • The studies and curricula adopted by a monastery would depend upon the particular sect of Buddhism with which it was connected.
    • As many as eighteen sects of Buddhism are mentioned by Hiuen-Tsang.
    • Each sect had its own special literature bearing upon its characteristic tenets and practices.
    • The marks and monasteries were distributed among the various schools of Buddhist thought at the time of Hiuen-Tsang.
• Monasteries admitting monks of different schools of Buddhism:
  • Sometimes a monastery would accommodate monks of different schools.
  • This demonstrates that the Buddhist monasteries were not run like denominational universities in the narrow spirit of a sectarian exclusiveness.
  • Here taught or studied side by side adherents of opposed and incompatible theories. 
  • In general, the monasteries confined their studies and teachings within the limits of the Buddhist Canon, whether Vinaya, Abhidharma or Sutra, but in some cases these usual limits seem to have been transgressed by the inclusion of some subjects of study not strictly connected with the traditional Buddhist scriptures such as magical invocations, Yoga etc.
• Methods of education:
  • The old Brahmanical division between reciting the texts and understanding their meaning seems to have been still in force.
  • But undoubtedly much greater stress was laid upon the ability to expound the texts in public meetings at a time when much of the intellectual life of the country was occupied with the controversies and discussions between the exponents of the different schools of thought.
  • Accordingly, monastic education devoted special attention to the development in the alumni of their powers of public debate and exposition, which were highly prized and rewarded on the basis of periodical examinations.
• Each community of brethren had its own hierarchy promoted according to a recognized system:
  • Manual or menial work of monks controlled by an officer called “Karmadana”:
    • Like the Brahmacharin in the Brahmanical system of education, much menial work was expected of the Buddhist monks too.
    • The prevailing system was to place the control of the secular affairs of a monastery under an officer selected from the monks, called the Karmadana, whose orders were to be obeyed by all the common monks for all kinds of menial work required. 
  • Spiritual exercises:
    • Above the stage of manual work, there were other practices binding upon the monks for their moral growth which varied with the sects to which they belonged.
  • Penalties:
    • The discipline within the monastery was secured by a system of punishments graded according to the offences committed.
    • When the offence is serious, the punishment was expulsion and excommunication.
  • Worship of images of saints installed in the monasteries:
    • Hiuen Tsang refers to another feature in the religious education of the monks in the practice of their offering worship to the images or pictures of their respective patron saints set up in connection with the monasteries.
• Spread of Education:
  • The total number of monasteries (about 5,000 in Hiuen Tsang’s computation), each of which was a centre of higher education, shows how largely and evenly was such education diffused in the country.
  • The education spread both intensively and extensively.
• Scholars from different parts of India used to meet at assemblies for discussion:
  • The traditions of debates and discussions brought together scholars from distant and different parts of India, promoted active intercourse between different monasteries representing different schools of thought, and created a broad brotherhood of letters in which were united the intellectuals of different provinces.
  • Even notable scholars of the South used to join in many debates and discussion held in Northern monasteries.
  • This phase of intellectual life was encouraged by Harsha at the time of Hiuen-Tsang’s visit.

Return to China

Traveling through the Khyber Pass of the Hindu Kush, Xuanzang passed through Kashgar, Khotan, and Dunhuang on his way back to China. He arrived in the capital, Chang’an, in 645, and a great procession celebrated his return.

He took back many images of Buddha and copies of different Buddhist religious texts. When he reached back China he was received with honour by the Chinese emperor. Then he wrote the description of India at the instance of the Emperor.

He retired to a monastery and devoted his energy in translating Buddhist texts until his death in AD 664. According to his biography, he returned with, “over six hundred Mahayana and Hinayana texts, seven statues of the Buddha and more than a hundred sarira(body) relics.

Limitations of Hiuen Tsang’s account:

• Hiuen Tsang has given such a detailed description of political, social, religious and economic life of India as has not been given by any other Chinese traveller. The description, certainly, helps us in making an assessment of the conditions of India during the reign of emperor Harsha.
• Though his writing is more trustworthy as it was written after he went back to china and thus was too secure to be affected by the reactions his account might produce in India, still, it is affected at some places:
  • by author’s preconceived ideas on the government and administration,
  • his early scholastic training,
  • the code of behavior of his country and
  • His favour for Buddhism.
• Given that Harsha turned out to be a great patron of Buddhism it was normal that Yuan Chiang mainly highlight positive aspects Harsha period.
• Many of his account looks exaggerated:
  • he says that people are not subjected to forced labour, taxes are light, there is no infliction of corporal punishment.
    • However, forced labour (vishti), Various kind of taxes etc were typical features of post-Gupta period society.
  • He also exaggerates by saying that Harsha was indefatigable in the discharge of his administrative routine, forgot sleep and food in his devotion to good work and spent most of the years in making tours of inspection throughout his dominions.
  • He said that during Prayagraj assembly, Harsha gave everything in devotion even his clothes.
  • In spite of Hiuen Tsang’s glorification of law and order and severity of laws and punishments, there was no peace and security within the empire. The Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang himself was looted and deprived of his belongings several times while travelling through the country.
• He tells us that Harsha maintained a huge army. The number of foot soldiers was 5 lakh. The cavalry consisted of one lakh of horsemen. The elephant was roughly 60,000.
  • This was clearly an exaggerated account which is clearer from the fact that Harsha was defeated by Pulakesin II.
  • Further, in quasi-feudal political system of this period, the existence of such a huge standing army is questioned.
• Harsha tolerance to other religion is also questioned:
  • At 1st assembly at Kannauj, he published doctrine of Mahayana. There was attempt on his life probably by his theological rival. In reaction, Harsha killed manny Brahmanas.
  • This event shows the existence of religious conflict.
• Hiuen Tsang claim of Harsha building many stupas is not substantiated archaeologically.
• Therefore, it needs to be corroborated and checked with the help of other contemporary sources.

Account of Yijing (I Tsing):

• Yijing (635–713 CE) was a Tang Chinese Buddhist monk.
  • The written records of his 25-year travels contributed to the world knowledge of the ancient kingdom of Srivijaya, as well as providing information about the other kingdoms lying on the route between China and the Nalanda Buddhist university in India.
  • He was also responsible for the translation of a large number of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese.
• Compared to Faxian and Xuanzang, the work of Yijing attracted limited attention. He embark on his trip to India in 671 and returned in 695.
• Traveling by a Persian boat out of Guangzhou, he arrived in Srivijaya (today’s Palembang of Sumatra) after 22 days, where he spent the next six months learning Sanskrit grammar and Malay language.
• He then arrived at the East coast of India, where he met a senior monk and stayed a year to study Sanskrit.
  • Both later followed a group of merchants and visited 30 other principalities. Halfway to Nalanda, Yijing fell sick and was unable to walk; gradually he was left behind by the group.
  • He was looted by bandits and stripped naked.
• He heard the natives would catch white skins to offer sacrifice to the gods, so he jumped into mud and used leaves to cover his lower body; he walked slowly to Nalanda where he stayed for 11 years.
• In the year 687, Yijing stopped in the kingdom of Srivijaya on his way back to Tang China.
  • At that time,  Srivijaya was a centre of Buddhism where foreign scholars gathered, and Yijing stayed there for two years to translate original Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures into Chinese.
  • In the year 689 he returned to Guangzhou to obtain ink and papers (as Srivijaya then had no paper and ink) and returned again to Srivijaya the same year.
• Before returning to China, he completed and sent to China from Kingdom of Srivijaya two works of immense importance:
  • The Record of Buddhism As Practiced in India
    • It is a detailed account of how Buddhist doctrines and monastic rules were practiced in India.
  • The Memoirs of Eminent Monks (who visited India and Neighboring Regions in Search on the Law during the great  Tang Dynasty).
    • It contains 56 Chinese monks who traveled to India in 7th century.
• By recording the practice of monastic rules of Indian monasteries, Yijing wanted to rectify what he calls the errors in the  applications of the original Buddhist principles in China.
  • He describes 40 practices at Indian monasteries ranging from cleaning after meals to regulations for ordination and compares them to the procedures in China.
  • He underscores consequences of not following the original intent of the monastic rules.
• On other occasion he recommends compromise due to cultural differences between Indian and China. (like Indians eat by right hand but Chinese use chop-sticks)
• In Yijing’s Memoirs of Eminent Monks, he reveals that despite the perilous nature of the journey, Buddhist monks from China visited India frequently during seventh Century.
  • Some came overland through Central Asia and Tibet to India.
  • Others, similar to Yijing, took the maritime routes via Southeast Asian port.
  • Some returned back and some stayed in India.
• These biographies are short accounts of pilgrimages of Chinese monks who have left no records of their trip to India.
  • In the biography of Xuanzhao, Yijing gives his genealogy and narrates his experience learning the Buddhist doctrine, the long journey he took to India through Tibet, the education he received at Indian monasteries and his return to China through Nepal and Tibet.
  • Shortly after reaching China, Xuanzhao was ordered by Tang Emperor Gaozong to return to India to procure for him longitude drugs and physicians.
  • Yijing reports that Xuanzhao accomplished his objective but died before he could return to China.

These pilgrims (Faxian, Xuanzang, Yijing etc), by returning with Buddhist texts, relics, and other paraphernalia, tried to recreate in China an Indic world where followers could perform pilgrimages without embarking on the arduous journey to India and at the same time dispel their feeling of borderland complex.

Through their narratives, they sought to provide the followers of the Buddhist doctrine in China an opportunity to envision the sites and events in the life of the Buddha that they considered sacred.