Talk:Xuanzang
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[edit] South India
Xuanzang travelled as far as Kanchipuram in South India. He visited the famous stupas and monasteries at Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda. The article is silent about these visits. Can it be added?
[edit] Title
Why is his name written as Xuan Zang and not Xuanzang (currently just a redirect)? The one-word version is two or three times more popular (Google), and it doesn't mislead ppl into thinking that Xuan is his surname or Zang is. --Menchi 11:42 29 Jun 2003 (UTC)
- Err, I usually write it Xuanzang too .. can't be bothered looking at the history atm but i think maybe someone else came and moved it, or I moved it at some point. The book on which I based the article had the space, so if I was the originator that could have been why. OK to move it if you like!
- --prat
[edit] Year of Birth
Some sources give 599, others 600. Here it is 602. Do we have any authority here? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kdammers (talk • contribs) 10 July 2005.
- As it is, it's even contradicting; the article states "Xuanzang [...] (602-644/664) [...] was born near Luoyang, Henan in 599". There's obviously something wrong here. If there isn't any proof on the date we should just write "born between 599 and 602, died in 644 or 664". Any thoughts? --Εξαίρετος (msg) 21:19, 31 January 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks John Hill for the reference. --Εξαίρετος (msg) 12:38, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] A map?
To improve the article, a map of the journey would be of great help, I think: the list of cities, mountains and rivers Xuanzang crossed can be confusing, especially to those unfamiliar with the geography of the area. The article describes in depth his journey, so I guess someone with good skills could draw a map useful enough. --Εξαίρετος (msg) 12:38, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Why has this article been given a "low importance" rating?
What possible justification can be given for rating this article of "low importance" (i.e. "Subject is peripheral knowledge, possibly trivial"?) See the "WikiProject China" box above and click on "show" to see what this rating and how it compares to other, higher, ratings.
Xuanzang is one of world history's most famous travellers and his book of travels and his Biography contain so much historical information on the many countries he travelled through that they are by far the most important documents on this period for many places in Central and South Asia.
Moreover, he was one of the greatest and most prolific translators of Buddhist texts into Chinese and was a major influence on all who followed him, and on the development of Chinese Buddhism in general. He is also important for the influence he had on the development of later Chinese literature notably the enduring and important Ming novel Journey to the West with it's world-famous character, Monkey, based on the life of the great pilgrim himself.
Please, I strongly urge that the "importance rating" of this article be considerably upgraded.
Sincerely, John Hill 02:57, 21 February 2007 (UTC)
- The importance ratings are necessarily subjective. To improve their validity, discussion is encouraged. I suggest you bring up your points at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject China and see what others think. --Ideogram 04:52, 21 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] India or South Asia?
A certain user is now encouraging an edit war so I ask for the opinions of other users. Xuanzang visited a lot of different states, all of them having names like Ghandara, Multan, Nepal, Swat Valley etc, so what is the significance of calling this region in the context of British "India"? The region in question is Afghanistan, Pakistan, North India and Nepal. I propose editing the heading from India to South Asia as it would make more sense. The region was not called "India" at the time, but consisted of 100s of smaller Kingdoms. It is misleading to use the term "India" as a substitute for South Asia. There seems to be a Nationalist intent. --Xinjao (talk) 12:29, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
- I don't think there is any "Nationalist intent" at all. I think it's simply that all of these places were part of the historical region of India. The Indian subcontinent, perhaps. I'll admit I'm not really sure, but I am assuming good faith and guessing that the user means that Xuanzang visited the area that generally formed part of Indian empires (whenever an emperor actually united the whole country by force). Or, more likely, the geographical landmass that is called "India" (i.e. the tectonic plate that has moved further northward than any other, if I recall correctly). --Kuaichik (talk) 21:25, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
- I agree - I think in early historical terms it is fine to refer to "India" as the name of the subcontinent or the region generally. This term was historically reasonably free of political overtones as the subcontinent was never really united until most of it was absorbed into the British empire. Unfortunately, now, due to the separation of Pakistan and Bangladesh the name is assumed to have political overtones and a more restricted geographic application - however, I don't think this should be a problem for anything much before 1947. Cheers, John Hill (talk) 23:35, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Name
Is it worth mentioning the following? One of the characters forming his name was part of the personal name of a Chinese emperor, so became taboo on his accession. As a result, many documents were rewritten, replacing this character by another. This accounts for some of the variant spellings. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I read this. Peter jackson (talk) 10:32, 19 June 2008 (UTC)
- I don't see why not. Maybe you can put it in (I guess it would go in the "Nomenclature and etymology" section, yes?) and include a "citation needed" tag? :-D --Kuaichik (talk) 04:03, 17 July 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Proposed merger with article titled Hieun-Tsang
I don't think there should be any doubt at all that the two articles should be merged as they deal with the same person. Hieun-Tsang is just an old way of romanising Xuanzang and should have no part in the Wikipedia (except for a redirect to Xuanzang). My feeling is that the sooner the two articles are merged the better. Will be happy to give a hand doing this if needed. Cheers, John Hill (talk) 22:29, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
- "Hieun-Tsang" really might approximate an archaic pronunciation, closer to the way he might have said his own name. Maybe. However, I certainly agree that the article should be title "Xuanzang" and that other article should be merged here.—Nat Krause(Talk!·What have I done?) 03:20, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Proposed Merger
~ I totally agree with John Hill that the articles should be merged - and also agree on the importance of the subject. A major source. What is the process for making a decision like this?
As a relatively new editor, I have merged minor articles that were flagged for clean-up a couple of times (redirecting one to the merged one) when they clearly covered exactly the same topic. Maybe I broke the rules? Aymatth2 (talk) 04:07, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
- Veryveryveryverylate Support the proposed merge. Hopefully there will be some way to start work soon... IceUnshattered [ t ] 00:59, 10 November 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Theravada, Hinayana
The article repeatedly states that Xuanzang studied "Theravada" or went to "Theravada" monasteries. At this time Theravada did not exist in the areas he visited. I think that it was originally "Hinayana" and someone changed it to not offend anyone.
Actually, it would be better to just say "non-Mahayana." Any objections to changing it to this? Mitsube (talk) 05:30, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
Good point. "Early Buddhist schools" works. Done. Bertport (talk) 13:14, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
