Historical background
It is a true thing in history that Tang Priest learned from the scriptures. About 1,3 years ago, in the first year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong (627), Xuanzang, a 25-year-old young monk, left Chang 'an, the capital, and went to Tianzhu (India) to study alone. After his departure from Chang 'an, he passed through Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
When I was in Gao Changguo, the residents there admired Buddhism very much. The king was very happy to see that they were monks from the Tang Dynasty, and he was willing to make them national protection wizards, plus a hundred taels of gold and a thousand horses. Disciple wavered and finally stayed in Gao Changguo, while Xuanzang sneaked out and fled to the west. Only to be stopped by Gao Changguo soldiers. I didn't expect them to come to escort Xuanzang Xi to learn from the scriptures. The soldier gave Xuanzang a white horse and some documents. Xuanzang was grateful. He made several obeisances to the palace and rode west.
Xuanzang went through difficulties and obstacles and finally arrived in India. He studied there for more than two years, and gave a lecture at a large-scale debate on Buddhist classics, which was praised.
In the 19th year of Zhenguan (645), Xuanzang returned to Chang 'an, bringing back 657 Buddhist scriptures. He traveled to Wan Li for 19 years before and after this Buddhist pilgrimage, which was a legendary long March and made a sensation. Later, Xuanzang dictated his travels to the west, which was compiled into 12 volumes of "Records of the Western Regions of Datang" by his disciples. But this book mainly tells the history, geography and transportation of countries seen on the road, and there is no story. As for "Datang The biography of Master Sanzang" written by his disciples Hui Li and Yan Cong, it added a lot of myth to Xuanzang's experience. Since then, the story of Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures has been widely circulated among the people. In the Southern Song Dynasty, there were Poems on the Three Monks in the Tang Dynasty, Tang Sanzang and Pan Taohui in the Jin Dynasty, Tang Sanzang's Buddhist Scriptures in the Western Heaven by Wu Changling, and the Great Sage by Wu Ming-shi, all of which laid the foundation for The Journey to the West's creation.
It is also on the basis of folklore, scripts and operas that Wu Cheng'en completed this great literary masterpiece that the Chinese nation is proud of through hard re-creation.
When Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty went to India to study Buddhism, it took him 17 years to retrieve more than 6 Buddhist scriptures, reaching the realm of "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance". "Westbound" is a superficial symbol, and it is more important to cultivate one's morality and cultivate one's mind. When one thinks of benevolence, one becomes a bodhisattva. When a thought is evil, it becomes a demon. Disaster is illusory, and the evil thoughts in the heart are visualized.