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Xuanzang

The four heroes of Journey to the West, Xuánzàng on the second from the left, riding on the white horse.

See also: Xuanzang

The fictional character Xuanzang (Chinese: 玄奘; pinyin: Xuánzàng; Wade-Giles: Hsüan-tsang) is a central character of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. For most of the novel he is known as Táng-sānzàng, the title Sānzàng (三藏 "three collections") referring to his mission to seek the Sānzàngjīng, the "Three Collections of (Buddhist) Scriptures". In some English translations, the title is rendered as Tripitaka (tripitaka is the original Sanskrit term for the Sānzàngjīng). He is also commonly referred to as Táng-sēng (唐僧 "Tang-monk"), which is a courtesy name that, like the former name, reflects his status as the adopted "brother" of the Tang emperor, Taizong. As "Tripitaka" he is a leading character in the cult Japanese Television series Monkey.

In the story, he is constantly terrorized by monsters and demons because of a legend that they would obtain immortality by eating the flesh of a holy man. While he is a pacifist who has no fighting ability of his own, he is flanked by his three powerful disciples - Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing - themselves "monsters" who have vowed to protect him on his journey in order to atone for their sins in Heaven; while the heavenly origins of Wukong are up for debate, both Bajie and Wujing (and even the horse on which Xuanzang rides) were once minor deities in Heaven who were cast to Earth for their wrongdoings.

Xuanzang is partly modelled after the historical Tang Dynasty Buddhist monk of the same name, whose life was the book's inspiration; the real Xuanzang made a perilous journey on foot from China to India (and back again) to obtain Buddhist sutras.

In recent years, a mural on the wall of a mountain pass on the way to the China/India border was discovered that is purported to show the real Xuanzang flanked by a small hairy man that some scholars have theorized might have been the inspiration for the character of the Monkey King.

Ksitigarbha, a bodhisattva, is occasionally mistaken for Xuanzang due the fact that Ksitigarbha is often portrayed like Xuanzang, with the robes, crown and staff of a monk.