Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Pearce - Recording the West.pdf (809.4 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Recording the West: Central Asia in Xuanzang’s Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions

Pearce, Laura Elizabeth, Pearce
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1515139237769597

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, East Asian Studies.
In 626 C.E., the Buddhist monk Xuanzang left the Tang Empire for India in a quest to deepen his religious understanding. In order to reach India, and in order to return, Xuanzang journeyed through areas in what is now called Central Asia. After he came home to China in 645 C.E., his work included writing an account of the countries he had visited: The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions (Da Tang Xi You). The book is not a narrative travelogue, but rather presented as a collection of facts about the various countries he visited. Nevertheless, the Record is full of moral judgments, both stated and implied. Xuanzang’s judgment was frequently connected both to his Buddhist beliefs and a conviction that China represented the pinnacle of culture and good governance. Xuanzang’s portrayal of Central Asia at a crucial time when the Tang Empire was expanding westward is both inclusive and marginalizing, shaped by the overall framing of Central Asia in the Record and by the selection of local legends from individual nations. The tension in the Record between Buddhist concerns and secular political ones, and between an inclusive worldview and one centered on certain locations, creates an approach to Central Asia unlike that of many similar sources. The influence of the Record and Xuanzang as a figure continued far after its publication and his death, but the unique approach to Central Asia would be lost in later works. An understanding of how Central Asia was conceptualized in the Record and related works is crucial in understanding the history of Chinese thought regarding Central Asia, an issue which remains relevant today.
Morgan Liu, Dr. (Advisor)
Ying Zhang, Dr. (Committee Member)
Mark Bender, Dr. (Committee Member)
58 p.
Asian Literature; Asian Studies; History; Medieval History
Xuanzang, China, Central Asia, Tang Dynasty, Buddhism, legends, Great Tang Dynasty of the Western Regions, Da Tang Xiyu Ji, medieval China, Chinese-Central Asian relations

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pearce, Pearce, L. E. (2018). Recording the West: Central Asia in Xuanzang’s Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1515139237769597

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pearce, Pearce, Laura. Recording the West: Central Asia in Xuanzang’s Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions. 2018. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1515139237769597.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pearce, Pearce, Laura. "Recording the West: Central Asia in Xuanzang’s Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1515139237769597

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1515139237769597
4,347
© 2018, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Recording the West: Central Asia in Xuanzang’s Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions by Laura Elizabeth Pearce Pearce is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.