Tang Sanzang
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Xuanzang (Chinese: 玄奘; pinyin: Xuánzàng; Wade–Giles: Hsüan-tsang) is a central character in the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. The character is based on the historical Buddhist monk Xuanzang.
He is mainly referred to as Tang Sanzang (Chinese: 唐三藏; pinyin: Táng Sānzàng; Wade–Giles: Tang San-tsang) in the novel. The title Sanzang (literally: "three collections") refers to his mission to seek the Sanzangjing (simplified Chinese: 三藏经; traditional Chinese: 三藏經; pinyin: Sānzàngjīng), or the "Three Collections of (Buddhist) Scriptures". In some English translations of Journey to the West, the title is rendered as Tripitaka (Sanskrit: Tripiṭaka; Devanagari: त्रिपिटक), which is the original Sanskrit term for the Sanzangjing. He is also widely known as Tang Seng (Chinese: 唐僧; pinyin: Táng Sēng; lit. 'Tang monk'), which is a courtesy name that, like the former name (Tang Sanzang), reflects his status as an oath brother of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.
Character
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.
Historical background
Xuanzang is modeled 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 contrast to the real Xuanzang, who was a wise and learned scholar (he was in his late 20s when he left for India), Xuanzang is presented as a young boy monk who is extremely naive, showing idealistic compassion without wisdom. Xuanzang is usually quick to fall for the facades of demons who have disguised themselves as innocent humans, whereas Sun Wukong can see through them with his magic powers (specifically a special sort of eyesight that sees through the said disguises). This frequently leads to tension when Sun Wukong attacks and kills apparently innocent humans when the demon has in fact simply abandoned the corpse and run away. One such popular instance was when the White Bone Demon (白骨夫人, Chinese: Bai Gu Fu Ren) disguised three times as family members—first, a young woman. After Wukong "killed" the woman, the demon escaped, but Wukong was punished by Xuanzang for it. The second was the young woman's elderly mother, looking for her daughter. The third was the young woman's elderly father, searching for his wife and child. Upon the "death" of the father by Wukong's hands, Wukong finally killed the demon before she got away. Xuanzang, convinced that Wukong had actually killed three family members, sent him away, despite protests. Xuanzang usually punishes him by chanting the words of the headache spell (緊箍咒) given to Xuanzang by Guanyin to control Wukong, which causes the latter's headband to contract and give him acute headaches.
As Sun Wukong is often worshiped as a protector god, so is Xuanzang. Also, Ksitigarbha, a bodhisattva in Buddhism, is occasionally mistaken for Xuanzang due to the fact that Ksitigarbha is often portrayed like Xuanzang, with the robes, crown and staff of a monk.