Hsuan Tsang

(605–664) Chinese Buddhist scholar and
translator, whose account of his extended stay in India (629–645) provides one
of the few reliable sources for Indian life
in that period.
Hsuan Tsang’s purpose in coming
to India was to find reliable copies of
the Buddhist scriptures, which had
become severely garbled and corrupted during their transmission to China.
He was a highly learned man and during his stay spent years studying in
Buddhist educational institutions,
particularly the Buddhist university at
Nalanda. He traveled all over northern
India and because of his piety and
learning was honored by the kings he
met, including the Emperor Harsha.
For further information see his Si-yuki: Buddhist Records of the Western
World, Samuel Beal (trans.), 1969.