The second section of Xuanzang’s record is systematic a Tang’s spy’s dispatch or the probing of a white indologist: Below are its subsections:
- The names of India
- The general geographical situation
- Measures of distance
- Measures of time
- Settlements and residences
- Outer appearance, clothes, and adornment
- Hygiene and purity
- The writing system
- Official documents
- General education and knowledge
- The four Vedas
- Teachers and scholars
- Buddhist learning and Buddhist institutions
- The caste system
- The military system
- The legal system
- Etiquette and behavior
- Illness and medical care
- Death and funerary customs
- Administration and taxation
- Agriculture and products
- Food and drinks
- Utensils and tools for preparing and eating food
- Precious items and money
- Climate
-translation from the Chinese by the sinologist Max Deeg.