To the five-day-old land, spread the annotations of the scripture journey record

Author: (Tang) Huichao, (Tang) Du Huan (original authors), Zhang Yi, Zhang Yichun (annotators)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-04-01
Features: Huichao traveled to India to seek Buddhist teachings during the Tang Dynasty and wrote Journey to the Five Regions of India upon his return. This book records the conditions of the countries he passed through and serves as important material for studying Central Asia and India in the 8th century. The entire work is lost, with only fragments surviving in Dunhuang manuscripts. Scholars from both China and abroad have conducted extensive research, and the annotators have absorbed the strengths of various studies, added their own insights, and provided detailed discussions on historical matters. Jing Xing Ji (Record of a Journey along the Silk Road) was written by Du Huan, who was captured by the army of the Islamic empire during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty. He traveled through various regions in Central and Western Asia before returning to China and wrote this book to record his observations in the countries he visited, making it one of the earliest Chinese accounts of the Islamic world. The original text is lost, but it has been compiled from Tongdian (Comprehensive Treatise on the World) with detailed annotations.