#Xuan Zang

[the-monkey-ruler]

Back in Ming dynasty, were all characters given some kind of backstory or is that a JTTW thing?

If you mean all the characters in the novel then yes most of the gods and even several demons were already established in Buddhist lore and Chinese folklore long before the novel and they make more cameo appearances within the books. Not all the demons were created before the book but there are certainly inspiration from real mythos in their creation. I do a little backstory for the demons here if you wanna check it out.

As for the main five that is a bit more tricky. Sanzang of course if based on Xuanzang the real-life Tang Monk.

The earliest mentions of Sun Wukong are from The Story of How Tripitaka of the Great Tang Procures the Scriptures in late-13th-century CE so that would be right in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. But of course, you could consider how Wukong is inspired by both Hanuman who rose around the second millennium CE and Wuzhiqi whose tale is around the Tang and Song Dynasty. Different monkeys for sure but he is inspired by these legends in his final creation.

Bajie was really made in the Zaju play early Ming dynasty (14 to 15th-century) where he was shown to be a demon in a similar form and part of the group. However, I had read that his inspiration go as far back as the Jin Dynasty. They say his origin may lie with the story "猪臂金铃" by Gan Bao in Jin Dynasty. Or that he was inspired by He Bo Feng Yi, because the prototype of Feng Yi is a pig. Wu Zimu's "Meng Liang Lu" mentioned that "Tianpeng" was originally a Taoist fairy official. Some people also think that the prototype of Zhu Bajie comes from Indian Buddhist scriptures, as Chen Yinke said. There is a portrait of "Pig Head Bodhisattva" in the Thousand Buddha Caves in Kizil, Xinjiang, excavated in the early Tang Dynasty. He is called "Marizhitian" in Buddhist scriptures.

As for Wujing he was actaully written in Xuanzang's historical biography from the 7th-century as a complacent water spirit. He was an established character even before Bajie and Wukong but receives the least amount of attention sadly enough. Some scholars believe that he might have been inspired from the image of the deep sand god of Esoteric Buddhism from "The Poetry of the Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty" as Shensha. Shensha God exists as an authentic Buddhist god however, in the scriptures translated by Zhu Tanwulan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Shensha and Fuqiu existed as evil spirits, rather than Dharma protectors.

As for Bailong he was created for the novel itself but there is a long history of how heavenly horses and even dragons were before his creation. In the Zaju play Bailong was actually a Fire Dragon Horse. I have to thank @ryin-silverfish for this information that according to 西游故事跨文本研究 Bailong's origin could be traced to a tale about an actual horse in the aforementioned biography of Xuanzang. The unnamed skinny old horse was gifted to Xuanzang by an elderly foreign man, who was an experienced traveler of the western roads. Later, when Xuanzang had lost his way in the desert and was about to die of thirst, the horse took a different road of its own accord and saved the day by bringing him to an oasis. Because the said horse was red in color and why the Dragon Horse was often called a Fire Dragon Horse in later Baojuan and Zaju plays, and this was changed to white because of the keystone imagery in the legends of Buddhism's spread to China "white horse carrying the scriptures" (白马驮经).

Hope that helps!

[dragalialife]

#248: Xuan Zang's Handy Horns

[sketching-shark]

Theirs a Xuan Zang movie from 2016 that is a bit more historically accurate, its on YouTube if you want to check it out

Anon thank you sincerely for letting me know that this movie exists! Of all the Xiyouji retellings I've encountered for free on Youtube this film is now definitely one of my favorites. It is a much more quiet and contemplative presentation of the westward journey than usual (I mean it is entirely focused on Xuanzang through a historical & religious lens rather than on fantastical yaoguai shenanigans asefeaedsf), but I feel like it serves as a pretty good reminder on why this monk chose to undertake such long and perilous journey at all.

In particular this movie gets bonus points from me for noting A)that the Tang emperor actually forbade Xuanzang from attempting the journey before welcoming him back with open arms after it was said and done, and B)making explicit just how much translation had to go into not just Xuanzang's travels and studies, but into making the Indian Buddhist scripture legible for a Chinese audience. I feel like this last point in particular is important, because it really serves as a remind both how difficult (and even dangerous!) it can be to translate a way of thinking from one culture to the next, but also how rewarding such efforts can be.

Anyone interested in this film can watch it for free here:

[thistransient]

日月潭玄奘寺

[trickster-whim]

My Bird Cube/Niao Fang Xuan Zang head got here a couple days back, and I'm so excited! As soon as I saw this head (I think on Dollection; that's where I ended up buying him), I was in love. One thing I love about bjds is the diversity of sculpts; if you want conventionally, magazine attractive, you can find a ton, but there are also a lot of less-common faces you can find, such as people with pretty realistic damage to their faces. I just gotta say, Xuan Zang is just stunningly beautiful.

Of course, just around the time I saw him, I was writing some of my hundreds of DA ocs, including one who has facial scars like this, and I am weak. So I snapped him up immediately to make into Gethon, ex-soldier and current tea-salesman, and waited very impatiently for him to ship.

I wish I had more free cash to get more of these heads because come on. I debated making him a Fallout ghoul because I have no end of ocs, but I already have a few Fallout bjds, and I like Gethon. I'm rambling.

I have a couple 1/3 bjd bodies, and the first one I tried was a 5stardoll Large Boy (I bought it secondhand on resin marketplace, and I don't remember all the deets lol). It's a bit too big, but I kinda like it, aesthetically. It does weigh a million tons though, so when I saw that there was a Doll in Mind Arno on eBay with papers, I bid on that. Currently, my Xuan Zang is mostly-painted (not super well...) on the DiM body, which looks too small because now I'm used to the 5SD. He's also wearing a cut-up Taeyang Cowardly Lion wig, but I don't have a lot of clothes in this size, so I'm going to have to make something. At some point.

I just love this sculpt <3

[nemainofthewater]

Welcome to the 'Best Character with [X] surname' polls!

This is where I take several characters from different Chinese media (mostly cnovels and cdrama) and run a poll on which one is the 'best'. What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

NB: the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often they will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

If you can't find a surname, it's because I couldn't find enough candidates (at least 3 from 3 distinct medias) to compete. Feel free to submit candidates!

I will be posting several polls at a time, so do come back and check this masterpost to remember which polls are ongoing, who the winners are, and who's coming up next!

Finished polls: Xing/Rong/Nan/Ren/Pan/Qu/Fu/Sui/Tan/You/Sima/Xuan/Chang/Xun/Shangguan/Jian/Qian/Shu/Xi/Yuwen/Cai/Sha/Yin/Ceng/Helian/Zeng/Lou/Mi/Ji/Ping/Tong/Tuoba/Ge/Murong/Hei/Niu/Tao/Si/Pang/Zi/Gongsun/Mao/Qing/Lian

Chi/Shan/Tian/Dao/Chao/Xin/Ran/Sang/Cang/Miao/Yao/Zang/Chong/Nangong/Kong/Hai/Deng/Kang/Jun/Chun/Gui/Peng/Gong/Dai/Bao/Bian/Leng/Xian/Kan/Hou/Shao/Kou/Zuo/Lai/Tie/Huan/Min/Xiong/Cen/Dou/Misc

There's only a certain number of hyperlinks that can be added per post, so the rest of the completed polls can now be found here

All the details of the individual polls under the readmore

An - posted 15/03/24 WINNER An Zhe

Bai - posted 28/02/24 WINNER Bai Fengxi

Baili - posted 22/03/24 WINNER Baili Qingmiao

Bao - posted 1/05/24 WINNER Bao Rongxing

Bi - posted 26/03/24 WINNER Bi Changfeng

Bian - posted 1/05/14 WINNER Bian Cheng

Cai - posted 7/04/24 WINNER Cai Quan

Cang - posted 23/04/24 WINNER Cang Jiumin

Cao - posted 8/02/24. WINNER - Cao Weining

Cen - posted 7/05/24 WINNEER Cen Xiao

Ceng - posted 8/04/24 WINNER Ceng Aiyu

Chang - posted 3/04/24 WINNER Chang Geng

Chao - posted 21/04/24 WINNER Chao Zi

Chen - posted 9/02/24 WINNER Chen Qingxu

Cheng - posted 10/03/24 WINNER Cheng Shaoshang

Chi - posted 19/04/24 WINNERS Chi Zhanggui and Chi Xiaochi

Chong - posted 25/04/24 WINNER Chong Ming

Chu - posted 12/03/24 WINNER Chu Wanning

Chun - posted 28/04/24 WINNER Chun Shen

Cui - posted 11/03/24 WINNER Madam Cui

Dai - posted 30/04/24 WINNER Dai Mubai

Dao - posted 20/04/24 WINNER Dao Mingsi

Deng - posted 27/04/24 WINNER Deng Kuan

Di - posted 16/02/24 WINNER Di Feisheng

Ding - posted 7/03/24 WINNER Ding Rong

Dong - posted 21/03/24 WINNER Dong Yi

Dongfang - posted 25/03/24 WINNER Dongfang Qingcang

Dou - posted 7/05/24 WINNER Dou Cheng

Du - posted 26/03/24 WINNER Du Cheng

Duan - posted 23/03/24 WINNER Duan Baiyue

Fan - posted 27/02/24 WINNER Fan Xian

Fang - posted 24/02/24 WINNER Fang Duobing

Fei - posted 20/03/24 WINNER Fei Du

Feng - posted 28/02/24 WINNER 'Other'

Fu - posted 31/03/24 WINNER Fu Yao

Gao - posted 13/02/24 WINNER Gao Xiaolian

Ge - posted 13/04/24 WINNER Ge Chen

Gong - posted 30/04/24 WINNER Gong Yu

Gongsun - posted 17/04/24 WINNER Gongsun Heng

Gu - posted 7/03/24 WINNER Gu Xiang

Guan - posted 17/03/24 WINNER Guan Hemeng

Gui - posted 29/04/24 WINNERS Gui Wen, Gui Yang, Gui Bai and 'Other'

Guo - posted 9/02/24 WINNER Guo Changcheng

Hai - posted 26/04/24 WINNER Hai Lanshi

Han - posted 17/03/24 WINNER Han Ying

Hao - posted 16/03/24 WINNER Hao Du

He - posted 22/03/24 WINNER He Xuan

Hei - posted 14/04/24 WINNER Hei Xiazi

Helian - posted 9/04/24 wINNER Helian Yi

Hong - posted 8/03/24 WINNER Hong Qigong

Hou - posted 3/05/24 WINNER Hou Bin

Hu - posted 6/03/24 WINNER Hu Tianying

Hua - posted 21/02/24 WINNER Hua Cheng

Huan - posted 6/05/24 WINNER Huan Xiaoyan

Huang - posted 20/03/24 WINNER Huang Shaotian

Huo - posted 25/02/24 WINNER Huo Xiuxiu

Ji - posted 11/04/24 WINNER Ji Xue

Jia - posted 18/03/24 WINNER Jia Kui

Jian - posted 4/04/24 WINNER Jian Buzhi

Jiang - posted 12/02/24 WINNER Jiang Cheng

Jiao - posted 27/03/24 WINNER Jiao Liqiao

Jin - posted 29/02/24 WINNER Jin Ling

Jing - posted 14/03/24 WINNER Jing Beiyuan

Jun - posted 28/04/24 WINNER 'Other"

Kan - posted 3/05/24 WINNER Kan Jian

Kang - posted 27/04/24 WINNER 'Other'

Kong - posted 26/04/24 WINNERS Kong Xiu and Alexis Kong

Kou - posted 4/05/24 WINNER Kou Baimen

Lai - posted 5/05/24 WINNER Lai Zhongshu

Lan - posted 23/02/24 WINNER Lan Wangji

Lei - posted 12/03/24 WINNER Lei Wujie

Leng - posted 2/05/24 WINNER Leng Yue

Li - posted 18/02/24 WINNER Li Lianhua

Lian - posted 18/04/24 WINNERS Lian Yufan and Lian Qiao

Liang - posted 13/03/24 WINNER 'Other'

Lin - posted 14/02/24 WINNER Lin Chen

Ling - posted 6/03/24 WINNER Ling Wen

Liu - posted 16/02/24 WINNER Liu Qingge

Long - posted 23/03/24 WINNER Long Zhi

Lou - posted 10/04/24 WINNER Lou Yao

Lu - posted 5/03/24 WINNER Lu Guang

Luo - posted 24/02/24 WINNER Luo Binghe

Ma - posted 13/03/24 WINNER Ma Xiuying

Mao - posted 17/04/24 WINNER Mao Panfeng

Mei - posted 14/02/24 WINNER Mei Changsu

Meng - posted 29/02/24 WINNER Meng Zhi

Mi - posted 10/04/24 WINER Mi Chong

Miao - posted 23/04/24 WINNER Miao Renfeng

Min - posted 6/05/24 WINNER Min Yunzhong

Ming - posted 26/02/24 WINNER Ming Yi

Misc - posted 7/05/24 WINNER Gongyi Xiao

Mo - posted 18/02/24 WINNER Mo Xuanyu

Mu - posted 22/02/24 WINNER Mu Nihuang

Murong - posted 13/04/24 WINNER Other

Nan - posted 29/03/24 WINNER Nan Feng

Nangong - posted 25/04/24 WINNER Nangong Si

Nie - posted 15/03/24 WINNER Nie Huaisang

Ning - posted 19/03/24 WINNER Ning Yingying

Niu - posted 14/04/24 WINNER Niu Chunmiao

Ouyang - posted 5/03/24 WINNER Ouyang Zizhen

Pan - posted 30/03/24 WINNER Pan Zi

Pang - posted 16/04/24 WINNER Pang Yizhi

Pei - posted 20/02/24 WINNER Pei Ming

Peng - posted 29/04/24 wINNER Peng Sanbian

Ping - posted 11/04/24 WINNER Ping An

Qi - posted 22/02/24 WINNER 'Other'

Qian - posted 5/04/24 WINNER Qian Jin

Qiao - posted 10/02/24 WINNER Qiao Wanmian

Qin - posted 16/03/24 WINNER Qin Banruo

Qing - posted 18/04/24 WINNER Qing Ge

Qiu - posted 25/03/24 WINNER Qiu Congxue

Qu - posted 30/03/24 WINNER Qu Lingfeng

Ran - posted 22/04/24 WINNERS Ran Lin and Ran Yun

Ren - posted 29/03/24 WINNER Ren Ruyi

Rong - posted 28/03/24 WINNER Rong Changqing

Ruan - posted 21/03/24 WINNER Ruan Nanzhu

Sang - posted 22/04/24 WINNER Sang Zan

Sha - posted 7/04/24 WINNER Sha Hualing

Shan - posted 19/04/24 WINNER Shan Gudao

Shang - posted 3/03/24 WINNER Shang Qinghua

Shangguan - posted 4/04/24 WINNER Shangguan Qin

Shao - posted 4/05/24 WINNER Shao Lin

Shen - posted 23/02/24 WINNER Shen Wei

Sheng - posted 4/03/24 WINNER Sheng Minglan

Sima - posted 2/04/24 WINNER Sima Yi

Shi - posted 8/03/24 WINNER Shi Qingxuan

Shu - posted 5/04/24 WINNER Shu Yanyan

Si - posted 15/04/24 WINNER Si Yilin

Song - posted 19/02/24 WINNER Song Lan

Su - posted 13/02/24 WINNER Su Zhe

Sun - posted 15/02/24 WINNER Sun Wukong

Sui - posted 31/03/24 WINNER Sui Zhou

Tan - posted 1/04/24 WINNER 'Other'

Tang - posted 12/02/24 WINNER Tang Fan

Tao - posted 15/04/24 WINNER Tao Ran

Tian - posted 20/04/24 WINNER Tian Qi

Tie - posted 5/05/24 WINNERS Tie Yinyi and Tie Miansheng

Tong - posted 12/04/24 WINNER Tong Lu

Tuoba - posted 12/04/24 WINNER Tuoba Yan

Wan - posted 24/03/24 WINNER Consort Wan

Wang - posted 26/02/24 WINNER Wang Pangzi

Wei - posted 8/02/24 WINNER Wei Wuxian

Wen - posted 2/03/24 WINNER Wen Kexing

Wu - posted 15/02/24 WINNER Wu Xie

Xi - posted 6/04/24 WINNER Xi Ping

Xia - posted 11/03/24 WINNER Xia Dong

Xian - posted 2/05/24 WINNERS Xian Ge and Xian Qing

Xiang - posted 19/03/24 WINNER Xiang Liu and Xiang Nanfang

Xiao - posted 20/02/24 WINNER Xiao Jingyan

Xie - posted 21/02/24 WINNER Xie Lian

Xin - posted 21/04/24 WINNER Xin Ziyuan

Xing - posted 28/03/24 WINNER Xing Zhi

Xiong - posted 7/05/24 WINNERS Xiong yipei and Xiong Chumo

Xu - posted 25/02/24 WINNER Xu Da

Xun - posted 3/04/24 WINNER Xun Feizhan

Xuan - posted 2/04/24 WINNER Xuan Shen'an | The Empress

Xue -posted 11/02/24 WINNER Xue Yang

Yan - posted 19/02/24 WINNER Yan Wushi

Yang - posted 3/03/24 WINNER Yang Wuxie

Yao - posted 24/04/24 WINNER Yao Zhen

Ye - posted 10/02/24 WINNER Ye Baiyi

Yi - posted 9/03/24 WINNER Yi Bichen

Yin - posted 8/04/24 WINNER Yin Yu

Ying - posted 17/02/24 WINNER Ying Hecong

You - posted 1/04/24 WINNER You Huo

Yu - posted 11/02/23 WINNER Yu Ziyuan

Yun - posted 1/03/24 WINNER Yun Biqiu

Yuan - posted 27/02/24 WINNER Yuan Boya

Yue - posted 4/03/24 WINNER Yue Qingyuan

Yuwen - posted 6/04/24 WINNER Yuwen Xuan

Zang - posted 24/02/24 WINNER Zang Ming

Zeng - posted 9/04/24 WINNER Zeng Xiangdong

Zhan - posted 10/03/24 WINNER Zhan Yunfei

Zhang - posted 17/02/24 WINNER Zhang Qiling

Zhao - posted 1/03/24 WINNER Zhao Yunlan

Zhen - posted 24/03/24 WINNER Zhen Ping

Zhi - posted 14/03/24 WINNER Zhi Xiu

Zhong - posted 27/03/24 WINNER Zhong Li

Zhou - posted 2/02/24 WINNER Zhou Zishu

Zhu - posted 9/03/24 Winner Zhu Hong

Zhuge - posted 18/03/24 WINNER Zhuge Liang

Zi - posted 16/04/24 WINNER 'Other'

Zuo - posted 5/05/24 WINNER Zuo Ran

[jaudolls]

A much anticipated arrival today! It's a Xuan Zang head from Birdcube. I'd fallen in love seeing pictures even before the preorder, and I'm so glad my partner was able to snatch one for me!

It is such a beautiful sculpt, I'm really in love🥰

I'm not fully sure how to customise him yet, but i do have a precise character in mind (just... One for whom I don't really have a precise design yet, aside from the scarred face)

More photos under cut, including closeup + trying it on various body I have at home

Head alone / with its mask

Body 1: Peakswood 68cm body, normal resin. Not the best colour match, and I'm not fond of how wide the shoulders look

Body 2: resinsoul Yang 70cm body, normal resin. The match is a little off (resinsoul is paler) but it doesn't look bad.

Body 3: telesthesia 69cm female body, normal pink. The colour match is near perfect. The overall look isn't bad I'd say (I'd have put the head on a female body if my initial plan didn't work, so I had to try this)

Body 4: telesthesia 68cm old male body, normal pink. Again, near perfect color match. The proportions are also very good I think. If I weren't determined to be a little weirdo about this, it's the body I'd pick (especially since very few bodies in that scale appeal to me personally)

Body 5: resinsoul Cen 60cm body in tan. And listen. Obviously the resin isn't the right color here. And the head's hole is too big for the neck so I had to put some silicone rings to make this work. But this is probably the body I'll order (in the right color)

Definitely not the body I'd recommend for this head, but I am an idiot and while I'd have compromised if it really didn't work, I also really want this man to be the same size as his boyfriend, who is a resinsoul Qian

[ryin-silverfish]

Chapter 18: What a Swine!

-A few pages into the chapter, and I found the first hook to go on a giant tangent: according to Gao Cai, Gao Village is located in the Kingdom of Qoco. I have no idea why Yu translated it as such, since the original Chinese name——Wusi Zang(乌斯藏, a transliteration of dbus gtsang) sounds nothing like that, but in short, it's the Ming dynasty name for Tibet.

-However, a quick glance at this map would show you that the real Xuanzang didn't cross Tibet during his journey; rather, he went the long way around the Himalayas, travelling on the Central Asian Silk Road. In the Ming dynasty, if you wanna go to India, you could actually take the route through the Himalayas and Nepal, but it wasn't there in the Tang dynasty (because there were a couple of hostile kingdoms in the way; Tuyuhun, Tubo, etc.)

-Sidenote, I absolutely love how JTTW '86 adapted this chapter, with SWK getting his flirt on and the legendary "Pigsy Carrying His Bride" sequence that had made its way into many subsequence adaptations.

-JTTW Research had written pretty comprehensively about Pigsy's origins, from the Daoist deity Marshal Canopy to his ties with Marici, an import deity with a boar mount who's also associated with the Dipper Constellation. As such, I only had one tidbit to add about possible inspirations for his character in folklore that predated the above.

-The earliest tale about a lusty pig demon could be found in the Tang dynasty Xuan Guai Lu(玄怪录). Guo Yuanzhen, a historical general during the reign of Gaozong and Wu Zetian, came across a mansion in his youth during travel. The whole place was lavishly decorated, as if preparing for a wedding banquet, but eeriely empty save for one crying woman.

-Turned out, she was the unwitting soon-to-be bride of a god called "General Wu"(乌将军), who demanded a beauty as his wife every year from the locals, and because they would pay a hefty sum to "buy" said bride, her own father sold her out to be this year's sacrifice. Furious, Guo disguised himself as a guest, pretended to offer General Wu some venison, then cut off his hand with the meat knife.

-Wounded, the General fled, and his severed limb turned into a pig's hoof once the sun came out. Soon, the bride's family and village elders came to the manor, ready to collect her body for the funeral, and were so freaked out by what Guo did that they were ready to sacrifice him to General Wu too, since the "god" was known to summon storm and hails whenever he didn't get his bride.

-Guo scolded them for being so damn guillible because no real gods would demand human sacrifices or, y'know, have pig hooves as hands, before gathering the young men of the villages and following the trail of blood to the pig demon's abode, where they proceeded to smoke it out and kill it with an assortment of arrows and farming tools.

-The woman, after calling out her terrible parents, pledged herself to Guo and became one of his wives, and all was well.

-Honestly, Pigsy's evolution from his folklore origins to JTTW Zaju to JTTW novel seemed to be one in which he became increasingly sympathetic; from basically being a more lusty version of Guanyin's goldfish, to an opportunistic kidnapper who took advantage of a pair of star-crossed lovers' family feud, to an ex-deity turned reformed demon who kinda got screwed over by his in-laws.

-Final note: Pigsy bragged that even if they could get the "Monster-Routing Patriarch" to come down from the Nine Heaven and exorcise him, he could still claim to be an old buddy of the guy. Which…wasn't wrong, considering that "Monster-Routing Patriarch" was the title of Emperor Zhenwu, Lord of the North, who was worshipped alongside Marshal Canopy as one of the Four Saints of the North Pole.

@journeythroughjourneytothewest

[jttwaudiodrama]

Tracing the origin of the monk, the monkey and a horse

To give you an idea of how multi-sourced the story of Journey to the West is, this is a Dun Huang cave painting from the Western Xia Regime (A.D.1038-1227) featuring one of the earliest depictions of Xuan Zang heading west accompanied by a monkey-esque creature and a horse.

Check the link below to see the painting in the actual cave:

It is on the upper left edge of the wall that is left to the entrance of the cave.

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[feng-huli]

Blood of Youth Eunuch Tree

I wasn’t sure whether Zang Ming is a eunuch, so I didn’t include him. There is a eunuch in the novel that has a similar role to him when traveling with Prince Bai, and I’m pretty sure Zang Ming in the show is an amalgamation of that eunuch and another character. So… fifty-fifty chance, I suppose.

As for Long Xie, I had figured that he was a eunuch before reading the novel, so I was seriously confused when I read that he had a mustache. However, it not only turned out to be a fake mustache, but also that he’s kinda secretly Jin Xuan’s student.

Also, I have no idea where he would fit on my tree, but if I remember correctly, the guy driving the freshly-exiled Xiao Se’s carriage is actually Xiao Se’s companion eunuch. He wasn’t given a name, at least that I could recall. Amusingly, Bo Yong wished to be Xiao Se’s new companion eunuch, but was kinda left hanging on an answer.

Zhuo Luo and Zhuo Sen are novel-only characters, directors of Records and Sword respectively. Given how Zhuo Xin is sort of in charge of them after Zhuo Qing died, I figured that perhaps Zhuo Xin is the second oldest.

It is mentioned in the novel that Jin Yu was the disciple of the previous eunuch of Records. I’m guessing that means both Zhuo Luo and Zhuo Qing are his masters, since he definitely calls Zhuo Qing shifu, and it also makes sense that he would receive specialized training from Zhuo Luo.

By that logic, Zhuo Sen might be one of Jin Wei’s masters, but I have less evidence of that.

The novel is weirdly silent about the Eunuch of Incense before Jin Xian. I wonder if he died early. The novel already makes a big point about how much responsibility Jin Xian has taken up (with even more duties than is typical for his position), so him having to take his role sooner than the rest would be consistent with that. The streaks of white in his hair could certainly be due to prolonged stress.

[toyherb-42]

Xuan Zang from Dragalia Lost My fave un-optimal babe 😿

[the-monkey-ruler]

Xuan Zang (2016) 大唐玄奘

Director: Huo Jianqi

Screenwriter: Zou Jingzhi

Screenwriter: Zou Jingzhi Starring: Huang Xiaoming / Xu Zheng / Pu Bajia / Luo Jin / Tang Zhenye / Jin Rong / Tan Kai / Jiang Chao / Zhao Liang / Che Xiao / Lou Jiayue / Zhao Wenxuan

Genre: History

Country/Region of Production: Mainland China

Language: Mandarin Chinese

Date: 2016-04-29 (Mainland China)

Duration: 120 minutes

IMDb: tt5684550

Type: Crossover

Summary:

The film tells the legendary story of Xuanzang, an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty who went to Tianzhu to learn Buddhist scriptures for 17 years despite difficulties and obstacles. In the Tang Dynasty, the young master Xuanzang (played by Huang Xiaoming) risked his life to sneak out of the country in order to seek the true meaning of Buddhism. He encountered difficulties and obstacles along the way, whether they be natural or man-made while also winning over the suffering of the people. Besieged by officers and soldiers, betrayed by his disciples, buried in the sea of sand, cut off from water and food, Master Xuanzang devoted himself to seeking the Dharma, and finally arrived in India. Carrying forward good thoughts and meditating on Buddhism in India, when he return home from the debate at the Uncovered Assembly, he was already an old man over fifty years old.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanzang_(film)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulDzLjz0wdw&t=357s&ab_channel=%E6%8D%B7%E6%88%90%E5%8D%8E%E8%A7%86%E2%80%94%E5%8D%8E%E8%AF%AD%E7%94%B5%E5%BD%B1

[dragalialife]

#111: Xuan Zang the Teacher

[gleaningsinbuddhafields]

The Journeys of Xuanzang, part one: Desert Monasteries

In the prologue, we introduced the Buddhist monk Xuan-zang and explored the world of Tang-dynasty China. Xuan-zang left this world behind, contravening imperial decree about leaving the country without a permit, to pursue Buddhist teachings in India. However, once he left the Yumen Pass, he immediately ran into a major issue: the Gobi Desert.

[shookethdev]

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NAKU 🫵

[mybeingthere]

A head full of tousled and flame-like hair;

A pair of bright, round eyes which shone like lamps;

An indigo face, neither black nor green;

An old dragon's voice like thunderclap or drum.

He wore a cape of light yellow goose down.

Two strands of white reeds tied around his waist.

Beneath his chin nine skulls were strung and hung;

His hands held an awesome priestly staff..

14th century Kamakura painting of "Xuan Zang".