#rather than following wu cheng'en's presentation of the monk as closer to a fussy court scholar

[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: