On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India AD 629-645

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On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India by Thomas Watters is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history, culture, and religious evolution of ancient India. Originally published in two volumes in 1904-05, this work has been reprinted into a single, handy volume. Watters' meticulous research and expertise in Buddhist literature, combined with his knowledge of Pali and Sanskrit, provide readers with a comprehensive and accurate account of Yuan Chwang's travels.

Yuan Chwang, also known as Hiuen Tsiang, traveled extensively across India from AD 629 to 645, documenting his journey in the work titled "Hsi-yu-shi" in Chinese. His records are crucial for understanding one of the golden periods of Indian history. Thomas Watters' translation and study of these records present a corrected and detailed rendition, improving upon earlier translations, such as those by Samuel Beal, which contained numerous errors. Watters not only translates the travels but also discusses and identifies all the Sanskrit names of places and persons mentioned in the original Chinese text, providing an elaborate index for reference.

The book includes a graphic itinerary in two maps, arranged by Vincent A. Smith, offering visual representation of Yuan Chwang's journey. This makes the work more accessible and engaging for readers.

Historians, scholars, and students of Buddhism will gain valuable insights into ancient Indian history and Buddhist literature. General readers and travel enthusiasts will enjoy the detailed historical travelogue of Yuan Chwang's journey.

As will be seen from Dr. Bushell's obituary notice of Thomas Watters, republished from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1901 at the end of those few words of preface, Mr. Watters left behind him a work, ready for the press, on the travels of Yüan-Chwäng in India in the 7th Century A. D. The only translation into English of the Travels and the Life of Yüan-Chwang, the one made by the late Mr. Beal, contains many mistakes. As Mr. Watters probably knew more about Chinese Buddhist Literature than any other European scholar, and had, at the same time, a very fair knowledge both of Pali and Sanskrit, he was the very person most qualified to correct those mistakes, and to write an authoritative work on the interpretation of Yüan Chwang's most interesting and valuable records. The news that he had left such a work was therefore received with eager pleasure by all those interested in the history of India. And Mr. F. F. Arbuthnot, who had so generously revived our Oriental Translation Fund, was kind enough to undertake to pay for the cost of publishing the work in that series. I was asked by the Council to be the editor, and was fortunate enough to be able to receive the cooperation of Dr. S. W. Bushell C. M. G., late medical officer attached to our embassy at Peking.