SUN SHUYUN
Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud
HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2003
Copyright © Sun Shuyun 2003
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Source ISBN: 9780007129744
Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2012 ISBN 9780007380923 Version: 2016-03-17
Sun Shuyun asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Map by John Gilkes
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For Robert, and my Chinese family
CONTENTS
TWO: Three Monks at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda
FIVE: Land of Heavenly Mountains
TEN: Battleground of the Faiths
ELEVEN: Lost Treasures, Lost Souls
Xuanzang, the subject of this book, could not have completed his epic journey without the help he received from kings, emperors and princes. I too have to thank a large number of people who made my journey possible; they helped me practically and intellectually. They include R. C. Agrawal, Daub Ali, Swati Barathe, Vasanta Bharucha, Bodhisen, Peter Coleridge, Joe Cribb, Mick Csaky, G. P. Deshpande, Toby Eady, Elizabeth Errington, Katie Espiner, Anthony Fitzherbert, Madhu Ghose, Richard Gombrich, Ruchira Gupta, Sue Hamilton, Hu Ji, Prem Jha, M. C. Joshi, Shah Nazar Khan, Robert Knox, Luo Feng, Philip Lutgendorf, Ma Shichang, Manidhamma, Robert Mason, Jean McNeil, Venerable Miaohua, Yumiko and Paul Mitchell, Vivek Nanda, Lolita Nehru, John Pell, M. C. Ranganathan, Harapasad Ray, Gowher Rizvi, Virginia Shapiro, Sarah Shaw, Romila Thapar, Judy and John Thompson, Uma Waide, Wang Qihan, Roderick Whitfield, Sally Wriggins, Zhang Jianhua, and many other friends and experts in China and elsewhere too numerous to list. I must single out Sally Wriggins, whose academic study of Xuanzang has been invaluable.
I owe an especially large debt to five people:
to Susan Watt, my editor at HarperCollins, who saw I had a book to write before I did, who had confidence in me before I acquired it myself and who led me through the new experience of writing with insight and assurance;
to Fang Xichen, who has been nothing less than an inspiration on the history and culture of my own people, a man of real wisdom and generosity;
to Venerable Dr Jingyin, who has been my guide and teacher in the vast