Xuan Zang (fictional character)

Xuan Zang (玄奘) is a fictional Buddhist monk of the Tang dynasty, the central character of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West (at least theoretically; in truth, he is often upstaged by his disciple Sun Wukong). He is partly modelled on the historical Buddhist monk of the same name, whose life was the inspiration for the novel.

For most of Journey to the West, he bears the nickname Sanzang (三藏), a play on words connecting his real name to the "three baskets" of the Pali canon ("sanzang" in Chinese). In some English translations, the nickname is rendered as Tripitaka (another name for the Pali canon), thus losing the pun.

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