Xuánzàng’s pilgrimage, translations, and Yogācāra teaching made detailed Indian Buddhist scholarship available in Chinese and supported the Faxiang tradition.
Intellectual setting
Xuánzàng travelled to India, studied at Nālandā, and returned to Tang China to lead major translation projects under imperial patronage.
Key ideas
Consciousness-only analysis
His work transmitted Yogācāra distinctions about consciousness, cognition, and the three natures.
Translation as philosophy
Translation teams and doctrinal classification were modes of sustained conceptual work, not merely transmission.
Legacy
His translations and Faxiang teaching shaped East Asian Buddhist philosophy and later debates with Huayan and Chan.