In the seventh century, the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang embarked on a seventeen-year pilgrimage from China through Central Asia to India and back again. That epic journey, which altered the course of East Asian Buddhism, later became the basis for one of China’s most famous novels: The Journey to the West. The characters and narratives portrayed in the novel went on to play pivotal roles in religious rituals and rebellions of modern China. In this talk, Prof. Benjamin Brose considers the transformation of Xuanzang’s biography from historical account to mythic fantasy and the subsequent reification of those same mythic narratives into historical realities.

This event is part of the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts' 2025-26 Distinguished Lecture Series. 

Benjamin Brose is Professor of Buddhist and Chinese Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan.