Chasing the Monk’s Shadow

In the seventh century AD, the Chinese monk Xuanzang set off on an epic journey to India to study Buddhist philosophy from the Indian masters. He returned to China eighteen years later, carrying with him nearly 600 scriptures which he translated from Sanskrit into Chinese. Fourteen hundred years later, Mishi Saran follows in Xuanzang’s footsteps to the fabled oasis cities of China and Central Asia, and the Buddhist sites that Xuanzang wrote about. Running parallel to the account of her travels is the moving story of the author’s inner journey towards a new understanding of her roots and her identity.