A research on the target audience of Xuanzang's great tang records on the western regions

摘要

We will investigate the target audience of Xuanzang's Great Tang Records on the Western Regions and provide a depiction of the differences between Xuanzang's narrated trips to India with that of Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian. We will show that Xuanzang's Great Tang Records on the Western Regions targets a vast readership group ranging from those with absolutely no knowledge of Buddhist doctrines to beginners and even experienced practitioners. We will show that Xuanzang's Buddhist teachings possess a systematic approach that is able to accommodate and benefit learners of different backgrounds and caliber. This will not only allow Buddhist disciples to benefit from the teachings, it will also provide readers with an understanding of Xuanzang's teaching methods and improve their abilities in composition and debate.