Xuan Zang (602 ~ 664), was a famous monk in Tang dynasty ( 618-907A.D.), who was the founder of Dharma Xiangzong.He was born in Luo Zhou (now in Luoyang of Henan province). His original name is Chenyi ,and after he became a monk ,he received a religious name which is called  "xuanzang". He was regarded as “Tipitakacariya”(Sanzang Rabbi), commonly knownas "Tang's monk" by future generations. Together with Kumarajiva and Zhendi ,they are well known as the major three translators of Chinese Buddhism.

When he was 11 years old ,he became a monk in the Jingtu temple of Luoyang. He stayed inthe Jingtu temple to study Buddhism for 6 years. Then he went to Sichuan province to keep studying Mahayana and Hinayana and researching the difference between southern Buddhism and northern Buddhism. He was in Sichuan for another 5 years. But it is still not enough to satisfy his great pursuit for Buddhism. In 626 A.D. he met an Indian monk called Bopo in Xi’an  and got to know that there were a lot of profound Buddhism scriptures in the Nalanda monastery of India. So he decided to go to the Nalanda to study Buddhism and fetch some Buddhism scriptures back to China in order to explore the different doctrines of Buddhism.

In 627 A.D. Xuanzang made a list of application for allowinghim to travel west to seek Buddhism. But it was not approved by Emperor Taizong. However, having made up his mind, Xuan Zang decided to "embark on a private voyage to Tianzhu (India)", journeying for more than 50,000 li. In 628 A.D. after some necessary preparations he started his private studying journey from Xi’an to India. After a lot of difficulties he reached to India. He had kept learning Buddhism for 5 years in Nalanda. Then he left Nalanda of India for other neighbouring kingdoms to keep studying and do many debates about Buddhism with other monks . 

In 641 , at the age of 42, he had a meeting with the Siladitya. He was well treated with good courtesy. Siladitya decided to convene a conference of Buddhism debate,taking Xuanzang as the main character. The kings from  18 kingdoms, 3000 scholars of Mahayana and Hinayana and 2000 people from other religions attended the conference. On the debate conference Xuanzang could answer all the questions fluently and he was fully admired by everyone.

In 643 Xuanzang ,with great fame,he started to go back to Xi’an. In 645 he arrived at Xi’an.Meanwhile 150 pieces of Buddha sarira ,7 figures of Buddha , 657 sections of scriptures and theory were brought back to Xi’an . After he was back to Xi’an, he engaged in the translation of Buddhist scriptures for a long time with his disciples. The translated works from Xuanzang include The Great Prajna Sutra,The Heart Sutra, The Deep and secret Sutra, the Yogi's Theory on The Ground,and the Theory on The Knowledge of Cheng. The book of Journey to the West Regions in Great Tang Dynasty describes the mountains, rivers, land,products and customs of 110 countries that he personally experienced during his journey to the West and 28 hearsay countries . In 652 A.D. at the west courtyard of The Ci'en Temple in Chang 'an, Xuanzang built a five-story pagoda,now known as the Big Wild Goose Pagoda , to store Buddhist scriptures brought from Tianzhu(India).

Xuan Zang is honored by the people of the world as an outstanding envoy of Cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. His spirit of patriotism and protection of the Dharma and his great contributions have made him honored as the "backbone of the Chinese nation" and the messenger of world peace.