Journey to the West
Tang's Monk
Tang's Monk also called Xuanzang, a Chinese Buddhist monk (Tang Dynasty), who had renounced his family to join the Sangha from childhood. He is actually a reincarnation of Golden Cicada (Jingchanzi) a disciple of the Buddha. He is sent on a mission to Tianzhu (today india) to fetch a set of Buddhist scriptures back to China for the purpose of spreading Buddhism in his native land. He becomes sworn brothers with Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and the emperor sees him off from the capital Chang'an and orders two escorts to accompany him.
Xuanzang is helpless in defending himself and his two escorts are killed during his first encounter with demons after his departure from Chang'an. The bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) helps Xuanzang find three powerful supernatural beings - Monkey King, General Tinpeng and Sha Monk - to aid and protect him on his journey. The three become Xuanzang's disciples and will receive enlightenment and redemption for their past sins once the pilgrimage is complete. Along the journey, Xuanzang is constantly terrorised by monsters and demons because of a legend which says that one can attain immortality by consuming his flesh because he is a reincarnation of a holy being.
At the end of the novel, Xuanzang is appointed as the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit
Xuanzang, a wise and learned scholar the fictional Xuanzang is presented as a young monk who is extremely naive, showing idealistic compassion without wisdom. Xuanzang is usually quick to fall for the facades of demons who have disguised themselves as innocent humans, whereas Sun Wukong can see through them with his magic powers (specifically fire eyes that can see through the said disguises). This frequently leads to tension when Sun Wukong attacks and kills apparently innocent humans when the demon has in fact simply abandoned the corpse and run away. One such popular instance was when the White Bone Demon disguised three times as family members — first, a young woman. After Wukong "killed" the woman, the demon escaped, but Wukong was punished by Xuanzang for it. The second was the young woman's elderly mother, looking for her daughter. The third was the young woman's elderly father, searching for his wife and child. Upon the "death" of the father by Wukong's hands, Wukong finally killed the demon before she got away. Xuanzang, convinced that Wukong had actually killed three innocent people, sent him away, despite protests. Xuanzang usually punishes him by chanting the words of the headache spell given to Xuanzang by the bodhisattva AvalokiteÅ›vara (Guanyin) to control Wukong, which causes the latter's headband to contract and give him acute headaches.