Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty
He is one of the four protagonists, loosely based on (or inspired by) the character Xuanzang.
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As opposed to Xuanzang of Journey to the West, which is in turn based on the historical Buddhist monk Xuanzang, Genjo Sanzo is not the "purest" person undertaking a holy pilgrimage.
The diary of the monk Xuanzang, dating from the same period (629–645), also mentions the region, referring to it as Tou-lo-po-ti.
In the 7th century the great Chinese traveller Xuanzang (Huen Tsang) toured India and wrote in Chinese about the prevalence of Shiva worship at that time, describing Shiva temples at Kanoj, Karachi, Malwa, Gandhar (Kandahar), and especially at Varanasi (Benares) where he saw twenty large temples dedicated to Shiva.
The Chinese monk Xuanzang arrived from the Chui river to Talas during one of his journeys.
The Japanese scholar Shu Hikosaka on the basis of his study of Buddhist scriptures, ancient Tamil literary sources, as well as field survey, proposes the hypothesis that, the ancient mount Potalaka, the residence of Avalokiteśvara described in the Gandavyuha Sutra and Xuanzang’s Records, is the real mountain Potikai or Potiyil situated at Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu.
The Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang visited a Mahāsāṃghika monastery at Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in the 7th century CE, and the site of this monastery has been rediscovered by archaeologists.
Yuan Nang (ヤンニャン): A strong-willed and courageous woman whose character design is highly influenced by that of Sun Wukong from the Chinese classical story Journey to the West, including a cloud-somersault parody, Ruyi Jingu Bang, and the size-changing headband that was used by the monk Xuánzàng.
"Hangu" is also the name of a place in China, and since many Chinese travelers have passed through the area for centuries, it's possible that travelers, like Hiuen Tsang, saw some similarities with their own region and thus named it Hangu.
Around 600 AD, the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang made a pilgrimage to Kapisi, and described there the cultivation of rice and wheat, and a king of the Suli tribe.
Chinese scholar Hiuen Tsang (c. 640 AD) records the existence of the town Pehowa, named after Prithu, "who is said to be the first person that obtained the title Raja (king)".
He is best known as being an abbot of Nālandā monastery in India, as being an expert on Yogācāra teachings, and for being the personal tutor of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang.
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At the age of 33, the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang made a dangerous journey to India in order to study Buddhism there and to procure Buddhist texts for translation into Chinese.
Sha Wujing (沙悟淨), one of the three helpers of Xuánzàng in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West