The Afterlife of a Tang Monk: Buddhist Masculinity and Transformations of the Image of Xuanzang in East Asia

Abstract

Xuanzang (602–664), a holy Monk in the Tang dynasty who procured Mahāyāna Buddhist scriptures from India and translated them into Chinese, has posthumously become an icon of soft and queer masculinities in East Asian popular culture. Through a historical survey of the transformation of this image in such cultural forms as literature, films, TV shows, anime and manga, computer games, and memes in China, Japan, and Korea, this article delves into the interplay between religion and gender in the context of East Asia and argues that the image of Xuanzang is the product of the negotiations among a variety of cultural and economic forces and factors, such as the Buddhist notions of gender transgression and reincarnation, the Confucian discourse of scholar masculinity and androgyny, the cult of homosocial bond and brotherhood, as well as commercial concerns in TV and filmic adaptations. Despite concerns over the character’s effeminacy and various attempts to remasculinize him, the most popular and widely accepted image of Xuanzang remains that of a young scholar characterized by vulnerability and feminine beauty – a prototype of the fashionable “little fresh meat” aesthetic today.