Nowadays, in India, as long as people who have attended primary school, there is almost no one who does not know Xuanzang. Indians' understanding of Xuanzang is based on folklore and textbooks. There are stories about Xuanzang in many textbooks in India, among which the article "Buddha Shadow" tells the story of how Xuanzang influenced a group of robbers.
India respects Xuanzang so much, mainly because Xuanzang has a very unique contribution in Indian history. Indians have not left a written history, and most of their history exists in legends.
Marx once lamented that although ancient India created brilliant civilization, "Indian society has no history at all, at least there is no known history". Therefore, for a long time, the historical sky of India was "once dark". Indians don't know that Buddhism originated in their own country, and they don't know that there are so many glorious pasts buried in their land.
Like a torch, The Tale of the Western Regions of Datang illuminates the long-forgotten real history of India. 1300 years later, British archaeologists, together with Indian scholars, took the English version of A Tale of the Western Regions of Datang and followed the map of ancient India, successively excavated many Buddhist shrines and numerous historical sites such as Luoguyuan, Bodhgaya, Naga, Lumbini, etc. Even the stigma of the national symbol of India today-Ashoka Pillar was excavated according to this detailed historical data.
The history of medieval India was rediscovered. Indian historian Ali once commented: "Without the works of Xuanzang and Faxian, it is completely impossible to rebuild Indian history."
The power of words should not be underestimated!