In 629, the revered Buddhist monk Hsuan Tsang set out across Asia in search of the Ultimate Truth, and to settle what he called “the perplexities of my mind.” From the Tang dynasty capital at Xian through ancient Silk Road oases, over forbidding mountain passes to Tashkent, Samarkand, and the Amu-Darya River, across Pakistan to the holiest cities of India–and back again–his sixteen-year journey was beset with every hardship imaginable. Pilgrimage complete, Hsuan Tsang wrote an account of his trek that is still considered one of the classics of Chinese literature.

In 1998, Richard Bernstein, venerated journalist and Time magazine’s first Beijing bureau chief, retraced the steps of Hsuan Tsang’s long and sinuous route, comparing present and past. Aided by modern technology but hampered by language barriers, harried border crossings, hostile Islamic regimes, and the accidental U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Bernstein follows the monk’s path not only in physical but in contemplative ways. Juxtaposing his own experiences with those of Hsuan Tsang, Bernstein has crafted a vivid account of two stirring adventures in pursuit of illumination. Inspiring and profoundly felt, Ultimate Journey is a marvelous amalgamation of travelogue and history, cultural critique and spiritual meditation.

理查德•伯恩斯坦，美國記者、專欄作傢、漢學傢。1944年5月齣生於紐約一個猶太人傢庭，曾在哈佛大學師從費正清學習中文與東亞曆史。1979年創辦《時代》周刊駐北京記者站，1982年開始擔任《紐約時報》駐歐洲通訊記者，還曾是《國際先驅論壇報》專欄作者。他撰寫過多部 關於中國與亞洲的書，如《中國1945》《究竟之旅》《走齣憂傷》等《紐約時報》年度好書、《波士頓環球報》年度好書。結束重走玄奘路後，他與旅伴、舞蹈傢李忠梅在2000年9月結婚，現居紐約。