the emperor Taizong, whose first words to Xuanzang were: ‘Welcome back after seventeen years, Xuanzang. But you never asked permission to go!’ ‘Well,’ Xuanzang replied, ‘I applied for a permit for foreign travel on several occasions, but had no luck.’ The emperor didn’t reproach him, instead expressing surprise to see him alive after such a long time and congratulating him for having risked his life ‘for the benefit of the whole of humanity’.
