He left China in 629 and travelled for 16 years through Turkestan, Bactria, and Tashkent where he came into contact with Western culture. Then he went on through Kashmir and down to India along the Ganges river. He studied Sanskrit and Buddhist philosophy and collected Buddhist scriptures.

On his return to China in 645 he brought back 657 texts and spent the rest of his life as a monk. He translated the sacred books of Buddhism from Sanskrit into Chinese and founded in China a Buddhist school. He also wrote an account of the countries he visited.