Xuanzang Temple, Nanjing, the Wikipedia article on the site, is a community edited encyclopedic account of the parietal skull bone relic attributed to the seventh century pilgrim-monk Xuanzang, unearthed in 1942 during Japanese wartime construction work in Nanjing, and its subsequent division among temples in China, Japan, Taiwan and India. Its strength is that a well developed Wikipedia article on a documented relic with a twentieth century discovery date typically draws together press and institutional sources on that discovery and division across multiple countries into one accessible account, useful for that kind of stable factual chronology. Its limit is that Wikipedia is a continuously and anonymously editable reference rather than a peer reviewed source, so it is fit for the documented discovery and distribution history but a claim resting on the relic's authentication as genuinely Xuanzang's own remains needs the archaeological or Buddhist institutional scholarship the article itself would need to cite directly.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier3
Wikipedia's article on Xuanzang Temple, Nanjing, is a continuously revised, community edited tertiary encyclopedia entry with no named author or peer review process, hence the lower tier, though useful for its documented chronology of the relic's 1942 discovery and later division among temples in several countries. NotesEncyclopedic account of the parietal (skull) bone relic of the pilgrim-monk Xuanzang, unearthed in 1942 during Japanese construction work in Nanjing, and its subsequent division among temples in China, Japan, Taiwan and India.
Citation
AuthorWikipedia contributors
PublisherWikipedia
Publication Year2025
URLhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanzang_Temple_(Nanjing)
Source Typereference
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names China directly: "subsequent division among temples in China, Japan, Taiwan and India."
This source names India directly: "temples in China, Japan, Taiwan and India."
This source names Japan directly: "Xuanzang, unearthed in 1942 during Japanese wartime construction work in Nanjing, and its subsequent division among temples in China, Japan, Taiwan and India."
This source names Taiwan directly: "among temples in China, Japan, Taiwan and India."
Claims Backed By This Source (20 claims)
This source backs 20 claims across the atlas. As facts: 12 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 6 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 12 claims: 8 well-attested, 4 holds.
- Artifacts & Relics, 6 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 2 holds, 1 general references.
- Articles, 2 claims: 2 well-attested.
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