The story of Nine-Ringed Staff

When Guanyin was looking for a pilgrim at Chang’an she gave the Nine-Ringed Staff and the brocade cassock to Xuanzang. After Emperor Taizong had seen him off, the staff went with Tang Sanzang out of the city gate as the token of his office on the road west.

Crossing Five Elements Mountain, the Flowing Sand River and the Flaming Mountains, Tang Sanzang walked or rode with the staff under his disciples’ guard. When he had reached Vulture Peak and received the true scriptures, the Nine-Ringed Staff went back with him to Chang’an.