同姓華宗 A Kinsman by Surname
這老兒頗賢，即令安排齋飯。飯後，悟空道：「你家姓甚？」老者道：「舍下姓陳。」三藏聞言，即下來起手道：「老施主與貧僧是華宗。」行者道：「師父，你是唐姓，怎的和他是華宗？」三藏道：「我俗家也姓陳，乃是唐朝海州弘農郡聚賢莊人氏。我的法名叫做陳玄奘。只因我大唐太宗皇帝賜我做御弟三藏，指唐為姓，故名唐僧也。」那老者見說同姓，又十分歡喜。这老儿颇贤，即令安排斋饭。饭后，悟空道：「你家姓甚？」老者道：「舍下姓陈。」三藏闻言，即下来起手道：「老施主与贫僧是华宗。」行者道：「师父，你是唐姓，怎的和他是华宗？」三藏道：「我俗家也姓陈，乃是唐朝海州弘农郡聚贤庄人氏。我的法名叫做陈玄奘。只因我大唐太宗皇帝赐我做御弟三藏，指唐为姓，故名唐僧也。」那老者见说同姓，又十分欢喜。
逐句解 Line by line
This old fellow was of a generous cast, and at once ordered a vegetarian meal set out. After the meal, Wukong said, "What is your family's surname?"
A meatless meal (齋飯) produced without being asked for, which tells you what kind of household this is. Then Wukong, who has no small talk, opens the next scene by demanding the family surname. 姓甚, 'surnamed what', reads 甚 as shén.
The old man said, "My humble house is surnamed Chen."
Chen — 陳. The whole passage swings on this one character.
Hearing this, Sanzang came down and made a bow, saying, "The old patron and this poor monk are of one clan."
Down off his seat and bowing before the old man can put his cup down. 華宗 is a courteous term for someone of the same surname — 'of one lineage' — and among strangers on the road a shared surname was a real claim, close to kinship. 三藏 reads 藏 as zàng.
The Pilgrim said, "Master, you are of the Tang surname; how are you of one clan with him?"
Wukong objects on perfectly good grounds: everyone calls you the Tang monk, so your surname is Tang — which is the cue Sanzang needs to explain that it is nothing of the kind.
Sanzang said, "In my lay family I too am surnamed Chen, a man of the Juxian Village in Hongnong Commandery, Haizhou, of the Tang realm.
He answers in full genealogical form, the way a Tang gentleman gives his origins: surname Chen, from a named village in a named commandery in a named prefecture. 唐朝 reads 朝 as cháo.
My dharma-name is Chen Xuanzang.
Chen Xuanzang — and behind the character stands the historical Xuanzang, the seventh-century monk who really did travel to India and bring back scriptures, and whose journey the whole novel is a vast, cheerful lie about.
It was only because our great Tang emperor Taizong made me his sworn younger brother, and pointed to 'Tang' as my surname, that I am called the Tang Monk."
So the puzzle resolves: 'Tang' is not a family name at all but an honour. Emperor Taizong made the monk his sworn younger brother — 御弟 — and pointed at his own dynastic name to serve as a surname for the road, which is how a man surnamed Chen became the Tang Monk. 指唐為姓 reads 為 as wéi.
When the old man heard that they shared a surname, he was the more delighted.
A shared surname turns a guest into a relative, and the old man's hospitality goes up a notch accordingly. 十分歡喜 reads 分 as fēn.
Over the meal a small scene of discovered kinship binds the travellers closer to their host. Learning that the farmer's surname is Chen, Sanzang claims him on the spot as a clansman — for the monk's own lay surname is Chen, and among strangers on a road that counted for a good deal more than coincidence.
The exchange also clears up, by way of Wukong's puzzlement, why the pilgrim answers to both Chen Xuanzang and the Tang Monk. 'Tang' is not a family name but a distinction, conferred when Emperor Taizong made him his sworn younger brother and handed him the imperial surname for the journey. This is the historical Xuanzang seen through legend — the monk sent west with an emperor's blessing rather than, as in sober fact, in defiance of a travel ban.
The shared name warms the host further and the domestic interlude runs on; but the detail also quietly restates the frame around the whole enterprise. Whatever else this journey is, it is being made in the Tang emperor's name.