Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t6.6

v1.c5.s2.t6.6

The nature and usage of pepper was recorded in the *Materia Medica* of the Tang Dynasty in *Overseas Medicinal Plants* by Li Xun of the five dynasties, the Ri Huazi Medicinal Plants, Augmented Materia Medica and Classified Materia Medica of the Song Dynasty, and in the Compendium of Materia Medica of the Ming Dynasty and other traditional Chinese writing on herbs. The third volume of *The Account of Buddhism Sent from the South Seas* by the Chinese monk Yi Jing also pointed out that ginger, pepper and long pepper had the function of dispelling cold. In the Buddhist medical system, there are five medicines that can be taken freely for general well-being namely pepper, Haritaki, āmalaka, Bingxile and long pepper. Among the esoteric Buddhist documents translated in Chinese namely the Saptabuddha aṣṭabodhisattva mahādhāraṇī sūtra (the mahādhāraṇī sūtra chanted by the seven Buddhas and the eight Bodhisattvas) and the ‘Bodhisattva Avalokiteṣvara Cintāmaṇi dhāraṇī sūtra’ (the Cintāmaṇi dhāraṇī sūtra of the Boddhisattva Avalokiteṣvara), pepper is mentioned as serving as an important ingredient for eye drops. In several esoteric rituals, pepper was also seen as bringing rain, the rule of joy and happiness, good luck and respect when used. In the medical manuscripts unearthed in Dunhuang written by Chinese and non-Chinese (Sanskrit, Uighur, Khotanese, etc.), prescriptions containing pepper were relatively common which reflected the specific impact of Indian pharmacology. In the Song Dynasty, the sixth chapter of *Eyes of Humans and Gods* by Huiyan and Zhizhao, and the eighth chapter of the Jingde *Transmission of the Lamp* recorded that “Persians eat pepper” which indicated that in the Tang and Song periods the image of Persians, Indians and people of the southern seas in the eyes of the Chinese was deeply influenced by social factors. It is also a simple and clear manifestation of cultural exchange.