Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s6.t10.35

v1.c7.s6.t10.35

named Samkhya. The spread of Samkhya to China dated from late 4^th century CE to early 5^th century CE (the Eastern Jin Dynasty), when Indian Buddhist monk Kumarajiva translated a large number of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Chinese. His translation works *Maha-prajnaparamita-shastra* (*Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom* by Nagarjuna) and *Mahayana-sutra-lankara* (*The Sutra of Glorifying the Enlightened Mind* by Asvaghosha) introduced Samkhya. In 6^th century CE (Northern and Southern Dynasties), the Chinese Buddhist monk Chen Zhendi (about 548-596 CE) translated *Samkhya-karika* in Sanskrit into a Chinese version entitled *Hiranyasaptati* (*Suvarnasaptatisastra*) and annotated and elaborated on the relations between spiritual self, self-nature and the three virtues or powers, the relations between spiritual self and self-nature and the evolution of self-nature (primordial substances). This facilitated Chinese understanding of the philosophy of Samkhya. *Hiranyasaptati* had been valued and well preserved in Chinese Buddhist circles. In modern times, since *Samkhya-karika* has not been passed on from generation to generation in India. *Hiranyasaptati* had great value in academic study. Indian scholars hailed *Hiranyasaptati* which was translated and annotated by Chen Zhendi as the best annotated work of Samkhya. To preserve Samkhya sutras, they translated *Hiranyasaptati* in Chinese into Sanskrit and published it in India, showing that Chinese Buddhist monks made a contribution to preserving Indian cultural heritage and promoting India-China philosophical exchange.