Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t1.6

v1.c7.s7.t1.6

Amoghavajra (CE 705-774), a prominent Buddhist monk from South Asia, introduced esoteric Buddhism in the form of Tantra and alchemy into China. He translated a large number of Buddhist works into Chinese. As the Buddhists were committed to lessening of human sufferings and hunger, the Buddhists pursued alchemy, both physiological to achieve immortality and metallurgical to make silver- and gold-like alloys. Worshipping Buddha involved making idols and vessels made of metals like copper and alloys, like brass and bronze. This process opened more areas of interest where ideas could be exchanged viz alchemy and metallurgy. New processes and materials became known and new words entered Chinese scientific terminology. They were first found in technical books and later, listed in ancient dictionaries and compendia. Xinxiu Bencao 新修本草 of the 7^th century CE and Bencao Gangmu 本草纲目 of the 16^th century CE include ‘Nao sha’ for ammonium chloride or Sal ammoniac, Ti hu 醍醐 for ‘Ghṛta’ or clarified butter and Niu Huang 牛黄 for ‘Gorochona’ ie dried gallstone of domestic cattle. Transliterated terms like Totamu 士多伞 for zinc, which is ‘Tutthanāga’ in Sanskrit, became common in Chinese literature.