Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t10.1

v1.c7.s7.t10.1

Samkhya or *sāṃkhya* is one of the major philosophical schools of Brahminism in ancient India. With a long history in India, the earliest theories or thoughts of the school were mentioned in some of the most ancient Indian literature. It became an independent school of philosophy around 4^th century BCE. A pervasive and strong influence throughout India’s intellectual history, the theories postulated by the school had long been a subject of wide interest in the country’s philosophical community. It spread to China along with Buddhism.