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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8: Section VI Linguistics

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8

Language
English

Contents

Section VI Linguistics

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[Figure: 印度古代语言论集 SELECTED PAPERS ON THE LANGUAGES OF ANCIENT INDIA AUSGEWÄHLTE KLEINE SCHRIFTEN ZUR ALTINDISCHEN PHILOLOGIE 季羡林]

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一切經音義

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悉曇字記

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*Kumarajiva, Understanding the Rhymes (Tong Yun), Dunhuang Remnants S1344v2*

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Cultural exchange among people began with their initial efforts to learn each other's language. In the early phase of contact between India and China, both countries had, therefore, rightly taken necessary steps and measures in their attempts to understand each other's language and script.

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It may be noted that ancient Indian scholars used to attach great importance to the study of their language and exploring new knowledge on linguistics. Their script belonged to the category of alphabetic writing (phonetic script) and for this reason, they focussed a great deal of attention on the study of speech sounds. Their books on grammar appeared in the pre-Christian era and they had also developed and arranged their alphabets based on certain scientific study and analysis. But unlike India, the Chinese in ancient times did not pay much attention to grammar or pronunciation though they had also conducted useful research on scriptography (study of scripts). Hence, work on Chinese grammar began relatively later. However, with the spread of Buddhism to China, the Indian linguistic scholars helped to promote the study of Chinese linguistics by the Chinese and there was a great impact, particularly in the area study of Chinese phonology, grammar and lexicography.

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Before the Common era, no later than 2ⁿᵈ century BCE, the people of China and India both knew each other's spoken and written languages but there is no clear evidence on record in this regard. However, from the 1ˢᵗ-6ᵗʰ century CE, according to the records in the *Biographies of Eminent Monks*, the Indian monks who visited China from 1ˢᵗ-3ʳᵈ century CE, had acquired a thorough understanding of the Chinese language, and were engaged in the translation of Buddhist scriptures of alphabetic writing with active assistance of Chinese monks. During the 3ʳᵈ and 4ᵗʰ centuries CE, there were several monks who were fluent in both Sanskrit and Chinese. For example, the Kapisa (present day Kashmir) monk, Sanghadeva (Seng-jia-ti-po), after staying several years in China, was able to 'have a thorough grasp of Sanskrit, and spoke the Jin dialects fluently'. Faxian and Kumarajiva are outstanding examples of monks who were quite proficient in both Sanskrit and Chinese.

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*Kuchean (Tocharian) language manuscripts unearthed in Xinjiang, China*

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During this period, the Chinese scholars had also developed some understanding of the Indian phonology in the course of translation of the Buddhist scriptures. Dharmaraksa (vide the entry) had translated the Lalitavistara Sutra (Pu Yao jing) in eight volumes in the second year of the reign of Yong Jia ie, in 308 CE, and Jnanagupta (vide the entry) translated the *Sutra of Buddha's Fundamental Deeds* in 60 volumes during the 7ᵗʰ to 12ᵗʰ year of the reign of Kai Huang i.e., from 587-592 CE. It may be noted that the account offered by them on the 'Sixty-four scripts (shu)' was actually a reference to the 64 kinds of Chinese characters and it talks about 'Qin Shu' or the Qin script (written as 'Cina-lipi', namely the Chinese calligraphy). This shows that the ancient Indians had also, by that time, noticed the unique features of the Chinese language and characters. Further, the 26th volume of *Mahisasaka Vinaya* (《Wu fen Lu》), which was translated during the first half of the 5th century CE, mentions the fundamentals of Sanskrit grammar, such as long and short vowels, the voiced and the voiceless features of the consonants, gender and number features of nouns and the tense aspects of the verbs, etc. The fifth volume of *Mahanirvana Sutra* (《Da Nie Pan-jing》) further talks about Indian grammar, the Vyakarana-sastra (《Pi jia luo lun》), which had attracted much attention from Chinese scholars like Xie Lingyun (385-433 CE) and Shen Yue (441~513 CE). Both of these two scholars had thus, for the first time, made an intensive study on phonology and written much about this subject. Their contribution towards the growth of Chinese phonology is noteworthy and commendable.

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*Four Tones Three Questions (Si sheng san wen)*, Chen Yinque

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Commenting on Shen Yue's linguistic works and his acquaintance with and knowledge of Sanskrit studies, the 14th volume of *Dream Pool essays* (《Meng xi bi tan》) written by Shen Kuo (1031-1095 CE) during the Song dynasty rightly says, "The study of phonology and the discovery of the four tones by Shen Yue is closely linked with the introduction of Sanskrit learning in China. All the linguistic scholars of China from Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty believed in this theory, and even the modern phonologists like Luo Changpei, Wang Li, etc, also uphold this view."

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As part of the phonological study, as many as five to six *Rhyming Dictionaries* such as the *Collection of Rhyming* (yun-ji) by Lu Jing and the *Brief Account on Rhmying* by Xia Houyong were compiled during the time of Western Jin to Southern and Northern Dynasty (265-589 CE). The Chinese people had then developed the 'fan-qie' method and started using the same in transcribing Chinese characters. Further, it was during this early phase of the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE), that Lu Fayan, a descendant of an official family, raised and discussed some concrete issues on the transcription of the Chinese characters along with Yan Zhitui (531-?) and eight other scholars of his time. The results of this team work is to be found in the compilation of the five volumes of "qie-yun" under the leadership of Lu Fayan during the reign of the Emperor Wen (personal name Yang Jian) of the Sui Dynasty. This particular work of *Qie Yun*, the rhyming dictionary, then proved to be the most authoritative among various Chinese linguistic works. It may be noted that the two more rhyming dictionaries of much scholarly value such as the 'Tang-yun' of Sun Mian of 8th century of the Tang period and 'Guang-yun' of Chen Fengnian (961~1017 CE) of the Song period were based on the earlier 'Qie-yun' dictionary.

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7th-10th century CE

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From the beginning of the 7th century, more knowledge and information on the Indian languages was transmitted to China through the translations of Buddhist texts, and through the visit of a large number of Chinese monks to India in search of Buddhist scriptures. For example, the second volume of Xuanzang's *Great Tang Records on the Western Region* (《Da Tang Xi Yu ji》) introduces Panini's (vide the entry) 'phonology' 《Sheng Ming Lun》(vide the entry). The third volume of the *Greater Grace Temple Tripitaka Master* (《Da Ci-en Si San-zang Fashi Zhuan, vide the entry), mentions all the grammar that Xuanzang had learnt when he travelled through India. Again, in the fourth volume of the *Western School of Law* and in *Account of Buddhism Dispatched from the South Seas* (《Nan hai ji-gui neifa Zhuan》, vide the entry), there is a comprehensive

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[Figure: The 'Records of the Siddham Script (Xitan ziji)', mentions 'letters of an alphabet']

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description on ancient Indian grammar. The influence of all these Indian written texts on China had thus become increasingly reflective, the most typical example being the Tibetan script which took on its initial shape quite successfully imitating the Sanskrit written text during this period.

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But it is to be admitted that although there was frequent reference to the term 'phonology' in the translations of the Sanskrit Buddhist *sutras* into Chinese, and both the Indian monks visiting China and the Chinese monks were well-acquainted with this term, yet the Chinese people failed to carry out any substantial research on Chinese grammar before the introduction of Sanskrit grammar in China.

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The concept of alphabet

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Around the 5^th century CE, Chinese, people came to know about the concept of 'letter' (alphabet) from the Buddhist scriptures, and it was termed 'half word' by them in the beginning. Sometimes, it was also known as the 'knob'. By the 8^th century,

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Sanskrit Textbook, a hand-carved mimeograph, Peking University, 1979

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the Shaman Zhi Guang (vide the entry) acquired understanding and knowledge about 'letter' (zi-mu) while studying the *Tuo-luo-ni Sutra* (Dharani). This was with the help of the South Indian monk Prajnanabodhi, who mentioned the term “letter” (zi-mu) in the *Records of the Siddham* (《Xi Tan ziji》). A significant development in the history of Chinese phonology was noted after this where a Chinese monk named Shou Wen of the 10^th century, for the first time, formulated 30 Chinese alphabets. Around the 11^th century, six more alphabets were added to the earlier 30 alphabets of Shou Wen which thus became the very famous '36 letters'. These 'letters' were used to represent the initials of the Chinese characters and that helped in the simplification and standardisation of the initials of the Chinese syllables (characters). Many other works concerning this, were brought out later which had become very popular in facilitating the study and pronunciation of the Chinese characters with some degree of uniformity. For instance, the alphabets listed in the Yun Lue Yi Tong(韵略易通) and Wu Fang Yuan Yin(五方元音) of the 15^th and 16^th centuries were very similar to the modern Pinyin initials B, P, M, F, D, T, N, L and so on.

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In 1271 CE before the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan (vide the entry) had ordered the State Teacher Pagba (vide the entry) to create the Mongolian script along the lines of the Sanskrit scripts, which were formalised in 1269 CE though the use of these were later discontinued

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Compilation of Dictionaries

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Another area in which the impact of Indian phonology on the growth of Chinese linguistic works became increasingly known was that of lexicography. The need and task of translating the Indian Buddhist literature in Sanskrit into Chinese led to the growth of awareness among the scholars of the Chinese Buddhist community to have Sanskrit-Chinese dictionaries. The Chinese monks compiled several volumes of such dictionaries. Among these the most important were the 25 volumes of *Sounds and Meanings of the Scriptures* (Yiqie jing Yinyi) by Xuan Ying (circa 7 CE, vide the entry) and 100 volumes of *Sounds and Meanings of the Scriptures* by Hui Lin (737-820 CE, vide the entry). Later, the former was often referred to as *Xuan Ying's Sounds and Meanings* and the latter was known as *Hui Lin's Sounds and Meanings*, just to bring about the distinction between the two. These are the two major reference books which have played an important role in the history of compilation of Chinese dictionaries.

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The period from late 10^th century to early 11^th century marked another period of resurgence of translation of Buddhist scriptures in China and the

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Hundred Family Surnames in Phags-pa script

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study of Indian grammar continued to influence Chinese phonology. The 14^th and 15^th volume of the *Dream Pool Essays* by Shen Kuo extensively talks about the issues of Chinese and Sanskrit phonology which proved to be quite comprehensive and authoritative. As an impact of all this academic interest in Indian grammar, many new dictionaries appeared during the 11^th century of the Song Period. For example, the few that may be mentioned here are: *Tian zhu Zi Yuan* (天竺字源) compiled by Fa Hu and Wei Jing in seven volumes, *Xu Yiqie Jing Yinyi* (续一切经音义) compiled by Xi Lin in 10 volumes, *Long Kan Shou Jian* (龙龛手鉴) by Xing Jun in four volumes and *Shi Shi Yao Lan* (释氏要览) by Dao Cheng in three volumes.

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The impact of Indian linguistic works on China continued till the 18^th century. In 1750, the newly compiled set of *Traditional Rhyme with Text* (Tong Wen Yun Tong) caught the attention of Emperor Qian Long (1711-1799). This book had an appendix including a comparison table which showed four kinds of sounds and the meanings of the words in which the Sanskrit scripts were listed in the beginning followed by Tibetan, Manchu and Chinese scripts.

Ancient Chinese Translation

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Like modern times, translation in ancient China was of two kinds: interpretation and translation. Translation has played an important role in cultural exchanges between India and China. Interpretation lacked documentary records, although it appeared much earlier. Translation had rich data in spite of its late appearance, especially with the spread of Buddhism into China and the translation of Buddhist scriptures, translatology in China developed very early, both with theoretical summary and operational standard.

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Painting depicting translation of scriptures, Western Xia Period

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1^st-6^th century CE: According to Lu Cheng (refer to Lu Cheng's entry), An Shih-kao (refer to An Shihkao's entry) and Lokaksema (refer to Lokaksema's entry) must be considered as the earliest translators in China. An Shih-kao was from Parthia. His scriptures were altogether 39, which maintained righteous argumentation, fair and proper writing, natural words, plain but not vulgar letters. An Shih-kao's writing set solid foundation for translators of later generations. Lokaksema was from Yuezhi and whatever he translated from Sanskrit amounted to over 10 scriptures in translation. His translation was true to the original text and maintained a plain style. In the 2^nd century CE, there were Indian, central Asian and Chinese translators of the Buddhist scriptures and they often worked together. Their work could be divided into three parts: Kou-xuan (reading the original text), Chuan-yan (interpretation) and Bi-shou (writing into texts).

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It was found that the number of translators of Buddhist literature greatly increased during the 3^rd century mainly represented by Zhi Qian (refer to Zhi Qian's entry) and Dharmarakasha (refer to Dharmarakasha's entry). Zhi Qian translated 36 books and 48 volumes. His translation tried to fit into Chinese taste, thus relatively magnificent. Dharmarakasha translated a good deal of Buddhist scriptures that mainly included 175 books and 354 volumes. Yet most of his work didn't come down. His translation style was comparatively plain.

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There were many translators in 4^th century CE, mainly represented by Dao An (refer to Dao An's entry) and Kumarajiva (refer to Kumarajiva's entry). Dao An contributed to the task of translation in many ways. He developed a theory of 'Wu Shi Ben'(五失本); 'San Bu Yi' (三不易) . 'Wu Shi Ben' meant that the translator would delete repeated, trivial and cumbersome words to be found in the original texts of Buddhism and make it fit into a pattern and taste of Chinese expression. 'San Bu Yi' refers to three different types of situations that the translators usually encounter. This theory had profound influence on the translation work of later generations.

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Kumarajiva occupies a very important place in the history of Chinese translation. First, he translated a great number of Buddhist scriptures including 74 books and 384 volumes (Catalogues of Kai Yuan Buddhist Books - volume 4). Secondly, he paid full attention to his predecessors' success and failure in translation. He treated translation carefully and combined literal and free translation. Thirdly, unlike former translators who substituted concepts of Buddhist scriptures with metaphysical terms and words, he tried to innovate new and simple ways of expressions. He invented Buddhist terminology for translation more faithful to original texts. Fourthly, in order to be responsible, he started the rule to sign the translator’s name at the front of the translation. Fifthly, his institution set some guidelines to be followed by the government-run translation organisations of later times. And sixthly, most of the Buddhist scripture translated by him were preserved and had profound impact on posterity.

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Jianfu Temple at Xi’an was a translation centre during the Tang Dynasty

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The translation of Chinese Buddhist scripture flourished during the period from 5ᵗʰ and 6ᵗʰ centuries to the early 7ᵗʰ century. Two points need to be mentioned in the translation work of this period. The first is the theoretical issue, namely translation theory put forward by Yan Cong. The second is a practical issue, namely, the organisational system and translation procedure of government-run translation organisation of that time. Both issues were of great importance because they served as preludes to the climax in the translation of scriptures during the Tang Dynasty. Yan Cong’s common surname was Li and was from Zhao County. He came to Beijing in the 12ᵗʰ year of Kai-huang Period (592 CE). In the second year of Ren-shou Period (602 CE), he accepted the emperor’s command to compile Catalogue of Scriptures.

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In the second year of Da Ye Period (606 CE), he took charge of a royal translation organisation and translated 23 books and over 100 volumes. Yan Cong’s contribution in theory was the writing of the famous essay in the history of Chinese translation named *Syndrome Differentiation*. In the book, he first approved Dao An’s theory of *Wu Shi Ben*, *San Bu Yi* and then he developed it into another theory of the *Eight Requirements* (ba-bei) to be followed by Buddhist translators. The theory included comprehensive requirements both in psychological quality like aim, manner and style and in professional quality like knowledge, scope and the nature of writing.

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In the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE), the government organised and supported two translation organisations. One was in Chang’an with Na lian ti li ye she (refer to Na lian ti li ye’s entry) and Jnanagupta (refer to Jnanagupta’s entry) successively as director. Another was in Luoyang, with Dharmagupta (refer to Dharmagupta’s entry) as director. Translation in those two organisations involved such works as 'interpreting Sanskrit' (du-yu), 'word recording' (bi-shou), 'auditing' (chong-dui), 'sorting out literary content and finalising (quanding)'. They had many people with careful division of labour.

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During the period starting from 7ᵗʰ to 10ᵗʰ centuries, the translation of Buddhist scripture reached its heyday. In the early 7ᵗʰ century, Prabhamitra, the sramana in ancient middle India, arrived in Chang’an and started organising translation work in Da Xing-shan Temple in the third year of Zhenguan Period (629 CE). Prabhamitra died in the seventh year of Zhenguan Period. Twelve years later, Xuanzang returned to China and directed the translation work in Hongfu Temple. After that Xuanzang translated Buddhist scriptures in Ci’en Temple and Yuhua Palace. From the 19ᵗʰ year of Zhenguan Period (646 CE) to the first year of Linde Period (664 CE), he translated 73 amounting to 1,330 chapters. Xuanzang had unprecedented contribution in translation history. Firstly, he set up a large scale translation organisation and founded a complete set of organisational system for it. Secondly, he used various translation skills that could be referred to by modern scholars even till today. Thirdly, he put forward important translation theories and enacted 'five conditions that were appropriate to the principle of transliteration'. Fourthly, the Buddhist scriptures he translated took up over half of newly translated Buddhist Scriptures in the Tang Dynasty. Fifthly, he was the first Chinese in Chinese Buddhist scripture translation history that translated alone without the help of any Indian or other scholar of the Western Region. Sixthly, he had outstanding achievements in translating Chinese into Sanskrit and had translated 5,000 words of Lao Zi into Sanskrit. Seventhly, his professional ethics became a model for posterity.

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After Xuanzang, Yijing and Amoghavajra served as director of the organisation of translation. Amoghavajra was one of the 'four Buddhist scripture translators (the other three were Kumarajiva, Paramartha and Xuanzang)', he translated 110 books and 143 volumes of Buddhist Tantra Classics and played a significant role in the spread of Tantra in China.

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Yijing also had significant contributions in translation. He possessed flexible translation methods and his translation organisation featured exquisite division of labour. Yijing also compiled *A Thousand Sanskrit Words to Cultivate Buddhist Scripture Translator*. The book has 1,000 Chinese characters and is a Chinese-Sanskrit dictionary. During this period of 10ᵗʰ–17ᵗʰ century, especially in the early Northern Song Dynasty, translation of Buddhist scripture in China reached another climax. In the seventh year of the Taiping Xingguo Period (982 CE), the emperor ordered to set up a translation school and renamed it as Chuanfa School the next year. The organisational scale and ability of the translation work during Northern Song was as big as that of the Tang Dynasty. It was managed and supported by senior officials of the government. They had a full-fledged organisation

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while in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Buddhist scripture translation appeared occasionally. But in Tibet, large-scale translation of Buddhist scriptures still continued.

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(*Xue Keqiao*)

Terms - Concepts

Shabdavidya

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Shabdavidya was an ancient Indian subject dealing with the study and knowledge of Sanskrit linguistics that include research on pronunciation, grammar and rhetoric and was reckoned as one of the five sciences. According to free translation, the English term, Sound is equivalent of the Sanskrit word *Shabda*, and the whole term of *shabda-vidya* may be rendered into English as “knowledge of sounds”. Its corresponding transliteration forms in Chinese language are 'She-tuo-bi-tuo'('摄拖苾驮' and '摄佗苾驮'),' etc. There is an entry titled 'Learning Dharma in the West' in the fourth volume of Yi Jing's *An Account of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Sea*

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[Figure: A Collection of Terms in Translation (Fanyi mingyiji), Ming Period edition]

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[Figure: Selected Papers on the Languages of Ancient India, Ji Xianlin (front cover)]

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including director of translation along with other officials in-charge of other tasks like 'checking the doctrine' (Zheng Fanyi), 'check the Sanskrit terms and words' (Zheng Fanwen), 'recording' (Bi Shou), arrange the text (Zhui Wen), take part in discussion (Can Xiang). Until the fifth year of Tian-sheng Period (1027 CE), they translated over 500 volumes. Later, the translation work was intermittent due to lack of new Buddhist scriptures. This period lasted till the early Zhenghe Period (1111 CE). Famous translators of Buddhist scriptures included Fa Tian from India (refer to Fa Tian’s entry) Tian Xizai (refer to Tian Xizai’s entry), Danapala (refer to Danapala's entry), Dhararaksa (refer to Dhararaksa’s entry), Jin Zongchi (refer to Jin Zongchi’s entry), and Buddhist Wei Jing (refer to Buddhist Wei Jing’s entry) of the Chuanfa School. All these scholars translated about 284 books and 758 chapters.

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During the period of Renaissance of Tibetan Buddhism, people translated a large number of Buddhist scriptures. Those who were famous in the translation of Buddhist scripture in this period included Buddhist Atisha (982-1054 CE) from India, Buddhist Rinchen Zangpo (958-1055 CE) from Tibet, Zhuomi Shijia Yixi (993-1074 CE) and E. Luodan Xirao (1059-1109 CE). The translation of Buddhist scriptures was basically suspended in Song Dynasty

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which says that the term 'sheng-ming' was derived from the Sanskrit word *shabdavidya*, in which the meaning of the term *shabda* was sound and that of *Vidya* was science. It was one of the five sciences. In the second volume of the *Travelling Notes of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty* (da-tang xi-you-ji), Xuanzang remarked that the term *Shabdavidya* meant 'explaining the meaning of words and their differences'. According to some Indian myth, the earliest *Shabdavidya* work was created by heavenly god. As per the information available in Volume 21 of the *Records of the Yogacharya by Monk* Dun Lun's titled *Accounts of the Western Countries*, the *Shabdavidya Shastra* with one million *slokas* was prepared by Brahman in the beginning of *kalpa* (a period of time) and Sakra (Indra) reduced its size to 1,00,000 *slokas*. Thereafter, Fairy Gunabhadra again simplified it to 12,000 *slokas*. Fairy Panini created Panini Sutra with 8,000 *slokas* afterwards. Master Dharmapāla created 3,000 *slokas*, and named them as Miscellaneous Treasure of *Shabdavidya*, which was popular in the world. All the major linguistics works on Sanskrit such as those of the one million *slokas* made by Brahman, one lakh made by Sakra, 8,000 *slokas* of Fairy Panini (*Panini Sutra*) and 2,500 *slokas* written by the Brahmins of South India have been listed in the third volume of *A Biography of the Tripitaka Master of the Great Ci'en Monastery of the Great Tang* authored by two monks named Hui Li and Yan Cong. These were reported to be the basic works dealing with the 'sounds of the language of the Western Regions' and were popular in India and its surrounding areas and 'people desirous to attain scholarship in classical studies had to go through them'. Later, all these works motivated other scholars to produce works like *Brief Shabdavidya Shastra* with 1,000 *slokas*, *Munduk* scripts of 300 *slokas*, and *Anudhatu* with 800 *slokas* and they dealt with the *dhatu* of the Sanskrit word, the basis of the combination of the words and their ultimate meaning etc. The valuable work titled *A Biography of the Tripitaka Master of the Great Ci' En Monastery of the Great Tang* used the noun *Purusha* as an example listed different forms of 18 rhymes and 24 rhymes which were related to eight case endings, ie, 'explaining actors' (nominative case), 'explaining actions' (accusative case), 'explaining instruments' (instrumental case), 'explaining objectives' (dative case) 'explaining reasons' (ablative case), 'explaining genitive affairs' (genitive case), 'explaining location' (locative case) and 'explaining vocative affairs' (vocative case) as well as three different forms including the male sound (masculine), the female sound (feminine) and the non-male and non-female sound (neutral).

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From the time of the Wei and Jin dynasties to the early Song Dynasty, all those Chinese monks who went to India to seek *dharma* had to learn *Shabdavidya* works. Master Xuanzang learnt the same twice at Nalanda Monastery. The *Shabdavidya* science of India had its influence on the study and analysis of ancient Chinese language through the translation of the Buddhist *sutras* into Chinese. In order to translate and read *sutras*, eminent foreign and local monks used works such as the *Miscellaneous names in Sanskrit*, *thousand Sanskrit Words*, *Collections of Sanskrit Words in Tang*, *Collection of Terms in Translation*, *Sound and Meaning of All Sutras* and *Supplement to Sound and Meaning of All Sutras*, etc., edited by many eminent Chinese scholars. The nature and content of these works showed that they were very much influenced by Indian *Shabdavidya* science. It is worthwhile to make an in-depth study on how much influence the Indian linguistic works had on the history of Chinese linguistic works. For instance, the *Standardisation of Transliteration of the Western Regions* compiled by the Imperial Order during the Reign of Qian Long of the Qing Dynasty had many chapters such as Indian Alphabet Genealogy, Supplement to Indian Alphabet Genealogy, Indian Transliterated Word Genealogy, Supplement to Indian Transliterated Word Genealogy and Chinese and Sanskrit Genealogy, etc, is proof of Chinese interest in Sanskrit. Some more works such the Sanskrit Dictionary translated by Su Manshu and *Preface to Fundamental Sanskrit Dictionary* by Zhang Taiyan in late Qing Dynasty reflected that Indian Sanskrit knowledge had been quite popular in some section of Chinese intelligentsia for a long time.

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*(Chen Ming)*

Siksa

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Siksa/ Shiksha (式叉论) was ancient Indian phonetics and one of the six Vedas. This term can be found in ancient Chinese literature, especially in Buddhist *sutras* translated into Chinese. The fourth volume of the Lalitavistara *Sutra* translated by Indian monk, Dharmaraksa, in the Tang Dynasty described multiple subjects and techniques that Bodhisattva learned including *Veda*, *Nirukta*, *Siksa*, *Vaisheshika*, *Atharvaveda*, *Ambhiri* and *Hetuvidya*, etc. During the Southern Dynasty, volume I of the *Samkhya* classic *Hiranyasaptati* translated by Master Paramārtha in the Chen Dynasty listed two kinds of wisdom: external and internal, and the six branches of the Vedas were the subjects (disciplines) to

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[Figure: *Books on Sanskrit-Chinese Comparative Studies of Buddhist literature*]

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external wisdom. The six *Vedangas* included *Siksa*, *Vyakarana*, *Kalpa*, *Jyotisa*, *Chhanda* and *Nirukta*. The first article titled Abandoning of Sins and Blessings included in the first volume of Ji Zang's *Commentary* on *One-Hundred-Verse* of the Sui Dynasty quoted the same statement, and explained the six shastras (liulun). The statement was that 'the first was Siksa in which one has to learn 64 different techniques and rules of grammar. The second was Vyakarana, which explained sounds and their etymology'. Further, the 10ᵗʰ volume of *Explanations of Annotations on Dharmagupta-vinaya*, authored by Master Ding Bin of the Tang Dynasty offers an account on six Vedangas. It says that that the discipline of Shiksha meant 'science' here. Actually, *shiksha* was an ancient Indian discipline of phonetics. The task of translation of *sutra* into Chinese by all those Chinese monks seeking Dharma (fa) necessarily required some knowledge on Sanskrit phonology and thus the influence of Sanskrit phonetics on identifying and discovering the four tones of Chinese is perceptible. The study of Sanskrit-Chinese transliteration and the comparison of both Sanskrit and Chinese sounds thus became an important means to study and learn ancient Chinese phonetics.

Nirukta

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Nirukta (尼卢致论) is an ancient Indian etymological work dealing with one of the six kinds of supplementary knowledge of *Vedanga* and a compulsory subject to be studied by all the students of the Brahmin community in the early stage of their education. The first volume of *Hiranyasaptati* which was the Samkhya classic translated by Indian

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A Collection on Buddhism: Nirukta and Liu Xi's 'Explanation of Names' (Fanxue ji: Niluzhilun yu Liu Xi de 'Shiming'), Rao Zongyi

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Tripitaka Paramārtha during the Chen Dynasty, had the earliest reference of 'ni-lu-duo'( 尼禄多) for Nirukta in Chinese translation. The first volume of Ji Zang's *Commentary on One-Hundred-Verse* completed during the Sui Dynasty had another Chinese name ni-lu-duo (尼鹿多) for the same Indian term of Nirukta. The fourth volume of the *Lalitavistara Sutra* translated by Divakara in the Tang Dynasty listed many ancient Indian subjects such as *Nirukta* and *Siksa* etc. According to certain available sources, the most important work of Indian etymology in the early period was *Nirukta* written by Yaska which was finished in the 5ᵗʰ century BCE (or 7ᵗʰ century BCE), and is believed to have been prepared before the *Panini-sutra*. It was similar to the earliest ancient Chinese exegesis of Er-ya (尔雅). The concerned work of Nirukta has been divided into 12 chapters and it mainly annotated large collection of words. According to a highly valued opinion of Yaska, the root of all the words can be traced in this book with etymological meanings of nouns and verbs. It has been further remarked that 'Nirukta can explain the causes of the names of all the objects'. However, it doesn't have much more obvious influence in China and Rao Zongyi's Nirukta and Liu Xi's 'Explanations on Names' are the only important research papers for Chinese scholars to study and understand *Nirukta*.

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(Chen Ming)

Vyakarana

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Vyakarana (毗伽罗论) was the generic term of an ancient Indian grammar book and was one of six auxiliary disciplines of the *Veda*. Its Sanskrit name was *Vyakarana* which had the meanings such as 'grammatical method, grammar and treatise on grammar etc'. The first volume of *Hiranyasaptati*, the *Samkhya* classic translated by Indian Tripitaka Paramārtha in the Chen Dynasty says that the second category of the six *Vedangas* was Vyakarana. The 21ˢᵗ volume of Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra translated by Indian Tripitaka Dharmaksema in Northern Liang Dynasty listed the heretical *sutras* that include the Four Vedas, *Vyakarana*, *Vaisesika*, *Samkhya* and some works dealing with medical science, etc. The 25ᵗʰ volume of the *Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom* written by Nagarjuna and translated by Kumarajiva mentioned that Buddha didn't preach heretical *sutras* 'including the 18 great sutras such as *Vyakarana*, *Samkhya* and the *Vedas* etc'. It has been recorded in the 13ᵗʰ volume of the *Other Translation of Samyuktagama Sutra* that a young Brahmin would be found to be proficient in the Four Vedas, *Paragandha Shastra*, *Treatise on Sound*, *Vyakarana*, *Natya Shastra*, *Vaisesika* and was good at explaining grammar and the meanings of various texts. It can be seen that *Vyakarana* was one of the basic classics for Brahmins to learn. The transliteration of Vyakarana's in Chinese was 'bi-jia-lan-na' (弊迦兰那). But the old Chinese transliteration of the term *Vyakarana* is reported to have been 'pi jia luo lun' (毗伽罗论). Master Xuanzang thought the transliteration was not accurate and should have been transliterated as 'pi ye jie la nan' (毗耶羯剌湳)

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[Figure: 'Account of Buddhism Dispatched from the South Seas (Nanhai jigui neifa zhuan)', Dunhuang Remnants P2001]

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according to accurate Indian sounds and further commented that the name in free translation should be *Lucid Treatise on Sounds* as this book has an extensive record of all things that could be explained. Master Ding Bin of Tang dynasty, in his 10^th volume of *Annotations on Dharmagupta-vinaya* explained the six *Vedangas* and said that Vyakarana meant *A Treatise on Grammar* here. At the beginning of the *kalpa* (a period of time), Brahma instructed Vyakarana to heavenly people and because it was preached by Brahma, it was also called Brahmana. It is said that Vyakarana which was preached by Brahma was really long and had over 10,00,000 gathas (*sloka*). It has been further recorded in a chapter entitled *Learning Dharma in the West* in fourth volume of Yi Jing's *An Account of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Sea* that the general term used in India in reference to ancient secular books was Vyakarana-'pi he jie la nu' (毗何羯喇拏). This included five books, ie, *Siddharastu*, *Sutra* (*Panini-sutra*), *Dhatu*, *Khila* and *Vrttisutra* which may be considered to be equivalent to the five ancient Chinese Confucian classics.

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(*Chen Ming*)

Brahmi Script

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Brāhmī lipi (梵寐书) was one of the earliest scripts of ancient India to be found in Ashokan Pillar inscriptions of 3^rd century BCE. It had several varieties that evolved into other scripts such as Siddham, Nagari and Devanagari which were then widely in use. The Arabian scholar Al-Biruni recorded in his book of India that multiple scripts were used in different areas of India in the 11^th century CE. According to him, Brāhmī script was then in use to write many languages and was popular on the Silk Road. The so-called Tocharian and Khotan Saka language were written in Brāhmī script of the middle Asian italic type.

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It has been recorded in the 10^th chapter titled *Displaying of Books* of the fourth volume of *Lalitavistara Sutra* that as per the knowledge of Bodhisattvas there were then 64 scripts of different forms. The concerned book has been translated by an Indian monk, Divakara, in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. The Brāhmī (fan-mei) *lipi* in Sanskrit was reckoned as the first form of the script. Its transliteration in Chinese was 'fan-mei' (梵寐). Another Indian monk, Dharmaraksa, translated another version of *Lalitavistara Sutra* during the western Jin dynasty. The seventh chapter titled *Appearing Books* was to be found in the third volume of the same *Lalitavistara Sutra*, that recorded the names of 64 scripts and the first kind of the 'Brahmana script' corresponded with 'Brāhmī script'. There are two important

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Brahmi script on the Ashokan stone pillar

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sources that have reference to the names of Indian speech sounds which must be mentioned. First, the concerned chapter titled *Learning of Techniques* in the 11^th volume of *Abhiniskramanasūtra* translated by Indian Tripitaka master in the Sui Dynasty, listed the names of the 64 scripts and the book of annotations titled the *Present Brahmana preached by Brahma* covered all the sounds (pronunciation) of all the scripts in 14 words. Second, the biography of Zhu Shihang found in *Biographies of Eminent Monks* authored by Hui Jiao of the Liang dynasty records that Zhu Shihang arrived in Khotan (Yutian) in the 5ᵗʰ year of Gan-lu of the Wei Dynasty (260 CE).

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Another monk, Shi Sengyou, pointed out in the fourth chapter titled *Records on Sound and Meaning of Sutras with similarities and difference* that there were three makers of scripts in ancient China and India. They were Brahma, Kharosthi and Cang Jie. Brahma and Kharosthi lived in India and the scripts created by them 'explained *dharma* in the Pure Land', and were called Brahmi and Kharosthi script.

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[Figure: Dunhuang Brahmi script, fragment of *‘Pratītya-samutpāda-sūtra (Yuan qi jing/Sutra on Conditioned Arising)’*]

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Brahmi script meant Brāhmī *lipi* here and it was written from left to right, while Kharosthi script was from right to left. The two differed from Chinese which was written from top to bottom. Further, the volume numbering 51, *Abhidharma-mahavibhasa-sastra* which was written by Kātyāyani-putra, interpreted by 500 Arhats and translated by Indian monk Buddhavarman and Dao Tai in the Northern Liang Dynasty recorded that the Brāhmī script was made by Govindara Brahman. *The Book of the Sui Dynasty: Records of Sutras* gives reference about 'One Volume of Brahmi Script' which was the basic teaching material to learn Sanskrit. Many relics written in Brāhmī script have been transmitted to the areas of north-west China. In 1943, Xiang Da found a piece of broken stone of sutra pillar of India in Dunhuang area. The Indian scholar Professor V V Gokhale thought that it was the fragment of Pratītyasamutpādasūtra written in Brāhmī script in the middle of the 5ᵗʰ century. Similar relics or literature related to the Brāhmī script had played a great role in the propagation of Indian language and culture beyond the borders of the Western Region.

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(*Chen Ming*)

Kharosthi Script

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Kharosthi *lipi* was a common script of ancient India which came from the Aramaic script (alphabet) of West Asia. This was widely used in Gandhara of northwest of India and it occurred in the similar period of the Brāhmī script. This is now found to have been engraved in stone inscriptions of Asoka in the middle of the 3ʳᵈ century BCE. In ancient Chinese literature, the script was variously called – ‘Qu lou (佉楼)’, ‘Qu-lu-se-zha-shu-zi (佉卢瑟吒书字)’, ‘Qu-lu-shi-di (佉卢虱底)’ and ‘Qu-lu-shi-zha (佉卢虱吒)’ etc, all of which were transliterated names of the Sanskrit word, Kharosthi. According to free translation, their equivalent Chinese terms were: ‘lu-chun-shu’ or ‘lu-chun wen’ which means ‘donkey lip script’. It has been recorded on the basis of certain legends and myths of ancient India in Volume 101 of *Abhidharma-Jnanaprasthana-mahavibhasa-sastra* authored by 500 Arhats that the Kharosthi script was made by one celestial being, Kharosthi. This book has been translated by Xuanzang and is available in China.

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Another book titled *Sutra on Causes and Effects of the Past and Present* translated by Indian Tripitaka Gumarabhatha of the Song Dynasty mentions that there were 64 scripts in ‘Jambu-dipa’ and the two forefront scripts recorded there were the Brāhmī *lipi* and Kharoùñhī *lipi*. Another scholar Shi Sengyou of Liang Dynasty pointed out in chapter four titled *Records on Similarities and Differences in Sounds and Meanings of Sutras* to be found in the first volume of the *A Collection of Records on the Tripitaka* that

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[Figure: Fragment of Kharosthi Script found at Tarim Basin encampments, preserved in Xinjiang Museum]

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Brahma and Kharosthi were two innovators of these two scripts of India. The concerned work has been translated from Sanskrit into Chinese. These two kinds of scripts, ie, Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts were regarded by Indian kingdoms as "heavenly scripts" (tian-shu). The Brahmi script is written from left to right whereas Kharosthi is written from right to left. Further, the seventh chapter titled *Appearing Books* found in the third volume of the *Lalitavistara Sutra* in the beginning mentions the names of 64 scripts and the second kind was Kharosthi script. This too has been translated by the Indian scholar monk, Dharmaraksa. Again, in Tang dynasty, chapter 10 titled the *Displaying* Tocharian, fragments of *Maitri Simit* (*Mile huijian ji*), found in Xinjiang, China in 1957

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Gandhari literature unearthed in Afghanistan region in the late 1990s have great academic significance for studies on important issues. Some of the issues were the history of the growth of Buddhist classics in the early period, gradual propagation of Indian Buddhism in the eastern region and the history of the exchange of Buddhism between India and China during its early phase.

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(Chen Ming)

Personalities

Xuanying

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*Scripts* found in another version of *Lalitavistara Sutra* (volume four) translated by another monk named Divakara refers to 64 scripts as the first type, and the second of its kind was the Kharoùñhī *lipi* corresponding to Kharosthi script. The 11ᵗʰ volume of *Abhiniskramanasūtra* translated by an Indian monk during the Sui Dynasty lists names of 64 scripts and the annotations made about this mentions Kharosthi *lipi* as the second type and it was termed as donkey lip (lu-chun) language of the Sui Dynasty. As for Fairy Saint Kharoùñhī mentioned in volume 41 of *Mahavaipulya-mahasanni-pata-sutra*, it has been translated by Indian Tripitaka Narendrayasas with an annotation on translation talks of the donkey lip language of the Sui Dynasty. This shows that the free translation of Kharosthi or Kharoùñhī is donkey lip. It has been recorded in volume 42 of the *Abhidharma-mahavibhasa-sastra* that Brāhmī script was ranked before Kharosthi script and people usually learned the Kharosthi script after studying the Brāhmī script. This work has been written by Kātyāyani-putra with necessary interpretation by 500 arhats and the same has been translated by Indian monk Buddhavarman and Dao Tai of the Northern Liang Dynasty. Further mention has been made in volume 67 of Hui Lin's *Sounds and Meanings of All Sutras* that it shall be called Kharoùñhī, meaning the script of broader area people of the north. The entry of Kharosthi in volume 5 of Fa Yun's *Collection of Terms* offers the same explanation saying that Kharoùñhī or Kharosthi meant script of Bianchu people in the north. The script was mainly used to spell northwestern dialects such as Gandhari in India. It was quite popular all throughout the Silk Road, especially in the areas including Niya in Xinjiang of China till the closing decades of the 6ᵗʰ century CE. It was one of the common scripts on the Silk Road at that time and was also used to spell the languages such as Sanskrit and Tocharian.

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The sutras unearthed in Yu-tian including Dhammapada in Gandhari and several plethora of

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Xuanying was a Buddhist monk and linguist of the Sui and Tang Dynasty. His main work was *Sound and Meaning of All Sutras*. He compiled *Annotations of Mahayana-samuparigraha-sastra*, *Annotations of Shastra on Determination of Mean and Extremes*, *Annotations of Nyayadvaratarka-sastra* etc. Xuanying made important contributions in the propagation and understanding of Indian *sutras* in China and towards the exchange of linguistic science between the two nations.

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Xuanying lived during the Sui and Tang Dynasties and he joined the institution of translation run by Master Xuanzang after the 19ᵗʰ year of the reign of Zhenguan in the Great Tang Dynasty (645 CE) as 'the Eminent Monk of Lexicology'. He resided in Li-quan Temple, the Great Zong-chi Temple of the capital and the Great Ci'en Temple etc. He was proficient in lexicology, understood Sanskrit and Chinese and had profound knowledge in classical studies. As the only 'eminent monk of Lexicology' in Xuanzang's institution of translation, Xuanying was given a place of honour in the Buddhist text catalogue of the Great Tang as the 'Master of Generation' and 'Unique Talent in the Court' along with Dao Xuan who was one of his contemporaries. Besides translating *sutras*, Xuanying transliterated difficult words of *sutra* of 465 volumes with large number of quotations from many dictionaries and literary and historical works of previous generations and compiled Xuanying's

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Master Xuanying of Tang Dynasty, '*Sound and Meaning of All Sutras* (*Yiqiejing yinyi*)', Yuan Dynasty edition *Sound and Meaning* in the 5th year of Yong-hui (654 CE). This book consisting of 25 volumes was also named *Sound and Meaning of Buddhist Sutras* and *Sound and Meaning of All Sutras*,etc. It may be reckoned as the earliest extant work explaining sounds and meanings of Buddhist sutras, and provided paradigms and solid foundations for the later generations to work on 'sounds and meanings of Buddhist *sutras*' by Chinese scholars. The concerned work, thus, with a large collection of Buddhist *sutra* is also to be found in the form of Japanese transcript and in multiple fragments in Duanhuang and Tulufan areas. According to statistics, Xuanying's *Sounds and Meanings* has a collection of over 9,400 entries in which over 850 entries are Sanskrit transliterated words. Xuanying not only explained pronunciations and meanings of words but also paid attention to the connotations of those words in the context of multiple aspects of Indian culture and in actual practice of Indian customs, convention and religion. For example, the entry of 'red pillow' in volume six of Xuanying's *Sounds and Meanings* pointed out that India didn't have wooden pillows. Instead, they used red leather and cotton cloth for pillows in which Dou-luo cotton and feathers were put. They could be used as pillows as well as back cushions, and the colour was mostly vermilion. Similar explanations of various words provided basic information for readers to understand Indian Buddhism and secular culture. This work of *Sounds and Meanings of All Sutras* of Xuanying is rated as one of the famous works in the field of study of 'sounds and meanings of Buddhist sutras'.

Huilin

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Huilin (慧琳737-820 CE) was a Buddhist monk and linguist of the Tang Dynasty. His family name was Pei (裴) and belonged to a place called 'Shu-le' ( 疏勒) of the Western Regions (Kashgar, Xinjiang at present). All the deeds and achievements of his life have been described in the fifth volume of *Biographies of Eminent Monks of the Song Dynasty* and in *Biography of Hui Lin of the Xi-ming Temple of the Tang (dynasty)* capital. Huilin took his lessons on classical studies from An-xi (安西) scholars in his childhood and adopted a monastic life at the age of 20. Further, he also studied Buddhist classics with the Tripitaka Master Amoghavajra, an eminent esoteric monk. He 'learned esoteric treasures internally and studied Confucianism externally', read sutras extensively and was proficient in Indian *Shabda-vidya* (linguistics) and Chinese exegesis. He compiled 100 volumes of the *Sound and Meaning of the Tripitaka* during the period from the fourth year of Zhen-yuan (788 CE) to the fifth year of Yuan-he (810 CE). In the preface to the book written by Jing

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Master Huilin of Tang Dynasty, 'Sound and Meaning of the Tripitaka (Yiqiejing yinyi)'

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Shen, it has been further pointed out that Huilin started writing all these books towards the end of Jian-zhong (783 CE) era, and completed them in the second year of the Yuan-he (807 CE) period.

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The *Sound and Meaning of the Tripitaka* is also otherwise known as *Sound and Meaning of All Sutras* and *Sound and Meaning of Hui Lin*, consisting of about 100 volumes with plenty of quotations from normal dictionaries and rhyming dictionaries such as *Analytical Dictionary of Chinese Characters*, *Dictionary of Characters*, *Uniform Characters*, *Category of Sounds*, *Three Cangs*, *Essentials of Rhyming*, *Jade Chapters*, *Ancient and Modern Standard Characters*, *Classical Dictionary of Characters* and *Kai-yuan Sounds and Meanings of Characters*. It has also a lot of references about many classical books, history and on many volumes of *Sounds and Meanings of Sutras* authored by eminent monks such as Xuanying, Hui Yuan, Yun Gong and Kuiji of the previous generations. The same work of Huilin's too provides various annotations on a large quantity of words and terms of more than 1,300 sutras translated into Chinese that amounts to over 5,700 chapters. The *Sounds and Meanings of All Sutras* has been divided into many volumes with many catalogues based on the contents of the *sutra* and it is roughly the same as the order followed in compiling the Records of Sakyamuni's Teachings of the Kaiyuan Period.

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According to the statistical information provided by Xu Shiyi, the *Sounds and Meanings of All Sutras* actually annotated sounds of over 1,160 sutras of the work of Maha-Prajnaparamita Sutra translated by Xuanzang and those of another work titled *Protection of Life and Release of Animals* written by the eminent monk Yi Jing of the Tang Dynasty. The *Sounds and Meanings of All Sutras* has over 31,000 entries in which Huilin personally compiled over 21,200 entries. The entries offer answers to various questions that are likely to be raised by the readers of *Sutra*. Further, the *Sounds and Meanings of All Sutras* explained a lot of Sanskrit transliterated words besides pointing out correct Chinese characters and correct pronunciation of the Sanskrit words. This book proves to be very helpful in understanding various facets of ancient Indian culture and provided valuable information on the history of India-China cultural exchange. According to the contents of the sixth volume of *Sound and Meaning of All Sutras*, the word 'cane' means 'sarkara'. Explanations on Chinese characters used to translate the term 'cane' mentioned that it was the name of 'a grass of good smell'. When the juice of the cane is heated, it produces 'sugar' (shatang). After the completion of *Sounds and Meanings of All Sutras*, it has been carefully preserved in Xi-ming Temple of Xi'an along with other sutra, and is held in high esteem both by the Buddhists and laymen of the capital. It became part of the Tripitaka since the fifth year of Da-zhong (851 CE) reign and enjoyed much popularity in the Buddhist world. After this book was circulated to other places like Korea and Japan, it made great contribution towards the propagation of Buddhist culture in East Asia.

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