Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.32

v1.c8.32

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.