Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s2.t6: Kharosthi Script
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s2.t6
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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)
Linked texts (1)
- 阿毘達磨大毘婆沙論 — Classical Chinese