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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s3.t1: Xuanying

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s3.t1

Language
English

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'.

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