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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s3.t2: Huilin

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s3.t2

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English

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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