Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s4.t3.4

v1.c8.s4.t3.4

Yi Jing in the preface to his work titled *One Thousand Sanskrit Words* said that people can begin to translate Buddhist sutras after learning *Siddharastu*, the *One Thousand Sanskrit Words* and few other Sanskrit lessons. After the introduction of Siddharastu into China, Chinese scholars mixed language, religion and cultural knowledge of China and India, and brought out some integrated philosophical works that included some Buddhist doctrines on the basis of their linguistic study. All this led to the growth of a unique field of study and research that came to be known as the Siddham Studies (Siddham Science). The Chinese *Siddham Studies* (science) can be regarded as a new paradigm with marked innovations that were considerably influenced by Indian culture. The growth and propagation of *Siddham Studies* in China was not only closely linked to the local Buddhist schools such as Fa-xiang School, Hua-yan School, Tantrism, Tian-tai School and Chan School etc, but it exerted considerable influence on translation of the Buddhist *sutra*, propagation and learning of the Sanskrit words and development of Chinese characters. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the merger of the study of Siddharastu with Chinese phonology led to the research and compilation of famous works such as Zhao Huanguang's *An Account of Siddharastu* and Zhou Chun's *Profound Treatise on Siddharastu* etc. Aside from its effect on the growth of Chinese phonology, *Siddharastu* also affected the growth of rhythm of the poems and prose poems composed by eminent scholars and poets of that period. After the knowledge of *Siddham* studies (science) was propagated by envoys (monks seeking Dharma) in the Tang Dynasty into Japan, the Japanese monk An Ran in the Heian period (794-1185/1192 CE), wrote representative works of *Siddham* science named *Siddham Treasure in Japan* which further led to the expansion and popularity of ancient Indian culture in different areas of east Asia.