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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10: Section VII Literature

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10

Language
English

Contents

Section VII Literature

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Even before 300 BCE, there was a legend of the Moon Rabbit in China which was once mentioned by the poet Qu Yuan (about 340-278 BCE) in the poem *Tian Wen*. Up to now, this legend is still popular among people. Meanwhile, a similar legend of the Moon Rabbit also existed in ancient India which can be found in the *Jataka Tales* (Jàtaka), a book created before 300 BCE. Some scholars hold that literary interaction between China and India began from then, but that is only a speculation and not a final conclusion. In fact, the literary interaction between India and China began after the introduction of Buddhism to China. As a growing number of Buddhist scriptures were being translated into Chinese, many Buddhist stories were introduced into China which began to influence Chinese literature. The transmission and influence of Indian Buddhist literature on China is almost synchronous with that of Indian Buddhism on China.

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1ˢᵗ-6ᵗʰ century CE

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It was from 1ˢᵗ - mid 3ʳᵈ century CE that Indian Buddhism was initially introduced to China. Indian literature started to influence Chinese literature and some Buddhist words such as *Sramana* (see Zhang Heng's *Poetry of West Capital*) and *Upàsaka* (see *History of Later Han Dynasty*) first appeared in Chinese poetry around this time. Afterwards, based on the birth story of Prince Gautama Siddhàrtha, the poet Cao Zhi (192-232 CE) created the lyrics of *Prince Poetry*. In the meantime, the Chinese also began to cite Buddhist stories in literary works. For example, Ying Shao (153-196 CE) included the *Two Women Scramble for the Son* and *Two Persons Battle for Fine Silk Fabrics* in his *Fengsu Tong*, both of which were sourced from the *Jakata Tales · Maha Umagga Jataka*. Han Danchun's (about 132-221 CE) *Xiao Lin* (*Humors Jokes*) includes the fable of *Curing the Hump* that was sourced from *The Hundred Parables Sutra*. China's orthodox history, *Records of the Three Kingdoms · The Book of Wei*, volume 20, has a story of *Cao Chong Weighs the Elephant* which was sourced from *Za Bao Zang Jing* (*The Sutra of Miscellaneous Jewels*). The characteristics of the influence of Indian Buddhist literature on Chinese literature during this period mainly manifested as a copy and simple adaptation of Chinese literary works from Buddhist stories.

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From mid 3ʳᵈ century to late 6ᵗʰ century CE, Buddhism witnessed further development in China which influenced Chinese scholars and bureaucrats and China's intellectual circles. It also began to be Sinified. It was at this period that Indian stories became popular in China's world of fiction, and the "Sakya Supporting Book" (cited from Lu Xun), characterised by promoting samsara, reincarnation and karma, was created. Inspired by Buddhist stories and Buddhist scriptures, the type of classical novel featuring ghost stories emerged, and Indian stories began to be obviously Sinified.

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Among the tales of mystery and supernatural, representative works were Gan Bao's (3ʳᵈ, 4ᵗʰ century) *Searching Deities*, *Record of Heretofore Lost Works* by Wang Jia (5ᵗʰ century CE), the anonymous *Records of Spirits and Ghosts*, *Record of the Nether World* by Liu Yiqing (403-444 CE), *Continued Records on Universal Harmony* by Wu Jun (569-520). The emergence of such novels in China was closely linked to the introduction of Indian Buddhism, and is mainly manifested in four aspects: firstly, Indian Buddhism influenced literary concept of Chinese novels. Confucianists in ancient China represented by Confucius never believed in and discussed ghosts, and did not write stories about ghosts and gods. However, Buddhism not only talked about stories about ghosts and gods, but was also adept in generating such stories. Obviously, the different belief system resulted in such phenomena. As Buddhism advocates eternity and samsara of the spirit, a complete set of life concepts and moral rules were evolved, which were reflected in the form of literary works. Buddhism had its own time and space views that were new and strange to the Chinese. Secondly, some Buddhist figures, sites, terms, etc., were introduced into Chinese literary works. Figures included Buddha, Bodhisattva, Sramana, Householder, Rakshasa, and so on. Sites include temples and the like in Tianzhu (“India”), the Western Regions, etc. Thirdly, the Indian story line directly influenced the contents of Chinese stories. There were many stories in Buddhist classics of high literary standard, and it was common to find such works in Buddhist scriptures, taboos and discussion, many of which were introduced to China. Therefore, Chinese stories during this period showed two characteristics: firstly, it copied stories in Buddhist scriptures; secondly, it imitated and adapted stories in Buddhist scriptures; thirdly, animals became the leading or second leading figures in a growing number of stories during this period. There are numerous examples to prove that it is also closely related to the introduction and influence of Indian Buddhism.

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'Jataka Tales' mural, Cave 17, Ajanta

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History of Later Han Dynasty (Dong guan han ji)

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‘The Hundred Parables Sūtra’ (Bai yu jing)

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‘Record of Heretofore Lost Works’ (Shiyi ji)

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‘Searching Deities’ (Sou shenji)

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Poetry During this period, Buddhism also had a profound impact on Chinese poetry, and it was fashionable for some scholars to write poems connected with Buddhism, including poets such as Tao Yuanming (about 372-427), Xie Lingyun (385-433), Bao Zhao (405-466), Shen Yue (441-513). Guang-hung-ming chi Volume 30 has collected many such poems. Interestingly, many Buddhists also ascended to the ranks of poets, not only Chinese but also foreigners, and their poems were included in the treasury of Chinese poetry to constitute a part of Chinese culture. The Buddhist poems in the Jin Dynasty were represented by the poet Zhi Dun (314-366), whose 18 poems such as Eulogy to the Buddha on the 8^th^ day of the fourth month have been handed down through generations. The Emperor Liangwu, Xiao Yan, (464-549) was a Buddhist and also a poet, who had written poems such as *Meet Three Religions*.

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**6^th^-10^th^ Century CE** During this period, it was almost impossible to find any examples of Indian literature being influenced by Chinese literature, but Indian literature, Indian Buddhist literature in particular, produced a significant impact on Chinese literature. Such influence had three characteristics: firstly, with the development of Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist principles, concepts, categories, vocabularies and so on sourced from Indian Buddhism penetrated through all aspects of Chinese literature. Especially in the field of poetry, excellent works reflecting Buddhist topics and promoting Buddhist concepts emerged, and even Chinese poetry theories were also seriously impacted. Secondly, Buddhist scriptures, stories, figures and sites entered Chinese literary works and were of vital importance to legends in the Tang period. Thirdly, the extensive spread of Buddhism influenced folk literature in the Tang period, and hastened the birth of an original literature genre called “Bianwen” (transformation texts).

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**Poetry** It was during this period in the Tang period that the development of Buddhism reached its peak, and this was also inevitably reflected in Tang poetry.

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Therefore, almost all great poets in Tang Dynasty were influenced by Buddhism. For example, Wang Wei (710-760), Bai Juyi (772-846) who believed in Buddhism in their later years, Li Bai (701-762) and Du Fu (712-770) all created plenty of works related to Buddhism and Buddhists. The number of Buddhist poems in Tang Dynasty was more than that in any other era, and the *Complete Collection of Tang Poetry* had 46 volumes of Buddhist poetry. Among numerous monk poets, some were regarded as authorities, for example, Han Shan (about the 7^th century), Shi De (about the 7^th century), Jiao Ran (about 720-about 800), Guan Xiu (832-913) and Qi Ji (863-937). In the Tang period, there were quite a few outstanding works of folk literature that were related to Buddhism, and the most representative was the folk poet Wang Fanzhi (about 590-660).

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**Literary theory** Jiao Ran wrote five volumes of *Poetic Styles* and one volume of *Poetic Notes*, a systematic monograph of poetics. Jiao Ran discussed the nature, writing rules, appreciation and style of poems, and expressed insightful ideas. He held a high place in the history of Chinese poetry criticism and aesthetics. In the text, he not only used Buddhist words, but also applied some Buddhist ideas to poetry theories.

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**Tang legends** In the words of Lu Xun, Chinese writers at this time started to consciously create novels. Such a consciously created novel was called 'Tang Legend', where clear traces of Indian

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influence were commonly found. For example, *The Tale of Liuyi* tells the story of a scholar named Liu Yi who helped the Daughter of the Dragon deliver a letter, and finally got married to her. *The Tale of the Governor of Nanke* tells the story of a person who fell into an ant hole unintentionally, and became an official in the ant kingdom, got married and had a son. Both tales reflected the ancient Indians' rich imagination, strange space concepts and ideas of ‘Existence Being Equal’ in Chinese literature. Apart from this, the influence of Indian literature on Tang Legends is also reflected in the narrative structure, namely, a trunk story connected to many small stories, like *The Record of the Ancient Mirror*.

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**Transformation Text (Bianwen)** The ‘transformation text’ was folk literature created under the influence of Buddhism. Firstly, its inception was because of the popularity of Buddhism: simple and popular language was needed to explain the doctrine of Buddhist scriptures among people. Therefore, monks began to promote Buddhism in simple words. The transformation text was a new literary genre formed on the basis of simple explanation. Secondly, regarding its contents: in the circulated and preserved transformation texts, many were taken from Buddhist scriptures, such as *Mulian Transformation Text*, *Hell Transformation Text*, *Vimalakirti Sutra Transformation Text*. However, some are from historical legends. Thirdly, regarding its literary form: it adopted the verse-prose mixed form, which deeply influenced the subsequent teaching and singing literature and its roots could be found in Buddhist scriptures. Fourthly, the commonly called “transformation text” marked a general reference: it is not limited to Buddhist stories, Chinese historical stories and legends, but also included other contents, such as fables of Swallow Poetry, *On Tea and Wine*, etc. Even transformation texts and fables originating from historic legends in ancient China were also obviously influenced by Buddhism.

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**10ᵗʰ -17ᵗʰ Century CE** By this time, it had been over 1,000 years since the introduction of Buddhism to China, and the Buddhist culture had blended with Chinese culture and constituted a whole. Therefore, it was common to find the influence of Buddhist thought in novels during this period.

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**Novels** Things recorded by Sun Guangxian’s (901-968) *Beimengsuoyan* in the 9ᵗʰ and 10ᵗʰ century follow the tradition of novels recording personalities and weird events in the 3ʳᵈ to 6ᵗʰ century, rather than inheriting Tang legends. His works recorded actual events and had a certain value as historical data. The contents such as “Reinvigorating Buddhism”, ‘Blood writing in Chinese Buddhism”, “Crash Sarira” reflected the status and social influence of Buddhism at that time, and indicated the transmission of Esoteric Buddhism.

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*Qing Suo Gao Yi* by Liu Fu (11ᵗʰ century) was another typical collection of novels in the tradition of Tang Legends. It included records of miscellaneous events, weird events and legendary novels, of which the latter two are dominant. It clearly reflected the influence of Buddhism. There were *Record of Kind Cloud* reflecting a fantastic dreamland, *Record of Foreign Fish* which tells the story of the daughter of a dragon who payed a debt of gratitude with jewels, *Record of Becoming Ape*, *Record of Killing a Chicken*, and *Record of Killing a Cat* which narrated the story of paying the price for killing, *Cheng Shuo*, etc. *Record of a Benevolent Deer* described how when Emperor Chuyuan hunted in Yunmeng Lake and chased after a flock of deer, the Deer King ran to Emperor Chuyuan and argued with him, willing to supply one deer to Emperor Chu every day. The Emperor was moved and issued a ban on killing deer. The deer felt much indebted and gave the Emperor Chu support in war. Here, the author adopts the historic background of Wu State and Chu State contending for hegemony, and located the story of the “Deer King” in *Six Paramitas Sutra*.

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Hong Mai (1123-1202) was a well-known scholar and novelist in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said that his *Record of the Listener* consisted of 420 volumes, but the best-preserved edition has only over 200 volumes available, less than half the original book. Even so, the book was still the largest collection of classical Chinese novels in China and included over 2,700 novels. However, the *Record of the Listener* was also the compilation of earlier works. At least 700 persons contributed materials to him, and most of the works were created based on various folklores. His work clearly showed the influence of Buddhism, for example, the Buddha’s story, the pagoda involving supernatural or magical powers, Bodhisattva, Vajrasattva, Yama, Yaksa, and Daughter of the Dragon, Karma, Samsara and reincarnation.

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‘Mulian rescues his mother’, a Mongolian painting scrolls

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There continued to be many literary sketches during this period.

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**Poetry** During this period Chinese Buddhism was still flourishing, and there were still many Buddhists among scholars and bureaucrats, many of whom stood for reconsiling Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Meanwhile, poetry in the Song period was still thriving after the peak in the Tang, and especially the emergence of “Ci poetry” was a breakthrough in poetry creation, and ushered in another peak of poetry in Chinese history. Therefore, Tang poems and Song poetry are known as two gorgeous flowers in Chinese poetry. Moreover, Buddhism still had a significant impact on the development of poetry.

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Among all poets, Su Shi (1036-1101) was the most influenced by Buddhism. His sincere friendship with the Buddhist Liao Yuan (also named Fo Yin) became a favourite tale before and after his death. His poem *Climb Guangli Pavillion at the Peak of Mount Chang* clearly conveyed his Buddhist thinking. Although seldom associated with Buddhists, Lu You (1125-1209) was also influenced by Buddhism. For example, his poem *To My Son* voiced his patriotism, and was also impacted by Buddhist thought.

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All Chinese scholars in the Song wrote poetry and most of them were influenced by Buddhism. They always called themselves Householder: for example, Ouyang Xiu (1007-1087, Liuyi Householder), Zhang Shunmin (?-1100, Fuxiu Householder), Su Shi (Dongpo Householder), Qin Guan (1049-1100, Huaihai Householder), Chen Shidao (1053-1101, Houshan Householder), Li Qingzhao (1084-1151, Yi’an Householder), Fan Chengda (1126-1193, Shihu Householder) and Zhang Xiaoxiang (1132-1169, Yuhu Householder). Not all of them believed in Buddhism, and it only indicated that it was a fashion for scholars to call themselves Householder then; they achieved a kind of elegance that was undoubtedly related to Buddhism. Some scholars in the Song treated Buddhism as a kind of learning. They became recluses, showed indifference to officialdom, called themselves Householder, and did what they liked.

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Taoist Dongpo

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'Collected Works of Dong Po (Dong Po Xiansheng Quanji)', Su Shi

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Su Zhe (1039-1112) was Su Shi’s younger brother and had intimate association with Buddhists. It can be seen in his *Yu Jia Ao· Birthday Congratulations with Disciples* that it was in middle age that he started believing in Buddhism and was disillusioned with life. Huang Buzhi (1053-1110) described his boredom and was eager to return home in poverty after being relegated to Xinzhou in *Immortal at the River Xinzhou*, where his loneliness and solitude stood out against the background of few monks in the wild pagoda. There were also quite a few Buddhist poems in the Song; for example, Liao Yuan (1032-1098), Qing Shun (11th century), Ke Zun (11th century), De Hong (1071-1128), etc, all created some graceful lyrics. Hong De’s Ci was more worldly, and it was difficult to identify from his lyrics that he was a Buddhist.

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**Literary Theory** During this period there were quite a few articles and monographs commenting on poems and poetry. Yan Yu’s (13th century) *Cang Lang’s Notes on Poets and Poetry* exerted the strongest influence on later generations, and evoked debates for hundreds of years. This book laid emphasis on discussing characteristics of poetry forms and his aesthetic interest, and was compiled in five parts: *Argument*, *Form*, *Method*, *Commentary*, and *Textual Criticism*. One of its key characteristics was to use the Chan thought of Buddhism to comment on poetry. Yan Yu was strongly opposed to poems written in the Song period and praised highly those poems that were written before the Tang Dynasty. He objected to “creating poems through words, talents and discussion” and proposed to see the poem as a realm of imagination.

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**Drama** During this period there were dedicated art performance places in Bianliang (the present Kaifeng, the capital of Northern Song Dynasty), and Lin’an (the present Hangzhou, the capital of Southern Song Dynasty) which are called “Washe” or “Wazi”. China’s early dramas were created in Washe, and the humorous dramas satirising current affairs in the Northern Song were the most prominent. Actors played roles in different identities and carried on dialogue and performance in a given context, but the scale was not large. A drama called “*Connecting Three Religions*” was a humourous dialogue between a Confucian, Daoist and Buddhist. In addition, a poetic drama named *Mulian Saves his Mother* was performed from days 7 to 15 of the seventh month (the lunar calendar). All the above indicate that there were relatively complete poetic dramas revolving around Buddhism in Washe and they were well-received. In the later Northern Song, the Jin Dynasty founded by the Jurchen in the north gradually grew bigger and finally occupied Bianjing, destroyed the Northern Song. The North was claimed by the Jin Dynasty and the South was governed by the Southern Song. During this period, “Northern Poetic Drama” and “Southern Drama” came out in the North and South respectively. Until the Ming Dynasty, Chinese drama was divided into Southern and Northern systems. Some contents related to Buddhism can be found from dramas in the Southern Song and Jin: For example, Tang Sanzang, a story about a Tang Monk going on a pilgrimage for Buddhist scriptures. Moreover, there were some other dramas that were clearly linked to Buddhism.

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13th -18th Century CE Poetry in the Yuan and Ming periods began to decline, and was replaced by other literary forms. The literature in the Yuan was

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Cang Lang's ‘Notes on Poets and Poetry: Collated and Annotated (Canglang shihua jiao shi)’, front cover

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dominated by Yuan Verse, including poetic drama and verse. In the Ming, with the development of novels, poetry appeared ordinary without many works of high quality.

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Poetry In spite of this, there were many examples that were influenced by Buddhism in the Yuan period poems. For example, Yuan Haowen’s (1190-1257) *Shaolin*, Chen Fu’s (1259-1309) *Evening Bell from a Mist-shrouded Temple*, and He Zhong’s (1265-1332) Nanju Temple. The short lyric in the Yuan was called Xiao Ling. Liu Binzhong’s (1216-1274) *Dried Lotus Leaf · No Title*, Guan Hanqing’s (1220-about 1300) two poems of *Four Jades ·Leisure* and Ma Zhiyuan’s (end of 13th century - first half of 14th century) Shouyang Qu ·*Evening Rings from the Misty Temple*, are all excellent short lyrics.

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Many Ming poems were also influenced by Buddhism, for example, *Follow the Person* by Liu Ji (1311-1375), *Monk Returns to Japan* by Zhang Yu (second half of 14th century), *Writing Down Feelings to a Monk* by Shen Zhou (1427-1509) , as well as other poems on touring Buddhist temples. Ming monks’ poems were represented by Fan Qi (1296-1370),

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Performance of poetic drama, historical painting, Song Dynasty

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Tong Run (14th century) and other poets. Tong Run’s *Early Plum Blossom* was the most famous, which describes how the plum blossom came and went silently. There, its “colour”, “aroma” and “shade” have their own Buddhist meanings signifying that the birth and death of objects are from something to nothing and from nothing to something.

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Classical Chinese novels: During this period, Buddhism was still strong. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were Mongolians who believed in Tibetan Buddhism. The rulers in the early Ming Dynasty also believed in Buddhism. Their attitude determined the influence of Buddhism on society. Such a situation was also true of novels.

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The anonymous *New Reports from Lake and Sea: Sequel to the Records of the Listener* in the Yuan was divided into two episodes, 17 categories, and was a large collection of novels involving strange phenomena. Volume III in the first episode included *Release Trionyx Sinensis to Pay a Debt of Gratitude*, which were also included in Liu Yiqing’s *Records of the Nether World*. It was obviously taken from volume III of the Buddhist scripture *Sutra of the Collection of the Practices of the Six Perfections*.

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There were many classical Chinese novels in Ming Dynasty, represented by *New Stories Told while Trimming the Wick* by Qu You (1341-1427) , *Stories Told While Trimming the Wick* by Li Changqi (1376-1451) , and *Stories Told While Searching for the Wick* by Shao Jingzhan (16th century). The above-mentioned three stories were obviously influenced by Buddhism as seen in the commonly used Buddhist words and literary quotations. The Buddhist temple was always the location of story or hero or heroine; the Buddhist monks and nuns, believers and those against Buddhism were leading characters in stories, and the doctrine of Buddhism was the main idea of the novel.

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There were many classical Chinese novels in the Qing period, as represented by *Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio* by Pu Songling (1630 or 1640-1715). The influence of Buddhism on it was basically the same as that in “*Three Stories*”.

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**Vernacular Novels** During this period, China’s vernacular novels emerged and reached their peak. Short vernacular novels were represented by “*Three Volumes of Words*” and “*Two Volumes of Slapping*”. Full-length novels were represented by *Water Margin*, *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, *Journey to the West*, and *A Dream of Red Mansions*, which were all deeply influenced by Buddhism. Among them were Wu Cheng’en’s (about 1510-1582) *Journey to the West*, Xu Zhonglin’s (1567-1620) *Investiture of the Gods* and Luo Maodeng’s (16ᵗʰ century) *Western Record*, all three of which were called ‘Supernatural Evil-spirit Novels’ by Lu Xun.

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*Journey to the West* was the masterpiece in Chinese god-evil novels. Against the backdrop of Xuanzang’s pilgrimage to India for Buddhist scriptures, it told

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[Figure: Illustrated edition of the 'Journey to the West' (Xiyouji tuce)]

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the story of how the Tang Monk, Sha Wujing, Pigsy and Sun Wukong experience numerous difficulties and dangers, combat various demons, and finally arrive in the Indian Gridhakuta and then meet Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, and obtain the scripture. In language, structure, figures and plots, *Journey to the West* was indeed the product of the influence of Buddhism and also that of cultural communication between India and China. Because Xuanzang’s journey to India and his pilgrimage were legendary, and have produced a great impact on later generations, the story of Xuanzang’s journey to the West is found in many scholars’ records and folklore since the 9ᵗʰ and 10ᵗʰ centuries. For example, *Tang Sanzang* in the 10ᵗʰ century (or 12ᵗʰ century) has turned Xuanzang’s journey into myth. In the late 10ᵗʰ century or later, the drama of *Tang Sanzang* was performed among popular audiences. In the 14ᵗʰ century, the poetic drama *Journey to the West* compiled by Yang Jingxian (the 14ᵗʰ century) was performed, and another novel in the same name was circulated. All these indicate that Wu Cheng’en’s *Journey to the West* was created by collecting, adapting and processing various kinds of folklore. Besides Wu Cheng’en’s work, various versions of *Journey to the West* were handed down, as well as some in continuation, for example, *Continued Journey to the West*, *Added Journey to the West* and *Late Journey to the West*, suggesting that Xuanzang’s stories were widely known, and Buddhism and India were interesting topics for Chinese people.

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The *Investiture of the Gods* was another full-length god-evil novel only second to *Journey to the West* in terms of its status among Chinese novels, and its main line followed the story of Emperor Zhou Wu overthrowing the Shang Dynasty. Its author combined Buddhism and Taoism, and made up a Chan Religion (Illustration Education) representing justice, which was antagonistic to the Jie Religion representing evil. In the end, justice defeats evil. There, all characters were influenced by Indian Buddhism. For example, the prototype of Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li was the northern Vaisràmana among Caturmahàràjakàyika, and the former Heavenly King Duo Wen was the God of Fortune (Kubera) in Hinduism. Prince Nezha (Nalakåbara) is the son of Vaisravana in Buddhist scriptures, while in the novel he was the son of Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li, whose story “Prince Nezha’s triumph against Dragon King” was handed down in folk. In addition, the Cundi Bodhisattva (Canói-avalokitesvara), Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Samantabhadra), Dipamkara Buddha and Manjusri became gods in Daoism.

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The *Western Record*, whose full name is *Popular Historic Novel of Sanbao Eunuch’s Journey to the West*, was a god-evil story against the backdrop of the historical event of Zheng He (1371-1433) travelling to the West in the early Ming. Zheng He came to the coastal areas of India while travelling to the west. The author refers to accounts such as *The Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores* and *Description of the Star Raft*, and makes the novel directly related to India. The author was familiar with Buddhism, and applies a large number of Buddhist words and anecdotes, and even explained the Buddhist doctrine in some places. There were many stories and plots related to Indian Buddhism.

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**Poetic drama** During this period, China’s drama witnessed rapid development, and many works were influenced by Buddhism. These were mainly divided as follows: first, those directly introducing Indian Buddhist figures, such as *Manjusri Sends the Lion*, *Shakyamuni Dies in Shuanglin*; secondly, those introducing Chinese Buddhist figures, for example, *Journey to the West*, *Tang Sanzang’s Pilgrimage for Buddhist Scripture* thirdly, those introducing Buddhist stories, such as *Bao Dai Zhi Cleverly Investigates the Circle of Chalk*, *Story of Creel*, *Vigorous Nezha’s Three Changes*; fourthly, those introducing Chinese Buddhists and Householders, such as *Tomb Stories*, *Buddhist Monk and Nun’s Love*, *Monk Yuemin Paramitas Liucui*, *Baozi Monk Resumes Secular Life*, *Kindness Helps Turn Round*, *Zen Master Yus Dream in the Green Village*; fifthly, those promoting Buddhist thought, such as *Two Predestined Marriages with Lady Yuxiao*, *Householder Pang Lends Money for Free*, *Predestined Relationship after Rebirth*, *Revenge Before and After Death and Wrong Samsara*; sixthly, those related to magic Buddhist stories, such as *Ksitigarbha Judges East Window Event and Wild Ape Hears Sutras in Longji Mountain*; seventhly, those related to temples, such as *Sharing Shirts in Xiangguo Temple*, *Luo Dalang Causes Chaos in Xiangguo Temple*, etc.

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‘Northern Poetic Drama’, Yuan Zaju Mural, Mingying Royal Shrine, Hongtong County, Shanxi Province

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Guan Hanqing was the most famous writer in the Yuan, and his *Snow in Midsummer* tells a story of a young widow named Dou E who was set up by an evil person, wrongly convicted, and finally was persecuted to death, promoting the idea of eternal cycle of birth and death in Buddhism.

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The *Journey to the West* by Yang Jingxian (mid 14ᵗʰ-mid 15ᵗʰ century) has six books and 24 volumes in total, and was a great work of poetic drama. Although it was quite different from the later novel of the same name by Wu Cheng’en, both describe god-evil stories of Buddhism.

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Another eye-catching drama was the immortal *Mulian Drama*. Mu Lian was the abbreviation of Mahàmaudgalyàyana, one of the 10 principal disciples of the Buddha, whose events are mainly recorded in *Ekottara Agama* and *Ullambana-sutra*. *Mulian Drama* is about Mulian who goes to hell to save his mother, and this was sourced from *Ullambana-sutra*. Mulian Drama came out as early as in the Northern Song. It has been constantly adapted, renewed, expanded, and performed for over 700 years, and most modern dramas are also linked to it.

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**First half of the 20ᵗʰ Century CE** The literary interaction between India and China began to revive over these 50 years. Since the beginning of the century, Chinese intellectuals started to pay attention to world literature, including Indian literature. As early as 1889, Liang Qichao (1873-1929) started to pay attention to Indian issues, and later was devoted to Buddhist studies and attached great importance to literary works in Buddhist classics. In 1907, Lu Xun (1881-1936) began to pay close attention to Indian literature, praising the “magnificence and grace” of the four Vedas. In addition, he also complimented the “wonder” of *Mahabharata* and *Ramayana*, and Kalidasa’s amazing the world through his stories and lyrics. He praises Indian fables saying that they are rich like remote forests and deep springs, and the art and literature of other countries tend to be influenced by it”, and contributed money to publish *The Hundred Parables Sutra*. In 1908, Su Manshu (1884-1918) published his translated novel by Indian writer Kusha. This may have been the herald of China’s modern translation of Indian novels in new style. In the same year, he published the *Cause of Literature* in Tokyo that especially mentioned the grace of Indian Sanskrit literature, of the two epics and *Sakuntala*. In 1909, Su Manshu studied Sanskrit and read the *Mahabharata* in Tokyo. In 1911, he translated Kalidasa’s poetic drama of *Sakuntala* and Indian poetess Taru Datt’s poems.

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After Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, he immediately attracted Chinese scholars’ attention and his works were repeatedly translated and popularised in China. During five to six years before and after his visit to China in 1924, some of his popular poems were translated into Chinese, and some of his dramas, novels, monographs, and works were also translated into Chinese, even in the 1930s and 1940s. Chinese writers such as Guo Moruo (1892-1978), Xie Bing Xin (1900-1999), Zheng Zhenduo (1898-1958), Wang Tongzhao (1897-1957) and Xu Zhimo (1896-1931) were influenced by Tagore to different degrees.

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A stage photo of the drama 'Mulian Jiu Mu (Maudgalyāyana rescues his mother)'

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While the “Tagore Wave” swept over China, many Chinese scholars during the 1920s-1940s were fully devoted to Indian literature that was translated and introduced to China. Xu Dishan (1893-1941), Zheng Zhenduo and Ji Xianlin (1911-2009) have made outstanding contributions to the translation and studies of Indian literature before 1950.

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From 1917 to 1923, Xu Dishan, who once studied Buddhist scriptures and Sanskrit in Yenching University, studied the history of religions, Indian philosophy and Sanskrit at the University of Oxford, Banaras Hindu University, etc. From 1927 to 1934, he was a teacher in Yenching University, and taught courses such as Indian philosophy and literature in Peking University and Tsinghua University. He mainly had three translations: *Folk Tales of Bengal* (1928), *A Digit of the Moon* (1935) and *The Descendance of the Sun* (1935), all of which are collections of Indian folktales. His *Indian Literature* was published in 1930, which comprehensively and systematically surveyed Indian literature from the Vedas to Tagore.

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From early on, Zheng Zhenduo was closely involved with Indian literature. He published his

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[Figure: 'Indian Literature (Yindu wenxue)', Xu Dishan, front cover]

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translation of Tagore’s poems in *Novel Monthly* in 1921, the translation of Tagore’s *Stray Birds* in 1922, and the translation of *The Crescent Moon* in 1923. In the meantime, he also studied folk literature in India, and conducted comparative studies represented by his *History of Chinese Folk Literature* (1938).

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In 1941, Ji Xianlin compiled *The Indian Fable*, which mainly drew materials from *Jataka Tales* and *Panchatantra*. From 1946 to 1949, he completed seven essays on the comparative studies of Indian and Chinese literature, such as *Sanskrit Panchatantra: a Collection of Fables and Fairy Tales Conquering the World*, *View Fables and Fairy Tales from the Perspective of Comparative Literature*, *History of the Three Kingdoms, Eastern and Western Jin and Northern-Southern Dynasties and Indian Legends*.

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[Figure: 'Pomegranate Queen' (Shiliu Nuwang) in the Series of Folktales from Across the World, the Indian Folktales]

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After 1950

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During the first 10 years after the official establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of India, the two countries had unprecedentedly active interaction in literature, and delegations of writers from both countries visited many times to exchange ideas in person. Since Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited China and signed the 1988-1990 three years’ cultural exchange execution plan in 1988, both parties’ delegations of writers began to exchange visits every other year, which gradually became a tradition and is still continued today.

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During this period, innumerable Indian literary works were translated into Chinese, and great progress was achieved in studies of Indian literature. Over 100 Indian literary works were translated from 1950 to 1985, and 59 works in total were published in the 1950s, mainly involving the literature of five languages in India, namely, Sanskrit, English, Indian, Bengali and Urdu literatures.

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Works translated from Sanskrit mainly include *Sakuntala* (1956), *Meghadutam* (*Cloud Messanger*) (1956), *Nagananda* (1956), *Little Clay Cart* (1957), and *Panchatantra* (1959). Works translated from Indian English are mainly Mulk Raj Anand’s *Collection of Mulk Raj Anand’s Short Stories* (1954), *Untouchable* (1954), *Two Leaves and a Bud* (1955), *Coolie* (1955), *Collection of Indian Fairy Tales* (1955), *Pomegranate Queen* (1955), etc.

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Premchand’s *Nirmala* (1959) is directly translated from Hindi, the collection of poetry—the *Devastation of Prison* from Urdu (1958), and Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s *Unmarriageable Daughter* from Bengali (1956). During this period, a large number of Tagore’s works were translated, mostly from English and a few from Bengali and Urdu. In 1961, in order to celebrate the 100ᵗʰ anniversary of Tagore’s birth, People’s Literature Publishing House published 10 volumes of *Tagore’s Collected Works* by several translators, which had a long-standing and broad influence among readers.

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In addition, many Hindi and Urdu writers’ works were indirectly translated from English and Russian, including Premchand’s, Krishan Chandar’s and K. A. Abbas’ works.

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Unfortunately, due to the negative impact of India-China border conflict and the later “Cultural Revolution” in China, China’s translations and studies of Indian literature stagnated from 1962 to the end of the 1970s.

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In the 1980s and 1990s, over 300 Indian literary works were published in China. The main difference from the work done in the 1950s were as follows. Firstly, not only huge works but also many single chapters were translated and introduced. Secondly, fewer works were indirectly translated from English and Russian, and more works directly translated from Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Tamil. Thirdly, not only poems, dramas, novels, etc., were translated, but also works of literary theory and on the history of literature. Fourthly, more writers’ works were translated.

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‘A Collection of Indian Fairy Tales (Yindu Tonghua Ji)’, translated by Bing Xin, front cover

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During this period, works directly translated from Sanskrit mainly include the epic *Ramayana* (1980-1984), *Collection of Ancient Indian Literature and Art Theories* (1980), *Nala and Damayanti* (1982), the classical poem collection—*Bhartrhari’s Śatakatraya* (1982), Bhasa’s drama *Record of the Dream* (1983), *Collection of Ancient Indian Poems* (1984), *Collection of Mahabharata’s Words* (1987), *Bhagavad Gita* (1989), *Mahabharata · First Chapter* (1993), *Mass Selection of Stories* (2001), *Compilation of Sanskrit Poetic Works* (Volume I & II, 2008). *Collection of Jataka Stories* (1985) was directly translated from Pali. After over 10 years, Chinese Sanskrit writers finally published the complete Chinese translation of *Mahabharata* in 2005, which represented a milestone in the literary exchanges between India and China.

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Works translated from English include Mulk Raj Anand’s *Village* (1983), Tagore’s prose works in epistolary style—*Glimpses of Bengal* (1985), along with his poetry - *Collection of Thatched Cottage* (1986) and *Collection of Tagore’s Lyric Poetry* (1990), Krishan Chandar’s *Love under Moonlight* (1992), and R. K. Narayan’s *The Guide* (1993), etc.

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Works translated from Hindi mainly include Premchand’s novel *Stage* (1981), *Best Tree* (1983), *Newly Married* (1983), *Benevolent Abbey* (1983), *One String of Necklace* (1983), Yashpal’s *Justice and Punishment* (1986), V L Varma’s *Rani of Jhansi* (1987), Premchand’s *Argument of Literature* (1987), *The Holy Lake of the Acts of Rāma* (1988), Renu’s *Dirty Skirt* (1994), Yashpal’s *False Fact* (2000), etc.

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Works translated from Urdu mainly include Amen Mir Dehlavi’s novel *Garden and Spring* (1982), Iqbal’s *Secret of Ego* (1999), etc.

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Works translated from Bengali mainly include Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s *Srikanta* (1981), *Collection of Manik’s Short Stories* (1984); Tagore’s *300 Poems and Songs of Tagore* (1987), full-length novel *The Home and the World* (1987), *Queen Market* (1988), *Ship Wreck* (1955); Bankim’s *Poisonous Tree* (1988), Taraknath Ganogpadhyaya’s *Gold Vine* (1997), etc. In 2000, Hebei Education Press published 24 volumes of *Complete Works of Tagore*, including some of the poet’s main Bengali and English works, some of which were indirectly translated from Hindi.

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Works translated from Tamil mainly include *Collection of Akilan’s Short Stories* (1984), *Golden Flower* (1990), *Women* (1990), etc.

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Since the end of the 20ᵗʰ century, English literary works in India that have won awards, have been translated into Chinese. When *The God of Small Things* (in 1997) by Arundhati Roy won the Man Booker Prize in 1998, its Chinese version was published in the same year. *The Inheritance of Loss* (in 2006) by Kiran Desai won the Man Booker Prize in the same year of its publication, and its Chinese version was published in 2008. Meanwhile, *The White Tiger* (in 2008) by Aravind Adiga won the Man Booker Prize in the same year, and its Chinese version soon came out in 2010. However, because translators are not always Indian experts, and the press has been driven by commercial profits, those translated works have some faults.

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Translation and studies of Chinese literature in India

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'The God of Small Things' (Wei wu zhi shen)

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It was in 1918 that Calcutta University first opened a Chinese language course, but it had to be cancelled due to a lack of students. After Tagore’s visit to China in 1924, the traditional cultural relationship between the two countries resumed, and cultural exchanges were launched in India. In 1937, Tagore and Tan Yunshan founded Cheena Bhavan, Visva-Bharati (Chinese Academy, International University). This was the centre and talent base where modern India carried out Chinese language teaching and Chinese studies. However, before independence in 1947, India mainly knew about Chinese literature through English versions or overseas writers’ English works.

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After the founding of the People’s Repbulic of China, the literature communication between the two nations began to develop and it soon became a crucial part to bilateral exchanges. Chinese literary works were introduced to China mainly through two basic channels: firstly, Indian sinologists translated Chinese works; secondly, Chinese foreign culture institutes translated some representative literary works and sent them to India. In January 1950, China founded the English magazine of the *People’s Daily*, and then *Beijing Review*, *Chinese Literature*, *China Today*, *China Pictorial*, etc. *China Pictorial* had various Indian versions in Hindi, Urdu, and other languages, and was distributed in South Asia, including India. In addition, China’s foreign language press translated and published many modern and ancient Chinese works, among which 47 works were in Hindi. Most of them were Chinese folklore, fables, fairy tales, some modern writers’ novels and dramas. Moreover, English versions of modern Chinese writers’ works are available to Indian readers all over the world. India published special issues of Chinese literature from time to time, and introduced modern Chinese litterateurs and their works. For instance, *Pahal*, the literary periodical in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, produced Issue 32 published in May, 1987 as a special issue on modern Chinese literature, which introduced Chinese poets such as Ai Ching, Yuan Kejia, Lei Shuyan, and other writers such as Zhou Libo, Qin Zhaoyang, Liu Shaotang, Zhang Jie and Feng Jicai.

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‘A Record of the Travels across India (Yindu zhouyou ji)’, Tan Yunshan, front cover

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Tan Yun-shan and Tan Chung have made historic contributions to the propagation and studies of Chinese literature in India. They also cultivated many Indian Sinologists. In 1952, Tan Yun-shan published the *History of Chinese Language and Literature* to explain China’s achievements in literary works of different styles to Indian readers. He introduced China’s four classical fiction works and China’s New Literature Movement in the early 20^th century, so as to give Indian academic circles a general idea of the development of Chinese literature. Besides teaching, Tan Chung was also engaged in the study of Chinese history, and published theories on studies of Chinese literature.

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In the early 1960s, in order to enhance the understanding of China, The School of International Studies (SIS) was founded in New Delhi and soon incorporated into Jawaharlal Nehru University. Afterwards, Delhi University established the centre for Chinese studies in 1964 and restructured it into the Department of Chinese and Japanese Studies in 1968, which was renamed the Department of East Asian Studies in 2003. They emphasised the study of Chinese language, literature and social sciences. It should be noted that after the explosion of border conflict in 1962, in Cheena Bhavan of Vishva-Bharati University, the tradition of focus on ancient Chinese language, Buddhist teaching and studies, represented by P C Bagchi, was terminated for a long time. During almost 40 years, this tradition was not continued, and the discipline had no appeal for students. At present, the situation has gradually improved. In terms of the teaching and studies of Chinese language, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Banaras Hindu University can provide students with specialised courses from undergraduate to doctorate level. After decades of development, Jawaharlal Nehru University has become a key institution where Indians learn Chinese and study Chinese literature. In addition, many institutions throughout India have opened short-term Chinese language courses. However, they mainly focus on the needs of business.

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Since the 1980s, with the improvement of the bilateral relationship and the rapid economic and social development of India and China, Indian scholars show unprecedented enthusiasm for Chinese literature. The Indian novelist and poet Vikram Seth was attracted by poetry during overseas study in Britain and began to learn Chinese, and later studied ancient Chinese poetry in Nanjing University. In 1992, he published *Three Chinese Poets*, which includes 34 representative poems of Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu, such as *On the Mountain Holiday Thinking of My Brothers in Shandong*, *Autumn Evening in the Mountains*, *Watching the Lu Mountain Falls*, *The Daunting Route into the Region of Shu*, *Dreaming of Li Bai*, Soldiers’ Song, etc. The Sinologist Prof. B. R. Deepak in Jawaharlal Nehru University has not only published several works studying the India-China relationship, but also has been devoted to the translation of Chinese classical poetry. His *Chinese Poetry: from 1100 BCE to 1400 CE* (*Cheeni Kavita: Gyahrvin Shatavdi Isa Poorv se Chuahdvin Shatavdi Tak*, *Hindi text*) has selected 88 Chinese classical poems from *The Book of Songs* to Yuan verse, and introduced the development of Chinese ancient poetry in the preface. This work won the Special Book Prize of China in 2011. What is more, *The Selected Translation of the Book of Songs* by Sridharan Madhusudhanan, the former Indian diplomat in China, was laumched at the Tamil Cultural Center in New Delhi on February 25, 2012. This is the first *Book of Songs* directly translated into Tamil from Chinese, and includes over 30 poems of different styles. Bai Juyi’s poems also began to be translated into Kannada.

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Among modern writers, Lu Xun is loved and respected and has had a long-term and wide influence on India, like Tagore’s influence on China. Foreign Language Press once published English versions of *Selected Works of Lu Xun* (four volumes) and *Selected short Stories of Lu Xun*, and translated some of Lu Xun’s works into Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, which were popularised in India. On November 9, 1981, the Indian Colloquium Commemorating the 100ᵗʰ Anniversary of Lu Xun’s Birth was convened in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, which lasted for three days, and presented 40 essays, from which we can find that there are many scholars studying Lu Xun. Overseas students dispatched by India to China learned Lu Xun’s works, and some

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'Selected Short Stories of Lu Xun' (Lu Xun Duanpian Xiaoshuo Xuan), Hindi edition, front cover

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students chose Lu Xun’s works as the subject of their thesis. For example, Prof. Manik Bhattacharya in Jawaharlal Nehru University, a sinologist and expert in Lu Xun in India, did his doctoral thesis on *The Creative Process and Revolutionary Discourse in Lu Xun’s Writings* (1997). He translated Lu Xun’s short story Kong Yiji (1978) and essay *On Cultural Bias* (2004) into Bengali and English, and published papers on Lu Xun such as *Ah Q and the Question of National Identity* (1991), and *The Lofty Height of A Writer: My Evaluation of Lu Xun* (1998). He called Lu Xun’s pathological fiction, and identified its role in analising China’s social problems. In addition, sinologist Priyadarsi Mukherji in India translated *Poems of Lu Xun* (1991) into Bengali, which includes 45 of Lu Xun’s poems with annotations. Some scholars have also made studies of famous writers and poets of different schools in the New Literature Movement in China, such as Mao Dun, Ba Jin and Zang Kejia. For example in the Landmark Developments in Chinese Poetry (2004), Huang I-Shu, the Indian scholar of Chinese origin points that the once popular poet Zang Kejia’s work has lost its charm nowadays, which marks the dilemma faced by modern Chinese poetry, and the unpopularity of slogan-type poetry among readers.

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Contemporary Chinese literature has attracted Indian Sinologists’ attention. Shu Ting’s poetry, Chen Rong’s medium-length novel *At Middle Age*, Chen Jiangong’s *Phoenix Eye*, Ma Laqinfu’s *Living Buddha* have been translated into Hindi or Bengali, and gained popularity among readers. Besides translating Lu Xun’ poems, Priyadarsi Mukherji translated and published Contemporary Chinese Poetry (Hindi, 1998), which includes 54 poems of 27 poets, and Poems and Fables of Ai Qing (Bengali, 2000), which includes 86 poems and four fables. *The Complete Poems of Mao Tse-tung and the Literary Analysis* (2012) published by Priyadarsi Mukherji recently included 95 of Mao Tse-tung’s poems. It was the first time that Mao Tse-tung’s poems have been fully translated into Bengali. While translating Chinese literary works, those Indian scholars also have conducted in-depth and broad studies, and played a vital role in circulating Chinese literature in India.

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Prof. Sabaree Mitra in Jawaharlal Nehru University has also produced studies of contemporary Chinese literature. After the broad investigation of Chinese

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Wu Xiaoling (standing) and Shi Zhen (sitting), Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, India, December 1981

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In December 2001, the Chinese Authors’ Delegation visited India. Head of Chinese delegation writer Wang Meng with secretary of the Kendra Sahitya Academy K Sachithanandan.

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A six member delegation of Indian authors, headed by Vasdev Vensimal Sidhnani, during its China visit in August 2009.

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literary development, various literary thoughts and representative writers in the new period, she published various essays such as *Literary Policy since the Third Plenum: A Decade of Change* (1997), *Comeback of Hundred Flowers in Chinese Literature: 1976-1989* (1998), *Activism of Chinese Women Writers during Reform and Globalization* (2007), etc. Her books on *Literature and Politics in 20ᵗʰ Century China: Issues and Themes* (2005) and *Chinese Women Writers and Gender Discourse 1976-1996* (2008) have on the one hand explored the literary trends of China in the period after 1976. On the other hand, these volumes have analysed some active prominent Chinese writers of this period such as Wang Meng, Zhang Jie, Wang Anyi, Lu Xinhua, Liu Xinwu, Dai Houying, Zhang Xinxin, Can Xue, Liu Suola, Mo Yan, Han Shaogong, etc., from an interdisciplinary perspective. In 2002, Sabaree Mitra also published *Purbadiganter Kabita: Samakaleen tin china kabir ek jhalak* (2002), a collection of contemporary Chinese poetry translated into Bengali, which included annotated translation of poems by Shu Ting, Gu Cheng and Bei Dao.

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