Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.16

v2.c10.16

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.