Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t5.13

v2.c10.s2.t5.13

Xu Dishan began to focus on Buddhism during his boyhood, and studied the Buddhist scriptures when he grew up, which gave him a strong Indian complex. As early as May in 1920, he published his translation of Rabindranath Tagore's philosophical article *True Feelings of Beauty* on the supplement to *Morning Paper* and his novel *On the Way to Calcutta* in *Novel Monthly* in 1921. He was one of the earliest writers to translate Tagore's philosophy articles and novels. In 1921, he held a special symposium and invited Xu Zhimo to introduce Tagore's achievements and literary creations. In the same year he began to study Sanskrit by himself. He studied the comparative religion in America in 1923, the Sanskrit and Indian philosophy in Britain in 1924. In 1925, he published *Influence on Chinese Literature from Indian Yilan Literature* in *Novel Monthly*, and it is the earliest works on the comparison of Chinese and Indian literatures in modern China. In 1926, he went to India to study Sanskrit and Buddhist studies. At the same time, he also made a special trip to Visva-Bharati University to visit the great poet Tagore. In 1927, he wrote three books of *Index of Subtitle of Buddhist Scriptures*, which was published in Sinological Index Series of Yenching Institute, and wrote *Style of Indian Drama and its Manifestation on Chinese Drama*, which was published in *Novel Monthly*. He began to teach Indian philosophy in Peking University in 1928, and was one of the earliest scholars who taught Indian philosophy in modern China. His part-time translation of *Folk Tales of Bengal* was published by the Commercial Press in 1929. In 1930, he wrote *Dinnaga's Hetuvidya of Madhyamaka and Yoga* and *Humble Opinion on Stone Inscription Era* which were published in *Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies*. In the same year his book *Indian Literature* was published by Commercial Press, and it is China's first works which makes a comprehensive and systematic introduction of Indian literature. In 1934, he went to India to study for six months at his own expense, and then began to translate Indian folk tales such as *Questions asked in 20 Nights* and *The Setting of the Sun* after returning to China. In the same year, the *Origin of Worshiping Avalokitesvara* was published in *Ta Kung Pao* in Tianjin. In 1935, *Questions asked in 20 Nights* was published in the magazine *Literature*, and came out as a book in 1955 from the Writers Publishing House from which *The Setting of the Sun* was also published in 1956. In 1939, he used his spare time to compile Sanskrit dictionary, with more than 80,000 cards having been made, however, the dictionary was not completed due to his sudden death. Within his short life he has with great enthusiasm, made a pioneering contribution to the research and translation of Indology in China.