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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s3: Works

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s3

Language
English

Contents

Works

The Tale of the Procurement of Scriptures by the Tripitaka Master of the Great Tang

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*Datang Sanzang Qujing Shihua* (The Poetic Tale of the Procurement of Scriptures by Tripitaka of the Great Tang), also known as *Datang Sanzang Fashi Qujing Ji*, is a fairy tale composed from about 9^th or 10^th century, or from 10^th to 11^th century on the basis of Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India. Now, only three books and 17 stanzas are extant. As this tale narrates,

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Xuanzang's Journey to the West in Search of Scriptures, a mural in Cave 3, Yulin Caves, Anxi, Gansu Province, China

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Sanzang is sent to procure Buddhist scriptures, and received the help of a monkey. He enters the Palace of Brahma and there obtains three magic items. He then continues to go westward, by way of Snake Kingdom, Lion Kingdom and Tree-Man Kingdom, and encounters the spirit of the white-tiger. He gets out of the difficult situation with the assistance of the God of Quicksand, and then goes to the Pool of Queen Mother via Hariti Kingdom and Women Kingdom. After travelling through many kingdoms he finally arrives in India. He returns to China with 5,480 volumes of Buddhist scriptures. Upon arriving in the capital city in China, the emperor himself goes out to greet him. Then, a lotus ship descends from the skies and carries Sanzang and his disciples back to the heaven. It is the earliest extant vernacular novel about Xuanzang's pilgrimage, and a precursor for subsequent works such as '*The Journey to the West*', demonstrating the great influence of this historical event.

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*Painting depicting Xuanzang’s return to Chang’an after procuring the Buddhist scriptures*

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(*Xue Keqiao*)

The Investiture of the Gods

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*Fengshen Yanyi* (*The Investiture of the Gods*), is the major vernacular works of the 'Shenmo' genre interpreting the conditions based on the historical events that occurred with the King of Wu in the 11^th century. It is also known as '*Fengshen Zhuan*, Shangzhou Lieguo Quanzhuan' or '*FengshenBang*', which consists of 100 chapters and is believed to be written by Xu Zhonglin (1567-1620), who might have just compiled it, because prior to its publication, there were already a variety of relevant folk tales such as *Wuwang Fazhou Pinghua*. In the 11^th century BCE, Wuwangfazhou’s interpretation of historical events stem from a long background of ghost stories

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Plot

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King Zhou has offended Nüwa, and Nüwa thus sends the 1,000-year-old vixen spirit, nine-headed pheasant spirit and jade pipa spirit to bewitch the king. The vixen spirit, in the disguise of Daji, causes troubles at the royal palace, and King Zhou rules the state with cruelty and persecution. Li Jing, a military commander at Chentang Pass, has three sons, Jinzha, Muzha and Nezha. Shortly after his birth, Nezha is accepted by Taiyi Zhenren as an apprentice, and at the age of 7, he fights with and kills the third son of the East Sea Dragon King, causing chaos in the Dragon Palace, and shoots dead a disciple of Shiji. As a life for a life, Nezha commits suicide. Taiyi Zhenren brings Nezha back to life with lotus leaves and roots. Nezha then goes to fight with Li Jing for revenge, but the latter subdues him with a golden pagoda from Randeng Daoren ('Burning Lamp Daoist'). Jiang Ziya leaves his master at the Kunlun Mountain, but has to hide himself in Panxi since he incurred the venomous hatred from Daji by burning the jade pipa spirit.

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Ji Chang of the Western Zhou pays a visit to Jiang Ziya and makes him the chancellor of Zhou. After the death of Ji Chang, his second son Ji Fa succeeded the throne. Generals and officers, persecuted by King Zhou, flee to the Western Zhou one after another. King Zhou repeatedly sends troops to suppress the Western Zhou. With the help of *Chanjiao* deities, Jiang Ziya removes the sorcery and leads the army to march toward the Shang, including Li Jing and his sons. *Jiejiao* demons assist with King Zhou with various evil tricks, but Jiang Ziya, after various setbacks, wins at last. He captures Chaoge, the capital of Shang, and seizes Daji and other demons. King Zhou burns himself. Ji Fa enters the palace, gives out clothes and food to the poor, and assigns official posts and fiefs.

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*‘The Investiture of the Gods’*

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In this novel, *Chanjiao*, a combination of Buddhism and Daoism, represents the righteous side and supports Ji Fa to overthrow the Shang Dynasty, while *Jiejiao*, a group of evil-doers and demons, represents the evil side and assists King Zhou, but is defeated at last. The influence of Buddhism, especially that of esoteric Buddhism, is visible everywhere. In particular, some Buddhist figures are remodeled into Daoist persons. For instance, the prototype of Li Jing, “the Pagoda-wielding Heavenly King”, is Vairocana, who is one of the four heavenly kings and has a son, named ‘Nalakābara’, and his deeds are mentioned in Tantric texts, such as ‘*Pishamen Tianwang Jing*’ and ‘*Pishamen Yigui*’. The story of Nezha enjoys lasting popularity. Besides, several tantric figures become Daoists. For example, Dipamkara is turned into Randeng Daoren, Cundi Avalokitesvara into Zhunti Daoren, Samantabhadra into Puxian Zhenren, and Manjusri into Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun.

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*Fengshen Yanyi* has a number of English translations, including the translation by Gu Zhizhong (1898-1995), who is a journalist, editor and educator. He went to Calcutta in 1944 as the President and Chief Editor of the *Indian Daily*, and went back to China in 1946.

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(*Xue Keqiao*)

The Drama of Journey to the West

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‘*Xiyouji Zaju*’ is a musical drama composed by Yang Jingxian (about the 14^th century) in the early Ming Dynasty, or allegedly by Wu Changling (from late 13^th to early 14^th century) in Yuan Dynasty. It consists of six books and 24 acts and is one of the longest dramas.

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Plot

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The venerable Pilujia of the Western Heaven is reincarnated as a baby of lady Yin, the wife of Chen Guangrui, whose family is in difficulties and has to put the new-born baby into a box to drift along the Yangtze River. An old monk of the Jinshan Temple finds the baby, brings him up and gives him the name Xuanzang. He prays for rain in Chang’an and succeeds, and the Emperor thus grants him the title of ‘Tipitakacariya’, and orders him to go to Western

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[Figure: 'Criticism of the Journey to the West drama' by Yang Donglai, 06 scrolls (Yang Donglai xiansheng piping xiyouji zaju liujuan)]

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Heaven for sacred scriptures. Moska, a disciple of Avalokitesvara, gives the White-Dragon Horse to Xuanzang. Sun Xingzhe steals celestial clothes in heaven and Li Jing and Nezha are sent to arrest him. He is put under the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits. Avalokitesvara gives him the name ‘Sun Wukong’ and orders him to follow Xuanzang. The master and the disciple go to the River of Flowing Sand, and there subdue monk Sha. The three encounter with Red Boy in the mountains, and Buddha leads bodhisattvas and heavenly kings to rescue them and subdue Hariti. Zhu Bajie hoaxes and marries a girl, but is seized by Erlang Shen and his dog. He chooses to follow Xuanzang. The four pass by the Kingdom of Women, the queen of which forces Xuanzang to marry her, but they free themselves with the help of Skanda. They then come to the Mountain of Flames, and there Sun Wukong fights with the Princess of Iron Fan. They eventually arrive at the Vulture Peak in central India, and pay respects to Buddha. Accomplishing their mission, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing pass into parinirvana. Buddha sends four persons to help Xuanzang bring scriptures back to the East Land. At last, Buddha himself escorts Xuanzang up to the Vulture Peak.

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After ‘*The Poetic Tale of the Procurement of Scriptures by Tripitaka of the Great Tang*’ in 9^th or 10^th century, in about the 11^th or 12^th century, *Tang Sanzang* also a Zaju, appeared in northern China. Regrettably, now only the repertoire is extant and the original text is lost. *Xiyouji Zaju*, together with ‘*Tang Sanzang*’ (‘Tripitaka’) and ‘*Xiyouji*’ (‘*The Journey to the West*’), constitutes an entire story of Xuanzang’s pilgrimage, and Xiyouji Zaiju is an important component as well as a product of India-China cultural exchange.

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(*Xue Keqiao*)

Journey to the West

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*The Journey to the West* is a long novel of gods and demons written on the basis of Xuanzang’s journey to India and is one of the four ancient great novels of China. It consists of 100 chapters, and is believed to be written by Wu Cheng’en (1506-1580 or 1582 CE), though this authorship is disputed. Xuanzang’s legendary pilgrimage has a significant impact on later generations and from the 9^th or 10^th century CE, relevant tales began to appear in folk tales and literary writings and these have been continuously deified. *Datang Sanzang Qujing Shihua* (The Poetic *Tale of the Procurement of Scriptures by Tripitaka of the Great Tang*), written in about the 10ᵗʰ (or 12ᵗʰ) century CE, already turned Xuanzang’s deeds into a fairy tale. In late 10ᵗʰ century CE or later, the play of Tang Sanzang was already performed in public. In the 14ᵗʰ century CE, *Xiyouji*, a drama composed by Yang Jingxian (14ᵗʰ century CE), was available for public performance, and meanwhile, a novel of the same name was also in circulation. All these indicate that Wu Cheng’en composed *The Journey to the West* on the basis of various folk tales.

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'Journey to the West' (Xiyouji)

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A Ming Dynasty picture volume of Xiyouji

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Basic Plot

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A monkey is born from an ancient rock on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits in the country of Aolai in Purvavideha. He becomes the king for a group of monkeys there. He crosses the sea via Jambudvipa to come to Aparagodaniya, and there he learns 72 polymorphic transformations from his teacher, Subhuti, who gives him the name “Sun Wukong”. Subsequently, he wreaks havoc at the Dragon Palace, the Underworld, the heavenly peach banquet, Laozi’s Tuùita and the celestial palace of the Jade Emperor, and fights with the Pagoda-wielding Heavenly King, Nezha (Nalakavara) and Erlang Shen. At last, he is kept under the Five Elements Mountain by the Buddha (Tathàgata). An elder monk of the Jinshan Temple in Zhenjaing finds a baby drifting along the Yangtze river, and saves and brings him up until he is 18, and gives him the name Xuanzang. Xuanzang becomes a sworn brother of the Emperor Taizong of Tang, and sets out to the Western Heaven for sacred scriptures as requested by Avalokitesvara. Along the way, he successively takes Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing as his disciples, and escorted by three disciples, he continues to march westward, passing through 81 hardships and overcoming various demons, and at last, arrives in the Western Heaven, sees Sakyamuni at the Vulture Peak (Gridhrakuta), and returns to Tang with authentic scriptures. With their mission accomplished, these four ascend to the Western Heaven, and Sun Wukong and Xuanzang become Buddhas, Zhu Bajie an altar cleanser and Sha Wujing an arhat.

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Comment

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By language, structure, characters and plot, *The Journey to the West* is indeed a product under the influence of Buddhism, especially tantric Buddhism, as well as that of India-China cultural exchange. By language, it contains many Buddhist terms. By structure, the impact of Indian Buddhism can be seen in two aspects. Firstly, it has a combination of verse and prose, and secondly, it connects several small stories with a main story, and each of these small stories is complete on its own.

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By way of characters, it has four protagonists, all Buddhists. Xuanzang is an authentic historic figure. The origin of the image of Sun Wukong has been disputed. Someone tends to attribute it to Hanuman in the Indian epic *Ramayana*, while others think him as nothing but a China-specific product. His image might not have come out of Hanuman directly, but must have been influenced by monkey tales in Buddhist texts. Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, as scholars have demonstrated, also evolve from Buddhist stories. There are figures borrowed from Buddhist scriptures, for example, Buddha and Bodhisattva, Subhuti who is a disciple of the Buddha but in the book becomes an immortal Daoist, and the Pagoda-wielding Heavenly King and Nezha, who should have been Vaisramana and his son etc.

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As for the plot, it also has many instances of Buddhist influence. For example, the fight between Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen is similar to that between Sariputra - a disciple of the Buddha, and non-Buddhist masters. *Foshuo Pusa Benxing Jing* narrates the fight between Buddha and Naga. Buddha goes to the Dragon Spring to destroy the evil dragon for the people. The dragon turns into Raksasa, and Buddha into Vaisramana. Then the dragon turns into an elephant, and Buddha into a lion, and the dragon shows its true appearance. Buddha turns into Garuda and subdues the dragon.

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Mural painting of Xuanzang’s return from his journey to the west after procuring the Buddhist scriptures, Great Buddha Hall, Zhangye Giant Buddha temple, Gansu Province

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'Paschim ki Tirth Yatra (Xiyouji)', front cover of the Hindi edition

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Many other tales also have a Buddhist origin, such as Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie turning into a boy and a girl near the Tongtian River, Sun Wukong wreaking chaos at the Dragon Palace, Buddha turning his hand into the Five Elements Mountain, and the huge turtle carrying scriptures.

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Influence

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After Wu Cheng'en, The Journey to the West had a number of abridged editions and sequels, for example, *Xu Xiyouji*, *Xiyou Bu* and *Hou Xiyouji*. Its stories had, have and will continue to have a strong impact on Chinese drama, painting, sculpture, film, TV and other fields. This indicates that the story of Xuanzang is well-known in China, and Buddhism and India are topics of popular interest.

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As one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, *The Journey to the West* was translated into English long ago. The earliest English text, titled *A Mission to Heaven*, was translated by Timothy Richard in 1913. Helen M. Hayes published an abridged translation in 1930. In 1942, Arthur David Waley (1889-1966), an Englishman, published an abridged translation in London as *Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China*, which, later on, was translated into many other languages and published in many countries. In 1944, *The Adventures of Monkey*, a version for children, was published in the United States. Anthony C. Yu, a sinologist and a professor at University of Chicago, translated the entire book (four volumes), which was successively published by University of Chicago Press from 1977-1983. An unabridged translation by W. J. F. Jenner was published by Foreign Language Press in 1980, and many copies are kept at the Cultural Office of Chinese Embassy in New Delhi and received by Indians with an interest. A number of English translations (all abridged) are available in English-speaking countries.

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A Hindi version of *The Journey to the West*, translated by two Indian scholars, Manmohan Thakur and Janaki, was published by Foreign Languages Press in 2009. This colossal work took 30 years to plan, translate, proofread and publish and involves sincere collaboration of Chinese and Indian scholars on Hindi language.

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(*Xue Keqiao*)

Expeditions to the Western Oceans

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The full title of Xiyang Ji is *Sanbao Taijian Xiyang Ji Tongsu Yanyi*, and is also known as *Sanbao Kaigang Xiyang Ji*. It is a part of the Fiction of Gods and Demons written by Luo Maodeng (mid 16ᵗʰ to early 17ᵗʰ century CE) against the backdrop of Zheng He’s naval expeditions to the Western Oceans. It consists of 20 sections and a total of 100 chapters, with five chapters per section.

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Plot

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Dipankara foresees a disaster in the Eastern Land (ie China) and decides to descend to earth in a reincarnation to save the people. He is born in a family called Jin near the West Lake in Hangzhou, and becomes a monk when he is young, and is known as “Jin Bifeng”. As the reincarnation of Dipankara, he has supernatural powers and subdues many demons and evils. Later, he goes to preach at Wutai Mountain. Zhang Zhenren, an immortal in the Mountain of Dragon and Tiger, mentions to the Emperor Chengzu of Ming about the imperial jade seal, and suggests him to recover the jade seal that is now in a country in the Western Oceans, but to do so, as he says, the Emperor must eradicate Buddhism. The Emperor decrees to abolish Buddhism. Jin Bifeng hurries from Wutai Mountain to Nanjing, and defeats Zhang Zhenren in several rounds of competition in front of the Emperor. Zhang Zhenren accepts him as a master, and the Emperor makes him as the mentor of the state and takes back the decree on abolishment of Buddhism. The Emperor orders Zhenghe, with the title “Sanbao Taijian”, to lead an expedition to the Western Oceans. With the help of Jin Bifeng and Zhang Zheren, officers, soldiers, weapons and horses are mobilised, and treasure ships depart and pass by more than 30 kingdoms and encounter various obstacles and hardships, fight numerous battles with different kinds of figures (including gods, ghosts and demons), overcome all these and return back to China. The Emperor celebrates their accomplishments.

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Expedition to the Western Oceans

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In Ming Dynasty, Zhenghe had been to India during his expeditions. This fiction is based on books such as *Yingya Shenglan* (*The General Survey of the Ocean Shores*) and *Xingcha Shenglan* (*The Overall Survey of the Star Raft*), with some of its contents directly taken from these historical records, and customs and conditions along the Indian coast being mentioned. Many parts are related to Buddhism and reflect the influence of India. The writer is quite familiar with Buddhism, and uses many Buddhist terms and tales and doctrines. It also has a structure similar to that of ancient Indian folk stories, that is, a main story, which follows the line of Zheng He's expeditions, is interwoven with a number of stories. Some plot has an Indian tint, and is mainly connected with tales of Buddha, Jataka stories, magic power, metaphor and myth in Buddhist texts.

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(*Xue Keqiao*)

Mahabharata

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Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic, and its literal meaning is 'The Great Bharata Family' or 'The Story of Great Bharata Family'. Together with another epic Ramayana, they are called two major Indian epics. Ramayana is “the original epic”, while Mahabharata is the historical legend. The latter includes ancient historical legends since 1400 BCE. It is not only a supreme classic on ancient Indian society but also an important work to know early human culture.

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The main story of Mahabharata elaborates many legends. It is not only of great literary value but also profound religious philosophy and code of law. It is also the longest epic in the world. There are two main editions - critical edition of Pune and collated edition of southern India. The former is seven times the length of the Homeric epics, Iliad and Odyssey combined, and the latter is about 10 times. Critical edition has more than 80,000 odes (verse) with more than 1,60,000 lines. The southern Indian edition has more than 1,00,000 odes with more than 2,00,000 lines. The core part of the epic may originate from the 8ᵗʰ or 9ᵗʰ century BCE. Bharata, the oldest part of the book is composed of 24,000 verses, without episodes. It may have been produced in 4ᵗʰ century BCE, and the full text is shaped in early Gupta Dynasty in 4ᵗʰ century CE. In other words, the epic was formed between 4ᵗʰ century BCE to 4ᵗʰ century CE. According to legends, the author of Mahabharata is Vyasa. In addition to the dialogues between the characters and an individual prose section, the whole epic is in ode style with 32 notes of a verse. Each line has 16 notes, chanted in two separate sentences. Translated into Chinese poetry, it has eight notes of a sentence and four sentences of a verse.

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*'Mahabharata', Sanskrit edition*

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Since 1919, Bhandarkar Oriental Institute, Pune in India invited many Sanskrit scholars to conduct much revision of the epic. In 1966, a critical edition came out with 19 articles and two volumes of Harivamsa and six indexes appended.

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Mahabharata is situated in the period of a national war in Indian society forming the background. It mainly describes war between two descendants of Bharata - Pandava and Kaurava, who fight for the throne. Bharata was a famous ancient king with two sons, Dhritarastra and Pandu. Dhritarastra had 100 sons known as Kauravas, while Pandu had five sons known as Pandavas. After Pandu's death, Dhritarastra inherited the throne. Yudhisthira, the eldest son of Pandu, wanted to win back the throne after he grew up. But Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhritarastra refused. Hence, both sides declared war against each other. The bitter war lasted for 18 days in Kurukshetra near Delhi. Ultimately, the Pandavas won the war. The Kauravas were defeated with only the eldest son and three soldiers surviving. Three warriors attack the barracks of the Pandavas in the middle of the night, and kill all soldiers. Due to the absence of five sons of Pandavas, they survive. Yudhisthira ascends the throne and then goes to heaven.

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*An illustration of the Mahabharata depicting the war between the Pandava brothers, Bhim and Arjun, and the head of the Kauravas, Duryodhana.*

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Mahabharata is divided into 18 parts: The Book of the Beginning, The Book of the Assembly Hall, The Book of the Forest, The Book of Virata, The Book of the Effort, The Book of Bhishma, The Book of Drona, The Book of Karna, The Book of the Sleeping Warriors, The Book of the Women, The Book of Peace, The Book of the Instructions, The Book of the Horse Sacrifice, The Book of the Hermitage, The Book of the Clubs, The Book of the Great Journey and The Book of the Ascent to Heaven. The preface tells the legend of Bharata's ancestors and birth of Bhishma. The second half of the first book and the second book are the main body of the epic, and they tell the tortuous war declared by Kauravas and Pandavas in their struggle for the throne. The story ends with 12 years of exile of five sons of Pandavas. The third book details the life of exile of five sons of Pandavas with a large number of episodes. The fourth and fifth books elaborate the political struggle. The sixth to eleventh books are the core of the epic, telling the war. Pandavas and Kauravas gather in Kuruksetra, with Kauravas's commanders being killed one after the other. Facing the internecine warfare, Arjuna expresses his sympathy, and hesitates to move forward. Krishna gives him advice and a book having this relevant content forms a separate book, called Bhagavadgita. The 12ᵗʰ and 13ᵗʰ books talk about the aspects of dharma, especially the method of governing the country. The 14ᵗʰ to 18ᵗʰ books tell the consequences of the war.

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Romila Thapar, the famous historian in India, thinks that Mahabharata describes the historical events occurring from 1000 BCE-700 BCE. Rigveda and Brahmana have ever mentioned the warlike Bharata and its branch of Kauravas. After coming out, Mahabharata is thought to be the scripture by Hindus, and is known as the “fifth Veda”. Because the epic covers complex contents, including religion, philosophy, history, politics, ethics, geography, astronomy, legends, myths, nationality, language, literature and many other fields, it is also known as India's encyclopedia of ancient society. It is an inexhaustible source of Indian literature and art of the later generations. This multi-volume epic written in Sanskrit has been translated into several modern languages of India, and also into English, French, German, Russian and even Persian, Javanese, producing long-term and extensive effects in India and the world, directly or indirectly.

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Translation and influence in China

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Chinese people have known about the Mahabharata and some of its contents since early 5ᵗʰ

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*An illustration of the 'Mahabharata', depicting Krishna preaching the 'Bhagavadgita' to Arjuna.*

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century CE. The fifth volume of *Dazhuangyan Sutra* written by Bodhisattva Asvaghosa and translated by Kumarajiva in later Qin Dynasty said that, “Among the tribes, there are more belonging to Brahmins, and people tell the leader of the tribe that the book is named as Luomoyanshu or Poluotashu, and tells the story of the dead ascending to heaven”. Poluotashu is Mahabharata, and “the dead ascending to heaven” refers to the main content of the last book of Mahabharata - The Book of the Ascent to Heaven that after 36 years of reign, Yudhisthira finally gets rid of human hatred and worries, meets his brothers in heaven and all dead relatives of the Pandavas and Kauravas. They all become gods. In Chinese ancient Buddhist sutras and other literature, Mahabharata has missing information. However, because it has nothing to do with the main theme of Buddhism, it does not receive any attention from those translators, and no one translated it into Chinese.

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Since the beginning of 20ᵗʰ century, Chinese people's attention to India is growing. Lu Xun (Chinese writer) highly praised the ancient Indian literature including Mahabharata. He said in his book *On the Power of Mara Poetry* written in 1907 that India has four kinds of Veda that were brilliant, profound and world masterpieces. Among them, Mahabharata and Ramayana were the most wonderful. Monk poets Su Manshu has a good knowledge of Sanskrit and keen interest in Indian literature, hitting on the same idea with Lu Xun. In the same year, he said in the preface of Literature Karma that Mahabharata and Ramayana were the masterwork in China. Even Chinese works such as *The Peacock Flies to the Southeast*, *Northward Expedition and South Mountain* cannot compare with them”. In 1911, he said in Discussion on Buddhism that Mahabharata and Ramayana are long narrative poems, and even Homer cannot match up to it. Research on both epics can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty of China. At that time, there were no translations, and only the *Avatamsaka Sutra* mentioned their names. It is said that this was translated by Bodhisattva Asvaghosa. After a long time, Buddhist Yizanggong (Xuanzang) thought it had nothing to do with Buddhism and did not translate them into Chinese. In 1913, Su Manshu praised in his *Essay of Swallow Shrine* that Mahabharata and Ramayana were profound and elegant, seen as a treasure by European scholars, and were as important as Iliad and Odyssey of Greece. China did not have any translation with them but only *Avatamsaka Sutra* had mentioned the name of Mahabharata and Ramayana. Europe had their translation, and the translation of Mahabharata by an Indian scholar was the best with Max Muller writing the preface. Su Manshu was aware of the value of these two epics, and had a strong desire to translate them into Chinese. However, it was a pity that this undertaking was left incomplete due to his early death. In terms of two Indian epics, he was undoubtedly of important significance to contemporary scholars.

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In 1950, *Two Indian Epics* translated by Mi Wenkai was published by Taiwan Commercial Press and was republished by Beijing Indian Study Press the next year. Although the book only had 1,20,000 words, its main readers in Taiwan and Hong Kong came to know of these epics. In March 1962, Lamayanna, Mahapalada translated by Sun Yong was published by People's Literature Publishing House, with “Lamayanna” meaning “Ramayana” and “Mahapalada” meaning “Mahabharata”. Its reference was *Ramayana* and *Mahabharata*, with the translator Ramesh Dutt who was known as “Indian scholar” by Su Manshu. For the translation edition of Sun Yong, each line has 16 Chinese characters and each verse has two lines. He tried to express in the same ode meter of the epic. His translation has about 2,000 odes and 4,000 lines, and is equivalent to one fiftieth of the original Sanskrit version. In 1958, *Story of Mahabharata* translated by Tang Jiyong and collated by Jin Kemu was published by China Youth Publishing Group, and has been reprinted twice thereafter. It is still very popular. Its reference is the English abridged edition *Mahabharata* (1951) of India's famous statesman and writer C. Rajagopalachari. This abridged edition itself became a classic. It has been reprinted more than 40 times with a lasting influence all over the world.

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The Chinese translation of the original Mahabharata of Sanskrit began from the 1950s. In 1954, Jin Kemu first translated the famous episode Savitri into Chinese with the style of verse, and published it in the magazine *Translation*. In 1979, after 25 years, he translated the *Origin of Snake Offering* and wrote an article for analysis, and

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*'The Mahabharata', the Chinese edition*

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published it in the periodical Foreign Literature Studies. In 1982, Zhao Guohua translated another episode Nala - Damayanti in verse style, and it was printed by China Social Sciences Publishing House. In 1987, volumes I and II of *Selection of Mahabharata Episode* edited by Jin Kemu and translated by him and his disciples Zhao Guohua, Xi Bizhuang and Guo Liangyun in the style of verse were listed in the Foreign Literature Books, and were published by People's Literature Publishing House. This book included 15 important episodes with more than 1,000 pages, and was a significant breakthrough of Chinese translation of Mahabharata. At the same time under the support of Jin Kemu, Zhao Guohua, Huang Baosheng, Xi Bizhuang and Guo Liangyun decided to translate the entire book with the style of prose. Although Jin Kemu was old, he still completed the first four chapters with the most difficulty. Subsequently, the first book *The Book of the Beginning* (Adi Parva) translated by Jin Kemu, Zhao Guohua and Xi Bizhuang was completed and published in December 1993. Zhao Guohua said in the postscript that he wrote for the book on January 8, 1991 that “when I was translating the great epic, it was as if I was walking in a boundless desert. After exhausting the full zeal and paying the whole life, what I can see may be only the vague green of Alhagi. Well, just for that vague green!” Zhao Guohua, a prominent scholar who devoted himself to the translation of Mahabharata and made the pioneering contribution, died of myocardial infarction in the early winter of the same year, at only 48. Huang Baosheng was obligatory to take such huge and difficult translation project. Subsequently, Ge WeiJun, Li Nan and Duan Qing joined the translation team. In 1999, Bhishma Parva translated by Huang Baosheng was listed in the “Collection of world heroic epic translations”, and was published by Yilin Press. In 2005, the cover-to-cover Chinese translation of Mahabharata accomplished by three generations of scholars for more than 10 years was published by China Social Sciences Press, which was a great event in Chinese translation literature history, and also a monument of India-China cultural exchanges history. The book was divided into six huge volumes, with about five million Chinese characters.

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*Programme list of the performance on 'Mahabharata' by the School of Drama, Taipei National University of the Arts*

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Bhagavad Gita, a famous long verse about religious philosophy in Mahabharata has had three verse translation editions in China. In 1957, Bhagavad Gita translated by Xu Fancheng in the traditional verse was published in Pondicherry, India, but this edition was little known in China for a long time. In 1989, Bhagavad Gita translated by Zhang Baosheng in the modern verse was published by China Social Sciences Publishing House. In 2010, the translation edition of Huang Baosheng in the modern verse was released by Beijing Commercial Press. Xu Fancheng said in the postscript of his translation of the Messenger of Clouds that “one masterwork having more translation editions is very common for classical literature”, which showed that many translation editions of one masterwork was normal and was the results of academic efforts. The new cover-to-cover English translation editions of Mahabharata in the style of prose and verse emerged continuously. China may also have the cover-tocover translation in the style of verse in the future.

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Research on Mahabharata in China can be seen in various prefaces and postscripts of translation edition and all kinds of related literature. Jin Kemu used one chapter to comprehensively discuss many aspects of the epic in his Literary History of Sanskrit (1964). The preface of his Selection of Mahabharata Episode and other essays were full of insight. In addition, Huang Baosheng’s Introduction of Mahabharata (2005) and other works are helpful for readers to understand the epic.

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(*Liu Jian*)

Ramayana

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Ramayana is one of the two great Sanskrit epics in ancient India, meaning “Rama’s Journey” or

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'The Ramayana', Chinese edition

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“Biography of Rama”. Rama is a legendary sageking and has been gradually deified. Ramayana belongs to the genre of *itihāasa* (a narrative of past events). It is written in verses and “sloka” meters, each stanza has two lines, and each line has 16 syllables. Originally it was recited orally, and was written down only from about 3^rd or 4^th century BCE to 2^nd century CE. Its creation is attributed to Valmiki. Given its combination of old and new contents, Valmiki might be the last who had compiled the whole epic. It can be divided into seven books, and has a variety of manuscripts and numerous publications. A modern version has been reduced from nearly 24,000 to 18,700 “slokas”, was published in a series from 1960 to 1975, and was well received in the Indian and international academic circles.

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Basic Plot

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*Ramayana* deals chronologically with major events in the life of Rama and Sita and narrates struggles. Rama, one of the protagonists, is the incarnation of Vishnu, was born to Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, and receives education from Vishvamitra. At a *swayamvara* held for his daughter Sita by Janaka, the king of Mithila, Rama gets married to Sita since he could wield the bow that once belonged to the god Shiva. Due to the tricks of Kaikeyi, one of Dasharatha’s wives, the old Dasharatha was forced to crown his second son Bharata as king and send Rama into wilderness for 14 years exile. Rama was a devoted son and decided to accept his father’s decree. He was joined by Sita and his younger brother Lakshmana. Soon after, King Dasharatha who was heartbroken, passes away. Bharata visits Rama in the forest and requests him to return to Ayodhya and be the king, but Rama refuses. Bharata had to rule as a regent while waiting for the return of Rama.

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Rama and his companions wander in the forest. Ravana, king of Lanka, sends the rakshasa Maricha, who assumes the form of a golden deer to entice Rama and Lakshmana to leave their hut in the forest while he takes the chance to abduct Sita back to [Figure: 'Sutra of Miscellaneous Treasures (Za Bao Zang Jing)', front cover]

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Lanka. Jatayu, a vulture, tries to rescue Sita but gets seriously wounded by Ravana. Sita refuses Ravana's temptation and is confined to a garden under heavy guard. Rama learns about Sita's abduction from Jatayu and attempts to rescue her. Rama and his brother meet Hanuman, monkey king and Sugriva his brother, who sends an army to help Rama. Hanuman takes a great leap across the ocean to Lanka, where he finds Sita and obtains a token of identity from her. Wreaking havoc at the palace of Ravana, Hanuman escapes amid chaos and returns to Kishkindha. Rama leads an arm of monkeys and challenges Ravana. With the help of Nal a bridge is constructed across the ocean. Ravana is killed, Sita is rescued, but Rama is doubtful of her chastity. Sita enters into a fire to prove her virtue, but Agni appears to attest to her purity, and thus, the husband and the wife are united. Since the 14-year exile expires, Rama returns to Ayodhya with Sita and his followers to be enthroned as king. Under his rule, Ayodhya is peaceful and prosperous. One day while learning that people still gossip about Sita's chastity, Rama orders Lakshmana to abandon Sita on the opposite side of the Ganges. Valmiki provides a shelter to the pregnant Sita. In a hermitage, Sita gives birth to twin boys, Kusha and Lava, who grow and learn *Ramayana* from Valmiki.

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When Rama holds the *Ashwamedha* prayer ceremony, the two boys go to his palace and recite the *Ramayana*. Rama on hearing them sing recognises them as his sons. In order to prove her innocence, Sita asks the earth to engulf her and the ground opens and she disappears in it. Rama resumes his image as Vishnu.

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In India, *Ramayana* is received with admiration and through the ages in history, has turned into a Hindu canon. From the perspective of literature, it is a direct forerunner for classical Sanskrit poetry, and a great number of Sanskrit plays and epics of later generations have drawn materials from it. It has been translated into many local languages, such as Tamil by Kamban, Bengali by Krittibas and Hindi by Tulsidas, and some of them have a great literary value as well as a very important status in corresponding languages. Rama's stories are spread across entire southeast Asia through a variety of artistic forms, including translation, sculpture, painting, dancing, drama, puppet show, shadow play and the like, and its influence is huge and far-reaching, especially in Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.

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Influence in China

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Along with sutras translated into Chinese, *Ramayana* and stories in it began to be known in China in the three kingdoms viz., the Eastern and Western Jin dynasties, Southern and Northern dynasties. According to *A life of Vasubandhu* translated by Paramartha, an Indian monk translating sutras under the royal decree, "the master went to Kashmira, listened to sermons at the assembly, but behaved in an odd manner. When the assembly focussed on vibhāṣā, and he would ask about Ramayana instead and thus was looked down upon". *Dasharatha*, a story told in *Za Bao Zang Jing* translated by Kinkara and Tan Yao in Northern Wei Dynasty, narrates the exile of Rama by his father, equivalent to the first half of *Ramayana*. Since this story is of valuable raw material for the study of *Ramayana*'s plot, formation and influence in China, an abstract is provided below:

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King Dasharatha rules Jambudvipa. He has four queens. Rama is born to the first queen, who is valiant and invincible, and Lakshmana to the second queen. Bharata is born to the third queen and Shatrughna to the fourth queen. The king adores the third queen and says, “If you have any wish, tell me and I will fulfil it.” She answers, “I desire nothing now. I will tell you if I have any wish in the future”. When the king falls ill, he summons Rama and wants to crown him. When the third queen discovers that the king wants to make Rama the king, she is extremely jealous of Rama. She then asks the king to fulfill her wishes: “crown my son instead of Rama”. The king thus is in a dilemma, whether to abandon his promise to his favourite wife or his own wish to crown Rama as king. Since he has always been faithful to his word, the king agrees to exile Rama. Lakshmana asks his brother: “Why not use your valour and strength, why get yourself humiliated?” Rama replies: “It is not filial to act against the father’s wish. Though she has not given birth to me, the queen is a favourite of my father, and so is my mother as well. Bharata, my brother, is very kind and obedient and does not entertain any disloyalty”. Hearing this, Lakshmana says nothing more. King Dasharatha then exiles the two brothers to a remote forest for a period of 14 years. They leave for the wilderness without any grudge. At that time, Bharata was away from home and is summoned back to be crowned. But, Bharata loves both his brothers, and when he returns back home, he finds that his father is already dead, and he learns that his mother has driven away his two brothers. Disapproving his mother’s actions, he kneels down respectfully to the first queen, Rama’s mother, rather than his own mother. Bharata leads an army, but stops at the verge of the forest to go into it alone. He tells Rama: “I bring an army for no other reason but for fear of being robbed. I wish you can return and rule the country”. He keeps on begging, but Rama is firm and refuses to return. Knowing that his brother will not change his mind, Bharata takes Rama’s sandals back to the palace and put them on the throne, while he rules as the regent as if Rama were on the throne. He often sent persons to ask his brothers to return, but his brothers insist on obeying the orders of their father. Later, when the period of exile expires, Rama returns and succeeds to the throne at the request of Bharata. Such brotherly love serves to improve popular morality. People are blessed and become more loyal, filial and liberal. Rama and Lakshmana treat Bharata’s mother without resentment. With such loyalty and filial piety, the country is blessed with good weather, bumper harvest and health. Within Jambudvipa, everyone is ten times prosperous than usual.

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An illustration from the 'Ramayana'

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An illustration from the 'Ramayana: army of monkeys helping Lord Rama in attacking the city of Lanka'

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An illustration from the 'Ramayana'

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Article 46 in *Liu Du Ji Jing* translated by Kang Senghui of Kingdom Wu in the period of the Three Kingdoms is equivalent to the latter half of Ramayana and a summary of its Book III, IV, V and VI. Since this story is of the same value with

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*An illustration from the 'Ramayana', early 19th century CE*

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Dasharatha, an extract is provided below:

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Bodhisattva once ruled with great reputation. Jiushi lives in another country and is a king as well, but he is covetous, shameless and cruel, and leads an army to seize Bodhisattva’s kingdom. Looking down from a great height, the king finds that the army is large, and he and the queen escape into the forest. As a conqueror, Jiushi governs with greed and cruelty, and he kills the faithful and promotes the cunning. People endure difficulties, and they weep and mourn for their old king. The king and the queen are in the deep forest. An evil dragon in the sea, captivated by the queen’s beauty, turns into a monk, and the king picks fruits every day to feed him. When the king is away, the dragon carries the queen away. On its way towards the sea, a huge bird appears to stop and fight with the dragon, but gets its right wing wounded, and the dragon returns to the sea. Back from fruit picking, finding that the queen disappears, the king brings a bow and arrows with him to find the queen. In the course of this, he follows a flow of water to find a monkey weeping. The monkey says: “I am also the king, but Jiushi seizes my followers. Why are you here?” Bodhisattva answers: “I have the same trouble. Now my queen has disappeared and I don’t know where to find her.” The monkey says: “You can help me fight and recover my followers, and I will help you recover your wife”. On the following day, the monkey fights with Jiushi, and the king draws the bow. The Jiushi fears and halts. Monkey king orders his returning followers: “The king has lost his queen in this mountain. Go and search her”. Monkeys disperse towards various directions, seeing a wounded bird, asks: “The queen has disappeared, and the king could not find her, and we are searching for her”. The bird says: “She is abducted by the dragon and now on an island in the sea”. After saying this, the bird dies. The monkey king leads the army to the sea but is at a loss how to cross it. Sakra assumes the form of a monkey and comes to suggest: “Our army is so numerous as to exceed the number of sea sand. Let everyone carry stones to cross the sea, and these stones will turn into a high mountain. In this way, access to the island will be easy”. The army thus cross the sea and come over to surround the island. The dragon produces poisonous fog, and monkeys all fall ill and scrawl on the ground. A little monkey puts a celestial herb into their noses. The dragon then produces wind, cloud and thunder, but the king shoots an arrow to the chest of the dragon and kills it. The monkeys are joyous, and the little monkey opens the door to let the queen out of her prison. The two kings return to the forest together. Since Jiushi has died without any heir, courtiers and people go to implore the king. The king returns and rules with amnesty and benevolence, and people lead a happy life. The king says to his wife one day: “People are doubtful when a wife is away is husband for one night, while you were separated from me for a number of days. As ancient customs requires, I cannot take you back”. The queen says: “While at that obscene place, I was just like a lotus in the mud. If my word is true, the earth will open and swallow me up”. Just then, the ground opens. The queen says: “My word is true”. The king says: “Yes, it is”. Since chastity is a Buddhist requirement. From then on, merchants surrender part of profit, the learned resigns their position, the noble can safeguard the humble, and the strong does not

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‘Six Paramitas Sutra’, translated by Kang Senghui, Wu, Three Kingdoms Period

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bully the weak, all due to the king. Lewd women turn pure, and swindlers become faithful, and the false turns truthful, all due to the queen. Buddha tells bhiksus: “Then, I was the king, Ju Yi the queen, Tiao Da was Jiu Shi and Maitreya was Sakra”. Bodhisattva requires endurance and patience in the face of humiliation.

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Combined, the above two stories can form a miniature *Ramayana*, even with some identical details. It might have been a preliminary framework at the beginning, since it had been widely told in India so that even Buddhist masters, rather overlooking it, had to borrow something from it to spread Buddhist ideas. It turns out that the Sutras in Chinese, have virtually, played an important role in preserving the epic’s original appearance. This can be said to have made a great contribution to Indian culture. It is reported, Raghuvira (1902-1963), a reputed Sanskrit scholar in India, visited China

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*Hanuman, the Monkey God*

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in the 1950s, and brought back this miniature of *Ramayana* to India and translated it.

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China has a mythical story, *Journey to the West*, and the protagonist Sun Wukong is related to *Ramayana* in respect of the image and many details. Before *Journey to the West*, Chinese sutras already had other monkey stories, for example, Article 47 and 56 and the like of *Liu Du Ji Jing*. In the Song Dynasty, the personality, ability and actions of the monkey king in *Liu Du Ji Jing* were reproduced in a fiction titled “*Da Tang Sanzang Qujing Shihua*”. Chinese scholars generally are of the opinion that, this fiction is the origin of *Journey to the West*. And so, the image of Su Wukong was produced under the influence of Chinese sutras as well as Hanuman in *Ramayana*. Another possibility is, Wu Cheng’en, the author of *Journey to the West*, might have heard from someone a detailed account of *Ramayana*, otherwise it is impossible to explain why this book is identical with *Ramayana* in some important details. In a research on *Journey to the West*, Hu Shi suggested that Su Wukong, as the most vivid character, may be borrowed from India rather than homemade. He thought that Hanuman in *Ramayana* was the predecessor of the monkey king, since they two have almost the same power. For instance, Hamuman could fly in the air, move big mountains, turn bigger or smaller, enter into others’ stomach, and fear no fire, and Sun Wukong also have these powers. As a result, he inferred that Sun Wukong was produced under the influence of *Ramayana*. On the contrary, Lu Xun thought Su Wukong was a native product of China. For a long time, academic circles in China have been arguing and debating over this issue.

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According to Chen Yinque, stories of Xuanzang's three disciples are all from Buddhist sutras. Ji Xianlin thought, even the dragon king has a foreign origin as well. Chinese sutras have many stories of the monk fighting demons as told in *Journey to the West*. He also supported the connection of Sun Wukong with Hanuman in *Ramayana*.

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[Figure: 'The Ramayana and Mahabharata' (front cover)]

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Lu Xun thought highly of ancient Indian literature, including *Ramayana*. He wrote: "On the Power of Satanic School of Poetry" in 1907, and mentioned admiringly Kalidasa in this long article, "ancient India had four *vedas*, which are fascinating and profound; *Mahabharata* and *Ramayana* are two epics with charming beauty". The poet-monk Su Manshu, after studying Sanskrit and travelling in India, published *Yanzikan Suibi* in 1913, and praised the Indian epics *Ramayana* and *Mahabharata* as "grand and elegant", and "a great treasure in the eyes of European literary figures, just like Illiad and Odyssey were to Greece. These two Indian epics have not been translated into Chinese, and only in the book "Huayan Jingchao" it states, "*Ramayana* and *Mahabharata* are names of books. They were translated into European language a long ago, and the best is the translation made by Ramesh Dutt, with an introduction provided by the British scholar Max Müller, but it is a partial rather than complete version." Obviously, he realised the great value of the two Sanskrit epics and had a strong desire to translate them into Chinese.

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In March 1963, the People's Literature Publishing House published *The Ramayana & The Mahabharata* translated by Sun Yong from an English version of Ramesh Dutt. Sun Yong tried to reproduce "sloka", with 16 Chinese characters each line and two lines each stanza. His translation of *Ramayana* has about 4,000 lines and 2,000 "slokas". In September of the same year, Feng Jinxin and Qi Guangxiu translated *Ramayana's Stories* and published it through China Youth Publishing House, and it consists of more than 3,00,000 words. The original version was adapted by Shudha Mazumdar from Krittibas' Bengali edition of *Ramayana*. The Chinese version has a long introduction by Jin Kemu, "*Ramayana: A Great Indian Epic*".

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From 1980 to 1984, People's Literature Publishing House successively published *Ramayana* translated from a corrected Sanskrit edition. There are seven chapters and it consists of eight colossal volumes and nearly 90,000 lines, adopts a form of folk song and provides detailed notes, and thus reproduces the charm of the original poem. Ji Xianlin commenced the translation in 1973, originally only as a means to pass the time, and did not take it as a conscious effort until the end of the Cultural Revolution. After a decade of unusual diligence, he finished the final part of the whole works in early 1983. In the course of this, Ji Xianlin published *A Preliminary Probe into the Ramayana* (1979) and several articles, including *Ramayana in China*.

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