Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.13

v2.c15.13

In the early years of modern times, India-China academic exchange had continued with the cultural exchange tradition centered around Buddhism, and on the other hand, it had witnessed further development in the academic fields of language, literature, art, religion, philosophy, history, archaeology, etc. In the early 20th century CE, the Chinese intellectuals represented by Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others hoped to explore the contradictions and developments of the Oriental Civilisation in the modern environment by paying close attention to India. Peking University had become the center of Indology in China since 1917 when Liang Shuming was invited by Cai Yuanpei to teach the course of “Indian Philosophy”. Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Indian poet’s visit to China in 1924 had not only caught the attention of all the Chinese intellectuals but also pushed forward India-China modern academic exchanges to a new level. Thereafter, the upsurge of Chinese intellectuals visiting India on academic pilgrimage was carried on by successive visits of Tan Yun-shan, Hsu Chih-mo, Xu Dishan and other Chinese scholars to India. Sino-Indian Cultural Society was established first in Nanjing in 1933, with Cai Yuanpei as the president, and the India chapter of Sino-Indian Cultural Society was established in Visva-Bharati University in 1934 with Tagore as the president. Since then, the Sino-India Cultural Society had promoted the exchange of the scholars and international students between the two countries. At the initiative of the Sino-India Cultural Society, Cheena Bhavana of Visva-Bharati University was established in 1937 with Tan Yun-shan as its Dean. Thereafter in a span of two decades a large number of Chinese scholars such as Xu Fancheng, Zhou Dafu and Ba Zhou had paid academic visits to India. The academic exchange was not interrupted even during the World War II. In 1940, Master Tai Xu paid a visit to India with his delegation and sent Fa Fang and some others to Visva-Bharati University to study. In 1942, the National Oriental Languages Vocational School was established in Chenggong, Yunnan Province, opening Hindi as a subject; Krishna Kinkar Simha, the Indian student of Visva-Bharati University was sent by Tan Yun-shan to China to teach Hindi. In 1943, Jin Kemu, who became an eminent indologist in China later, learned Sanskrit and Pali from Dharmananda Damodar Kosambi and some other Indian scholars in Sarnath. In 1947, Prabodh Chandra Bagchi, the Indian sinologist was sent by the Indian Government to Peking University to teach Indian philosophy and culture; he assisted Ji Xianlin and Jin Kemu to establish the subject of Indology in Peking University.