Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s2.t20.6

v2.c15.s2.t20.6

Xu Fancheng was well versed in English, German, French, Sanskrit, Latin and Greek. He was a good painter, a versatile scholar, and had an in-depth study of Chinese civilisation as well as Indian and Western ones. With a mastery of languages, he was concerned with inherent connection between languages and national and regional cultures, and attempted to interpret linguistic and cultural exchange from a semantic perspective. He had a broad academic horizon, combined academic traditions in China and India with Orientalism study in Germany, and proposed many unique opinions, which are of important value and meaning for sociological, anthropological and folklore study. He compared Sanskrit to Changsha dialect from phonological point to demonstrate the profound influence of Buddhism on native languages in China and cultural exchange and assimilation between China and India, providing new approaches and aspirations for India studies in China.