On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c8.s1.29

v1.c8.s1.29

A later Chinese writer, apparently under the impression that he had the authority of Yuan-chuang for the statement, tells us that *T'ien-chu* means moon. But he, like several other authors, explains the giving of this name to India in a different way from that described by the pilgrim. He says that the country was called *T'ien-chu* or Moon because it was as great and distinguished above the other countries of the world, as the moon is great among the stars of night—"velut inter ignes Luna minores". Other writers, like I-ching for example, are more discreetly wise, and refrain from proposing any explanation of the names for India. Admitting, they say, *Yin-tu* to be a Sanskrit term denoting the moon, yet it was not for that reason that the Chinese gave it as a name to the country, nor is the name the universal one. *Yin-tu* is the Chinese name for India as *Chi-na* and *Chen-tan* are terms used in that country to denote China, and apart from such use these names have no signification.¹ This is going too far, and the word India at least has a satisfactory explanation. When our pilgrim enquired about the size and form of the country, he was told that it was shaped like a crescent or, as it is in the text, a half-moon. The term used was apparently Indu-kalā, transcribed Yin-t'ê-ka-lo (印特伽羅).² This word means a digit of the moon or a crescent, but it is rendered in Chinese simply by yueh or moon. It was perhaps this fact which led to the absurd comparison and explanation of our text.