Guest guest Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 Vedic Roots of China and Japan The cultural relations between India and China can be traced back to very early times. There are numerous references to China in Sanskrit texts, but their chronology is sketchy. The Mahabharata refers to China several times, including a reference to presents brought by the Chinese at the Rajasuya Yajna of the Pandavas; also, the Arthasastra and the Manusmriti mention China. According to French art historian Rene Grousset, the name China comes from " an ancient " Sanskrit name for the regions to the east, and not, as often supposed, from the name of the state of Ch'in, " the first dynasty established by Shih Huang Ti in 221 B.C. The Sanskrit name Cina for China could have been derived from the small state of that name in Chan-si in the northwest of China, which flourished in the fourth century B.C. Scholars have pointed out that the Chinese word for lion, shih, used long before the Chin dynasty, was derived from the Sanskrit word, simha, and that the Greek word for China, Tzinista, used by some later writers, appears to be derivative of the Sanskrit Chinasthana. According to Terence Duke, martial arts went from India to China. Fighting without weapons was a specialty of the ancient Ksatriya warriors of India. Until recently, India and China had coexisted peacefully for over two thousand years. This amicable relationship may have been nurtured by the close historical and religious ties of Buddhism, introduced to China by Indian monks at a very early stage of their respective histories, although there are fragmentary records of contacts anterior to the introduction of Buddhism. The Chinese literature of the third century is full of geographic and mythological elements derived from India. Bhaarat: Teacher of China Hinduism and Buddhism, both have had profound effect on religious and cultural life of China. Chinese early religion was based on nature and had many things in common with Vedic Hinduism, with a pantheon of deities. The story of Sun Hou Tzu, the Monkey King, and Hsuang Tsang. It is a vicarious and humorous tale, an adventure story akin to the Hindu epic of Ramayana, and like Ramayana, a moral tale of the finer aspects of human endeavor which come to prevail over those of a less worthy nature. The book ends with a dedication to India: 'I dedicate this work to Buddha's Pure Land. May it repay the kindness of patron and preceptor, may it mitigate the sufferings of the lost and damned....' (source: Eastern Wisdom, Michael Jordan, p. 134-151) Hu Shih, (1891-1962), Chinese philosopher in Republican China. He was ambassador to the U.S. (1938-42) and chancellor of Peking University (1946-48). He said: " India conquered and dominated China culturally for two thousand years without ever having to send a single soldier across her border. " Lin Yutang, author of The Wisdom of China and India: " The contact with poets, forest saints and the best wits of the land, the glimpse into the first awakening of Ancient India's mind as it searched, at times childishly and naively, at times with a deep intuition, but at all times earnestly and passionately, for the spiritual truths and the meaning of existence - this experience must be highly stimulating to anyone, particularly because the Hindu culture is so different and therefore so much to offer. " Not until we see the richness of the Hindu mind and its essential spirituality can we understand India.... " " India was China's teacher in religion and imaginative literature, and the world's teacher in trigonometry, quadratic equations, grammar, phonetics, Arabian Nights, animal fables, chess, as well as in philosophy, and that she inspired Boccaccio, Goethe, Herder, Schopenhauer, Emerson, and probably also old Aesop. " (source: The Wisdom of China and India, Lin Yutang, p. 3-4) " I see no reason to doubt, " comments Arthur Waley in his book, The Way and its Power, " that the 'holy mountain-men' (sheng-hsien) described by Lieh Tzu are Indian rishi; and when we read in Chuang Tzu of certain Taoists who practiced movements very similar to the asanas of Hindu yoga, it is at least a possibility that some knowledge of the yoga technique which these rishi used had also drifted into China. " Both Sir L. Wooley and British historian Arnold Toynbee speak of an earlier ready-made culture coming to China. They were right. That was the Vedic Hindu culture from India with its Sanskrit language and sacred scripts. The contemporary astronomical expertise of the Chinese, as evidenced by their records of eclipses; the philosophy of the Chinese, their statecraft, all point to a Vedic origin. That is why from the earliest times we find Chinese travelers visiting India very often to renew their educational and spiritual links. " Neo-Confucianism was stimulated in its development by a number of Buddhist ideas. Certain features of Taoism, such as its canon and pantheon, was taken over from Buddhism. Works and phrases in the Chinese language owe their origin to terms introduced by Buddhism. while in astronomical, calendrical, and medical studies the Chinese benefited from information introduced by Indian Buddhist monks. Finally, and most important of all, the religious life of the Chinese was affected profoundly by the doctrines and practices, pantheon and ceremonies brought in by the Indian religion. " (source: Buddhism in China, Kenneth Ch'en, p. 3) How China was part of the Indian Vedic empire is explained by Professor G. Phillips on page 585 in the 1965 edition of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. He remarks, " The maritime intercourse of India and China dates from a much earlier period, from about 680 B.C. when the sea traders of the Indian Ocean whose chiefs were Hindus founded a colony called Lang-ga, after the Indian named Lanka of Ceylon, about the present gulf of Kias-Tehoa, where they arrived in vessels having prows shaped like the heads of birds or animals after the pattern specified in the Yukti Kalpataru (an ancient Sanskrit technological text) and exemplified in the ships and boats of old Indian arts. " Chinese historian Dr. Li-Chi also discovered an astonishing resemblance between the Chinese clay pottery and the pottery discovered at Mohenjo daro on the Indian continent. Yuag Xianji, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, speaking at the C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyar Foundation, Madras, March 27 1984 said, " Recent discoveries of ruins of Hindu temples in Southeast China provided further evidence of Hinduism in China. Both Buddhism and Hinduism were patronized by the rulers. In the 6th century A.D. the royal family was Hindu for two generations. The following Tang dynasty (7th to the 9th century A.D.) also patronized both Hinduism and Buddhism because the latter was but a branch of Hinduism. Religious wars were unknown in ancient China. Through its compassionate Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and its promise of salvation to all alike, its emphasis on piety, meditation, its attractive rituals and festivals, its universality and its tolerance, " the religious life of the Chinese has been enriched, deepened, broadened, and made more meaningful in terms of human sympathy, love, and compassion for all living creatures. " The doctrine of karma brought spiritual consolation to innumerable people. The concept of karma is to be found in all types of Chinese literature from poetry to popular tales. India never imposed her ideas or culture on any nation by military force, not even on the small countries in her neighborhood, and in the case of China, it would have been virtually impossible to do so since China has been the more powerful of the two. So the expansion of Indian culture into China is a monument to human understanding and cultural co-operation - the outcome of a voluntary quest for learning. While China almost completely suppressed other foreign religions, such as Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity, and to some extent Manichaeanism, she could not uproot Buddhism. At times, Buddhism was persecuted, but for two thousand years it continued to indianize Chinese life even after it had ceased to be a vital force in the homeland and long after it had lost its place as the dominant religion of China. In fact, Indianization became more powerful and effective after it was thought that Buddhism had been killed in China. The introduction of Buddhism is one of the most important events in Chinese history, and since its inception it has been a major factor in Chinese civilization. The Chinese have freely acknowledged their debt to India, often referring to her as the " Teacher of China, " and Chinese Buddhists have pictured India as a Western Paradise, Sukhavati. That Chinese philosophy blossomed afresh after the impact of Buddhism indicates both a response to and a borrowing of Indian ideas. The advent of Buddhism meant for many Chinese a new way of life, and for all Chinese, a means of reassessing their traditional beliefs. A new conception of the universe developed, and the entire Chinese way of life was slowly but surely altered. The change was so gradual and so universal that few people realized it was happening. The Chinese Quietists practiced a form of self-hypnosis which has an indisputably close resemblance to Indian Yoga. The Chinese Taoist philosopher Liu-An (Huai-nan-tzu) who died in 122 B.C. makes use " of a cosmology in his book which is clearly of Buddhist inspiration. " The first mention of India to be found in Chinese records is in connection with the mission to Ta-hsia (Bacteriana) of a talented and courageous Chinese envoy, Chang Chien (Kien), about 138 B.C. Fourteen years later, having escaped after ten years as a captive of the Huns, he returned home and in his report to the Chinese Emperor he referred to the country of Shen-tu (India) to the southeast of the Yueh-chih (Jou-Chih) country. There are other traditional stories suggestive of earlier links, but Chang Chien's reference to Indian trade with the southwestern districts of China along the overland route corresponding to the modern Yunnan road indicates the existence of some sort of commercial relations well before the second century B.C. The find of Chinese coins at Mysore, dated 138 B.C. suggests maritime relations between India and China existed in the second century B.C. Passages in a Chinese text vaguely refer to Chinese trade relations with countries in the China Sea and Indian Ocean, such as Huang-che (Kanchi or a place in the Ganges delta), as well as to the exchange of diplomatic missions. Bhaarat's influence on Japan Hinduism and Buddhism went from India to China and Korea to Japan. Images of Ganesha and Vishnu have been found throughout Japan. Numerous Buddhist deities were introduced into Japan and many of these are still very popular. According to D. P. Singhal, " ...some Hindu gods, who had been incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon, were amongst them. For example, Indra, originally, the god of thunder but now also the king of gods, is popular in Japan as Taishaku (literally the great King Sakra); Ganesha is worshiped as Sho-ten or Shoden (literally holy god) in many Buddhist temples, and is believed to confer happiness upon his devotees. A sea-serpent worshiped by sailors is called Ryujin, a Chinese equivalent of the Indian naga. Hariti and Dakini are also worshiped, the former as Kishimo-jin, and the latter by her original name. Bishamon is a Japanese equivalent of the Indian Vaisravana (Kubera), the god of wealth. Even Shinto adopted Indian gods, despite its desperate efforts after the Meiji Revolution to disengage itself from Buddhism. The Indian sea god Varuna, is worshiped in Tokyo as Sui-ten (water-god); the Indian goddess of learning, Sarasvati, has become Benten (literally goddess of speech), with many shrines dedicated to her along sea coasts and beside lakes and ponds. Shiva is well known to the Japanese as Daikoku (literally god of darkness), which is a Chinese and Japanese equivalent of the Indian Mahakala, another name of Shiva. Daikoku is a popular god in Japan. At the Kotohira shrine on the island of Shikoku, sailors worship a god called Kompera, which is a corruption of the Sanskrit word for crocodile, Kumbhira. The divine architect mentioned in the Rig Veda, Vishvakarma, who designed and constructed the world, was regarded in ancient Japan as the god of carpenters, Bishukatsuma. The Indian Yama, the god of death, is the most dreaded god of Japan, under the name of Emma-o, the king of hell. The climbers wearing traditional white dress, who scale the sacred Mount Ontake as a religious observance, sometimes have inscribed on their robe Sanskrit Siddham characters of an ancient type. Sometimes they put on white Japanese scarfs (tenugui) which carry the Sanskrit character OM, the sacred syllable of the Hindus. According to Terence Duke, " The Gagaku dances of Japan contain many movements derived from the Indian Nata and the Chinese Chuan Fa. " (source: The Boddhisattva Warriors: The Origin, Inner Philosophy, History and Symbolism of the Buddhist Martial Art Within India and China, p. 206) The cultivation of cotton in Japan is traced to an Indian who had drifted to the shore of Aichi Prefecture in 799. To commemorate the event, the Japanese named the village where the shipwrecked Indian had landed Tenjiku; Tenjiku was the Japanese name for India, and means Heaven. The popular Japanese game of sunoroku or sugoroku (backgammon) played at the royal of the Nara rulers and still popular in Japan is of Indian origin. In Japan the game is played as nard. Nard is generally regarded as an Iranian game, but the ninth century Arab scholar, Al Yaqubi, considered nard an Indian invention used to illustrate man's dependence on chance and destiny. According to Wei-Shu, sugoroku was brought to China in ancient times from Hu country, which at that time meant a country somewhere in the vicinity of India. Again, as Karl Himly has pointed out, the Hun Tsun, Sii, written during the Sung period (960-1279), states that t'shu-pu, another Chinese name for sugoroku, was invented in western India, that it was known in its original form as chatus-pada, and that it reached China during the Wei period (220-265). There is some Indian influence on Japanese art. A similarity between Shinto rituals and Hindu rituals (for example ringing the bell as one enters the temple). Narushima (Narasimha) Bishamondo is a famous temple in Japan. (Source: India and World Civilization - Dr. D. P. Singhal) Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said that China was more influenced by India than India by China. Whilst Chinese monks came to acquire knowledge and take it back, the Indian monks went to China on specific religious missions to impart knowledge. There is hardly any evidence that the Chinese monks brought with them any work which was translated into an Indian language. It seems that during this period of Sino-Indian contact, the psychological atmosphere was one in which India was naturally accepted as the giver and China as the taker. Whilst the best in Indian thought was carefully studied and carried back to China, Chinese ideas filtered through India whether they represented the best of their culture or not. According to Jawaharlal Nehru in his book " The Discovery of India " : " The most famous of the Chinese travelers to India was Hsuang Tsang who came in the seventh century when the great T'sang dynasty flourished in China and King Harshavardhana ruled over in North India. Hsuang Tsang took a degree of Master of the Law at Nalanda University and finally became vice-principal of the university. His book, the Si-Yu-Ki or the Record of the Western Kingdom (meaning India), makes fascinating reading. He tells us of the system of the university where the five branches of knowledge were taught. 1. Grammar 2. Science of Arts and Crafts 3. Medicine 4. Logic and 5. Philosophy. Hsuang Tsang was particularly struck by the love of learning of the Indian people. Many Indian classics have been preserved in Chinese translation relating not only to Buddhism but also to Hinduism, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, etc. There are supposed to be 800 such works in the Sung-pao collection in China. Tibet is also full of them. There used to be frequent co-operation between Indian, Chinese and Tibetan scholars. A notable instance of this co-operation, still extant, is a Sanskrit-Tibetan-Chinese dictionary of Buddhist technical terms. This dates from the ninth century and is named the 'Mahavyutpatti.' Soon after Hsuang Tsang's death in China, yet another famous pilgrim made the journey to India - I-tsing (or Yi-tsing). He also studied at Nalanda University for a long time and carried back several hundred Sanskrit texts. He refers to India as the West (Si-fang), but he tells us that it was known as Aryadesha - Arya means noble, and desha region - the noble region. It is so called because men of noble character appear there successively, and people all praise the land by that name. It is also called the Madhyadesha - the middle land, for it is in the center of a hundred myriads of countries. (source: The Discovery of India - Jawaharlal Nehru, p. 193-194) Yet Chinese culture had some influence on India. The gabled roofs of houses on the western coast of India show a Chinese influence, as do the temples and houses in the Himalayan regions. Some Chinese influence is noted on Gupta coins. The use of a certain kind of silk (chinamsuka) in India, different kinds of fruits including pears (cinaraja-putra), peaches (cinani), and lichis, the technique of fishing in the backwaters, and the porcelain industry all owe something to Chinese influence. Indians also learned the art of papermaking from China. India and China By V. B. Metta http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/5185/2-2china.html It is a curious fact that Chinese culture, though so distinctive, all- pervasive and compulsive, could not come to India, or if it did come, it could not leave any lasting marks behind it. Archaeologists and scholars tell us that Chinese ideas and ideals came to India with the Kushan Kings of the North, who were Tartars, but the influence that that dynasty has left on India is almost negligible. We are also told that there is influence of Chinese art on the Ajanta paintings. But that is only a theory, since there is nothing characteristically Chinese about these frescoes. The influence of India on China however is undeniable. It is not merely in religion that India influenced China, but in most subjects that go to make up national culture. The Chinese, always proud of their civilization, looked upon the outside world with contempt. They called the tribes living to their North " Hun slaves, " and the tribes living to the North-West " barbarians, " while the Japanese were denominated by them " Dwarf Pirates. " But their attitude towards India was different. India was known to them by a number of names, not one of which was contemptuous. She was called Hsin Tu, the Kingdom of the Hindus, or Ti Yu, the Western Land; to Buddhists she was Fu Kuo, the Land of the Buddhas. Pre-Buddhistic Influence It is probable that there was contact between India and China even before the birth of Buddha; certain similarities of thought and belief between pre-Buddhist Indians and pre-Confucian Chinese go to strengthen that theory. According to Hindus, the world sprang from the union of Purusha and Prakriti, the Male and Female Principles; the ancient Chinese writers thought the same - the Purusha and Prakriti of Indians being called Yang and Yin in China. There is also the worship of mountains in both countries; what the Himalayas have been to Hindus that Mount Tai has been to the Celestials. I do not think that these are mere coincidences due to the similarity of all early beliefs. There was a good deal of action and reaction of early Asiatic civilizations upon each other of which a proper history has yet to be written. With the rise of Buddhism we are, historically speaking, on firmer ground. It is said that Asoka's missionaries had gone to China. There are however no records left of it. But we do know as a matter of historical fact that in 67 A.D., the Emperor Ming Ti received Kashyapamadanya from India, who bore with him presents of images and sculptures for the Chinese emperor. Since then the intercourse between the two countries continued uninterrupted till at least the eighth century. During that time it is estimated that between thirty to forty Indian scholars went to China, and some two hundred Chinese scholars came to India, who took back with them to their country Indian books, paintings, and statues. The influence of India on China can be traced on Music, Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Literature, Mythology, Philosophy and Science. Influence of Hindu Music We learn from Chinese writers that Indian music had displaced Chinese music in the seventh century in northern China; records of this music are said to be preserved in Japan. Although Chinese architecture is mainly wooden, still Indian architecture has succeeded in influencing it. There were certain temples built during the Tang Period in China which were the offspring of Indian and Chinese styles of architecture. Those temples are however in ruins now, and so they cannot be studied properly. But the Chinese pagoda fortunately still exists. It is called Chinese, though the country of its origin was Nepal. The Newars, a people living in the Valley of Nepal, evolved it by making certain alterations in the Hindu temple. Those alterations were: (1) They built the pagoda on a platform and not on the ground direct like the Hindu temple; (2) They tilted up the roof of their building, mainly because the rainfall in the country is very heavy. Mr. Ernest Havell is of opinion that the pagoda was a modification of the stupa, while Mr. Sylvain Levi thinks that it represents an Indian style of architecture which has now disappeared. When the pagoda went from Nepal to Tibet and from thence to China is not definitely known yet. The oldest pagoda in China is, I think, of the sixth century. In painting, India influenced China considerably. From the East Chin dynasty to the Tang dynasty there was continuous intercourse between the two countries, and Indian paintings went to China in great numbers and influenced, if not actually displaced for a time Chinese painting in the North. This Indian School of Painting flourished in China till the rise to power of the Southern Sungs who favored the purely Chinese style of painting. I shall never forget the exquisite, ethereally delicate pictures painted on silk of this period which I saw at an exhibition at Messrs. Yamanaka's art galleries in New York in 1923. The manager of the galleries on seeing that I was an Indian, approached me, and pointing at the pictures in front of us, remarked with his inimitable Japanese smile, " They are all Indian really! " Then there are the wall paintings of the Tun Huang Caves (the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas) which Sir Aurel Stein and others have recently excavated in Chinese Turkestan. A Chinese writer tells us that before the introduction of Buddhism there was no sculpture in three dimensions in China. But most of the early Chinese Buddhist sculpture was destroyed by an Emperor who was anti-Buddhist. There are, however, the rock sculptures and reliefs at Lo Yang and Lung Men of that period still left intact which show the influence of Indian sculpture on them. There are also sculptures to be found at Yung Kwang which closely resemble the Indo-Greek sculptures of Gandhara. The Sanskrit language and literature have influenced China to a certain extent, since the Buddhist scriptures had to be translated into Chinese. On account of the study of Sanskrit - which, by the way, is the language of the Mahayana Buddhism and not Pali as some people imagine - the Chinese were inspired to invent an alphabetical system. This alphabetical system which has now disappeared, was called Ba-lamen Shu or Brahminical writing. Sakuntala, the masterpiece of the great Indian dramatist Kalidasa, was translated into Chinese, and is said to have influenced the Chinese drama. In mythology, many Buddhist deities of India were adopted by the Chinese; for example, Kwan Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, was the Indian Tara. It has been suggested that Lao Tze got his idea of Tao - the Way - from the Hindu Brahman, Universal Soul. It is likely that the Indian sciences of Astronomy and Medicine influenced the astronomical and medical sciences of the Chinese. There is very good scope for a competent scholar to make a full study of Indian influence on China and other Far-Eastern countries, and write a book on the subject. © 2001 - 2007 VEDA - Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Krishna.com, authors and Jan Mares http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/connections/Vedic-roots-China-and-Japan.php #4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 wow this is a nice article. I have always felt this indian influence on chinese belief for a long time. once i saw an indian movie, it was showing a scene in heaven with different gods and i thought they looked so much like chinese gods as in the hairstyle, headgear and general depiction. that really confirmed my thoughts. and i told my indian friends who were with me but they didn't seem to take me seriously. i guess people always look on the outside at the differences. but wat i was talking about was at the deeper level. I didn't really know how to explain it to people but this article really gives all the evidence. jsm HuiHua , " nicole_bougantouche " <nicole_bougantouche wrote: > > > > Vedic Roots of China and Japan > > > > The cultural relations between India and China can be traced back to very > early times. There are numerous references to China in Sanskrit texts, but > their chronology is sketchy. The Mahabharata refers to China several times, > including a reference to presents brought by the Chinese at the Rajasuya > Yajna of the Pandavas; also, the Arthasastra and the Manusmriti mention > China. According to French art historian Rene Grousset, the name China > comes from " an ancient " Sanskrit name for the regions to the east, and not, as > often supposed, from the name of the state of Ch'in, " the first dynasty > established by Shih Huang Ti in 221 B.C. The Sanskrit name Cina for China > could have been derived from the small state of that name in Chan-si in the > northwest of China, which flourished in the fourth century B.C. Scholars have > pointed out that the Chinese word for lion, shih, used long before the Chin > dynasty, was derived from the Sanskrit word, simha, and that the Greek word > for China, Tzinista, used by some later writers, appears to be derivative of the > Sanskrit Chinasthana. According to Terence Duke, martial arts went from > India to China. Fighting without weapons was a specialty of the ancient > Ksatriya warriors of India. > > Until recently, India and China had coexisted peacefully for over two > thousand years. This amicable relationship may have been nurtured by the > close historical and religious ties of Buddhism, introduced to China by Indian > monks at a very early stage of their respective histories, although there are > fragmentary records of contacts anterior to the introduction of Buddhism. The > Chinese literature of the third century is full of geographic and mythological > elements derived from India. > > > Bhaarat: Teacher of China > > Hinduism and Buddhism, both have had profound effect on religious and > cultural life of China. Chinese early religion was based on nature and had > many things in common with Vedic Hinduism, with a pantheon of deities. > > The story of Sun Hou Tzu, the Monkey King, and Hsuang Tsang. It is a > vicarious and humorous tale, an adventure story akin to the Hindu epic of > Ramayana, and like Ramayana, a moral tale of the finer aspects of human > endeavor which come to prevail over those of a less worthy nature. The book > ends with a dedication to India: 'I dedicate this work to Buddha's Pure Land. > May it repay the kindness of patron and preceptor, may it mitigate the > sufferings of the lost and damned....' > > (source: Eastern Wisdom, Michael Jordan, p. 134-151) > > Hu Shih, (1891-1962), Chinese philosopher in Republican China. He was > ambassador to the U.S. (1938-42) and chancellor of Peking University > (1946-48). He said: > > " India conquered and dominated China culturally for two thousand years > without ever having to send a single soldier across her border. " > > Lin Yutang, author of The Wisdom of China and India: > > " The contact with poets, forest saints and the best wits of the land, the glimpse > into the first awakening of Ancient India's mind as it searched, at times > childishly and naively, at times with a deep intuition, but at all times earnestly > and passionately, for the spiritual truths and the meaning of existence - this > experience must be highly stimulating to anyone, particularly because the > Hindu culture is so different and therefore so much to offer. " Not until we see > the richness of the Hindu mind and its essential spirituality can we understand > India.... " > > " India was China's teacher in religion and imaginative literature, and the > world's teacher in trigonometry, quadratic equations, grammar, phonetics, > Arabian Nights, animal fables, chess, as well as in philosophy, and that she > inspired Boccaccio, Goethe, Herder, Schopenhauer, Emerson, and probably > also old Aesop. " > > (source: The Wisdom of China and India, Lin Yutang, p. 3-4) > > " I see no reason to doubt, " comments Arthur Waley in his book, The Way and > its Power, " that the 'holy mountain-men' (sheng-hsien) described by Lieh Tzu > are Indian rishi; and when we read in Chuang Tzu of certain Taoists who > practiced movements very similar to the asanas of Hindu yoga, it is at least a > possibility that some knowledge of the yoga technique which these rishi used > had also drifted into China. " > > Both Sir L. Wooley and British historian Arnold Toynbee speak of an earlier > ready-made culture coming to China. They were right. That was the Vedic > Hindu culture from India with its Sanskrit language and sacred scripts. The > contemporary astronomical expertise of the Chinese, as evidenced by their > records of eclipses; the philosophy of the Chinese, their statecraft, all point to > a Vedic origin. That is why from the earliest times we find Chinese travelers > visiting India very often to renew their educational and spiritual links. > > " Neo-Confucianism was stimulated in its development by a number of > Buddhist ideas. Certain features of Taoism, such as its canon and pantheon, > was taken over from Buddhism. Works and phrases in the Chinese language > owe their origin to terms introduced by Buddhism. while in astronomical, > calendrical, and medical studies the Chinese benefited from information > introduced by Indian Buddhist monks. Finally, and most important of all, the > religious life of the Chinese was affected profoundly by the doctrines and > practices, pantheon and ceremonies brought in by the Indian religion. " > > (source: Buddhism in China, Kenneth Ch'en, p. 3) > > How China was part of the Indian Vedic empire is explained by Professor G. > Phillips on page 585 in the 1965 edition of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic > Society. He remarks, > > " The maritime intercourse of India and China dates from a much earlier > period, from about 680 B.C. when the sea traders of the Indian Ocean whose > chiefs were Hindus founded a colony called Lang-ga, after the Indian named > Lanka of Ceylon, about the present gulf of Kias-Tehoa, where they arrived in > vessels having prows shaped like the heads of birds or animals after the > pattern specified in the Yukti Kalpataru (an ancient Sanskrit technological > text) and exemplified in the ships and boats of old Indian arts. " > > Chinese historian Dr. Li-Chi also discovered an astonishing resemblance > between the Chinese clay pottery and the pottery discovered at Mohenjo daro > on the Indian continent. Yuag Xianji, member of the Chinese People's > Political Consultative Conference, speaking at the C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyar > Foundation, Madras, March 27 1984 said, " Recent discoveries of ruins of > Hindu temples in Southeast China provided further evidence of Hinduism in > China. Both Buddhism and Hinduism were patronized by the rulers. In the 6th > century A.D. the royal family was Hindu for two generations. The following > Tang dynasty (7th to the 9th century A.D.) also patronized both Hinduism and > Buddhism because the latter was but a branch of Hinduism. Religious wars > were unknown in ancient China. > > Through its compassionate Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and its promise of > salvation to all alike, its emphasis on piety, meditation, its attractive rituals and > festivals, its universality and its tolerance, " the religious life of the Chinese has > been enriched, deepened, broadened, and made more meaningful in terms > of human sympathy, love, and compassion for all living creatures. " The > doctrine of karma brought spiritual consolation to innumerable people. The > concept of karma is to be found in all types of Chinese literature from poetry to > popular tales. > > India never imposed her ideas or culture on any nation by military force, not > even on the small countries in her neighborhood, and in the case of China, it > would have been virtually impossible to do so since China has been the more > powerful of the two. So the expansion of Indian culture into China is a > monument to human understanding and cultural co-operation - the outcome > of a voluntary quest for learning. While China almost completely suppressed > other foreign religions, such as Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity, and to > some extent Manichaeanism, she could not uproot Buddhism. At times, > Buddhism was persecuted, but for two thousand years it continued to > indianize Chinese life even after it had ceased to be a vital force in the > homeland and long after it had lost its place as the dominant religion of > China. In fact, Indianization became more powerful and effective after it was > thought that Buddhism had been killed in China. > > The introduction of Buddhism is one of the most important events in Chinese > history, and since its inception it has been a major factor in Chinese > civilization. The Chinese have freely acknowledged their debt to India, often > referring to her as the " Teacher of China, " and Chinese Buddhists have > pictured India as a Western Paradise, Sukhavati. That Chinese philosophy > blossomed afresh after the impact of Buddhism indicates both a response to > and a borrowing of Indian ideas. The advent of Buddhism meant for many > Chinese a new way of life, and for all Chinese, a means of reassessing their > traditional beliefs. A new conception of the universe developed, and the entire > Chinese way of life was slowly but surely altered. The change was so gradual > and so universal that few people realized it was happening. > > The Chinese Quietists practiced a form of self-hypnosis which has an > indisputably close resemblance to Indian Yoga. The Chinese Taoist > philosopher Liu-An (Huai-nan-tzu) who died in 122 B.C. makes use " of a > cosmology in his book which is clearly of Buddhist inspiration. " > > The first mention of India to be found in Chinese records is in connection with > the mission to Ta-hsia (Bacteriana) of a talented and courageous Chinese > envoy, Chang Chien (Kien), about 138 B.C. Fourteen years later, having > escaped after ten years as a captive of the Huns, he returned home and in his > report to the Chinese Emperor he referred to the country of Shen-tu (India) to > the southeast of the Yueh-chih (Jou-Chih) country. There are other traditional > stories suggestive of earlier links, but Chang Chien's reference to Indian trade > with the southwestern districts of China along the overland route > corresponding to the modern Yunnan road indicates the existence of some > sort of commercial relations well before the second century B.C. The find of > Chinese coins at Mysore, dated 138 B.C. suggests maritime relations > between India and China existed in the second century B.C. Passages in a > Chinese text vaguely refer to Chinese trade relations with countries in the > China Sea and Indian Ocean, such as Huang-che (Kanchi or a place in the > Ganges delta), as well as to the exchange of diplomatic missions. > > > Bhaarat's influence on Japan > > Hinduism and Buddhism went from India to China and Korea to Japan. > Images of Ganesha and Vishnu have been found throughout Japan. > Numerous Buddhist deities were introduced into Japan and many of these > are still very popular. > > According to D. P. Singhal, " ...some Hindu gods, who had been incorporated > into the Buddhist pantheon, were amongst them. For example, Indra, > originally, the god of thunder but now also the king of gods, is popular in > Japan as Taishaku (literally the great King Sakra); Ganesha is worshiped as > Sho-ten or Shoden (literally holy god) in many Buddhist temples, and is > believed to confer happiness upon his devotees. A sea-serpent worshiped by > sailors is called Ryujin, a Chinese equivalent of the Indian naga. Hariti and > Dakini are also worshiped, the former as Kishimo-jin, and the latter by her > original name. Bishamon is a Japanese equivalent of the Indian Vaisravana > (Kubera), the god of wealth. > > Even Shinto adopted Indian gods, despite its desperate efforts after the Meiji > Revolution to disengage itself from Buddhism. The Indian sea god Varuna, is > worshiped in Tokyo as Sui-ten (water-god); the Indian goddess of learning, > Sarasvati, has become Benten (literally goddess of speech), with many > shrines dedicated to her along sea coasts and beside lakes and ponds. Shiva > is well known to the Japanese as Daikoku (literally god of darkness), which is > a Chinese and Japanese equivalent of the Indian Mahakala, another name of > Shiva. Daikoku is a popular god in Japan. At the Kotohira shrine on the island > of Shikoku, sailors worship a god called Kompera, which is a corruption of the > Sanskrit word for crocodile, Kumbhira. The divine architect mentioned in the > Rig Veda, Vishvakarma, who designed and constructed the world, was > regarded in ancient Japan as the god of carpenters, Bishukatsuma. The > Indian Yama, the god of death, is the most dreaded god of Japan, under the > name of Emma-o, the king of hell. > > The climbers wearing traditional white dress, who scale the sacred Mount > Ontake as a religious observance, sometimes have inscribed on their robe > Sanskrit Siddham characters of an ancient type. Sometimes they put on white > Japanese scarfs (tenugui) which carry the Sanskrit character OM, the sacred > syllable of the Hindus. > > According to Terence Duke, " The Gagaku dances of Japan contain many > movements derived from the Indian Nata and the Chinese Chuan Fa. " > > (source: The Boddhisattva Warriors: The Origin, Inner Philosophy, History and > Symbolism of the Buddhist Martial Art Within India and China, p. 206) > > The cultivation of cotton in Japan is traced to an Indian who had drifted to the > shore of Aichi Prefecture in 799. To commemorate the event, the Japanese > named the village where the shipwrecked Indian had landed Tenjiku; Tenjiku > was the Japanese name for India, and means Heaven. > > The popular Japanese game of sunoroku or sugoroku (backgammon) played > at the royal of the Nara rulers and still popular in Japan is of Indian origin. In > Japan the game is played as nard. Nard is generally regarded as an Iranian > game, but the ninth century Arab scholar, Al Yaqubi, considered nard an > Indian invention used to illustrate man's dependence on chance and destiny. > According to Wei-Shu, sugoroku was brought to China in ancient times from > Hu country, which at that time meant a country somewhere in the vicinity of > India. Again, as Karl Himly has pointed out, the Hun Tsun, Sii, written during > the Sung period (960-1279), states that t'shu-pu, another Chinese name for > sugoroku, was invented in western India, that it was known in its original form > as chatus-pada, and that it reached China during the Wei period (220-265). > > There is some Indian influence on Japanese art. A similarity between Shinto > rituals and Hindu rituals (for example ringing the bell as one enters the > temple). Narushima (Narasimha) Bishamondo is a famous temple in Japan. > (Source: India and World Civilization - Dr. D. P. Singhal) > > Conclusion > > In conclusion, it can be said that China was more influenced by India than > India by China. Whilst Chinese monks came to acquire knowledge and take it > back, the Indian monks went to China on specific religious missions to impart > knowledge. There is hardly any evidence that the Chinese monks brought > with them any work which was translated into an Indian language. It seems > that during this period of Sino-Indian contact, the psychological atmosphere > was one in which India was naturally accepted as the giver and China as the > taker. Whilst the best in Indian thought was carefully studied and carried back > to China, Chinese ideas filtered through India whether they represented the > best of their culture or not. > > According to Jawaharlal Nehru in his book " The Discovery of India " : > > " The most famous of the Chinese travelers to India was Hsuang Tsang who > came in the seventh century when the great T'sang dynasty flourished in > China and King Harshavardhana ruled over in North India. Hsuang Tsang > took a degree of Master of the Law at Nalanda University and finally became > vice-principal of the university. > > His book, the Si-Yu-Ki or the Record of the Western Kingdom (meaning India), > makes fascinating reading. He tells us of the system of the university where > the five branches of knowledge were taught. 1. Grammar 2. Science of Arts > and Crafts 3. Medicine 4. Logic and 5. Philosophy. Hsuang Tsang was > particularly struck by the love of learning of the Indian people. Many Indian > classics have been preserved in Chinese translation relating not only to > Buddhism but also to Hinduism, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, etc. > There are supposed to be 800 such works in the Sung-pao collection in > China. Tibet is also full of them. There used to be frequent co-operation > between Indian, Chinese and Tibetan scholars. A notable instance of this > co-operation, still extant, is a Sanskrit-Tibetan-Chinese dictionary of Buddhist > technical terms. This dates from the ninth century and is named the > 'Mahavyutpatti.' > > Soon after Hsuang Tsang's death in China, yet another famous pilgrim made > the journey to India - I-tsing (or Yi-tsing). He also studied at Nalanda > University for a long time and carried back several hundred Sanskrit texts. He > refers to India as the West (Si-fang), but he tells us that it was known as > Aryadesha - Arya means noble, and desha region - the noble region. It is so > called because men of noble character appear there successively, and > people all praise the land by that name. It is also called the Madhyadesha - > the middle land, for it is in the center of a hundred myriads of countries. > (source: The Discovery of India - Jawaharlal Nehru, p. 193-194) > > Yet Chinese culture had some influence on India. The gabled roofs of houses > on the western coast of India show a Chinese influence, as do the temples > and houses in the Himalayan regions. Some Chinese influence is noted on > Gupta coins. The use of a certain kind of silk (chinamsuka) in India, different > kinds of fruits including pears (cinaraja-putra), peaches (cinani), and lichis, > the technique of fishing in the backwaters, and the porcelain industry all owe > something to Chinese influence. Indians also learned the art of papermaking > from China. > > India and China > > By V. B. Metta > > http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/5185/2-2china.html > > It is a curious fact that Chinese culture, though so distinctive, all- pervasive > and compulsive, could not come to India, or if it did come, it could not leave > any lasting marks behind it. > > Archaeologists and scholars tell us that Chinese ideas and ideals came to > India with the Kushan Kings of the North, who were Tartars, but the influence > that that dynasty has left on India is almost negligible. We are also told that > there is influence of Chinese art on the Ajanta paintings. But that is only a > theory, since there is nothing characteristically Chinese about these frescoes. > The influence of India on China however is undeniable. It is not merely in > religion that India influenced China, but in most subjects that go to make up > national culture. > > The Chinese, always proud of their civilization, looked upon the outside world > with contempt. They called the tribes living to their North " Hun slaves, " and the > tribes living to the North-West " barbarians, " while the Japanese were > denominated by them " Dwarf Pirates. " But their attitude towards India was > different. India was known to them by a number of names, not one of which > was contemptuous. She was called Hsin Tu, the Kingdom of the Hindus, or Ti > Yu, the Western Land; to Buddhists she was Fu Kuo, the Land of the > Buddhas. > > Pre-Buddhistic Influence > > It is probable that there was contact between India and China even before the > birth of Buddha; certain similarities of thought and belief between > pre-Buddhist Indians and pre-Confucian Chinese go to strengthen that theory. > According to Hindus, the world sprang from the union of Purusha and Prakriti, > the Male and Female Principles; the ancient Chinese writers thought the > same - the Purusha and Prakriti of Indians being called Yang and Yin in > China. There is also the worship of mountains in both countries; what the > Himalayas have been to Hindus that Mount Tai has been to the Celestials. I > do not think that these are mere coincidences due to the similarity of all early > beliefs. There was a good deal of action and reaction of early Asiatic > civilizations upon each other of which a proper history has yet to be written. > > With the rise of Buddhism we are, historically speaking, on firmer ground. It is > said that Asoka's missionaries had gone to China. There are however no > records left of it. But we do know as a matter of historical fact that in 67 A.D., > the Emperor Ming Ti received Kashyapamadanya from India, who bore with > him presents of images and sculptures for the Chinese emperor. Since then > the intercourse between the two countries continued uninterrupted till at least > the eighth century. During that time it is estimated that between thirty to forty > Indian scholars went to China, and some two hundred Chinese scholars > came to India, who took back with them to their country Indian books, > paintings, and statues. > > The influence of India on China can be traced on Music, Architecture, > Painting, Sculpture, Literature, Mythology, Philosophy and Science. > > Influence of Hindu Music > > We learn from Chinese writers that Indian music had displaced Chinese > music in the seventh century in northern China; records of this music are said > to be preserved in Japan. Although Chinese architecture is mainly wooden, > still Indian architecture has succeeded in influencing it. There were certain > temples built during the Tang Period in China which were the offspring of > Indian and Chinese styles of architecture. Those temples are however in ruins > now, and so they cannot be studied properly. But the Chinese pagoda > fortunately still exists. It is called Chinese, though the country of its origin was > Nepal. The Newars, a people living in the Valley of Nepal, evolved it by > making certain alterations in the Hindu temple. Those alterations were: (1) > They built the pagoda on a platform and not on the ground direct like the > Hindu temple; (2) They tilted up the roof of their building, mainly because the > rainfall in the country is very heavy. Mr. Ernest Havell is of opinion that the > pagoda was a modification of the stupa, while Mr. Sylvain Levi thinks that it > represents an Indian style of architecture which has now disappeared. When > the pagoda went from Nepal to Tibet and from thence to China is not definitely > known yet. The oldest pagoda in China is, I think, of the sixth century. > > In painting, India influenced China considerably. From the East Chin dynasty > to the Tang dynasty there was continuous intercourse between the two > countries, and Indian paintings went to China in great numbers and > influenced, if not actually displaced for a time Chinese painting in the North. > This Indian School of Painting flourished in China till the rise to power of the > Southern Sungs who favored the purely Chinese style of painting. I shall > never forget the exquisite, ethereally delicate pictures painted on silk of this > period which I saw at an exhibition at Messrs. Yamanaka's art galleries in > New York in 1923. The manager of the galleries on seeing that I was an > Indian, approached me, and pointing at the pictures in front of us, remarked > with his inimitable Japanese smile, " They are all Indian really! " Then there are > the wall paintings of the Tun Huang Caves (the Caves of the Thousand > Buddhas) which Sir Aurel Stein and others have recently excavated in > Chinese Turkestan. > > A Chinese writer tells us that before the introduction of Buddhism there was > no sculpture in three dimensions in China. But most of the early Chinese > Buddhist sculpture was destroyed by an Emperor who was anti-Buddhist. > There are, however, the rock sculptures and reliefs at Lo Yang and Lung Men > of that period still left intact which show the influence of Indian sculpture on > them. There are also sculptures to be found at Yung Kwang which closely > resemble the Indo-Greek sculptures of Gandhara. > > The Sanskrit language and literature have influenced China to a certain > extent, since the Buddhist scriptures had to be translated into Chinese. On > account of the study of Sanskrit - which, by the way, is the language of the > Mahayana Buddhism and not Pali as some people imagine - the Chinese > were inspired to invent an alphabetical system. This alphabetical system > which has now disappeared, was called Ba-lamen Shu or Brahminical > writing. Sakuntala, the masterpiece of the great Indian dramatist Kalidasa, > was translated into Chinese, and is said to have influenced the Chinese > drama. In mythology, many Buddhist deities of India were adopted by the > Chinese; for example, Kwan Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, was the > Indian Tara. It has been suggested that Lao Tze got his idea of Tao - the Way > - from the Hindu Brahman, Universal Soul. It is likely that the Indian sciences > of Astronomy and Medicine influenced the astronomical and medical > sciences of the Chinese. There is very good scope for a competent scholar to > make a full study of Indian influence on China and other Far-Eastern > countries, and write a book on the subject. > © 2001 - 2007 VEDA - Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Krishna.com, authors and > Jan Mares > > http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/connections/Vedic-roots-China-and-Japan.php > #4 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 Dear Hui Hua, i am pleased that you enjoyed this artice, which is really interesting. i think i have a few on the same topic in store, i will edit them soon with Love nicole --- rondosky <rondosky wrote: > wow this is a nice article. > I have always felt this indian influence on chinese > belief for a long > time. once i saw an indian movie, it was showing a > scene in heaven > with different gods and i thought they looked so > much like chinese > gods as in the hairstyle, headgear and general > depiction. that really > confirmed my thoughts. and i told my indian friends > who were with me > but they didn't seem to take me seriously. i guess > people always look > on the outside at the differences. but wat i was > talking about was at > the deeper level. I didn't really know how to > explain it to people but > this article really gives all the evidence. > > jsm > HuiHua , > " nicole_bougantouche " > <nicole_bougantouche wrote: > > > > > > > > Vedic Roots of China and Japan > > > > > > > > The cultural relations between India and China can > be traced back to > very > > early times. There are numerous references to > China in Sanskrit > texts, but > > their chronology is sketchy. The Mahabharata > refers to China several > times, > > including a reference to presents brought by the > Chinese at the > Rajasuya > > Yajna of the Pandavas; also, the Arthasastra and > the Manusmriti mention > > China. According to French art historian Rene > Grousset, the name China > > comes from " an ancient " Sanskrit name for the > regions to the east, > and not, as > > often supposed, from the name of the state of > Ch'in, " the first dynasty > > established by Shih Huang Ti in 221 B.C. The > Sanskrit name Cina for > China > > could have been derived from the small state of > that name in Chan-si > in the > > northwest of China, which flourished in the fourth > century B.C. > Scholars have > > pointed out that the Chinese word for lion, shih, > used long before > the Chin > > dynasty, was derived from the Sanskrit word, > simha, and that the > Greek word > > for China, Tzinista, used by some later writers, > appears to be > derivative of the > > Sanskrit Chinasthana. According to Terence Duke, > martial arts went from > > India to China. Fighting without weapons was a > specialty of the ancient > > Ksatriya warriors of India. > > > > Until recently, India and China had coexisted > peacefully for over two > > thousand years. This amicable relationship may > have been nurtured by > the > > close historical and religious ties of Buddhism, > introduced to China > by Indian > > monks at a very early stage of their respective > histories, although > there are > > fragmentary records of contacts anterior to the > introduction of > Buddhism. The > > Chinese literature of the third century is full of > geographic and > mythological > > elements derived from India. > > > > > > Bhaarat: Teacher of China > > > > Hinduism and Buddhism, both have had profound > effect on religious and > > cultural life of China. Chinese early religion was > based on nature > and had > > many things in common with Vedic Hinduism, with a > pantheon of deities. > > > > The story of Sun Hou Tzu, the Monkey King, and > Hsuang Tsang. It is a > > vicarious and humorous tale, an adventure story > akin to the Hindu > epic of > > Ramayana, and like Ramayana, a moral tale of the > finer aspects of human > > endeavor which come to prevail over those of a > less worthy nature. > The book > > ends with a dedication to India: 'I dedicate this > work to Buddha's > Pure Land. > > May it repay the kindness of patron and preceptor, > may it mitigate the > > sufferings of the lost and damned....' > > > > (source: Eastern Wisdom, Michael Jordan, p. > 134-151) > > > > Hu Shih, (1891-1962), Chinese philosopher in > Republican China. He was > > ambassador to the U.S. (1938-42) and chancellor of > Peking University > > (1946-48). He said: > > > > " India conquered and dominated China culturally > for two thousand years > > without ever having to send a single soldier > across her border. " > > > > Lin Yutang, author of The Wisdom of China and > India: > > > > " The contact with poets, forest saints and the > best wits of the > land, the glimpse > > into the first awakening of Ancient India's mind > as it searched, at > times > > childishly and naively, at times with a deep > intuition, but at all > times earnestly > > and passionately, for the spiritual truths and the > meaning of > existence - this > > experience must be highly stimulating to anyone, > particularly > because the > > Hindu culture is so different and therefore so > much to offer. " Not > until we see > > the richness of the Hindu mind and its essential > spirituality can we > understand > > India.... " > > > > " India was China's teacher in religion and > imaginative literature, > and the > > world's teacher in trigonometry, quadratic > equations, grammar, > phonetics, > > Arabian Nights, animal fables, chess, as well as > in philosophy, and > that she > > inspired Boccaccio, Goethe, Herder, Schopenhauer, > Emerson, and probably > > also old Aesop. " > > > > (source: The Wisdom of China and India, Lin > Yutang, p. 3-4) > > > > " I see no reason to doubt, " comments Arthur Waley > in his book, The > Way and > > its Power, " that the 'holy mountain-men' > (sheng-hsien) described by > Lieh Tzu > > are Indian rishi; and when we read in Chuang Tzu > of certain Taoists who > > practiced movements very similar to the asanas of > Hindu yoga, it is > at least a > > possibility that some knowledge of the yoga > technique which these > rishi used > > had also drifted into China. " > > > === message truncated === Explore your hobbies and interests. 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