The Meeting of Civilizations: Indian Influences in China - Asia

You are here: ColorQ Home > Color Club > The Meeting of Civilizations: Indian Influences in China

The Meeting of Civilizations: Indian Influences in China

The International Influence of Ancient India

More Resources:

I was rather appalled to read the article A Chinese woman's hidden attitudes towards Indians. What did Indians ever do to deserve such scorn from that Chinese woman? Did Indians ever invade China's capital, rape its people, burn its grand palaces and loot its treasures? No, Europeans did. I wonder if she would react the same way if it was her white boyfriend who asked the question, and not the Indian man.

So many East Asians today deny the contributions to their own lives made by darker-skinned peoples from ancient civilizations, and instead give specially favorable treatment to Europeans, the latecomers to the game.

These attitudes may not be unique to East Asia. A Thai friend told me that it is the same in his country. Despite the fact that Indian myths, writing and science have been imported into Thai culture since antiquity, today's Thais despise dark-skinned Indians, whom they see as cunning merchants. Many Thais worship the white standard of beauty they see in the U.S.-dominated media. There is a Thai saying: "Between a snake and an Indian, strike the Indian first". Ironically, this Thai disdain for Indians co-exists with the big and beautiful wall mural dedicated to the Indian epic Ramayana in the Thai royal palace and the numerous glittering and grand figures from Hindu mythology which guard the palace compound.

In this article, we give tribute to Indian contributions to Chinese civilization, in the hope that people who have despised their darker-skinned neighbors can learn see them as fellow humans who deserve equal consideration and respect.

Indian Influences in China

1. Buddhism

Buddhism first came to China from India via Central Asia in the 1^st century A.D. As interest in Buddhism grew, there was a great demand for Buddhist texts to be translated from Indian languages into Chinese. This led to the arrival of translators from Central Asia and India. ¹

A few hundred Indian teachers went to China from the first to the twelfth century. They have bequeathed a legacy of about 3,000 works translated from Sanskrit into Chinese. Some well-known ones include Gunavarman, a prince of Kashmir who reached Nanjing in AD 431; Buddhabhadra, born at Nagarahara, who claimed direct descent from Amrtodana, the uncle of Lord Buddha. Nagarahara is modern Jalalabad. He died in China in AD 429. Bodhiruci was from south India. A Chinese envoy came to the Chalukya court in AD 692 to invite Bodhiruci. He reached China in AD 693 by sea and translated Sanskrit works. One of the last outstanding Indian teachers in China was Dharmadeva of Nalanda. He was received by the Chinese Emperor in AD 973.²

1.1.The Scriptures

According to historical records, from the end of Han Dynasty until the end of Song Dynasty, i.e. in the space of 1,000 years from the 2nd to the 12th century A.D, there had been more than 150 scholars who were frontline participants in the gigantic undertaking of translating the Tripitakas into Chinese. History books detail the contributions of 70 monk-scholars from India.³

1.2. The Mythology of Chinese Chan Buddhism and Da Mo (Bodhidharma)

Bodhidharma (Damo to the Chinese; Daruma to the Japanese), the 28^th patriarch of Indian Buddhism, is traditionally considered the first patriarch of the Chinese Chan Buddhist lineage.⁴ He was a son of the king of Kanchi in southern India.⁵ After his father's death, Bodhidharma went to Prajnatara, the 27th Indian patriarch in succession from Buddha, and asked to be ordained as a monk.⁶

Following Prajnatara's suggestion, Bodhidharma went to China and eventually arrived at the Shaolin monastery in about 526.⁷ His first Chinese disciple Huike became the second patriarch of the Chinese Chan Buddhist lineage. In Zen mythology, Bodhidharma sat meditating facing a cave wall near the temple for nine years, ignoring the many monks who came to seek his teaching. According to legend, Bodhidharma finally took his first disciple when Huike cut off his own arm, showing Bodhidharma he understood the impermanence of the material world. Since then, the monks of Shaolin have always saluted the Buddha with only one arm.

The historical origins of Chan are obscured by mythology, and some scholars have argued that Bodhidharma might not be an actual person but an amalgation of several historical figures.⁸ Chan Buddhism itself developed from the meeting of Mahayana Buddhism and China's indigenous Taoism, and is arguably not the 'invention' of Bodhidharma, if he indeed existed, or any one individual for that matter.⁹ But the legends of Bodhidharma's long-lasting influence in China, even if not proven to be historically factual, speak to old China's positive perceptions of India's cultural contributions to the Chinese religious and cultural landscape.

1.3. The Mythological Origins of the Martial Arts of Shaolin

Although martial arts existed in China prior to the arrival of Bodhidharma, and monks at Shaolin were documented as practising martial arts before the time of Bodhidharma, the traditional attribution of Shaolin's martial arts to Bodhidharma has persisted as a popular legend.¹⁰

After Bodhidharma (Da Mo) came to the Shaolin monastery at the foot of the Songshan Mountains in north-central China, he taught the monks special breathing techniques and exercises to develop both their inner strength and their ability to defend themselves in the remote and often dangerous mountainous area in which they lived. The exercises were supposed to help the monks withstand the long periods of meditation he introduced from his Chan (Zen) school of Buddhism. Based on these exercises introduced by Bodhidharma, the Shaolin monks gradually developed a sophisticated fighting system known as Shaolin Martial Arts.¹¹ One of the Shaolin sword forms is Shaolin Damo Jian (Shaolin Bodhidharma Sword), attributed to Damo Zushi (the patriarch Bodhidarma)¹².

The legend of Bodhidharma as the originator of Shaolin kungfu been discounted by several 20th century martial arts historians¹³. However, the Bodhidharma-Shaolin legend, regardless of its veracity, attests to the place of India and Indians in China's mythology.

2. Chinese Mythical Figures of Indian Origin

Two of the most beloved personalities of Chinese mythology were derived from Indian mythical figures.

2.1.Sun Wukong

The character of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King made famous in the Chinese classic Journey to the West, bears similarities to Hanuman or Anjaneya, the Monkey God of the Hindu epic Ramayana.¹⁴

The 2 characters share many traits such as the skill of becoming gigantic or very tiny, the ability to assume any form, and a magical staff that the monkey can shrink to the size of a toothpick and hide in his ear.

2.2 Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara)

Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is known as Guanyin Pusa to the Chinese, Kannon Bosatsu to the Japanese, and Chenrezig to the Tibetans. In India, Japan and Tibet, he is a male figure, but the Chinese reinvented the deity as a female icon.¹⁵

3. Flow of Material Culture and Ideas

3.1 Cotton Cultivation

Early Chinese records mention that cotton had been brought in from India. Various dates have been given for the beginning of cotton cultivation in China, but it is generally agreed that the cultivation of cotton was introduced from India.¹⁶

3.2. Chinese Words of Indian Origin

moli - jasmine, possibly from Tamil malli

chan - meditation, from Sanskrit dhyana

There are many more Buddhist terms that are not listed here.

Notes: