26Charles Willemen Buddhisms Maritime Route to China.docx

1、26Charles Willemen Buddhisms Maritime Route to ChinaBuddhisms Maritime Route to ChinaCharles WillemenBelgium Royal Academy of SciencesAbstract: Important cultural roads for Buddhism and its Mathur art were the Ganges (sarvstivda, mahsmghika, pudgalavda) and the Godvar (overwhelmingly mahsmghika, but

2、 also mahsaka). Amarvats art (second century) and also Ngrjunakondas art (third century), inspired not only Anurdhapura, but southeastern Asia as a whole. The maritime route went from southeastern India to the Malay Peninsula. After a circumpeninsular navigation the route went to Funan, Bnam, in sou

3、thern Cambodia and Vietnam, extending along the Gulf of Thailand to Tenasserim, the northern part of the Isthmus of Kra. The historical period of this area was the third century till 627-649, when Zhenla took over. Buddhism on this route was mahsmghika. Important was Avalokitevara, Nanhai Guanyin, w

4、ho may have merged with Mazu along the southern Chinese coast. Key words: Andhra Funan Nanhai Guanyin MahsmghikaCharles Willemen: Lifelong member Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences. Full Professor in Belgium since 1977. Presently Vice Rector (Academic Research) International Buddhist College, Thailan

5、d.Buddhism entered China mainly through Central Asia, coming from the Gandhran cultural area. The Prakrit (s) of that area explain(s) the ancient Chinese terminology. The ancient translations from the middle of the second century A.D. until about 400 A.D., are mainly based on Prakrit(s). During that

6、 period a Mahyna movement was developing in India. This is the period of the Lotus Stra, of developing prajpramit literature, of Amitbha, of the Avatamsakastra, etc. Bactria, an area of multiple cultural influences, an area from where there was easy access to China, is central in the development of

7、these new kinds of Buddhism. Bactria, for some time located in the Kusn empire, was an area of sthaviras, i.e. of sarvstivdins, of dharmaguptakas, and of pudgalavdins, but also of their rivals, the mahsmghikas. The heterogeneous groups of sarvstivdins in the Gandhran area, in the Bactrian area and i

8、n Central India are known as sautrntikas from the time of the sarvstivda synod in Kamra on (end of the second century A.D.). From IndiaFrom Indias eastern coast ships left for southeastern Asia and ultimately for southeastern china. The delta of the Ganges and the port of Tmralipt were important, bu

9、t Andhra, at the end of the Godvar River, was no less important during the first centuries A.D. During the first centuries A.D. Andhra was ruled by tavhanas. The first inscriptions mentioning them come from the caves of Nngh and Nsik in northern Mahrstra, and from Sc in eastern Mlw. The tavhanas wer

10、e patrons of Prakrit. Prakrit was used in Amarvat inscriptions (second century), and also in Ngrjunakonda, which may be understood to be an extension of Amarvat in the third century. A capital, Pratisthna, on the upper Godvar, was one of the tavhana centers for a long time, certainly till the second

11、 century A.D., the reign of Vsisthputra Pulumvi (ca. 130-159 A.D.). The mahcaitya of Amarvat was probably built under his rule. In 78 A.D., the first year of the ka era, an incursion led to the creation of two new aka kingdoms, i.e. that of the western satraps, Kahartas, destroyed in 125 A.D., and t

12、hat of the great satraps of Ujjayin, Krdamakas, which disappeared between 388 and 409 A.D., conquered by Candragupta II. In Chinese the aka rulers were called Sai Wang, which literally means aka ruler. In Andhra the Iksvkus continued the tavhana rule in the third century, in Ngrjunakoa. They ruled f

13、rom ca. 225 till ca. 325. The great stpa of Ngrjunakonda, their capital, was completed ca. 246-256.The Pallavas followed as rulers in southeastern India. Skandhavarman (early fourth century) was the first great ruler. The capital was Kcpura. They initially continued Prakrit tradition, but they chang

14、ed to Sanskrit. The Pallavas were the dominant power on the eastern coast from ca. 400 to about 750 A.D. From the estuary of the Godvar traders and scholars set sail for southeastern Asia and China. The ka era (of 78 A.D.), which was used in the Pallava region, was introduced to southeastern Asia. F

15、rom the estuary of the Krsn River trade and culture were exchanged with r Lak.Mahsmghikas were on Indias western coast, but they were the dominant nikya, school, in Andhra. There Ngrjuna organised a madhyamaka group within the mahsmghika nikya. He used Sanskrit in a mainly Prakrit area. Madhyamaka r

16、eached China mainly via Central Asia and Kumrajva. It was propagated with limited success by Kumrajva (344-413?), who arrived in Changan on February 8, 403. His work, based on Sanskrit, is the beginning of the old translations, jiuyi. In Andhra the mahsmghikas were by far the main nikya for centurie

17、s. They had bodhisattvas, but bodhisattvas who also played a role in sthvirya circles in northwestern India. Sautrntikas, i.e. non-vaibhsika sarvstivdins, and dharmaguptakas also had bodhisattvas. Dharmagptakas were not present on Indias southeastern coast. Sautrntikas were strong in Central India,

18、along the Ganges up to its delta. If mlasarvstivdins (end seventh century) really are a continuation of sautrntika-drstantikas (end second century), one can understand their presence in southeastern Asia, coming from the delta of the Ganges, from todays Bihar and Bengal, Orissa. The schools in Andhr

19、a were mahsmghika, known as caitika or aila, but also bahurutya. Caitikas are often mentioned in inscriptions in Amarvat. Their finest shrines were known as mahcaityas. There was a mahcaitya in Dhnyakaaka, identified with the famous stpa at Amarvat (second century). There was a mahcaitya at Ngrjunak

20、onda, etc. aila was a term used for mahsmghikas living in the mountains near Dhnyakaaka. The term mahvanaaila is used too. Inscriptions distinguish prvaailas (on the eastern mountain) of Dhnyakaaka, and aparaailas (on the western mountain). The latter ones were known in Ngrjunakonda as aparamahvinas

21、eliya. The great stpa there was dedicated to them. ailas were on the western coast, in Knheri. All this makes it clear that Andhra was in close contact with the western coast. Culture travelled along the Godvar River too, not only along the Ganges. In Ngrjunakonda there were mahsakas too. Mahsakas w

22、ere known for their meditational practices, dhyna, a characteristic of all northwestern schools. The mahsakas in Andhra had continuous contact with r Lak (abhayagiri?).r Lakn theravdins (mahvihra) were in Ngrjunakonda. The art of Amarvat and of Ngrjunakonda is also found Anurdhapura. From the second

23、 century Mathurs art was sending down images to the gangetic plains, but the Godvar carried the art of Mathur to Andhra. From there trade and culture went to r Lak. Aparaailas certainly knew image worship. The major donatrix for the great stpa at Ngrjunakonda was the lady Cmtisiri, a relative of the

24、 ruler Ctamla. She is compared to queen rml of the famous scriptural text about tathgatagarbha, the Shengman (rml), Jing, T.XII 353, The Lions Roar of Queen rml. This text, clearly mahyna, was written in a mahsmghika environment. The Chinese translation was made in 436 in Jiankang (Nanjing) by Gunab

25、hadra (394-468), nicknames Mahyna. He arrived in Guangzhou in 435 via the maritime route, during the Liu Song (420-479). Gunabhadra also translated the Lakvatrastra, T.XVI 670, in 443. This text combines tathgatagarbha and layavijna, storehouse-consciousness, and was basic for the early chan school

26、in China. Indias southeastern coast is very important as the place of origin of chan practices, maybe ultimately originating in Indias northwestern area. While in Andhra the rulers were tolerant aivites, the royal ladies were Buddhists. This habit seems to have continued in e.g. Funan.To Funan.The m

27、aritime route from Indias eastern coast led to Funan during the period up to the Sui dynasty, 581 A.D. Paramrtha (499-569) went to China via Funan. It is generally accepted that Funan is a phonetic rendering of Bnam, Old Khmer for “Mountain”. Chinese phonetic renderings very often have some meaning

28、too. The choice of the characters was not only decided by administrative usage. Certainly from the fifth century on Sanskrit played an ever increasing role for Funans elite, but before that time the language seems to have been Old Khmer, the local vernacular language. While the place of origin of th

29、e imported Indian culture was using Prakrit(s), there was no objection to the use of the local language in Funan. It seems that initially Old Khmer was rendered in a southern Chinese language (Cantonese?). however, steady sanskritization took place, no doubt influenced by the situation in (Pallava)

30、India itself.Yijing (635-716), during the Tang dynasty, gives the new phonetic rendering Banan, i.e. Bnam. He took the maritime route to India in 671 and returned to Luoyang in 695, a time when Funan was just a vague memory in China. Funan is believed to have been in southern Cambodia and Vietnam, e

31、xtending along the Gulf of Thailand to the Malay Peninsula, to Dunxun, also written Dianxun. The Funan ruler Fan Man extended Funans influence to that area, which is believed to be Tenasserim, the northern part of the Isthmus of Kra. Based on archaeology, the or a center of Funan should be placed in

32、 Uthong, west central Thailand. The best known, best researched port city of Funan was Oc-eo. Both the Menam and the Mekong basins seem to have been part of Funan. Our present knowledge rather sees the capital in the region of Angkor Borei, in southern Cambodia. Only as late as the Tang (618-907) Temu is mentioned as the capital of Funan. We do not know what these characters really m