Chapter 40 Section 10 Indology in China and Sinology in India

From the Reform Movement of 1898 to the Revolution of 1911, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others first used the fall of India as an example to stress the urgency of the reform, and then Sun Yat-sen and Zhang Taiyan learned the lessons of the failure of the reform, further analyzed the reasons why India was subject to the British, and proposed that the bourgeoisie Revolutionary claims.During this period, their close attention and research on Indian political situation, economy and society marked the beginning of Chinese Indology. What I want to focus on here is the revival of Chinese Buddhism.The revival of Buddhism in modern China is also closely related to the eastward spread of Western learning.Layman Yang Renshan, the first person of this renaissance, has twice traveled to Europe with Zeng Jize, inspecting politics, education, people's livelihood in France and political science and technology in Britain, and attaches great importance to Western civilization.In 1866, he founded the Jinling Sutra Engraving Office. In 1907, he founded the Buddhist school "Gion Jingshe". There are Buddhist courses, but also history, geography, language, arithmetic and foreign languages.Su Manshu, a famous poet monk, once taught Sanskrit and English there.The school has also cultivated a group of influential Buddhist research talents.

During the 20 years from World War I to the outbreak of World War II, Chinese intellectuals were sensitive to India’s political trends, and their analysis of the current situation became more in-depth and pertinent.At that time, some well-known Chinese newspapers and periodicals, such as "New Youth", "Oriental Magazine", "Shenzhen", etc., often exposed the sufferings of the Indian people and the atrocities committed by the British colonial authorities in the First World War in a very timely manner. Comments on the successes and failures of nationalist movements are also often to the point, and the introduction and research on Gandhi and his events have taken shape.This shows that at that time, quite a few people were closely watching the changes in the current situation in India and studying India's political and economic status quo.With Tagore's coming to China, there was another wave of Tagore enthusiasm in China, and the trend of translation, introduction and research of Indian literature sprang up.This is a literary study that echoes political studies, and it is also a literary movement that is consistent with the Chinese New Culture Movement.

During this period, the study of Chinese Buddhism has made great progress. From 1914 to 1934, many Buddhist academies were established all over the country, just like mushrooms after rain, which greatly promoted the formation of Chinese Indology. During this period, Chinese universities also began to offer courses in Indology. In 1916, Xu Jishang took the lead in teaching Indian philosophy at Peking University. In 1917, Liang Shuming was hired by Cai Yuanpei to teach Indian philosophy in the Philosophy Department of Peking University until 1924. In 1918, Jiang Weiqiao suggested that the Philosophy Department of Peking University open a Buddhist course.In the same year, Mr. Tang Yongtong went to the United States to study philosophy, and studied Sanskrit and Pali. He returned to China in 1922 and taught at Southeast University in Nanjing, Nankai University in Tianjin, Peking University, and Southwest Associated University. Selected reading, history of Indian philosophy and other courses. In 1931, Chen Yinke opened a course on translation of Buddhist scriptures at Tsinghua University.Li Zhenggang taught at Shenyang Northeastern University and Tsinghua University before and after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, teaching Buddhist courses.

In the 1920s, China had students studying in India.Zeng Shengti was the first person to study in India in modern times.Soon after Tagore came to China in 1924, he crossed the sea to India to join Tagore. He first studied at the International University and then Gandhi's Institute of Truth. He returned to China in 1925. In 1929, Hai Weiliang studied Islamic philosophy for several years at Delhi Muslim University in India.During his studies, he also served the school, and once wrote an article for the domestic "Oriental Magazine", introducing the situation of the Indian national movement and Muslims.At this time, Tan Yunshan, a scholar who specialized in Sino-Indian cultural exchange activities, appeared in China.

Mr. Tan Yunshan met Tagore in Singapore in 1927, and came to Tagore's International University in September 1928. Since then, he has devoted his life to the cause of cultural exchanges between China and India.He first studied Sanskrit and studied Buddhism and Indian culture at the International University, and also offered Chinese courses.At the same time, he continued to write articles for domestic newspapers and periodicals, introducing Indian political situation and Indian culture, which not only provided timely and accurate information for domestic Indian studies, but also wrote in-depth and wonderful commentary articles on the current situation in India. In 1931, he traveled around India, and soon wrote the book "Traveling in India", which was published in 1933. In 1935, his "India Series" was published, which introduced Indian politics, economy, ideology, culture, religion, society and other aspects, providing Chinese scholars with rich first-hand information for further understanding of India.

Scholars who went to India during this period include Xu Jishang (1919), Xu Dishan (June-September 1926, who studied Sanskrit and Buddhism at Benares Hindu University, and went to Pune again in 1934 to study Sanskrit and Buddhism. months) and Gao Jianfu (who held a solo exhibition in Calcutta in 1931 and was well received). The monks who went to study in India in the 1930s included Tican (1931) and Xiulu (1936).Students who went to study in India through different channels include Yang Guobin and Wei Fengjiang. The establishment of the China-India Society in the 1930s was a major event in the rise of Chinese Indology. When Tagore visited Beijing in 1924, He Wen suggested organizing the China-India Society, and Tagore agreed. In 1931, Tan Yunshan and Tagore discussed the matter again, and Tagore actively supported him and wrote to Cai Yuanpei. Tan Yunshan returned to China in September. In 1933, with the strong support of Cai Yuanpei and Dai Jitao, the preparatory meeting of the China-India Society was held, with 43 sponsors including Tan Yunshan, Zhou Gucheng, Taixu, and Liang Shuming, and 24 sponsors including Yu Youren, Cai Yuanpei, Lin Sen, and Dai Jitao. bit. In June, the launch book "China-India Society: Plan, General Chapter, and Origin" of the China-India Society was published. At the beginning of 1934, Tan Yunshan returned to India. In May, the China-India Society on the Indian side was formally established. Tagore was the chairman, and Nehru later became the honorary chairman. people. In November, Tan Yunshan returned to China. In May of the following year, the China-India Society was formally established, with Cai Yuanpei as the chairman of the board of directors and Dai Jitao as the chairman of the board of supervisors.China's China-India Society did three things in the early days of its establishment: first, it donated a batch of ancient Chinese books to the Indian International University; It is to help Rabindranath Tagore's International University raise funds to establish a Chinese college.The Chinese Academy was established on April 14, 1937, and Mr. Tan Yunshan was appointed as the dean.Since then, he has been engaged in academic research while working in the college. He has written 38 English books and more than 10 Chinese books, making outstanding contributions to the cultural exchanges between the Chinese and Indian people.

After the Anti-Japanese War began, Chinese scholars who went to India to give lectures and research mainly included Jin Kemu (1941), Wu Xiaoling (1942), Xu Fancheng (1942), Chen Hansheng (1944), Chang Renxia (1945), Chen Hongjin (1945) year) etc.After returning to China, they all became well-known scholars in the Chinese and Indian academic circles and wrote a number of important academic works.Mr. Ji Xianlin, the most famous contemporary Indologist in my country, studied Sanskrit, Pali and Tocharian at the University of Göttingen in Germany from 1935 to 1946, and engaged in linguistic research.After returning to China, he served as the director of the Oriental Language Department of Peking University.

In March and April 1943, a Chinese cultural delegation visited India, and the two sides agreed to send 10 graduate students to each other that year.In the following years, Chinese students sent to India mainly included Yang Ruilin, Wu Baihui, Ba Zhou, Li Kaiwu, Chen Zuonong, Pei Monong, Fafang, Zhou Dafu, Zhou Xiangguang, Yang Yunyuan, etc.They all later became scholars of Chinese Indology. In 1942, China established the National College of Oriental Languages ​​in Chenggong, Yunnan, with a department of Indian languages.This is the first time that a Chinese university has set up an Indian language major.In addition to teaching Hindi, the school also has courses in Indian history, Indian religion, and Indian society.Zhu Jieqin was teaching Indian history at the school.After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the National Institute of Oriental Languages ​​moved to Nanjing. In 1946, Peking University established the Department of Oriental Languages, teaching the languages ​​and literatures of India. In 1949, the Department of Oriental Languages ​​was merged into the Department of Oriental Languages ​​of Peking University. In 1946, Jin Kemu taught the History of Indian Philosophy at Wuhan University, and continued to teach this course at Peking University in 1948. The original Wuhan University course was taken over by Shi Jun.

From the Revolution of 1911 to 1949, Chinese scholars published a large number of works on Indology. Chinese studies in India are also worth mentioning.The great poet Rabindranath Tagore is friendly to China and understands Chinese culture very well. Many of his articles talk about China’s issues. In his speeches, he often quotes the poems of Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi, the great poets of the Tang Dynasty. When he talks about Chinese culture Sometimes, there are often very deep insights. Since his visit to China in 1924, he has been working hard to strengthen cultural exchanges between China and India. In 1934, thanks to the joint efforts of him and Mr. Tan Yunshan, coupled with the enthusiastic support of the leaders of the Indian National Congress, the China-India Society in India was finally established. In 1937, the International University founded by Tagore established the Chinese Academy.These have played an important role in promoting the cultural exchanges between China and India and the development of Chinese studies in India.

Among the Chinese scholars in India, Shi Jueyue is the most prominent.He received a master's degree from the University of Calcutta in 1920, then worked as an assistant to the famous French orientalist S. Levy, and followed Levi to Nepal to study Buddhism. In 1923, he went to France, where he studied Chinese, and later obtained a doctorate in France. Bachelor of Science. From 1945 to 1956, he taught and conducted research at the International University, and was the vice president of the International University when he died in 1956.He came to China twice, giving lectures in 1947 and visiting China as a member of the Indian cultural delegation in 1952.His research results on Chinese studies are collected in "China-India Series" (four volumes in total).His "India and China: Millennium Cultural Relations" is the most famous book, which is divided into eight chapters, respectively discussing the ancient communication between China and India, Buddhist exchanges, Buddhism in China, Buddhist literature in China, Indian art and science in China, and the relationship between the two civilizations. comparison etc.

In addition to the Chinese Academy, another important institution for the study of China in the 1930s was the Indian Institute of International Culture in New Delhi.It was founded by the famous scholar Raguvila.He began to study Chinese culture and the history of India-China relations in 1937, and conducted academic exchanges with China. In 1938, he wrote the book "Ramayana in China".Since then, he devoted himself to exploring Chinese literature and art, and wrote monographs on Chinese poetry and painting.Influenced by his father, his son Rokesh Chandra began to study Chinese culture and the history of cultural exchanges between India and China when he was studying.After years of assiduous research, he has achieved fruitful results and has become a well-known scholar in China in India. In the late 1930s, Ferguson College in the southern Indian city of Pune established a center for the study of Chinese studies.Bapat and Gokhale began to conduct comparative research on Buddhist classics in Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese and Tibetan.Gokhale first studied at an international university, then went to Germany to study, and studied Chinese and Tibetan at Heidelberg University.Bapat learned Chinese in the United States and is also engaged in Buddhist research.When Mr. Jin Kemu was studying in India, he met three professors, Shi Jueyue, Gokhale and Bapat, and also helped Gokhale to collate "Collectives". In 1943, the Chinese and Indian governments decided to exchange students. The first batch of nine Indian students arrived in China at the end of November.They mainly study Chinese history and culture in China. In 1947, the Indian provisional government sent 10 foreign students to China, seven with master degrees and three university teaching assistants, to study Chinese language, art, history, geography, and philosophy. After India's independence in 1948, it sent a group of overseas students.Some of these people later became experts in Chinese studies.