'Ramayan's Footprints in China' Buried in Buddhist Texts: Chinese Scholars

Beijing: Chinese University Scholars claim that China has h imprints of Ramayana stories concealed in Buddhist scriptures for millennia, bringing to light, maybe for first time, influence of Hinduism in country's old history.

Ramayana in Chinese Buddhist Texts

At a symposium on “Ramayana- A Timeless Guide” organised by Indian Embassy here on Saturday, a host of Chinese scholars associated with longstanding research on religious influences, me candid presentations tracing historical routes through which Ramayana reached China and its influence on Chinese art and literature.   “As a classic intertwining religious and secular world, influence of Ramayana has grown ever more significantly through cross-cultural transmission,” Dr Jiang Jingkui, Professor and Dean of Institute for International and Area Studies of Tsinghua University said.

“China, too, has absorbed elements of this epic, which t only left traces in Chinese (majority) Han culture but was also reinterpreted and given new meaning in Chinese Xizang (Tibetan) culture,” he said. China officially refers to Tibet as Xizang.

“This cultural migration and aptation demonstrate openness and flexibility of Ramayana as a classic and worldly text,” Jiang said.

earliest content related to Ramayana in China was introduced into Han cultural sphere, primarily through Buddhist scriptures, he said.

While it was t fully incorporated as a complete work into Han cultural sphere, parts of epic were incorporated into Buddhist scriptures, he said, citing Chinese translations of Buddhist scripts in which “key figures such as Dasharatha and Hanuman were ted as Buddhist characters”.

“A famous example is that Hanuman was transformed into a Monkey King who obeyed Buddhist teachings, blending into classic Buddhist moral narratives,” Jiang said.

Monkey King with human characteristics called Sun Wukong, has remained fors in best-loved and most enduring Chinese literature and folklore.

In his presentation, Pro Liu Jian of National Institute of International Strategies of Chinese Acemy of Social Sciences, said many Chinese scholars agree that Sun Wukong can be traced to Hanuman, though some scholars say he is a “domestic product”.

“Chinese scholars generally agree that im of Sun Wukong comes from that of Hanuman. refore, Sun Wukong is t a domestic product, but a character from India,” he asserted.

Speaking on topic ‘Footsteps of Ram in China', Prof Qiu Yonghuai, Chief expert and Deputy Director of China Centre for South Asian Studies of Sichuan University, in her presentation displayed photos of a wide variety of different Hindu deities in museum Quanzhou, in China’s Fujian province.

She even showed a photo of a Buddhist temple mand by a Hindu priest.

“It was primarily through Buddhism that Indian culture took its stronghold in China. This is reason why in history of Si-Indian cultural relations, Hinduism occupies a negligible position," she said.

“Multifaceted Indian culture -- both Buddhist and n-Buddhist -- me its mark on Chinese soil,” she ded.

Jiang, in his speech also recalled how famous seventh-century Chinese scholar Xuanzang who visited India, studied at Nalanda University and brought back a host of Buddhist scriptures providing detailed accounts of Ramayana stories he heard during his pilgrim.  “However, due to Hindu background of Ramayana and predominance of Buddhism in China, text was neir fully translated r widely circulated within Han culture,” he said.

first Chinese translation of Ramayana from Sanskrit was done by Ji Xianlin in 1980.

Ji’s translation was a “significant breakthrough for Chinese acemia, providing Chinese reers with access to an Indian literary classic and establishing a new bridge for Si-Indian cultural exchange,” Jiang said.

Ji dedicated nearly a dece to translating this vast work of twenty-four thousand verses, and his version has become a cornerstone for study of Ramayana in China, he said.

Jiang ded that Ramayana has a more extensive and longstanding history of influence in Tibet, where it was first introduced during period of Tubo Kingdom.

Through literary works and atrical performances, Ramayana has t only become a subject of in-depth study among Tibetan scholars but has also gained widespre popularity among common people in Tibet.

“This demonstrates powerful vitality of Ramayana as a cross-cultural classic,” he said “Ramayana is t only an epic but also a profound exposition of ideal personality and ideal society. Through actions and words of Rama, as well as establishment of 'Ram Rajya', epic presents multiple dimensions of concept of 'arsh' (ideal) in Indian culture,” he said.

In his dress, Indian Ambassor to China Preep Kumar Rawat said Ramayana is believed to be oldest poetic work of human civilisation.

“While historians have t come to a definite conclusion about time period when Ramayana was written, re is astromy–based research finding that date Ramayana to about 7th Century B.C.,” he said.

“ Ramayana has also transcended geographical boundaries, apting itself to seamlessly merging into local cultural tapestry, while maintaining its core values,” he ded.

Several Chinese professors, including Yin-Xi-nan of Sichuan University, and Xue Yuyun of Gansu National University for Nationalities me presentations on impact of Ramayana in China over s.  Ambassor of Thailand to China, Chatchai Viriyavejakul and Perulian George Andreas Silalahi, Deputy Ambassor of Indonesia, spoke of impact of Ramayana in ir countries.