Richard B. Mather

Chinese and Indian Perceptions of Each Other between the First and Seventh Centuries

The earliest recorded perceptions of the Indian subcontinent in China are based on reports of traders, diplomats and generals. Though nothing substantive was reported about Indias intellectual or cultural achievements, the accounts generally described a pleasant tropical land with exotic birds and animals, that produced colorful artifacts, and whose people were gentle and peace-loving. After the introduction of Buddhism into China during the first century A.D., and especially after the development of an indigenous Taoist church toward the end of the second, tensions arising from the rival claims of these two religions introduced some negative perceptions, not only concerning the incompatibility of Buddhism with Chinas own values, but also concerning the inferiority of Indian culture and the savagery of her people. These initially negative perceptions were at least partially modified by first-hand contact with Indian missionaries and by reports of Chinese pilgrims, as well as by the cogent arguments of lay Buddhist apologists, whose treatises on the subject between the third and sixth centuries have been preserved. Indian perceptions of China during the same period, as recorded by Chinese pilgrims, are marked for the most part by a naive ignorance, which their Chinese informants were only too happy to dispel.

The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, a Mahāyāna Scripture@@@The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, a Mahayana Scripture

The translation in non-technical English of the Tibetan version of this key Buddhist scripture is more faithful to the original Sanskrit than the Chinese texts. It is clearer (for one thing, it summarizes each section), richer and more precise in its philosophical and psychological expression. The twelve books of the Sutra are accompanied by an introduction and an epilogue warles glossaries make the study intelligible.