Chavannes was the first to publish an authoritative reading of the five Chinese inscriptions found at Bodhgayā with translation and notes (Les Inscriptions Chinoises de Bodhgayā, Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, T. XXXIV, Paris, 1896). His readings were based on estampages and photographs sent by Prof. A. Foucher who was then in India on a scientific mission. A faulty reading and a summary of two of these inscriptions had been previously published by Beal (J.R.A.S. 1881, vol. XIII, pp. 552–572, Indian Antiquary X, p. 193). The same note was reproduced without any revision in Cunningham's Mahahodhi. The original of the first four of the five inscriptions studied by Chavannes are now in the Indian Museum at Calcutta.

A re-examination of the original of Inscription no. 1 has now made it possible to suggest some improvements on its reading as given by Chavannes. The stone not being in a good condition the estampages was not evidently clear enough and Chavannes was obliged to leave a few lacunae in his reading of the inscription. These lacunae have now been filled up by an examination of the original inscription. The correct reading and a revised translation are given below.

Translation

The monk Che-yi of the great Han country had first taken the vow to exhort three hundred thousand men to practise the conduct which assures a higher birth, to make a charity of three hundred thousand copies (lit. fasciculi) of the Shang sheng king (Sūtra on the higher birth), and himself to recite (it) three hundred thousand times (lit. fasciculi).

The Chinese mind, generally speaking, has no mystic bent. The Confucian positivism is its best expression and the greater bulk of the people have been ardent followers of the Confucian ethics. The abolition of imperialism, round which this Confucianism centered in ancient times, has made no difference in the country and the Confucian attitude of mind has not been disturbed in the least. The Confucian ethics is mainly based on conservative social dogmas. There is no place of divine revelation in it, and it insists on the reciprocal duties of the Emperor and his subjects, father and children, and the fellowcitizens. The respect of the subjects for the Emperor, and the respect of the children for their ancestors, constitute the real foundation of the Government and family. This is why it has been given the place of a national religion in Confucian ethics. In Confucian philosophy there is no place for a Creator God, and in fact Confucius himself refused more than once to be dragged into the speculation on the existence of a Godhead. He explains the mystery of the Universe by the formulation of two principles which he calls Yin and Yang. Yin is the female principle which is passive and Yang is the male principle which is active. These two in conjunction create the beings which populate the earth.

Such a simple positivist creed could not have given rise to mysticism, but still China witnessed very early the birth and growth of a very intricate mysticism.

Although during the first few centuries of Buddhist missionary activities in China the lead was generally given by the Buddhist scholars of Iran and of countries in Central Asia, Indian Buddhist scholars did not fail to make their presence felt in the various centres of Buddhism in China and create amongst the Chinese an interest in Buddhism and Indian culture in general which would not have been otherwise possible. The first two Indian scholars who came to China in 68 A.D. during the reign of Ming ti, Kāśyapa Mātanga and Dharmarakṣa, translated five Buddhist texts into Chinese. These were resumés of the legends of the birth and childhood of Buddha, a resumé of his predication, a short treatise on the main principles of Buddhism, a sūtra on the purity of monastic life and a sūtra on the principles of ascetic life for those who wanted to follow the way of spiritual perfection. Four of these works were judicious selection. The “Sūtra of 42 sections” which has been preserved up till now is clearly a catechism for the use of missionaries intending to preach the Buddhist religion in foreign countries. The original text did not belong to the Buddhist Canon. It had been compiled in order to give a general idea of the religion and its practices. The first Buddhist monastery in China Po ma sse, the “White Horse Monastery” was built at Lo-yang for these two Indian missionaries.

The great Chinese pilgrim Hiuan-tsang was in India for about sixteen years from 630 to 645 A.D. He passed a considerable time at Nālandā in the study of the Buddhist philosophy with the then abbot of the monastery – Śīlabhadra. King Harṣa invited him thrice to the capital and he turned down his request every time. Later on when Harṣa met the pilgrim he asked the latter about the cause of his refusal. Thereupon Hiuan-tsang replied that he had come from far in search of the law of Buddha and for the sake of learning the Buddhist philosophy and that he did not go to meet the king then as he had not finished his studies. This testifies to his great attachment to his studies at Nālandā. His attachment to his Guru Śīlabhadra and to his fellow-students especially to Jñāna-prabha, the chief disciple of Śīlabhadra, was also great.

His Indian friends also reciprocated the same sentiments towards him. This is best shown by the incident which happened at the time of his departure from Nālandā. On hearing that he had decided to go back to China all the monks of the Nālandā monastery came to him in a body and begged him not to go back. They pointed out to him that India was the land of Buddha and that China was not a holy land. They also said that Buddha could never be born in China and that hence the people there could not be meritorious.

In ancient times, as now, there were certain spheres of influences. But these spheres were not determined so much by political or economic conditions as by cultural factors. The exploitation, in the modern sense, of smaller countries by bigger ones was wholly unknown and modern methods of colonisation had not evolved. Slow and gradual expansion of culture had brought into existence certain zones but has also an unconscious process and not a deliberate im position which is generally fraught with subversive reactions.

In Eastern Asia two such zones had come into existence of which one was the Chinese and the other the Indian. The cultural expan sion had produced what may be called a Greater China (Maha-Cina) and a Greater India (Maha-Bharat). These zones, however, were not exclusive and in certain areas they penetrated each other and produced cultural buffers. Some of the modern geographical terms, such as Indo-China, Indonesia, Ser-India (for Eastern Turkestan) still faithfully perpetuate the traditions of old cultural contacts.

There were two cradles of civilisation in Eastern Asia – China and India. The old Chinese civilisation was evolved in the province of Kan-su about 4000 years ago and thence it was carried to the fertile valleys of the Hwang-ho and its effluents. It gradually spread to other parts of the country and the aboriginal tribes slowly came under its influence.

It is quite unnecessary to remind the readers to take a fresh look at the close association that existed between India and China in the ancient period. The India-China contacts dating back to the second century before the Christian Era, occupies a major part of Indian history, though many of us are oblivious of this. Nevertheless, the knowledge of our past history contributes to a great extent towards the reconstruction of India by stringing together the lost links of our cultural ties.

The name Cina (Chin) attributed to China was introduced by India to the outside world. The Chinese people call their country by a different name. Even in the bygone days the Chinese used a different name for their country. Qin dynasty ruled China is the third century B.C. and according to the tradition the country was called Cinadesh after the name of the ruling dynasty. Despite the succession in the ruling dynasty and the subsequent change in the name of the country, the Indians maintained the previous name i.e., Cina. It is interesting to note that in the early Greek literature China has been referred to as Sinae, Thinae, etc.

Prior to the establishment of democracy in China, the elite class of China used to be called “Mandarin”. The spoken language of the people living in Peking, the capital, used to be called “Mandarin”. This word is a modified form of the Sanskrit word mantrin.