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170
TULSI-PRAJNA
then compare the translation with the original text. The Eighth, the parimārjaka (khan-ting) us. d to make the translation simple and explicit by discarding all unnecessary words. The Ninth, the racanăparipaşaka (Jun-wen) would, last of all, recite and revise the whole translation.
For more than thousand years, China was greatly influenced by the Indian culture. Even the system of Chinese written language was affected by Indian influence. A certain Buddhist named Shou-wen of the T'ang dynasty formulated an alphabet of thirty-six lettere, purely on the basis of that of Sanskrit and thus created a revolution in the pronounciation of the Chinese words. The cultural linkage between China and India was also reflected in the Indian Scriptures. Among the oldest texts, it is in the great epic the Mahābhārata that we find frequent references to China. 18 In the Arthaśāstra of Kautilya there is a reference to Chinese cloths. In the Manusmộti there is the mention of the Chinese people in one place. 14 In the Rāmāyana also there is a reference, but that is found in one edition only 15
Thus, the Mahābhārata is the oldest book where we find frequent references to China or 10 the people of China. As we do not know the exact date of the composition of the Mahābhārata, it is difficult to fix the accurate time when India came in contact with China for the first time. However, as it has been generally held that scholars opine that the great work might would have been composed in-between 4th century B.C. 10 4h cuntury A.D., we may safely conclude that India had been getting aquainted with China in between 4th century B.C. to 1st century A.D. (67 A.D., the time of Kāśyapa Mātanga who was the first person to go to China).
References : 1. Cf, The Blue Annals, II, 1.86 2 Ibid, I, 251 3. Ibid, 1, 254
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