History Of Hinduism In China

Hinduism (specifically the yogic school) is currently practiced by a minority of residents of China. The religion itself has a very limited presence in modern mainland China, but archaeological evidence suggests a significant presence of Hinduism in different provinces of medieval China.Huang Xinchuan (1986), Hinduism and China, in Freedom, Progress, and Society (Editors: Balasubramanian et al.), , pp. 125-138 Hindu influences were also absorbed in to Buddhism and got mixed with Chinese mythology over its history. Practices originating in the Vedic tradition of ancient India such as yoga and meditation are also popular in China. Some indigenous people in China pray to Hindu gods such as Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha and Kali.

Hindu communities, particularly through Tamil merchant guilds of Ayyavole and Manigramam, once thrived in medieval south China. Evidence of Tamil Shiva motifs and temples, such as in the Kaiyuan temple, continue to be discovered in Quanzhou, Fujian, a province of southeast China.John Guy (2001), The Emporium of the World: Maritime Quanzhou 1000-1400 (Editor: Angela Schottenhammer), , Brill Academic, pp. 294-308 A small community of Tamil immigrant workers currently exists in Hong Kong.

History

Although Hinduism is a little-practiced religion in China, it had a significant, but indirect role in influencing Chinese culture through Buddhist beliefs, practices and traditions (which share a common Dharmic root with Hinduism) which diffused and spread to China from India from the 1st or 2nd century CE onwards. During this influence and synthesis of ideas, some terms were mapped into pre-existing concepts - ''raksasas'' as ''luocha'', others terms were introduced - ''pisacas'' in Hinduism as ''pishezuo'' in Chinese. As a result, traces of Hinduism's influence on Chinese culture can be found in Chinese Buddhism, which has syncretized many Hindu deities within its pantheon. One example is the Chinese Buddhist belief in the Twenty-Four Devas, a grouping of protective dharmapalas of Buddhism. Twenty-one of the devas in the group consists of deities borrowed from Hinduism, including, but not limited to, Dàzìzàitiān ('' Shiva''), Dìshìtiān (''Indra''), Dàfàntiān ('' Brahma''), Jíxiáng Tiānnǚ ('' Lakshmi''), Biàncáitiān ('' Saraswati'') and Yánmóluówáng ('' Yama''). Statues of the Twenty-Four Devas are enshrined in many Chinese Buddhist temples and monasteries, usually in the Mahavira Hall. Aside from the deities, other beings from Hinduism are also shared in Chinese Buddhist belief, such as the Eight Legions of Devas and Nāgas ( Chinese: 天龍八部; Pinyin: ''Tiānlóngbābù'') which includes beings like asuras, mahoragas and kinnaras. Yakshas ( Chinese: 夜叉; Pinyin: ''Yèchā'') originally from Hinduism, are a class of nature ghosts or demons in Chinese Buddhism. Belief in the Yaksha made its way to China through the Lotus Sutra, which was originally translated into Chinese by Dharmaraksa around 290 CE, before being superseded by a translation in seven fascicles by Kumārajīva in 406 CE. Garuda, the mount of Vishnu, is also well known as Jiālóuluó ( Chinese: 迦楼羅; Pinyin: ''Jiālóuluó'') or The Golden Winged Great Peng (''Chinese'': 金翅大鵬雕; Pinyin: ''Jīnchì Dàpéng Diāo''). Rakshasas ( Chinese: 羅剎; Pinyin: ''Luóchà'') are also well known in Chinese communities as human-eating demons or ghosts. For example, Princess Iron Fan, a demonic antagonist from the popular 16th century novel Journey To The West is described as a rakshasi. Another example is the Lokapālas, who take the form of the Four Heavenly Kings ( Chinese: 四大天王; Pinyin: ''Sìdà Tiānwáng'') in China, Taiwan and other Chinese communities. Various bodhisattvas are also described as manifesting in the form of Hindu deities. For example, Mǎtóu Guānyīn (馬頭觀音) is a manifestation of the Bodhisattva Guanyin who takes the form of the horse-headed god Hayagriva. The another manifestation of Guanyin, Zhǔntí Guānyīn (準提觀音), known in English as Cundi, is also considered to be an adaptation of the goddess Chandi, an alternate form of the goddess Parvarti. In another example, the deva or bodhisattva Mólìzhītiān (摩利支天), known in English as Mārīcī, is also identified with Cundi and with Mahēśvarī, the consort of Maheśvara, and therefore also has the title Mātrikā (佛母 Fo mǔ), Mother of the Myriad Buddhas. Many legends and stories in Chinese folk religion, such as Nezha, have been traced to Hindu mythology, such as through the 10th century translations of Tianxizai. Hanuman is also believed by some scholars to be a source for the Chinese mythological character Sun Wukong.

Arthur Waley (1889-1996) while translating Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its Power) commented:

"I see no reason to doubt, that the 'holy mountain-men' (sheng-hsien) described by Lieh Tzu are Indian Rishi; and when we read in Chuang Tzu of certain Taoists who practiced movements very similar to the asanas of Hindu yoga, it is at least a possibility that some knowledge of the yoga technique which these Rishi used had also drifted into China."

Some examples of influence by Hinduism on ancient Chinese religion included the belief of "six schools" or "six doctrines" as well as use of Yoga, stupas (later became pagoda in East Asia). However, in China, Hinduism has never gained much popularity, unlike the beliefs of Buddhism and Confucianism. There were exceptions, such as in parts of Tibet.

There was a small Hindu community in China, mostly situated in southeastern China. A late thirteenth-century bilingual Tamil and Chinese language inscription has been found associated with the remains of a Siva temple of Quanzhou. This was one of possibly two south Indian-style Hindu temples (115) that must have been built in the southeastern sector of the old port, where the foreign traders' enclave was formerly located.

Regions of influence

Ancient Chinese records as well as modern archaeological studies prove the presence of Hinduism in several regions of China:

* Ports of China in Guangdong and Quanzhou provinces, mainly by Tamil Hindu traders who had been welcomed by Chinese and who had established residencies (diaspora communities) and built Hindu temples while they facilitated and served the needs of Sino-Indian trade in a wide range of goods.
* Kamrup route ( Assam) through Myanmar into south Chinese province of Yunnan as well as other southwestern regions of modern China. This is attested by the discovery of linga and yoni (symbols associated with Shiva) in Jianchuan caves (Shizhongshan) and other Hindu motifs found during excavation of Dali temple in Yunnan.
* Tsung-Ling route (now through Kashmir) was the route that helped monks and travelers from China bring Buddhism into China; along with Buddhist texts, many ancient Hindu texts and ideas were also carried into China. The archaeological evidence of Hinduism's presence in ancient China comes from Lop Nur and Kizil Caves in Xinjiang province, where carvings of deity Ganesha, another mural of a scene from Ramayana epic with Hanuman, and frescoes of other Hindu deities. These have been dated to be from 4th to 6th century AD. This route is also credited with the spread of some Hindu ideas and arts in north-central China by 5th century AD, into provinces as far as Shanxi, as evidenced by caves 7 through 9 of Yungang Grottoes in Datong, dedicated to various Hindu deities such as Vishnu and Shiva.
* Nepal route which brought ideas from tantric school of Nepalese Hinduism and Buddhism to Tibetan region.

The Chinese texts from the 2nd through the 12th centuries AD suggest some 150 scholars focused on translating various Hindu Sanskrit texts into Chinese. Vedas were referred to as ''ming-lun'' (science of knowledge) or ''zhi-lun'' (science of intelligence). Ancient Chinese scholars also translated various other Samhita

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