In order to understand the influences of Sanskrit over Chinese historical phonology, studying Siddhāṃ is a must. Some scholars believe that Siddhāṃ had disappeared in China since Buddhism declined in the Song Dynasty, and that it only circulated in Japan. However, there were still some Siddhāṃ literature in China composed in Ming and Qing, for example, Zhao Yiguang’s趙宧光 Xitan Jingzhuan悉曇經傳, Liu Xianting’s劉獻廷 Xin Yunpu新韻譜, Zhangjia Hutuketu’s章嘉胡土克圖 Tongwen Yuntong同文韻統, and Zhou Chun’s周春 Xitan Aolun悉曇奧論. The concepts and knowledge related to Siddhāṃ could also be found in the literature of Dengyunxue等韻學 at that time. In other words, Siddhāṃ had not only molded the initial stage of Dengyunxue but continuously had influences on it till the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This study concentrates on the following issues: How was Sanskrit comprehended and converted into new concepts of Chinese historical phonology in Ming and Qing after the introduction of Buddhism into China in the Eastern Han Dynasty? How did it connect with the Chinese historical phonology? How many documents of Chinese historical phonology were influenced? To answer these questions, I examine the Siddhāṃ literature of Ming and Qing in terms of both diachronic and synchronic analyses. In the diachronic analysis, I investigate the transmission and inheritance of Siddhāṃ literature in China, explicate their doctrines and then deal with a number of related questions. In the synchronic analysis, I trace back to the initial development of the Siddhāṃ concepts and knowledge from the literature of Ming’s and Qing’s Dengyunxue, and go further to compare it with the concepts and knowledge of Siddhāṃ during these periods.
The study collates the Ming’s and Qing’s existing Siddhāṃ documents, trying to explore the practical interrelationship between the concepts and knowledge of Siddhāṃ in Ming and Qing and Dengyunxue. Besides, I observe that their close relationship resulted in Siddhāṃ knowledge diffusing and the inheritance and development of Siddhāṃ in China. This thesis is divided into four main sections: the first section reviews the origin of Siddhāṃ and interprets the fundamentals and the inheritance of Siddhāṃ. The second section is based on materials including Xitan Jingzhuan, Xin Yunpu, Tongwen Yuntong, and Xitan Aolun to analyze the conception of these literature composition and the origin of their thoughts. This study also explicates Sanskrit theories and phonological features and clarify the Siddhāṃ knowledge in Ming and Qing. The third section explores the dissemination of Siddhāṃ concepts in Ming’s and Qing’s Dengyunxue by means of the characteristics of Siddhāṃ knowledge. Moreover, I retrace the interrelationship between Siddhāṃ and Dengyunxue by studying the Huayan Zimutu華嚴字母圖. In the fourth section, I delineate the practical relationship between Siddhāṃ and Dengyunxue, and find out the spread routes and the transition of the Siddhāṃ knowledge in Ming and Qing.
