“Yin Chi Ru Jing” is one of the earliest Buddhist classic translated and introduced to China by An Shigao, it systematically expounds the basic theory of early Buddhism by annotating the basic concepts of early Buddhism. This paper takes terms in the sutra as the research object, and takes one of its core terms “skandha” as the center, to explore the terminology system of the sutra and the origin of the meaning of “skandha”, so as to have a glimpse of the early development of Buddhist thought. Taking this purpose as the core, Chapter I of this paper clarifies the purpose and scope of the research, summarizes the relevant academic achievements, points out the shortcomings, and puts forward the principles and methods adopted in this research. Chapter Ⅱ carries out the philology study on “Yin Chi Ru Jing”, discusses its authenticity, the era and source text, and chapterizes and punctuates it. Chapter Ⅲ carries on the linguistic research, through the analysis of sentences, dividing sentences into word levels, and analyses their vocabulary and grammar to find ways to interpret semantics. Chapter IV discusses the content and ideological characteristics of the Sutra, and analyses the commonality and characteristics of the Sutra and other sectarian thoughts, it further holds that the Sutra is based on the early Buddhist thoughts possessing the thought of the Mahāsāṃghika. Chapter Ⅴ, based on the thought of the Sutra, explores its terminology system, focusing on the relationship between terms and thoughts, as well as the process of these Chinese-translated terms. Chapter Ⅵ, taking the term “skandha” as the center, investigates its invention and interpretation, and compares the different interpretations of “skandha” between the early Buddhist literature and “Yin Chi Ru Jing”. Chapter Ⅶ, based on the Northern Abhidharma literature, investigates the definition of “skandha” in the mature period of the secterian Buddhist, and compares the similarities and differences of the definition of “skandha” between the former and “Yin Chi Ru Jing”. Chapter Ⅷ summarizes the relationship between evolution of the term “skandha” and that of Buddhist thought through the synchronic and diachronic investigation of it, and puts forward the viewpoint of studying the history of Buddhist thought with the method of Buddhist terms history. Chapter Ⅸ puts forward the conclusion, research deficiencies, academic contributions and research prospects of this paper. Throughout the whole text, this paper holds that “Yin Chi Ru Jing” is an early Buddhist literature possessing the thought of the initial stage of Mahāsāṃghika, which has made a comprehensive and systematic summary of early Buddhist terms. Through the synchronic and diachronic study of “skandha”, from the early stage of Buddhism to the maturity of sectarian Buddhism, from skandha’s annotation to its transformation, and every change has accompanied the change of the thought system. This phenomenon tells us that the evolution of Buddhist terms is related to the development of Buddhist thought. Accordingly, this paper proposes the study of the development of Buddhist
