小月氏人; 媒介角色; 中亞佛寺; 梵文; 求法行程; the mediate role played by the people of Lesser Ju-chih; the popularity of Sanskrit among the Buddhist; establishments in Central Asia; three years en route before reaching India and; the practising of Sanskrit
From 3rd Century to 8th Century A.D. there were many Chinese Buddhist cleric or lay pilgrims went to India to seek for the Buddhist Dharma. Before their departure, they should have to learn Sanskrit in order to communicate with the Indian Buddhist monks. Firstly, they learnt this language from the monks who came from India or the Buddhist states in Central Asia to China to preach to Buddhist truth. And then, they followed the Indian lay immigrants, the Chinese pilgrims who returned from India and the member of the Translation Centres in China to learn.
In order to go to China to surmon the Buddha's doctrines, the Western monks should have to learn the Chinese language in the first place. Or they could not communicating with the Chinese people after arrived. Therefore, they accompanied with the Chinese travelling merchants to head China and learnt the above-mentioned language en route. The media for their linguistic learning, the author believes, were Sogdian and Prakrit. After they reached the Ho-hsi Corridor of China, the Western clerics advanced their Chinese Language by the assisance of the bilingual Lesser Ju-chih people that living there. After that, the Western monks taught Sanskrit trough the media of Chinese to the Chinese monks or laymen who intended to make their pilgrimage to India.
Why did the people of Lesser Ju-chih could give hand to the Western monks? It is due to the fact that during 1st Century to 3rd Century A.D., India had once been under the sovereignty of the Gandharaaa (also known as `Kusaana' or `Kushan') Kingdom that established by the people of Great Ju-chih in the valley of Amu Daria. In this situation, the Indian monks of this period would have been learning more or less the sovereign Ju-chih language. And the people of Lesser Ju-chic, however, were the same people of the Great Ju-chih. Therefore, the Western monks could find their tutors to help advancing their Chinese Linguistic level after arrived the Corridor mentioned above. For the Lesser Ju-chih spoke both chinese and their own language.
After the Chinese pilgrims had already learnt Sanskrit to a certain level, they began to engage their pilgrimage. If a pilgrim who went westward by land, along his pilgrimage route were the Central Asian Buddhist states. And Sanskrit was ver popular among the Monastic Order of these state. In case that Chinese pilgrim who facing some difficulties and seeking help, simply he just found a Buddhist establishment in that strange country and used Sanskrit to communicate with the monastic members, his problem would thereforebe solved. Therefore, this is no need for a Chinese pilgrim to learn many foreign languages of the different Central Asian states.
Normally, one should take a three year journey to reach India china in the past. In case a Chinese pilgrim who used to speak Sanskrit to the Central Asian clerics, and listened to the preachers of the local monks, or even debated Buddhist doctrines with them during his three year journey, his Sanskrit would become very fluent when arrived India. This would be the reason why the chinese pilgrims who set foot by land more then that by sea to go to India.
According to the historical records, some of the Chinese cleric pilgrims learnt many different western language during their pilgrimage. This is due to their personal linguistic talent and interes
