Buddhist Art Broke Language Barriers to Spread to Central Asia and China

Abstract

Shakya Muni Buddha cultivated his ideas and organized his sangha while roaming in the “Great Magadha” area. Although we cannot be sure what exact language Buddha spoke, the earliest written teachings of the Buddha were in Pali. Vocabulary and syntax of Pali in Buddhist texts correspond roughly to those inscriptions on Buddhist stupa of Ashoka’s time and later, i.e., Sanchi and Bharhut stupas, in Magadha region. To reach marginalized communities who could not comprehend Pali, illustrations of didactic stories were carved on the railings and gates surrounding the stupas. Buddhism as a faith and an institution started to spread out of the Great Magadha after the passing of the Buddha. Followers of the Buddha had to overcome language barriers to recruit new followers and to spread their messages. Mahayana Buddhist started to use Sanskrit to compile new texts for new audience in northwest part of South Asia. There, Buddhist art further developed into Gandharan and Mathura schools during the Kushan period. Sanskrit texts and artistic motifs carried teachings of the Buddha to Central Asia and China. Meanwhile, some messages embodied in the early Buddhist texts and artworks were lost in the process of transmission.