跨越喜马拉雅山的握手——中印文化交流一瞥

文德 加 DE Jia

不到4个月的时间，已经有三次了——我说的是进入中国院线上映的宝莱坞电影——聚焦印度社会贫富差距下教育问题的影片《起跑线》在中国热映之时，由中国文联、中国影协与印中电影友好协会联合举办的2018中国国际电影节在印度历史文化名城与旅游胜地——拉贾斯坦邦首府斋浦尔举办，《捉妖记》《狼图腾》《滚蛋吧！肿瘤君》《大唐玄奘》《一代宗师》等票房口碑双赢的中国电影向印度观众展示了中国电影的成就。

中印电影文化交流由来已久——早在上世纪七八十年代，《大篷车》《流浪者》等印度经典电影在中国热映。而在当下，随着《神秘巨星》《小萝莉的猴神大叔》《摔跤吧！爸爸》登上中国大银幕，两国电影文化交流迎来更为广阔的空间。

不仅是电影，新世纪以来，中印两国文化亦携手同行。甚至，不仅是新世纪以来——就像有些中印关系专家所分析的：中国与印度数千年唇齿相依而鲜有战乱，数千载文化相融而鲜有对垒，在世界史上亦属罕见。究其原因，两国民间的文化艺术交流一直如同生机勃勃的河流，从青藏高原，从喜马拉雅山脉流到两国民众心间。

地域相近，人文相亲。中印两国在数千年历史中一直有着“文化共情”。两千多年来，从秦汉到隋唐、到宋元，两国文化始终包容互通、相辅相成：中印交流肇始于秦代，到两汉时逐渐频繁，在隋唐时趋于高潮，宋元时更加深入。在这2000多年的交往史中，文化交流是柱石。正如鲁迅先生曾说:“印度则交通自古，贻我大祥，思想信仰道德艺文，无不蒙贶，虽兄弟眷属，何以加之。”——在印度的佛教、音乐、舞蹈、天文历算、文学语言、建筑和制糖技术传入中国的同时，中国的造纸、蚕丝、瓷器、茶叶、音乐等亦传入印度，中国的《二十四史》和高僧大德梯山航海留下的文献与游记，更成为印度构建古代历史的基础。

“身毒在大夏东南可数千里，其俗土著，大与大夏同，而卑湿暑热云。其人民乘象以战，其国临大水焉……”中国人对印度的认识，以《史记·大宛列传》的明确记载为肇始，一个荒幻博远、气候湿热的印度那时就出现在中国人的视野中；《史记·大宛列传》则记载张骞在大夏国（今伊朗、阿富汗一带）看到了中国蜀地出产的蜀布和邛竹杖，当地人告诉他，这是从身毒国贩卖来的。《史记》的这两条材料是中国与印度文化交流的最早最可靠的文字记载。

泰戈尔访华期间，与林徽因、徐志摩合影Tagore takes photos with LIN Huiyin and XU Zhimo during his visit to China

仅从《史记》的记载中，我们就可以知道，早在张骞通西域之前，中国的西南地区和印度之间就已经有了贸易往来。毫无疑问，这种往来必定是建立在彼此了解和信任的基础之上、经过长时间的接触和交往才能实现的。

佛教的诞生和发展让中国与印度的文化交流更为频繁和密切。谈及中印佛教交流史，鸠摩罗什的贡献不能不提。他精通梵文和汉文，在长安的八年中，共翻译了印度佛经98部，计425卷。包括《大品般若》《法华经》在内的许多重要佛经都出自罗什之手，他的翻译工作不仅传播了佛教经典，而且还大大提高了中国学者的梵文水平。印度僧人来中国传教也引发了中国僧人不断前往印度取经的壮举——公元399年，东晋法显等从长安出发，经西域至天竺，游历20多个国家，收集了大批梵文经典，前后历时14年，游30余国，与同道共译《摩诃僧祗律》《僧祗比丘戒本》《大般泥洹经》《杂藏经》，并撰写了游历天竺的游记作品《佛国记》。

法显的印度之行，在中国佛教史和中印文化交流史上写下了辉煌的篇章，他的开创精神，激励着一代又一代的中国僧人西去求法；唐贞观元年，高僧玄奘为探究佛教各派学说分歧，一人西行五万里，历经艰辛到达印度佛教中心那烂陀寺取经。前后17年，他学遍了当时的大小乘各种学说，共带回佛舍利150粒、佛像7尊、经论657部，并长期从事翻译佛经工作，成为佛教史上与鸠摩罗什、真谛、不空齐名的四大翻译家之一。他的《大唐西域记》记述了他西游亲身经历的110个国家及传闻的28个国家的山川、地邑、物产、习俗等。玄奘西行印度，文化影响却远播华夏大地、日本、韩国、印度乃至全世界——就如同印度史学家阿里1978 年写给季羡林的信中所言：“如果没有法显、玄奘、马欢的著作，重建印度史是完全不可能的。”

就在中国向印度汲取宗教文化与艺术上精华的同时，中国文学也受到了印度文学的影响。从南北朝起，印度的寓言、童话和小故事大量涌入中国；到了唐代，印度文学对唐代最有特征的文学体裁— —传奇文有着重要影响，传奇文也向印度古典文学一样，以一个事物为线索，将几个不相干的小故事串起来；内容上，中国文学则向印度引入了鬼魂、龙女、梦等元素。

与此同时，中国古代四大发明也在滋养着印度文明的发展。随着丝绸之路的开辟，中国纸便逐渐流向国外，成为丝路当中的重要商品。在11 世纪以前，印度都是没有纸的，他们常用的是白桦树皮，印度佛经几乎都是用贝叶抄写。中国的纸和造纸术先由内地传入新疆，再由新疆传入印度。造纸术传入印度后，印度纸写本的数目逐渐增多。

直至清末，印度和中国相继沦为西方列强的殖民地和半殖民地，却没有正式而直接的文化往来。直到1924年，受中国学者徐志摩、梁启超等人邀请，印度诗哲罗宾德拉纳特·泰戈尔以国际大学代表身份率领6人代表团访华，才沟通了几乎中断的文化联系，并带来了突破宗教层面的文化交流。

作为民国时期唯一一位来自亚洲殖民地国家的诺贝尔奖到访者，文学交流尽管不是泰戈尔访华的主要目的，但这对转型时期的中国文学走向产生了重大影响。作为亚洲第一个诺贝尔文学奖获得者，泰戈尔的到来掀起中国学界译介与研究他的热潮。徐志摩、王统照、冰心等一批被泰戈尔的诗所迷恋的忠实追随者在其左右不时与之交换心得，因喜爱泰戈尔进而模仿进行文学创作，日后引领了中国文学特别是诗歌改革的发展方向。

泰戈尔在华期间，为庆祝他的64岁生日，徐志摩、林徽因等人用英文演出了他编写的话剧《齐德拉》，成为中印文化史上由中国人上演印度戏剧的“第一次”。京剧大师梅兰芳应泰戈尔之邀演出《洛神》，泰戈尔赞扬了梅兰芳的精湛表演，并希望梅兰芳能到印度演出，让印度观众领略中国京剧的风采；同时，梅兰芳采纳了泰戈尔以红、绿、黄、黑、紫等重色表现美丽的神话意境和诗人丰富想象力的建议，对布景做了更贴近剧情的改进，取得了良好效果。

泰戈尔对中国绘画兴趣浓厚，所到之处也受到中国画界的热烈欢迎。泰戈尔一到上海，青年画家刘海粟就为其创作了两张速写，杭州西泠印社赠送他刻有“泰戈尔”三个字的印章，北京画界则专门举办了欢迎画展。

泰戈尔的访华，不仅促使一批中国学生赴印度留学，而且由泰戈尔推动建立的印度国际大学中国学院还邀请许多中国学者和艺术家到印参观访问，为一大批中国文化艺术界人士赴印交流提供了便利条件。其中最著名的例子，就是画家徐悲鸿受泰戈尔邀请，于1939年至1940 年担任中国学院客座教授，而此时也是徐悲鸿创作空前高产的阶段。在印期间，徐悲鸿画了很多速写及素描，从当地风土人情到各种动物，从伟人肖像到印度风景，从学校音乐课到自画像，均入画图，并创作了《泰戈尔像》《甘地像》《印度妇女》《喜马拉雅山之林》等作品。他的名作《愚公移山》中的人物模特多由印度人充当，位于圣地亚克的印度国际大学学生甚至争做模特。画作中还有位很像鲁智深的人物，曾被徐悲鸿反复描绘，其原型是学校的一名厨师。徐悲鸿每次请他做模特，他都很高兴，并且随叫随到。曾有人问徐悲鸿为何要在中国历史题材作品中加入印度人形象，他说：“虽是印度人，但都是勤劳的劳动者，形象不同于中国人，意义却是一样的。”

泰戈尔的访华，就像他的中文名字“竺震旦”一样，将几乎中断的中印文化之桥重新搭建。时隔近百年，我们回顾这一文化盛事时，仍然可以感受到它带给中印文化交流的深远影响。新中国成立和印度独立后，两国文化交往再度繁荣。近些年来，中印两国的“文化月”“友好年”、美食节、文物展、新书发布、研讨会等活动不胜枚举。而“竺震旦”的文化意义，就如同印度著名经济学家贾伊拉姆·拉梅什首创的“CHINDIA”（“中印大同”）一样——希望把中国和印度之间的界限拆除，两个国家变成和谐相处的一个文化整体。

回顾中印两国无比可贵的文化交流史，我们不难发现，民间的文化交流无疑是合作的天然基础，是共同前进的有利资源。深厚的文化积淀，悠久的历史传统，是中印两国人民宝贵的精神财富。21世纪以来，中印两国都获得了经济腾飞的良好机遇，以至于国际上各国都不约而同地瞩目亚洲，瞩目这两个人口众多、地大物博的文明古国，也都在热议，21世纪到底是属于中国还是属于印度——似乎，这个问题远没有答案，而如今，中国与印度，都正在信心十足地致力于民族的伟大复兴。

大国之交，贵在交心。在全球命运共同体的语境下，中印之间的民间交流，更能凸显“以智慧管控分歧、以情怀合作发展”的文化优势，更能使中印两国的友好关系不断加强，就像黄河和恒河一样奔流不息，永远向前——如同印度网站livemint上说的：这是“跨越喜马拉雅山的握手”。

It’s already been three times in less than four months--- what I am talking about is the Bollywood movies entered into the Chinese cinemas--- asHindi Medium, a movie focusing on the issue of education under the gap between the rich and the poor in India’s society, prevails across China, the 2018 China International Film Festival, jointly organized by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and India-China Film Friendship Association has been held in Jaipur, a historical and cultural resort and the capital city of Rajasthan. A series of Chinese films winning both box office and reputation have showcased the achievement of China’s filmmaking industry to the Indian audiences, includingMonster Hunt, Wolf Totem, Go away Mr.tumour, Xuan Zang, The Grandmasterand others.

The cultural exchanges between Chinese and Indian films have been long-established—as early as the 1970s and 1980s, classic Indian films, such asCaravanandThe Trampwere most popular in China. And in the moment, with the screening of Indian movies in China, such asSecret Superstar，BajrangiBhaijaan，

Dangal, the film culture exchanges between the two countries have ushered in a broader space.

Not only movies, the cultures of China and India have been marching hand in hand since the beginning of the new century.Even earlier than the new century---as some experts in China-India relations have analyzed: China and India sharing borders had few wars in thousands of years of history, during which the cultural integration emerged substantially, most rare in the world history.The reason is that the cultural and artistic exchanges between the two countries have always been the same as the vibrant rivers, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas to the hearts of the two peoples.

Geographical similarities, humanities closeness. China and India have been keeping the "cultural empathy" for thousands of years. For more than two thousand years, from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties and to the Song and Yuan dynasties, the culture of the two countries has always been inclusive and complementary. The China-India communication initiated in the Qin Dynasty, gradually became more frequent during the Han and Tang dynasties, culminated in the Sui and Tang dynasties and became more in-depth during the Song and Yuan dynasties.In this 2000-year history of exchanges, cultural exchanges have been remaining the pillars.As Mr. LU Xun once said: "India has been well linked with China since the ancient times, it’s thinking, belief, moral and arts have benefited China as brother."--- While India's Buddhism, music,dance, astronomical calendar, literary language, architecture and sugar making technologies were introduced into China,China’s papermaking, silk, porcelain, tea and music were also introduced to India.China’sTwenty-Four Historiesand the documents and travel notes left, a great monk after his sailing course have become the basis for India’s building of ancient history."India is thousands miles away to the southeast of Daxia,remaining primitive alike Daxia. Humid weather, people are good at riding elephants, and the country is bordering water…"Chinese people's beginning to know India is based on the clear record ofShi Ji·DawanLiezhuan, an imaginary, distant India with hot climate then appeared in the eyes of Chinese people.The document records that ZHANG Qian discovered the silk cloth and bamboo sticks produced in China's Sichuan area in Daxia(present-day Iran and Afghanistan). Locals told him that these were India through trading. The two pieces of information in theShi Jiare the earliest and most reliable written records of cultural exchange between China and India.

From the records of theShi Jialone, we know that right before ZHANG Qian’s traveling to the Western Regions, China's southwest region and India already established trade relations.There is no doubt that such contacts must be based on mutual understanding and trust after a long period of contact and interaction.

The birth and development of Buddhism has led to more frequent and close cultural exchanges between the two countries. Upon mentioning the history of bilateral Buddhist exchanges, the contribution by Kumārajīva cannot be ignored.He was proficient in Sanskrit and Chinese. In his eight years staying in Chang'an, he translated a total of 98 Buddhist scriptures from India, totaling 425 volumes. Many of the important Buddhist texts, including the Mahāprajāpāramitāsūtra and Saddharmapundarika-sutra were translated by him.His translation efforts not only spread Buddhist classics, but also greatly enhanced the level of Sanskrit amongst Chinese scholars.The fact that Indian monks came to China for missionary has also led to the feats of Chinese monks continuing to travel to India to learn from monasteries. In AD 399, Fajin and other officials from the Eastern Jin dynasty set out from Chang’an and traveled to more than 20 countries through the Western Regions to India to collect a large number of Sanskrit classics. In their 14-year-long journey, he has traveled more than 30 countries,and co-translatedMahasangha-vinaya,upasam!panna,Maha^-parinirva^n!aandZaCang Jingwith his peers and composed the Journey to Buddhist Countries, a work of his travel log.

FA Xian’s trip to India has written a brilliant chapter in the history of Chinese Buddhism and the history of cultural exchanges between China and India. His pioneering spirit has inspired generations of Chinese monks to seek for the West.In the first year of Zhenguan of Tang dynasty, Xuan Zang, the great monk,traveled 50,000 miles to the West all by himself to explore the divergent approach of Buddhism factions, and went through the hardships to reach the Nalanda Temple, the Buddhist center of India. In the 17 years all through that period, he learned all various theories of Mahayana and HinayanaBuddhism, bringing back 150 Buddhist relics, 7 statues of Buddha and 657 classics.He has long been engaged in the translation of Buddhist sutras and has become a Buddhist monk in the history of Buddhism,together with other great translators as Kumārajīva, paramārtha and Amoghavajra. His book, The Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, describes the mountains, valleys, properties, customs and etc. of the 110 countries he has personally experienced and the 28 countries he has heard of. Xuan Zang traveled to India to the west and its cultural influence spread far away to the land of China, Japan, South Korea, India and even the whole world. Just as India’s historian Ali wrote to JIXianlin in 1978, “If there were no great works of FA Xian, XUAN Zang and MA Huan, it is utterly impossible to reconstruct the history of India."

While China was drawing the essence of religious culture and art from India, the Chinese literature was also influenced by its Indian counterpart. Fables, fairy tales and short stories of India have flooded into China from the Northern and Southern Dynasties. By the Tang Dynasty, Indian literature had an important influence on the most characteristic literary genre of the Tang Dynasty—the legendary literary, which was like the Indian classical literature, using a single object as a clue to connect several irrelevant stories together. In terms of content,Chinese literature has introduced elements, such as ghosts,dragon girls and dreams to India.

1924年4月，印度诗人泰戈尔访问北京，与梁思成(左一)、林徽因(右二)、徐志摩(右一)合影In April, 1924, Indian poet Tagore visited Beijing,took photo with Liang Sicheng (No.1 from left),Lin Huiyin (No.2 from right) and Xu Zhimo(No.1 from right).

敦煌莫高窟第45窟——彩塑一铺(盛唐)Cave 45, Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes-Caisu Yipu(Prime time of Tang Dynasty)

Meanwhile, the four great inventions in ancient China also nourished the development of Indian civilization. With the opening of the Silk Road, Chinese paper has gradually flown abroad, becoming an important commodity in the Silk Road.Before the 11thcentury, there was no paper in India. They used birch bark as Indian Buddhist scriptures were almost all copied by coryphaumbraculifera; China's paper and papermaking techniques were first introduced from the inner land to Xinjiang and then to India. After papermaking was introduced to India,the number of paper copies has increased gradually.

Until the late Qing dynasty, India and China successively became colonies and semi-colonies of Western powers, but there was no formal and direct cultural exchange. Until 1924, the Indian poet Robindranath Tagore led a six-member delegation to China as a representative of the international university by the invitation of Chinese scholars XU Zhimo, LIANG Qichao and others. The nearly interrupted cultural contacts have resumed while bringing the cultural exchanges surpassing the religious culture.

As the exclusive visitor from Asian colonial countries during the period of the Republic of China, literary exchange, though not the main purpose of Tagore’s visit, had a major impact on the direction of Chinese literature during the transition period. As the first Asian Nobel Prize winner in literature, Tagore’s arrival has ignited the upsurge of translation and research in Chinese academic circles. XU Zhimo, WANG Tongzhao, BING Xin and other loyal followers, who were infatuated with his poetry,exchanged their experiences from time to time. The course of literary creation due to passion to Tagore has later led the development of Chinese literature, especially in terms of poetry reform.

During his stay in China, XU Zhimo, LINHuiyin and others have performed his playChitrain English to celebrate his 64thbirthday,becoming the “first” of Indian drama in the history of Chinese and Indian culture. Peking Opera master MEI Lanfang performed Luo Shen by the demand of Tagore, who praised MEI’s superb performance and hoped that he would perform in India to give the Indian audiences a glimpse of the style of Chinese Peking Opera; meanwhile, MEI Lanfang adopted the Tagore’s suggestions as employing the colors of red, green,yellow, black and purple to present the beautiful scenes of mythology and poet's richimagination, and improved the scene to make it more closely to the plot with good results.

Tagore’s interest in Chinese painting was most strong and his visit has also been warmly welcomed by the Chinese painting community. When arriving in Shanghai, the young artist LI UHaisu has created two sketches for him. The Hangzhou Xiling Seal Club gave him a seal with the word "Tagore" inscribed in three Chinese characters. And the Beijing painting community specially organized a welcome exhibition.

Tagore’s visit to China not only prompted a group of Chinese students to study in India, but the Chinese Academy of Indian International University supported by Tagore also invited many Chinese scholars and artists to visit the country, providing convenience to a large number of people from Chinese cultural and artistic circles for exchanges in India. One of the most famous examples is that the painter XU Beihong was invited by Tagore to serve as a visiting professor at the Chinese Academy from 1939 to 1940. It was also the period that XU was in an unprecedented stage of high production.During his time in India, XU Beihong has painted a lot of sketches and drawings into his collections, ranging from local customs to animals,portraits of great people to landscapes, school music lessons to self-portraits, and created works as thePortrait of Tagore,Gandhi, India Women, The Forest of the Himalayasand others.Many of his characters in the famous workHow Yukong Moved the Mountainswere performed by Indians. Students at the Indian International University in Saatiniketan were even competing to be his models. In the painting, there was a person who was very similar to LU Zhishen, who was repeatedly depicted by XUBeihong. His prototype was a chef at the school,who was very happy whenever XU asked him to be themodel.Some people once asked why XU Beihong wanted to add Indian images to Chinese historical works. He replied: "Although Indians, they are all hardworking people, their image is different from that of the Chinese people, but the significance is the same."

Tagore’s visit to China, just like his Chinese name "ZHU Zhendan", has rebuilt the almost-interrupted bridge of culture between China and India. Nearly a hundred years have passed,we can still feel the far-reaching impact it has brought to China-India cultural exchanges upon reviewing this cultural event.After the founding of New China and the independence of India, the cultural exchanges between the two countries flourished again. The recent years have witnessed numerous"Cultural Month", "Friendship Year", food festivals, cultural relics exhibitions, new book launches and seminars between China and India.However, the cultural significance of "ZHU Zhendan" is just like CHINDIA (Great Connection between China and India) pioneered by the famous Indian economist Jairam Ramesh hoping to remove the boundary between the two nations, and turn the two sides into a harmonious body of culture.

泰戈尔像（中国画）徐悲鸿Tagore (Chinese painting) XU Beihong

Recalling the invaluable history of cultural exchanges between China and India,it is not difficult to discover that the cultural exchanges among the peoples are undoubtedly the natural foundation of cooperation and the favorable resources for common progress. The profound cultural accumulation and long history tradition are the precious spiritual wealth of the peoples of China and India.Since the 21stcentury, both countries have grasped the promisingopportunity for economic growth, driving all countries globally to turn to Asia, and the two great ancient civilizations with large populations, vast territory and abundant resources.It is under heated discussion that the 21stcentury belongs to China or India. It seems that this question is far from finding an answer. Today, both China and India are concentrating on the great rejuvenation of the nations.

Diplomacy of great nations lies in heart-to-heart communication. In the context of the global community of shared future, the non-governmental exchanges between China and India are capable of better highlighting the cultural advantages of "using wisdom to manage disputes, realizing cooperation and development via feelings", and further strengthening the friendly bilateral relationship. The Yellow River and the Gangesrush forward forever like it wasstated in livemint, an Indian website: this is a "Handshaking Across the Himalayas".