the spread of buddhism in serindia 93[ iàyh?]-kaw) which may render^82 the well-known Yuezhi title * abxu^83
(Bactrian ,^84 , Greek
, under Kujula Kadphises,
Gndhr javukha, jaüva, yavuga, Niya Prkrit (Krorainic) yapgu-).
It should also be taken into account that there is another region called
An by the Chinese, at least in later texts, and that is Bukhara. Bukhara
stood on the road of Parthia and was assimilated to it in the same
way the Latins called the Hellenes Graeci. An Shigao may have been a
nobleman, and perhaps a prince from Bukhara.^85 After all, China had
regular relations with Bukhara as early as 126 AD, and some members
of the royal house of Bukhara were later considered by Chinese sources
as An Shigao’s relatives (Forte 1995, pp. 34f.). It may be the result of
a simple confusion or it may indicate that An Shigao’s family was still
felt to be related to Bukhara in the sixth century.2.3.2. Sogdian Buddhism in China
Despite the presence of so many Sogdians in China, one should be care-
ful not to jump to the conclusion that Sogdians introduced Buddhism in
China. As a matter of fact, whereas the Sogdians predominate among
the earliest translators, the introduction of Buddhism was ascribed
to the Yuezhi.^86 The earliest somewhat reliable mention of Buddhists
in China depicts foreign monks in a feudal court at Pengcheng
(present-day Xuzhou in northwestern Jiangsu), a city along a com-
mercial route.^87 This local centre contrasts with the milieu where the
Sogdian translators ourished: the Chinese capitals, such as Luoyang.
During the second and third centuries, the Sogdians thus seem not
to have been conspicuous as religious propagandists, but as ofcial(^82) Following remarks are necessary: (1) OC (rectius with Pulleyblank 1973,
p. 117) approaches in Han-dynasty renderings of foreign words in Chinese (Pulleyblank
1962, p. 116; 1983, p. 84), but cannot be excluded; (2) OC renders open syllables
(Pulleyblank 1962, p. 213); (3) in case < aps really ended in -s in the Han period, it
does not hamper the match, since the suf x -s was not always considered in renderings
(Pulleyblank 1962, p. 219); (4) initial OC k° may render either x or kh, since x or h
did not exist as initials in Old Chinese.
(^83) * abxu is itself a loan-word from Xiongnu, ultimately borrowed from Chinese xihou
“marquess allied
(^84) Henning 1965a, p. 85.
(^85) Already Kuwabara 1926.
(^86) No matter how the details are to be understood, the rst Buddhist teaching in
China was ascribed to a “Yuezhi” (i.e., Kua) of cial or prince in 2 BC (discussion
Zürcher, vol. 1, pp. 24f.). Even if this third century story is apocryphal, it betokens that
to its author’s and audience’s eyes, Buddhism came from the Kua Empire.
(^87) Zürcher 1959, vol. 1, p. 26.
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