Liang Qichao (1873-1929) was perhaps the first Chinese scholar to pay attention to the influence of Buddhist literature on Chinese language.
Prussian philosopher and linguist, Wilhelm von Humboldt has remarked in his classic study published in 1836 of human language entitled “On Language: On the Diversity of Human Language Construction and its Influence on the Mental Development of Human Species” that “Chinese and Sanskrit are considered to be the two poles that go into two extremes” as far as grammatical formations and sound systems are concerned. If that is the case how come Chinese absorbed thousands of words and concepts from Sanskrit?
It was made possible by the mammoth sutra translation project in China, an undertaking of the Chinese monarchs. In the beginning, sutras were translated by individuals, however, by the time of Fujian (337-385) of Former Qin, and Yaoxing (366-416) of Later Qin, translation was gradually brought under the fold of royal patronage, and by the time of Tang Dynasty, it entered the period of great prosperity. Chinese scholars have classified translation of Buddhist sutras into four stages. During the first stage (AD 148-316) scholar-monks like An Shigao, Lokakṣema, Yan Fodiao, Zhiqian, Kang Senghui, and Dharmarakṣa reigned supreme. The second stage (AD 317-617) was dominated by people like Dao’an, Kumarajiva, Faxian and Paramārtha and others. The third stage (AD 618-906) that covers the reign of Tang Dynasty is considered as the heyday of sutra translation. The most outstanding translators include Xuan Zang, Yi Jing, and Amoghavajra. During the fourth stage (AD 954-1111) there was sporadic translation as the climax was long over. The Kaiyuan Era Catalogue of Buddhist Canons and Zhenyuan New Buddhist Catalogue record that in a span of 734 years starting from 10th year of the Yongping Era in Han Dynasty (67 AD) to the 16th year of Zhenyuan Era in Tang Dynasty (800 AD), in all 185 prominent translators translated 2,412 sutras running into 7,352 fascicles.