Fa Xian, Vocabulary Study

This thesis is on the study of the vocabulary in the Middle Ancient Times and focuses on the Chinese Buddhist Scripture Faxian's Pilgrimage to India(法显传). The study is based on the diachronic and the synchronic analysis methods. We investigate the facts about the vocabulary and try to reveal its composing and origin through the quantitative analysis as well as the qualitative analysis. Make the examination on the other similar literature, the thesis also reveals the development and evolvement of Middle Ancient Chinese vocabulary system in Wei, Jin and Period of devision. At the same time, through the case study in Faxian's Pilgrimage to India(法显传), this thesis reflects the spread of Buddhist words from the translation of Buddhist scriptures to the native writings, namely the course of localization and try to expound this language phenomena.After the study, we draw the conclusion that there are not only some words,which can be traced back to Ancient Chinese but also some foreign words and spoken words.The vocabulary in Faxian's Pilgrimage to India(法显传) showed a much more conspicuous spoken tendency than the vocabulary of contemporary Chinese works. Some of the words haven't been discovered in other literature neither explained in several present dictionaries. It can offer earlier example for dictionaries.Furthermore, based on the investigation, the thesis considers that a lot of Buddhist words are spreaded from Chinese Buddhist Scripture, which is wrote by Chinese Buddhists, to the native writings. It is the most significant step in the spreading of Buddhist words in Chinese literature, and it is injected new blood into the circulation of the language in the Buddhist scriptures, signaling the beginning of the fusion of Buddhist words with Chinese.