A Stylistic Analysis of Indian Buddhism Classics:Focusing on Geya,Gatha and Sutra

The writing of Buddhism documents both in China and India has greatly been influenced by the styles employed in Indian Buddhism classics.In India,Buddhism doctrines have been spread by such ways as saying and singing that is totally in an oral way,which determines the structures and styles of the Buddhism documents in early times.After a stylistic analysis of Indian Buddhism classics,this paper holds that those early Buddhism documents are a mixture of verse and essay,and that Geya,Gatha and Sutra are three typical styles whether the classics are divided into 9 or 12 types in accordance with traditional practice.There is,however,a long misunderstanding of these three styles.Based on careful researches,this paper put forward that there should be 5 types of styles employed in Indian Buddhism classics.