A Brief History of Chinese Translation -- Part Before May Fourth Movement (Revised Edition)

Author: Ma Zu Yi / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-12-25
Features: A classic in translation theory, a guide to translation practices in Chinese and foreign translation studies, and a guide for learning translation skills. It reviews the history of translation from the Zhou Dynasty to the May Fourth Movement. The content is detailed, and the writing is concise. It explores various translation activities in Chinese history, such as poetry, religious classics, medical texts, literature, and even the translation between ethnic minority literatures. It holds great reference value for translation workers and foreign language professionals.
Next, let’s talk about a few assistants of Zhenzhi.
Fatai was a monk at the Daming Temple in Jianye, and in the Zhi Zhi Temple, he “interpreted the meaning for twenty years, producing over fifty volumes” (as recorded in The Continuation of the Biographies of Eminent Monks).
Hui Kai assisted Zhenzhi in translating the Shuo Dacang Lun and “personally received the text, completing both the text and annotations within seven months, totaling twenty-five volumes.” Later, they also translated the Jushhe Lun, completing it in ten months with eighty-three volumes of text and annotations. Zhenzhi said to Hui Kai, “With you, I have translated these two treatises, and the wording and reasoning are complete. I have no regrets!” (as recorded in The Biographies of Eminent Monks). Hui Kai, whose secular surname was Cao, lived at the Ayu Wang Temple in Jianye and died at the age of fifty-one, which deeply grieved Zhenzhi.
Seng Zong was a monk from Yangzhou who was proficient in the Shuo Dacang Lun and wrote annotations for it. He also authored The Biography of Zhenzhi’s Three Baskets. In the tenth year of the Kaigang era of the Sui Dynasty, he joined the translation academy.
In the northern Liangzhou, which was once a center for translating scriptures, the Northern Wei dynasty conquered the Northern Liang in 439. Seven years later, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei issued an edict to suppress Buddhism, which was not restored until the reign of Emperor Wen Cheng. For over thirty years before 452, translation of scriptures flourished in the Southern Dynasties, while Buddhism in the Northern Dynasties was dormant, and the translation of scriptures effectively ceased. In the early years of Emperor Wen Cheng’s Pingheng era (460 AD), the monk Tan Yao from Liangzhou carved five grottoes in the Wuzhou area west of the capital, sculpting Buddha statues, the tallest of which were seventy feet high, followed by sixty-foot statues, all intricately decorated. This is now the famous Dayan Longmen Grottoes. Inside these grottoes, Tan Yao and the Indian monk Chang Naye she translated fourteen new scriptures (as recorded in The Records of Buddhism and Taoism). Later, Jigaya also translated five scriptures (as recorded in The Collection of Buddhist Records of the Kaiyuan Era). In the eighteenth year of the Tahe era (494 AD), Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang. During the reigns of Emperor Xuanwu and Emperor Xiaoming, Buddhism flourished, and the translation of scriptures in Luoyang was unprecedented in previous dynasties. At this time, the monks involved in translating scriptures included Tan Mo Liu Zhi, Puti Liu Zhi, Lena Moti, and Buddha Shanduo, among whom Puti Liu Zhi was known as the “chief master of scriptural translation.”
Puti Liu Zhi was from northern India. In the early years of the Yongping era (508 AD), he arrived in Luoyang, bringing a large number of Sanskrit scriptures. Soon after, he began translating. He collaborated with Lena Moti on the translation of the Shidi Jinglun, with Buddha Shanduo interpreting, and participated in the translation with the “scholar monks” Seng Bian, Seng Lang, Dao Shi, and the court attendant Cui Guang. Cui Guang, a Confucian scholar who believed in Buddhism, was called by Emperor Xiaowen “the literary master of the day.” He wrote a preface for the Shidi Jinglun. The emergence of the Shidi Jinglun in the northern region led to the formation of the “Dilun School,” which opposed the “Shuo Lun School” of Zhenzhi in the south. Over nearly three decades, Puti Liu Zhi translated thirty-nine scriptures and treatises, totaling 127 volumes. According to the Kaiyuan Buddhist Records, twenty-nine of these were preserved, totaling ninety-seven volumes, including the Shidi Jinglun, Diamond Sutra Commentary, Lotus Sutra Commentary, Immeasurable Life Sutra Commentary, and Lengya Sutra, which had a profound impact on the development of Chinese Buddhism. At that time, Li Kou wrote The Collection of Scriptures, saying, “In the room of the three-basket master Liu Zhi, there are tens of thousands of of Sanskrit manuscripts of scriptures and treatises, and the drafts of newly translated texts fill an entire room. However, his wisdom is comparable to Lena (Moti), and his spiritual insight, linguistic proficiency, and mastery of incantations are unmatched.”
Another noteworthy event is that Puti Liu Zhi translated the Da Cheng Zhang Yi by Tan Wu into Sanskrit and sent it to the Western Regions. Tan Wu was from Wu’an and lived at the Rongjue Temple in Luoyang, proficient in the Nirvana Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra, and was said to have a following of over a thousand. During the reign of Emperor Xiaoming of the Northern Wei, a debate between Buddhism and Taoism broke out. In the first year of the Zhengguang era (520 AD), Tan Wu debated with the Taoist Jiang Bin in front of Emperor Xiaoming. Jiang Bin cited the Laozi Kai Tian Jing, claiming that the Buddha was Laozi’s attendant. Tan Wu countered by citing books like The Anecdotes of the Zhou Dynasty, arguing that the Buddha was born before Laozi, refuting Jiang Bin. Emperor Xiaoming ordered the ministers to discuss the authenticity of the Laozi Kai Tian Jing. Seven ministers, including Wei Shou, said that Laozi only wrote five thousand characters and that Jiang Bin should be punished for misleading the people. Emperor Xiaoming initially sentenced Jiang Bin to death but spared his life after Puti Liu Zhi pleaded on his behalf. In fact, the books Tan Wu cited were also forged.
Emperor Wu of Northern Qi suppressed Buddhism, while Emperor Wen of Northern Qi suppressed Taoism and promoted Buddhism, beginning the translation of scriptures in Ye. During the Wuping era of Emperor Wu of Northern Qi (570–575 AD), eleven monks, including Bao Xian, went to the Western Regions to seek scriptures. It is worth noting that Emperor Wu ordered Liu Shiqing to translate the Nirvana Sutra into the Turkic language and present it to the Turkic Khan, with the imperial secretary Li Delin writing a preface for the translation.
The Northern Zhou capital was Chang’an, where foreign monks such as Damaliu Zhi, Yeshajietuo, and Gannaye she participated in translation, with the Grand Protector Yu Wenhu as a major patron. Gannaye she and his disciple Gannajietuo translated six scriptures, including the Dingyi Tianzi Wen Jing, with Yuanming, Daobian, and the Prince of Chengyang Xiao Ji as scribes. Xiao Ji was a learned and versatile scholar, skilled in the arts of yin and yang and numerology.
Emperor Wen of Sui unified the north and south, ending nearly three centuries of division since the late Jin Dynasty. According to The Sui Book, The Collection of Buddhist and Taoist Debates, and The Continuation of the Biographies of Eminent Monks, Emperor Yang of Sui was born in a nunnery and raised by the nun Zhi Xian. When the Northern Zhou suppressed Buddhism, Zhi Xian hid in the Yang family and predicted that Yang would become emperor and revitalize Buddhism. After ascending the throne, Yang believed that “my rise was due to Buddhism,” and thus “showed great favor to Buddhism,” supporting “three hundred thousand monks and nuns, and five thousand temples” (The Records of the Buddha and the Dharma Throughout Generations). His intention to promote Buddhism can be seen in his words to the monk Lingzang: “Lawyers guide people to goodness, while disciples prohibit them from evil. Although the words differ, the intent is the same.” This is precisely what Lenin described as “all oppressive classes, in order to maintain their rule, need two social functions: one is the function of the executioner, and the other is the function of the priest” (The Breakdown of the Third International). On the one hand, he used violence to “prevent people from evil,” while on the other, he relied on monks to use the spiritual opium of religion to “encourage people to be good,” to endure oppression and give up resistance.
Yang Guang (Emperor Yang of Sui), known as the “Holder of the Lotus Bodhi,” killed his brothers and father to seize the throne but “also showed great reverence for Buddhism,” feigning a compassionate heart to deceive the people. He ordered the construction of temples and issued an edict to ordain a thousand monks. These two emperors not only repaired the old scriptures (six hundred twelve baskets, twenty-nine thousand nine hundred volumes) but also established a translation academy, recruiting twenty-four lay and monastic translators to conduct activities at the Daxingshan Temple in Chang’an and the Shanglin Garden in Luoyang. According to The Kaiyuan Buddhist Records, the Sui Dynasty translated a total of sixty-four scriptures and treatises, totaling three hundred and one volumes.
Upon ascending the throne, Emperor Wen of Sui summoned the Indian monk Nalenti Lijiaye to the capital to translate scriptures. In the seventh year of the Qiantian era (556 AD), Nalenti Lijiaye arrived in Ye, where Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi housed him at the Tianping Temple, giving him over a thousand of Sanskrit manuscripts stored in the Three Baskets Hall to translate. He was supervised by twenty or more eminent monks, including Fazhang and the layman Wantieyi, who interpreted the texts. Wantieyi also translated one scripture himself. When Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou suppressed Buddhism, Nalenti Lijiaye hid for many years. After the Sui Dynasty was established, he resumed his work, translating fifteen scriptures and treatises in eighty volumes from the second winter of the Kaigang era to the fifth winter (582–585 AD). In the Dehuang Zhanger Jing he translated, he inserted personal interests, fabricating a lie that the Buddha had predicted that in the end times of Buddhism, “the Moonlight Child” would be reborn in the Sui Dynasty as a king who would lead all living beings to believe in Buddhism, “writing a vast number of large-scale Mahayana scriptures in countless millions, placing them in the Dharma Stupa in every corner, and constructing countless Buddha statues and stupas” (as cited from The Continuation of Historical and Geographical Studies). This foreign monk, terrified by Emperor Wu’s suppression of Buddhism, had to flatter the “deceitful ruler” who “used false means to deceive the world” to secure his livelihood and protect “Buddhism.” This is no surprise, as the Dedication Chapter of Buddhist scriptures always earnestly advises Buddhist followers to entrust the “protection of Buddhism” to “kings and ministers.”
Another Indian monk, Gannajietuo (522–600 AD), arrived in Chang’an in the first year of Emperor Ming’s Wucheng era (559 AD) and quickly mastered Chinese. He translated four volumes and five chapters of scriptures, including the Golden Immortal’s Inquiry Jing. When Emperor Wu suppressed Buddhism, he was forced to return to secular life and follow Confucianism, but as he refused, he was allowed to return to India. In 576 AD, he settled in the Turkic region, where he met ten Chinese monks who had gone west to seek the Dharma, including Bao Xian, Daosui, and Tanshen. They traveled together for about seven years. Bao Xian and the others collected two hundred and sixty Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures, which they brought back to the Sui Dynasty after the Sui replaced the Zhou. They invited Gannajietuo to China to translate scriptures. Upon arrival, he began translating, with the laymen Gaotiannu and Gao Heren interpreting, and the monks Fazhan, Sengxiu, Fazheng, Huizang, Hongzun, Huoyuan, Fazan, Senghui, Mingmu, and Yancong overseeing the translation, revising the principles, and reviewing the Sanskrit with Mingmu and Yancong before finalizing the text. They translated a total of thirty-seven scriptures and one hundred and seventy-six volumes (as recorded in The Continuation of the Biographies of Eminent Monks).
Next, let’s discuss Fei Changfang and Yancong. Fei Changfang was originally a monk who was forced to return to secular life during Emperor Wu’s suppression of Buddhism. In the early Kaigang era, he was summoned to the capital and participated in the translation of scriptures as a “scholar,” authoring The Records of the Three Baskets Throughout Generations in fifteen volumes, divided into four parts: “Scripture Records,” “Imperial Annals,” “Dynastic Records,” and “Preface Index.” It records one hundred and ninety-seven Chinese and foreign monks and laymen who translated over two thousand one hundred and forty-six scriptures and treatises, making it a relatively comprehensive scripture record.
Yancong (557–610 AD) was of aristocratic birth, from Zhaojun, Ba (now Xiping County in Henan Province), and entered monastic life at the age of ten, proficient in Sanskrit. During the Northern Zhou, he was known as one of the “literary and mystical friends” alongside court officials Wang Shao, Xin Deshou, Lu Kaoming, and Tang Yi. In the third year of the Kaigang era (583 AD), when scriptures arrived from the Western Regions, he was ordered to translate. In the twelfth year of the Kaigang era (592 AD), he was again ordered to oversee the translation of scriptures at the Daxingshan Temple, where Emperor Wen of Sui treated him with great honor. Later, he was ordered to compile The Catalogue of Scriptures in five volumes and The Records of the Western Regions in ten volumes. After the establishment of the translation academy, he joined its work and compiled a catalog of over thirteen hundred and fifty Sanskrit scriptures obtained from the new Lin Yi in the Sui Dynasty. Over his career, he translated twenty-three scriptures, totaling over one hundred volumes. Yancong summarized his experience in translation, writing The Argument for Rectification, advocating that the translation of scriptures must be based on the Sanskrit originals, stating, “Although Sanskrit is flawed, it is distinct from the languages of the Western Regions.” That is, although Sanskrit texts may also contain errors, they are still more reliable than translations from local languages in the Western Regions or transliterations of Sanskrit sounds. He praised Fazang’s “Five Losses of the Original and Three Difficulties,” believing that “he could delve into the subtle and explore the profound.” He evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of translators throughout history and proposed the “Eight Preparations,” which are the eight conditions for doing a good job in the translation of Buddhist scriptures.