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A History of the Chinese Translation
A History of the Chinese
Translation
1.1 The
earliest translation in China
The
convincing historical record of the earliest
translation activities in China can be found in
the Zhou
Dynasty(
周代
) about
3000 years ago.
In the
books
《周礼》
and
《礼记》
，
the record of the title of the
translator is kept. The title of the
earliest translator is called
象胥。
1.2 Translation in the Han Dynasty
Generally speaking, translation in Han
Dynasty is mainly focused on that of Buddhist
sutras.
Ma Zuyi‘s Division
of Sutra Translation in China
According to Ma Zuyi, from the Han
Dynasties to the Western Jin(A.D.148-316) is a
period of starting
the translation of
the Buddhist scriptures. In fact, the enormous
introduction of the Buddhist scriptures
into China began in the Eastern Han
Dynasty (A.D.148) and the earliest translators are
安清
and
支
娄迦谶
. Besides, there are
other translators such as
安玄
,
严佛调
,
朱士行
,
支谦
,
康僧会
< br>
and
竺法
护
.
Characteristics of the translation in
this time
（公元
148-316
）
:
A.
Translation of the Buddhist scriptures is done for
the purpose of meeting the needs of the then
society. Although the then society
simply regarded Buddhism as a kind of
superstition, some preachers
or
missionaries
took
great
interest
in
introducing
it
to
the
Chinese
people.
At
the
end
of
the
Eastern
Han
Dynasty,
the
class
contradictions
became
sharper
and
as
a
result
there
broke
out
an
enormous peasants uprising of Huangjin.
During this period of time Buddhism spread more
quickly
than ever as it could be used
by different people for different purposes.
B.―
质朴
‖
和
―
文丽
‖
两派争论。
这场争论，大概是发生在初译《法句经》的
224
年。在中国翻译史上关于信达雅的问题已被提
出。质派
用以支持自己论点的，不仅有佛经，而且有玄学依为经典的《老子》和《周易》
，尤其<
/p>
是有玄学的
―
言不尽意。的课题。这场争
论，
―
质派虽然在理论上获得胜利，但实际结果，却是
由文派最后成书。
(
见任继愈
< br>―
中国佛教史》第一卷．
)
。<
/p>
(
转引自马租毅《中国翻译简史》
p.2
4)
rize Buddhism with the help of
玄学
.
主要代表人物有竺法护。
< br>
D.
From
the
Eastern
Han
Dynasty
to
the
Western
Jin
Dynasty,
translation
is
usually
done
by
interpreters,
i.e.
a
foreign
monk
recited
the
scriptures,
an
interpreter
interpreted
them(
叫传言或度
语
),and
another
person
or
several
people
took
notes
and
put
them
into
Chinese.
The
quality
of
the
translation is dependent on the
interpreter‘s work.
E. So
far as the translation methods are concerned, the
monks did translation with much admiration of
the scriptures at the beginning of the
introduction of the translation and they did it by
literal translation
as they lacked much
knowledge about linguistics and other related
disciplinary subjects.
1.3. Translation
Between Han Dynasty and the End of Sui Dynasty
Translation
in
this
period
greatly
meets
the
needs
of
the
society
as
both
the
ruling
class
and
the
working
people need religion which greatly promotes
translation. In the then China, there are many
wars and so much suffering among the
working people. To many people, Buddhist
scriptures can help
them spiritually.
Important translators of this phase:
释道安（
314-385
道安的
―
五失本
‖ ―
三不易
‖
之说
释道安
说：
―
不依国主，则法事难立
‖
。
鸠摩罗什（
Kumarajiva
，
350-410
）
。
罗什在逍遥园译场（
Translation
Forum
）开始译经，姚使沙门八百余人受制于罗什麾下，译经
74
部，
384
卷，现存只
有
39
部，
313
卷。他通过近四百卷佛教典籍的传译和阐发，第一次把印
度佛学按本来面目介绍过来
，对六朝佛学的繁荣以及隋唐佛教诸宗的形成，都起了重要作用。
罗什译经过程是：先由罗什口译成汉语，讲出义旨，并拿旧译
本来对照，经过详细讨论，
1
A
History of the Chinese Translation
写成初稿，还要以
―
论
‖
证
―
经
‖
，再作修改。全书完成再经过总勘，确实首尾通畅，才作定本。
其翻译特点是：
1
）译文质量高；
2<
/p>
）侧重意译；
3
）文体难译（天竺辞体华
美，译成汉语则美全
失）
；
4
）反对
―
格义
‖
译法（即以中国的玄学唯心主义的立场去理解佛经，因此常借用玄学名词
来译佛学概念，
―
先旧格义，于理多违
‖
；创立佛教专用名词）
；
5
）提倡译者署名，以负文责。
Characteristics of the translation in
this period:
A.
Freelance
translators
became
translators
employed
by
the
governmental
officials
or
local
authorities.
It
is
associated
with
certain
major
projects
—
ideological
and
religious
in
nature
—
which
often had the support of monarchs,
aristocrats and institutions. Translation Forum
B. Proofreading is not dependent on a
single version but several ones which result in
the edition of
catalogues.
C. Progress is made in terms of
translation theories and techniques.
D.
Translation of Buddhist scriptures served the
interest of the ruling class and meets their
demands of
controlling the people and
the society psychologically.
One
sentence summary:
Translation
is
instrumental
in
the
then
Chinese
society,
for
it
starts
by
having
itself
associated
with
such project as promoting effective
communication between nationalities, and meeting
the needs of
ideology
and
popularizing
religion
—
which
often
had
the
support
of
monarchs,
aristocrats
and
institutions.
Questions:
What are the
names given by our ancestors to translation?
What is the point of view by Confucius
on translating names?
What is the
significance of
《法句经序》
by
支谦
in translation studies?
What
is your view on
the
argument of two schools
(―
文
‖and
―
质
‖) about translation
between?
What are the
features of the two phases of Sutra Translation in
the then China?
1
.’s
Translation from Tang Dynasty to Yuan
Dynasty
1..4.1Translation
practice in Tang Dynasty
The third phase
of the translation of Buddhist
scriptures(
公元
618-906)
This period is regarded as the climax
of China‘s translation of Buddhist scriptures.
(1)Translation
of
this
period
is
associated
with
certain
major
pro
jects
—
political,
ideological
and
religious
in
nature
—
which
often had the support of monarchs, aristocrats and
institutions. It served the interest of
the monarchs who adopted it to
consolidate their power. (2)Buddhism developed in
the Tang Dynasty
and attracted the
monarchs‘ attention. (3)The translators are most
Chinese who knew both Chinese and
Sanskrit and had good plans in terms of
practice and by setting up translation forums. (4)
Two of the
four
famous
Buddhist
scripture
translators
are
in
the
Tang
Dynasty.
(5)The
translation
is
better
in
fidelity than in the past.
ant translators in Tang Dynasty
Zang(600-664)
a great translator in Chinese history
who made great contributions to the
development of China‘s translation
organization, practice and theory, translated
佛经
75
部，
1335
卷
.
Xuan Zang‘s
five don‘ts (
五不翻
):
Xuan
Zang
also
mad
e
contributions
to
the
then
China‘s
translation
forums
because
he
classified
translation work
into 9 kinds: .
Jing
Jing(
义净
,635-713) ,
translator in the Tang
Dynasty
，
Bu
Kong(
不空
,705-774), translator
in the Tang Dynasty
，北印度婆罗门种，梵名阿日祛跋折罗，
15
岁拜金刚智为师，以后又参加译经，开元
29
年游遍五天竺，收罗各种经书等共
5
百部，共译密
宗教典
110
部，共
143
卷。为人好巴结权贵，吝啬。
Characteristics of the third phase of
sutra translation
The
third
phase
of
sutra
translation
showed
a
marked
departure
from
previous
practices
in
that
the
processes of theological explication
and translation became separated .The size of
Translation Forums
was reduced
dramatically
–
normally no
more than three dozen monks were involved. This is
true of
all forums held from the late
sixth century onwards, including those presided
over by the most prolific
monk-
translator in Chinese
history
—
Xuan Zang.
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