Master Kumarajiva (350-409) was a monk in the late Qin Dynasty in China. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties (AD 40 1 year), he came to Chang 'an, the translation center at that time, and began his translation career in Xiaoyao Garden. He presided over the translation of 400 volumes of Buddhist classics, and the quality of translation was highly praised at that time and later. The Preface to Vimalakīrti's Classics says that his translation is "concise, with graceful intention" and "in line with dialects, without interest". The Preface of Hundred Schools of Thought praised it as "quality but not wild, simplicity but not want". Later generations praised his translation as "good at expressing the meaning of the text, the beauty lies in expressing the classic heart" and "everyone is satisfied and appreciates it". Liang Qichao, a close friend, praised: "Kumarajiva is a first-class translation master." Translate literature and Buddhist scriptures.
In the translation literature of Buddhism, Mr. Hu Shi once translated the sentence "Heaven meets man, and man meets heaven" as "Man meets heaven, and the two meet", and thought that Roche opposed literal translation. He also said: "His translation has been circulated for 1500 years and has become a' masterpiece' of this country precisely because he can not only translate it well, but also translate it into Chinese." It can be seen that the strength of his translation of classics lies in his language skills.
Roche is really very particular about the literary grace of the translation. According to Kumarajiva and Zhu Fahu's translation by Chen Shan in Song Dynasty, Fahu said,' People sit in groups and look at the Buddha with their eyes open'. Roche said,' Look at your face, look forward to it'. Not only language ability, but also self-help. That is, it can predict the length of talent. "I am very sure of his literary talent in translating classics. Roche himself advocates that as long as the essence can be preserved, it is better to "show China truthfully". Although Roche attaches great importance to literary talent, his translation attitude is very rigorous and his handling method is also "compromise". For example, when translating classics, he always follows the meaning of the original text in order to achieve his goal accurately. Seng Zhao commented on his translation of Vimalakīrti classics, "cultivate one's morality and cultivate one's character, strive for perfection, and keep sacred meaning". He himself said, "If you keep its essence, there will be no mistakes" (Biography of Kumarajiva). This shows that while paying attention to "elegance", he has not relaxed at all about "faith". "Concise words and clear purpose" means that he pays attention to "expressiveness", which shows that he is the first person to follow the translation standard of "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance" in China's translation history.
The Biography of Kumarajiva also recorded one of his famous translation theories: "If you change Brahman to Qin, you will lose the smell of algae. Although careless, it is like chewing rice with people, but it is not tasteless and disgusting. " This is the first time in the history of translation studies in China to discuss translation style (since then, the wonderful metaphor of "chewing rice and people" has been a warning to translators). It shows that he pays attention to literary taste from the perspective of literary appreciation. Zanning said in Song Dynasty: "Tong Shou (Luo Shi) translated French and Chinese, which can be described as a compromise, and he has a natural interest in the languages of the western regions." Liang Qichao pointed out that "the word" natural interest in language "is a critical comment" and that "China's translated literature was completely established after Roche's classics were written. With the input of foreign' language sense', the content of literature will expand and its quality will change greatly. " (Translated Literature and Buddhist Scriptures) Hu Shi also thinks that "translated literature only comes into maturity here". From this perspective, Roche's contribution to China's literary translation should be attributed to Yu.
In fact, the Buddhist scriptures translated by Kumarajiva, such as King Kong, Fahua and Vimalakīrti, are all Buddhist classics with strong literary flavor, and Vimalakīrti Classic is a novel with great literary interest. Therefore, the aesthetic level will naturally be touched in translation. In addition, Roche is familiar with Sanskrit since he was a child, with high cultural accomplishment and literary attainments, which is what Liang Qichao said: "If you know both Chinese and Sanskrit, you will be able to do it with ease." This gave him a talent for seeking work and elegance. Because he is diligent in scrutinizing translations, his translation style is rigorous. "I hesitated for more than a month and haven't written yet." Therefore, translation has reached the realm of "reaching the dialect and flowing the style". Roche tends to translate freely, and the more direct reason lies in the influence of the style of the language era. The era of Roche's translation of classics is the period when China's aesthetics was formally established, and also the period when the style of writing began to change luxuriously. From Cao Pi's Poem, Prose and Desire for Beauty, we can see that the language style has changed fundamentally, so the translated language will inevitably be affected. This is what Hu Shi said, "Roche's translation method can be regarded as the most appropriate method in the transitional period of one day" ("Buddhist Translation Literature").
Roche was also the first translator to set up a translation studio in China. He set up translation workshops in Xiaoyao Garden and Chang'an Temple, led more than 8,000 disciples to translate Buddhist scriptures on a large scale, which provided experience for the later establishment of translation workshops. He was also an early master of translation criticism. He verified the previous translation, criticized the translation and methods, and corrected the mistakes in the old translation one by one, making it "flexible to everyone's satisfaction".
Master of true meaning
Truth appeared after Roche (499-569). The real meaning of "Kailuyuan" is to "go to other countries less, learn from more teachers, learn foreign classics first, and prepare books." People call him the most learned translator in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Translation of classics began in 546 AD, and a large number of important classics were translated, such as Mahayana Theory, All Abandonment Theory, Perception Theory, Golden Light, Ming Jing and so on. According to the Biography of Monks, there are 14 volumes, 278 volumes and 19 volumes in the past 23 years. His translation of Mahayana of Photography had a great influence on China's Buddhist thought and became the main theoretical basis of the school of photography theory in the Southern Dynasties.
The translation of the True Meaning was highly praised at that time and later generations in terms of quality and methods. For example, Hui Kai, a famous monk in the Liang Dynasty, praised the True Meaning in the Preface to Mahayana, saying: "The mage (the true meaning) is good at interpreting sounds, knowing dialects well, having hidden characters, being obvious and meticulous." A translation with true meaning has the qualities of faithfulness, expressiveness and quality. He added, "The master has traveled for a long time and knows the local sounds and meanings like the back of his hand, so there is no need to measure what he translated ...". In other words, he uses Chinese as much as possible in translation, uses Sanskrit transliteration as little as possible, and pays attention to integration and expression. He also said that when he translated, "in a word, he repeatedly explained and solemnly repeated, which is called correspondence." In other words, his translation style is rigorous and meticulous.
The real meaning does not leave a systematic translation theory. But some of his fragmentary views and opinions are also incisive and original. For example, Biography of a Monk records a sentence that Zhen Zhen said to his translation assistant Hui Kai: "I have two translation theories (Mahayana theory, give up everything), and I have no hatred!" It can be seen that Cinda is a basic idea that takes into account the true meaning. His "well-prepared words" is also a simple and clear translation standard.
Zhao Hui also pointed out in the preface of Mahayana that the translation principle of this theory is: "Translation is extremely difficult and cannot shine brilliantly. If the words are irregular, Li will surpass the moon lake, and he will be proud of the quality and the text cannot be lost. Therefore, today's translation is semi-quality. " In the preface, it is emphasized that the principle of "breaking faith without seeking" is actually the principle and proposition that Zhen Zhen himself followed in translating Mahayana.
Xuanzang Lu Zhi
The third is Xuanzang (600-664), a great translator of Buddhist scriptures in the Tang Dynasty. During his 20-year translation career, he has presided over the translation of 75 volumes of Buddhist scriptures, 1335 volumes. This figure is more than 600 volumes more than the total number of volumes translated by the other three translators, accounting for more than half of the total number of volumes translated in the Tang Dynasty. Indian scholar Park Letian said: Xuanzang is "the first translator in history, and his achievements will always be remembered by people all over the world" (great translator Xuanzang). The quality of Xuanzang's translation of Buddhist scriptures has also reached a high level. Buddhist historians call Xuanzang's translation of Buddhist scriptures "new translation", which proves that he has created a new trend in the history of Buddhist scripture translation. Daoxuan said that Xuanzang's translation was "eloquent" and that "poets can use it to write and play" (continued the Biography of Monks). In "The Western Regions of Datang", he said, "Read the text as yourself, and it will still ring". It shows that he is proficient in bilingualism and Buddhism, so the quality of translation is unique.
Liang Qichao believes that Xuanzang's "free translation and literal translation are perfect and harmonious, which coincides with the extreme trajectory of Taoism". The reason for this, as Bai Letian said, is that he "read and chewed the original text well, and then expressed it in proper Chinese". This shows how good his translation is. His translation skills are also superb. Based on the investigation with Zhang, a scholar in China, he skillfully used translation techniques such as supplement, ellipsis, displacement, clutch, translation name borrowing and pronoun reduction. It is the clever use of these techniques that makes his translation achieve a high degree of unity of form and content.
Another outstanding contribution of Xuanzang in China's translation history is that the translation field he presided over is clear and complete. From the translator to the guardian ambassador, there are eleven procedures before and after, which ensure the quality of translating classics to the greatest extent. In particular, three aspects, namely "proving the meaning" (examining the meaning of the translation and the original text), "sticking to the meaning" (making the expression of the translation conform to the habits of China people) and "polishing the translation from the rhetorical point of view", ensure the "faithfulness and elegance" of the translation.
Xuanzang's famous translation theory is "five translations", which means transliteration, that is, mysterious words in the original text ("mystery"), polysemous words ("polysemy"), names of things that China doesn't have ("for no reason"), transliterated words that have been popular for a long time ("following ancient principles") and occasions needed to promote Buddhism. During the period of Buddhist scripture translation, many Buddhist scripture translators generally followed this principle, so a large number of Chinese loanwords such as Bodhi, Samadhi, Lohan, Bodhisattva and Prajna appeared in Chinese vocabulary. It should be said that Xuanzang's theory of "five non-translations" is of positive significance for interpreting Sanskrit that is not properly expressed in Chinese, preserving the meaning of the source language to the maximum extent, dealing with the differences caused by culture and language in translation, and cultural exchange. It's just that this translation is too limited. A little carelessness will make the translation read like what Qian Zhongshu said, "Walking through a bumpy road and listening to the creaking of the ship."
Sanzang is not empty
The last one is not empty (705-774). Bukong/Kloc-became a teacher at the age of 0/5 and has been engaged in translation since then. According to the records of Zhenyuan Buddhism, Bukong once translated two volumes of Benevolence King Prajna Sutra, three volumes of Miyan Sutra and two volumes of Manjusri Bodhisattva's Solemn Merit Sutra. Translated 1 10 Mahayana and tantric classics, totaling 143 volumes. Among them, the translated King Kong Ding Jing is an important classic of tantric Buddhism.
Not empty is not as good as the three masters before him in translation theory, but according to Yuan Zhao's Records of Zhenyuan Buddhism, he studied hard and thoroughly translated all kinds of classics, traveled all over Tianzhu, sought for secrets and all kinds of classics, and got 80 books such as the Jingangding Yoga Sutra taught by Ronnie, and 20 books of great and small benefit, 1200 volume * *. His translation attitude is very strict, and all translated scriptures should be carefully studied before translation.
Therefore, the quality of the classics he translated was highly praised by people at that time. It can be seen that although he didn't leave a written theoretical opinion, his translation thought is very clear, that is, to attach importance to the quality of the translation, or to use today's words, to emphasize the sense of fine works. When he was alive, he occupied the position of the first teacher for more than 40 years and was "sincerely worshipped" by the ruling and opposition parties, which also showed his outstanding achievements in the translation of classics.