Brief History Of Buddhist Studies In Europe And Maerica

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

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THE EASTERN BUDDHIST
Lamotte's translation of the Ta-chih-tu-lun ( ). Lamotte's work is a fine example of Buddhist scholarship. Without any doubt Japanese scholars would be able to provide us with translations of Chinese Buddhist texts accompanied with commentaries of similar scope. Most translations in the Kokuyaku Issaiky) are only sparingly provided with notes. However, it is not sufficient to translate a text and to explain briefly some technical terms. Both the introduction and the commentary of a translation ought to give full information on all matters relating to the text.
With regard to translations of Chinese Buddhist texts, Western translators are forced to translate each character into English or another Western language. Japanese translators often do not really translate a Chinese text but rather indicate how a sentence has to be analysed and constructed. All important words and terms are left untranslated, because the Japanese language allows them to maintain the same Chinese characters as those found in the Chinese text. However, such translations fail to do justice to the original texts. It will often be necessary to translate Chinese characters by other Chinese characters. Sometimes, however, it will be difficult to find good equivalents and it will be necessary to maintain the same characters but, in such cases, one needs a note to explain the exact meaning and value of these terms in the Chinese text. Critical translations of Chinese Buddhist texts into Japanese must be based on a searching analysis of the style, vocabulary and terminology of the Chinese text. In the case of Chinese Buddhist texts, translated from original Indian texts, it will be necessary to try and determine, as far as possible, the Indian terms which occur in the original text.
Problems of a different nature arise when one has to translate original Chinese Buddhist texts. In many instances, the authors of these texts have used Buddhist terms but not in the same meaning which they have in Indian texts. In the early period of Chinese Buddhism Taoist ideas clearly exercised a great influence. Often it is difficult to know whether a certain term reflects a Taoist idea or has to be interpreted as a Buddhist idea rendered by a Taoist term. A Japanese translator will be tempted to maintain the same Chinese characters without trying to solve this difficulty. In the case of such texts an English translation would be greatly preferable. Let me quote one example. Sengchao's work has been studied and translated by a group of scholars from Kyoto in the Foron no kenkyū, a splendid publication which shows the excellent
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