Do traditional countries support Buddhist scripture translation?

The translation of Buddhist scriptures in China has gone through four periods: the Eastern Han Dynasty, the initial translation period; Eastern Jin Dynasty and Sui Dynasty, the official translation period; Tang Dynasty, the heyday of translation; After the Song Dynasty, the woodcut translation period.

Translation of Buddhist Scriptures in China

When Emperor Han Ming was in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the imperial court sent messengers to invite two monks from the Western Regions-She Moteng and Zhu Falan. These two monks brought not only the Buddha statues of the Western Regions, but also Buddhist scriptures. Because these Buddhist scriptures are Sanskrit scriptures handed down from India, in order to facilitate missionary work, Sher Morten and Zhu Falan translated them into Chinese. Since then, monks from China and China have been in constant contact, and more Buddhist scriptures have been introduced. Through the efforts of more than 200 translators 10 century, the number of China Sanzang translated from Sanskrit has reached 1690, with more than 6,420 volumes, which systematically introduced the theories of Buddhism, such as listening, riding, sexuality, imagery and metaphysics, into China, thus forming China Buddhism.

According to the translation process of China's Buddhist scriptures, we can divide them into four stages:

Eastern Han Dynasty, the initial translation period.

The earliest Chinese translation of Buddhist scriptures in China is forty-two chapters, which are said to have been translated by She Moteng and Zhu Falan. This is the beginning of China's translation of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, most of the monks who translated scriptures came from the western regions, among which An Shigao, the prince who was at rest, and Gao Jia, the intellectual building of a great Yue family in the western regions, were the most famous. During this period, the translation of Buddhist scriptures in China is still in the primary stage, and it is not possible to carry out planned and systematic translation. Translation of classics is rarely a complete translation, and there are many problems in translation. At this time, the scale of the translated scriptures increased in multiples of parallel lines, and Buddhism has occupied a place in China's ideological circle.

Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, official translation period.

From the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures were widely introduced into China. During this period, Buddhism gained the belief of the rulers, and the translation of Buddhist scriptures was supported by the government, from folk translation of Buddhist scriptures to official translation of Buddhist scriptures. At the beginning of Qin dynasty, the collective translation work organized by the government began, and the Buddhist scriptures were translated by the monk Daoan. It is said that this is the earliest large-scale Buddhist scripture translation site in China. More than 20 years later, Kumarajiva, a westerner, organized an official translation workshop in Chang 'an, where 800 monks gathered to translate Buddhist scriptures. After Kumarajiva, foreign translators came one after another, and the main classics were constantly translated, which formed the first climax of Buddhist translation in China.

The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of translation.

By the Tang Dynasty, Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures were translated comprehensively and systematically, and the official translation field was larger and more comprehensive. At this time, Xuanzang's translation field was the most famous. His systematic translation scale, rigorous translation style and rich translation achievements have left a brilliant example in the translation history of China.

During this period, China Buddhism formed eight sects, which marked the maturity of China's Buddhist theory. Not only does each sect have its own classics and writings, but it also produces the only Buddhist scripture named Jing in China, namely the Tanjing of Zen. The number of Chinese Buddhist scriptures is increasing day by day.

After the Song Dynasty, the woodcut translation period.

In the seventh year of the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 982), Song Taizong reorganized the translation field and resumed the translation of Buddhist scriptures that had been interrupted for more than 100 years since the sixth year of Tang Yuanhe (AD 81).

Since the Song Dynasty, the translation of Buddhist scriptures has gradually decreased, but due to the wide application of block printing technology, the printing and circulation of Buddhist scriptures have been accelerated. During the Kaibao period in the Northern Song Dynasty, the official of the Song Dynasty presided over the completion of the first block-printed Buddhist tripitaka Kaibao in China.