A Brief Account of Kumarajiva's Translation Theory and His Translation Achievements

Abstract

As a landmark translator of Buddhist scriptures in the history of Chinese Buddhist scriptures translation, Kumarajiva has a far-reaching influence on the history of Chinese Buddhist scriptures translation. He is a famous monk in the Western Regions and a translator of Buddhist scriptures in ancient China. According to statistics, the number of his translated works has reached 384 volumes of Buddhist Sanskrit classics. He is known as the three great translators of Chinese Buddhism together with Zhenyi and Xuanzang. He and Xuan Zang are two insurmountable peaks in the history of Buddhist scripture translation in China, and Liang Qichao called him "the first-class master in translation field". Kumarajiva presided over the translation activities of Buddhist scriptures, which promoted the process of sinicization of Buddhist scriptures and made a qualitative leap in the history of Chinese Buddhist scriptures translation. The translation of ancient Chinese Buddhist scriptures represents the first translation climax in the history of Chinese translation. Buddhist scripture translation is the first large-scale, well-planned and well-organized translation activity in Chinese history. In the later Qin Dynansty period, Kumarajiva presided over the large-scale translation field of Xiaoyao Garden in Chang'an, Assemble 8,000 disciples to proofread and translate Buddhist scriptures, They changed their predecessors' formal literal translation and advocated free translation. Although it ran counter to the mainstream translation methods at that time, his translated Buddhist scriptures, such as Diamond Sutra, made readers realize the literary interest contained in Buddhist scriptures on the basis of retaining the original text, and made Buddhist culture spread widely in a greater and deeper level. In fact, the process of localization of Buddhist scriptures is also the tolerance of foreign culture and the innovation of its own culture after Chinese culture is continuously integrated into foreign Buddhist culture. Today's traditional translation theories can find truthful examples in Kumarajiva's translation practice. Combing Kumarajiva's translation thoughts and achievements will help us better grasp the modern and contemporary translation theory system and contribute to the development of contemporary Chinese translation schools.