Kumārajīva
Buddhist translator and scholar who shaped Chinese Buddhism.
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via Wikipedia: Kumārajīva · see source
Born in 344 CE and dying in 413 CE, Kumārajīva was a Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary, and translator whose origins were in the Kingdom of Kucha.[1] Within Chinese Buddhism, Kumārajīva is considered among the foremost translators and a key contributor to the formation of literary Buddhist Chinese.[2]
Life and work
He later converted to Mahayana Buddhism and studied the Mādhyamaka doctrine of Nāgārjuna.[3] His translation style prioritized conveying meaning over precise literal rendering, producing flowing and readable texts.[4] When he turned seven, his mother entered a nunnery; from age nine onward, he learned the Agamas and Sarvastivada Abhidharma from teachers in North India, Kashmir, and Kucha.[5] Around 401 CE, having gained fluency in Chinese, he took up residence in Chang'an as a translator and scholar, supported by the Later Qin dynasty.[3]
He directed a translation group that included his scribe Sengrui, and together they rendered numerous Sanskrit Buddhist writings into Chinese.[3] He was responsible for bringing the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy to China, a tradition later referred to as Sanlun.[6]
What the cited sources add
According to Rafal Felbur, the translations associated with Kumārajīva's name were executed from Prakrits and early Buddhist Sanskrit into classical Chinese.[7][8] Felbur also states that in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the Kumārajīva corpus has been an implicit major presence in global modernist Buddhism.[7][8] Fan Muyou states that Kumārajīva and his disciples strove to fix these mistakes by presenting accurate interpretations grounded in Indian Madhyamaka philosophy.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Kumārajīva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pollard 2015, p. 287 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kumārajīva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Beeby Lonsdale, Allison; Ensinger, Doris; Presas, Marisa (2000). Investigating Translation: Selected Papers from the 4th International Congress on Translation, (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kumārajīva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rahul, Ram (2000). March of Central Asia, p. 83. Indus Publishing.; Lai, Whalen (1991). "Tao Sheng's Theory of Sudden Enlightenment Re-examined". In Gregory, Peter N. Sudden and Gradual. Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Th (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kumārajīva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nattier 1992, p. 186; Nattier 1992, p. 186 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kumārajīva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Zürcher 2007 p. 226.; ; Zürcher 2007 p. 226. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kumārajīva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mair, Victor H.; Sanping Chen, Wood, Frances (2013). Chinese Lives: The People Who Made a Civilization, #28, Kumarajiva. Thames & Hudson. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kumārajīva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Felbur, Rafal. Kumarajiva "Great Man" and Cultural Event. A Companion to World Literature. Edited by Ken Seigneurie. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 20 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Rafal Felbur, "Kumarajiva: “Great Man” and Cultural Event", A Companion to World Literature (2019), doi:10.1002/9781118635193.ctwl0312. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org
- Wikipedia, "Kumārajīva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fan Muyou. A Reexamination of the Influence of Kumārajīva's Thought on His Translation of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa. The Eastern Buddhist 47/1: 57-80 ©2018 The Eas; Fan Muyou. A Reexamination of the Influence of Kumārajīva's Thought on His Translation of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa. The Eastern Buddhist 47/1: 57-80 ©2018 The Eas (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Kumārajīva (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Kumārajīva (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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