Rendition Techniques in the Chinese Translation of Three Sanskit Buddist Scriptures

In past studies, most scholars did not pay attention to numerous facts such as who translated the Sanskrit Buddhist terms, when the translations were made, where those monks came from, or what dialects they spoke, etc. In fact, chronology and nationality did play important roles in regard to the translators' choices of different rendition strategies. The three Buddhist Sanskrit scriptures examined in this study are the Diamond Sutra, the Heart Sutra, and the Sukhavati Sutra. Traditional recognized categories are not enough to deal with borrowings from Buddhist Sanskrit texts, and a much wider range of different rendition techniques are employed