“观音”译名与中国传统语言文化

The Translation of"Guanyin"and Traditional Chinese Language and Culture

在佛教传入之前,中国传统语言文化中的“观”已具备了与其在佛教教义中相类似的文化涵义和特性,二者表现出惊人的一致性。“观”既反映出东方认知思维的某些共性,也是全人类共有共享的哲学方法和思想。先秦汉语中丰富的视觉动词“看”“见”“视”“窥”和听觉动词“听”等,都不具备“观”的体味和研判义,“观音”译名是儒释道词语和概念融合阶段的生动写照。

Before the introduction of Buddhism,the“Guan(观)”in traditional Chinese language and culture had similar cultural connotations and characteristics as in its Buddhist teachings,and both showed amazing consistency.“Guan(观)”not only reflected some common characteristics of Eastern cognitive thinking,but also the philosophical methods and ideas shared by all human beings.The various visual verbs“Kan(看)”,“Jian(见)”,“Shi(视)”,“Kui(窥)”and the auditory verb“listen(听)”in Pre-Qin Chinese did not possess the taste and judgment meaning of“Guan(观)”.The translation of“Guanyin(观音)”was a vivid portrayal of the integration of Buddhist terms and conceptions.