早期佛典译论文质“厥中论”范式的哲学疏解

Philosophical Underpinnings of the Juezhong Theory in China’s Early Sutra Translation

文质“厥中论”于早期佛译“文质之争”中所产生,是中国古代翻译思想中的重要理论之一。它取法于儒家的文质人格论,但又有创新发展:不仅仅停留于文质理解的策略层面,还从“经文义理”与“译文语体”间的关系来看待文质矛盾,在文与质间寻求平衡,本文称之为“翻译叙事语篇平衡论”。其也表现出独有的文化特质:翻译的“信言”与“美言”互为有体的传统辩证性、“折中观”均衡意识下的中和思维意识以及从传统文论先觉中汲取营养的学习性。厥中论的理论格局不止于文与质间的均衡,还有翻译的内外因素间的均衡,这一双重意识,较之于之前佛译思想,明显是一种突破与超越,也是对早期传统文论观念的一种进步。

Juezhong(eclecticism/balancing),one of the major theories to come out of translational practices of ancient China,originated from a debate over whether wen(form)or zhi(content)should be upheld as the normative stylistic principle for Buddhist sutra translation.Being both a derivation from and a further development of the conceptual opposition between wen and zhi in Confucius's theory of personality,juezhong settles the dispute between form-and content-centered orientations in sutra translation by striking a balance between the two and,as such,between the external and the internal factors affecting the translational discourse as well.It should therefore be understood as a theory that champions a discursive balance in translation.And it has also contributed to the improvement of early literary theory.