唐代佛教注经家对“正翻”和“义翻”的认同与取舍——兼论“修多罗”(Sūtra)一词的翻译

Buddhist Scholars’ Attitudes toward “Zheng Fan” and “Yi Fan” in Tang Dynasty

'正翻'和'义翻'是中国古代的一组佛经翻译方法,分别用来处理'东西两土俱有'和'西土即有,此土全无'两种情况下的名词翻译问题,相当于现代译学术语中的'直译'和'意译'。通过考察这两个术语的命名和使用情况,可以看出'正翻'是更受唐代注经家推崇的做法,'义翻'则每每被视为无法进行'正翻'时的权宜之计,而这种价值取向和当时对'格义佛学'的批判很有关系。不过,在面对具体个案时,并不是所有的注经家都会拘泥于'正翻'的正统性而一味否认'义翻'的价值。'修多罗'(Sūtra)一词的翻译所引发的争论,说明对于某些可以'正翻'的梵文词语,'义翻'也有可能因为维护宗教神圣性等方面的考量而被采纳,甚至被认为优于纯粹的'正翻'。

'Zhengfan'and'Yifan'were a pair of Buddhist Scripture translation methods in ancient China.'Zhengfan'was invented to translate the names of'those that appeared both in China and in India',while'Yifan'was used when the object'only existed in India.'Through exploring the naming and usages of these two terms,we found that Buddhist Scriptures commentators in Tang Dynasty generally gave priority to'Zhengfan'and considered'Yifan'as a temporary expedient.Such attitudes were closely related to the criticism of Geyi Buddhism(hermeneutic Buddhism)at that time.However,not all commenters stick to the legitimacy of'Zhengfan'and denied the value of'Yifan'.The controversy over the translation of'Sūtra'revealed that'Yifan'was accepted or even preferred so as to highlight the sacredness of Buddhism in some particular cases,in which the Sanskrit words could be'Zhengfan'actually.