彦琮《辩正论》历史贡献的译学评价依据

The Treatise “Bianzheng Lun”[ “On Right Way”] by Monk Yan Cong(557-610): Its Historical Significances and the Evidences Evaluated in Translation Studies

彦琮《辩正论》是中国译学史上第二篇系统的翻译专论。本文从作者生活年代的断代、作者身份分析和其翻译理论内容三个方面探讨这个论断的译学依据。本文用确凿的材料证明《辩正论》作者彦琮生活在北朝末年和隋朝,也推论了《辩正论》本身产生的年代。彦琮作为高僧和朝廷官员双重身份以往学界不曾提及,也是本文的亮点。最后,本文详论《辩正论》本身作为翻译理论的具体内容、专门性及其系统性。《辩正论》是一套系统的佛典翻译理论,由佛典翻译原则论、佛典译者论和译典者通梵语论三大理论组成。

On Right Way by Monk Yan Cong( 557-610) is the second earliest treatise exclusively of Buddhist scripture translation in the history of Chinese translation theory. This statement has been evidenced by the following facts: Yan Cong,the author wrote the treatise in his prime years of his life in Sui Dynasty;he was both a monk of high prestige and an official( academician) in central government of Sui,whose latter identity has never been mentioned by any scholars before;the treatise On Right Way,as a translation theory essay,comprises three compositional theories of Buddhist scripture translation,each of which is on translation principles,on translators and on reasons why a translator must know Sanskrit. Those three components are reinforced by and interrelated with each other,supporting the main idea of the treatise.