Cover not available

Article published In: FORUM
Vol. 9:2 (2011) ► pp.157–186

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Translating the Tibetan Buddhist Canon

Past strategies, future prospects

 | Lingnan University |
Published online: 1 October 2011
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/forum.9.2.08rai
Abstract/Résumé
Cet article en accompagne un précédent publié dans ce journal (Raine 2010), qui portait sur l'identité des traducteurs dans l'histoire tibétaine et le contexte dans lequel ils travaillaient. Dans ce présent article, l'accent est mis sur la formation et le contenu du canon bouddhiste tibétain et les stratégies de traduction auxquelles ont recouru les Tibétains lors des neuf siècles durant lesquels ils ont traduit les textes bouddhistes indiens. Les directives en matière de traduction prévues par le roi Tride Songtsen (règne: 799-815) sont examinées et analysées, s’ensuivra une discussion sur la façon dont ces protocoles ont été utilisés plus tard par les traducteurs, les chercheurs et les éditeurs du canon tibétain. Comme dans l’article précédent, celui-ci fait un lien entre l’étude historique de la traduction et l’époque contemporaine, la dernière section étant consacrée à l’examen des efforts récents visant à traduire le canon bouddhiste tibétain en anglais et dans d’autres langues. Les impératifs institutionnels pour coordonner ce travail, les pratiques et les normes établies pour la traduction sont abordés. Alors que le bouddhisme tibétain poursuit son processus de transmission vers l’Occident et au-delà, la manière dont les traducteurs choisissent de rendre ces textes religieux souvent abstrus dans plusieurs langues présentera un grand intérêt tant pour les chercheurs spécialisés en traduction que ceux spécialisés en études bouddhistes.
References (34)
References
Bibliotheca Polyglotta, University of Oslo, Faculty of Humanities. [URL]
Braarvig, J. E. (2011). Personal email correspondence.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cabezon, J.I. & Jackson, R.R. (eds.) (1996). Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre. Ithaca: Snow Lion.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cheung, M. (ed.) (2006). An Anthology of Chinese Discourse on Translation. Volume 1: From Earliest Times to the Buddhist Project. Manchester and Kinderhook: St. Jerome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eimer, H. (2002). Kanjur and Tenjur Studies: Present State and Future Tasks. The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism, Helmut E. & Germano, D. (eds). Leiden: Brill, 1–11.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gambier, Y. (2010). Translation Strategies and Tactics. Handbook of Translation Studies, Yves G. & van Doorslaer, L. (eds.). Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 412–418. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garfield, J. (2009). Translation as Transmission and Transformation. TransBuddhism: Transmission, Translation, Transformation, Bhushan, N., G arfield, J. & Zablocki, A. (eds). Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 89–104.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gold, J. (2005). Guardian of the Translated Dharma: Sakya Pandita on the Role of the Tibetan Scholar. Translation and Religion: Holy Untranslatable? Long, L. (ed.). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 115–128.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). The Dharma’s Gatekeepers: Sakya Pandita on Buddhist Scholarship in Tibet. Albany: State University of New York.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hahn, M. (2007). Striving for Perfection: On the Various Ways of Translating Sanskrit into Tibetan. Pacific World Journal, 3rd series, no. 91, 123–149.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harrison, P. (1996). A Brief History of the Tibetan bK’’gyur. Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre, Cabezon, J.I. & Jackson, R.R. (eds.). Ithaca: Snow Lion, 70–94.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khyentse Foundation (2009). Translating the Words of the Buddha. Buddhist Literary Heritage Project Conference Proceedings. Available at [URL] Last accessed July 20, 2011.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). “84000 Editorial Policy.” Available at [URL] Last accessed July 21, 2011.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kapstein, M. T. (2003). The Indian Literary Identity in Tibet. Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, Pollock, S. (ed.). Berkeley: University of California, 747–802.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, L. (ed.) (2005). Translation and Religion: Holy Untranslatable? Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Newmark, P. (1988). A Textbook of Translation. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pym, A. (1998). Method in Translation History. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ray, R. A. (1993). Buddhism: Sacred Text Written and Realized. The Holy Book in Comparative Perspective, Kenny, F. & Taylor, R.M. (eds). Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina, 148–180.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schaeffer, K. R. (2009). The Culture of the Book in Tibet. New York: Columbia University. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schaeffer, K. R. & van der Kuijp, L. W. J. (2009). An Early Tibetan Survey of Buddhist Literature. Boston: Harvard University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scherrer-Schaub, C. (1999). Translation, Transmission, Tradition: Suggestions from Ninth-Century Tibet. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 1(2), 67–77. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schoening, J. D. (1996). Sutra Commentaries in Tibetan Translation. Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre, Cabezon, J. I. & Jackson, R. R. (eds.). Ithaca: Snow Lion, 111–124.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shastri, L. (2007). The Transmission of Buddhist Canonical Literature in Tibet. Tibet Journal, 32(3), 23–47.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sheppard, G. T. (2004). Canon. Encyclopedia of Religion, Jones, L. (ed.). Detroit: Thomson Gale.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, G. E. (2001). Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau. Boston: Wisdom.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, W. (2000). What Is Scripture? Minneapolis: Augsburg Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snellgrove, D. (1987). Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & Their Tibetan Successors. Boston: Shambhala.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stanley, D. P. (2009). The Threefold Formal, Practical, and Inclusive Canons of Tibetan Buddhism in the Context of a Pan-Asian Paradigm: Utilizing a New Methodology for Analyzing Canonical Collections. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Virginia, 738 pages.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsadra Foundation (2011). Tengyur Translation Conference 2011. Available at [URL] Last accessed July 21, 2011.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsepag, N. (2005). Traditional Cataloguing & Classification of Tibetan Literature. Tibet Journal, 30(2), 51–62.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verhagen, P. C. (1994). A History of Sanskrit Grammatical Literature in Tibet. Leiden: E.J. Brill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wedemeyer, C. K. (2006). Tantalising Traces of the Labours of the Lotsawas: Alternative Translations of Sanskrit Sources in the Writings of Rje Tsong Kha Pa. Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis: Studies in its Formative Period, 900¬1400, Davidson, R. M. & Wedemeyer, C. K. (eds.). Leiden and Boston: Brill, 149–182.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yarnall, T. (2011). The Liberative Arts of Nalanda and the Indian University System as a Basis for Publishing Translations of Tengyur Texts. Paper presented at the XVIth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Jinshan, New Taipei City, Taiwan, June 20-25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Nakagami, Atsuki
2022. The Current Movement of Translating the Tibetan Canon into Modern Languages: Examples of the 84000 Project and the Kumarajiva Project. Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies (Indogaku Bukkyogaku Kenkyu) 70:2 ► pp. 892 ff. DOI logo
Raine, Roberta
2014. ‘Translation Archaeology’ in Practice: Researching the History of Buddhist Translation in Tibet. Meta 59:2 ► pp. 278 ff. DOI logo
Raine, Roberta
2016. The Buddhist translation histories of ancient China (c. 150–1276) and Tibet (c. 617–1750): a comparative study. Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies 3:1 ► pp. 2 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue