2020-06-30 00:56:00
關于翻譯的重要性,德國文學家和思想家歌德曾這樣說過:“應該這樣看待每一位翻譯家,即他在努力充當具有普遍意義的精神交易的中介人,并以促進這一交流為己任。在廣泛的國際交往中,不管能講出文學翻譯的多少不足,他卻仍舊是,并將永遠是人類最重要和最高尚的事業之一。”歌德甚至認為“每一個翻譯家也就是他本民族里的一位先知”。
About the importance of translation, German writer and thinker Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe once said, “We should think of every translator this way: he is endeavoring to be a mediator in the spiritual exchange which has universal meaning and taking it as his responsibility to promote this exchange. Within the widespread international communication, no matter how much insufficiency we can illustrate about literature translation, translation work is and will always be one of the weightiest and noblest undertakings for humanity.” He even thought that “every translator can be regarded as a prophet in the midst of his own people."
回顧人類東西方文明發展的歷程,從文明的發展趨勢與翻譯活動之間的關系來看,翻譯活動都經歷了宗教典籍翻譯、人文著作翻譯與實用文獻翻譯三個階段。
Reviewing the development process of the Eastern and Western civilizations and examining the connection between the development trend of civilizations and translation activities, we can detect that translation has gone through three stages, i.e. the translation of religious scriptures, the translation of the humanistic works and the translation of practical documents.

對中國社會來說,宗教典籍的翻譯則集中體現在佛經的傳譯中。我國最早的漢文佛經,為漢明帝永平十年(公元67年)由迦葉摩騰、竺法蘭所譯的《四十二章經》。此后佛典在漢地的翻譯一直延續到宋朝末年,歷經千余年之久,其間涌現出鳩摩羅什、玄奘、義凈、不空等諸多偉大的翻譯家,所譯經典據元代《至元錄》記載共計1440部、5580卷。這些佛教典籍極大地豐富了中華文明的智慧寶藏,為中華文化輸入了新鮮的血液,與儒家文化、道家文化一道重塑著中華民族的品格。自19世紀末以來,隨著西方列強打開中國的大門,西方人文著作也隨即成了這一時期翻譯活動的中心主題,中西文明的深度碰撞激發了中華民族新的創造活力。新中國成立之后,尤其是改革開放以來,科技、經濟、政治、軍事、外交等各個方面實用文獻的翻譯又占據了主要的位置。
For Chinese society, the translation of religious scriptures is epitomized by the translation of Buddhist scriptures. The earliest Buddhist scripture translated into Chinese by Kasyapa Matanga and Gobharana was The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters in 67 BCE, the tenth year of the reign of Emperor Ming in the Han Dynasty. From then until the late years of the Song Dynasty, the translation of Buddhist classics lasted in China for over a thousand years, witnessing the emergence of many great translators including Kumarajiva, Xuanzang, Yijing, Amoghavajra, etc. According to A General Catalogue of Collated Buddhist Classics of the Zhiyuan Period of Yuan Dynasty, the translated scriptures totaled 1,440 series, i.e. 5,580 volumes. While enriching the spiritual resource of Chinese civilization and infusing Chinese culture with fresh blood, the translated Buddhist classics, together with Confucianism and Taoism, have virtually remodeled the character of the Chinese nation. Since the end of the 19th century, as Western powers opened the gate of China, the humanistic works from the West have become the main subjects of translation. The profound encounter between Chinese and Western civilizations invigorated the Chinese creativity. After the founding of New China, especially after reform and opening-up, the translation of practical documents in science and technology, economy, politics, military affairs, and diplomacy has occupied the dominant position.
當今社會在科技與經濟獲得前所未有快速發展的同時,面臨的全球性挑戰也日益加劇:環境污染、自然災害、疾病困擾、貧富差距、民族沖突、社會動蕩、經濟危機等諸多問題已經超越了國界,需要人類緊密團結起來共同面對。我們不但要在實踐中摸索前進,更需要從延續數千年的宗教傳統中去重新挖掘古人的智慧。因此,世界范圍內宗教典籍的翻譯與流通,有望重新成為未來國際翻譯的主流之一。
While an unprecedentedly rapid progress has been made in science, technology and economy, global challenges in the modern society become increasingly severe. Problems such as environmental pollution, natural disasters, disease and epidemics, wealth gap, ethnic conflicts, social instability and economic crisis have spread beyond national borders, calling for united efforts of the whole humanity. We should not only grope the way forward by practice, but also discover the ancient wisdom in the several-thousand-year long religious traditions. Therefore, worldwide translation and circulation of religious scriptures are likely to reclaim the mainstream of international translation.
佛教作為世界三大宗教之一,在認知和解決各種社會與人生問題方面,具有極其豐富的思想內涵與鮮明的實踐路徑,而這些都包含在浩如煙海的佛教典籍中。佛教在公元12世紀之后便在印度本土消亡了,留下的梵文經典為數甚少。所幸佛教在發展的歷程中,分別于公元前3世紀傳入斯里蘭卡,再由斯里蘭卡傳入泰國、緬甸等東南亞地區,形成巴利語系佛教;公元1世紀傳入我國中原地區,再由此傳入朝鮮、日本等東亞地區,形成漢語系佛教;公元7世紀傳入我國西藏地區,再由此傳入蒙古等地區,形成藏語系佛教。這三個時期又分別代表了佛教發展的三個階段,即上座部佛教、大乘顯教以及大乘密教。因此,通過三大語系佛教的綜合研究,即翻譯、對比、校勘巴利文大藏經、漢文大藏經和藏文大藏經,方能夠完整地再現佛典的面貌。遺憾的是,到今天為止,除了有從日文版轉譯的中文版巴利文大藏經之外,其他語系大藏經之間的校勘與互譯工作亟待開展。
As one of the three major religions in the world, Buddhism has rich thinking and distinctive practical approaches to understanding and handling various social and life problems, all included in the vast sea of Buddhist scriptures. After the 12th century, Buddhism disappeared from India with few Sanskrit scriptures remaining there. Fortunately, during its developing process, Buddhism entered Sri Lanka around the 3rd century B.C. and from there to other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Burma, thus forming Pali Buddhism. Around the first century A.D., Buddhism spread to the Central Plains of China, and from there to other East Asian countries such as Korea and Japan, and then Han Buddhism came into being. About the seventh century, Buddhism went into Tibet and then from there into Mongolia. That is how Tibetan Buddhism took shape. These three periods also represent three phases of the development of Buddhism, namely, Theravada Buddhism, Exoteric Mahayana Buddhism and Esoteric Mahayana Buddhism. Therefore, only after a comprehensive study of Buddhist scriptures in the three languages, by translating, comparing, and collating the Pali, Chinese and Tibetan canons, can all Buddhist scriptures be fully presented. Unfortunately, up to now only Pali Canon was translated into Chinese from Japanese. It's imperative to begin the collation and translation of canons between other languages as soon as possible.
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