A Descriptive Study On The Alienating Strategy Applied In Sutra Translations From Sanskrit To Chinese

One of the oldest issues of translation finds its cause in religious activities, and one of the hottest discussion on translation goes to the selection of translation strategies, thus formed the spotlight of this paper. Since the Han dynasty, translators of Buddhist scriptures have been labeled either as literal or free according to the strategy they adopted. With some typical comments on the classical dichotomy as a reference frame, this paper tries to present an all rounded view of the alienating strategy prevailed in sutra translation in ancient China. The dimensions include the definition of alienating strategy, its principles, features, objective and subjective reasons of its coming into being, influence on the Chinese culture, performance of major representatives, etc. Case studies are also provided as to the comparisons between different Chinese versions of the same sutra.This paper finds its foothold on the strategy itself rather than on the translators, because some translators are not consistent in choosing a strategy.Kum(?)raj(?)va for example, who was known as a free translator, advocated the method of transliteration when dealing with most of the proper terms in Buddhism. An Shi-gao, a literal translator in a general sense, adopted a lot of geyi strategy in introducing the breathing theory to the Chinese readers. Naturally, there hide certain social and historical reasons behind such inconsistency.As the unveiling of 'alienation' proceeds, the writer found some contradictions between Schleiermacher's theory on the applicability of alienation and the actual practice in sutra translation. The prevalence of the alienating strategy in ancient China does not indicate that the target culture is an open one. The truth is that translation activities at that time did not attract the attention of the mainstream culture so that there were relatively few Chinese translators to join the...