On The Historical Value And Practical Significance Of The Mirror Of Wisdom

Translation of the Buddhist scriptures started in the 13^th century, and reached it peak in the late 18^th century. During this long period, the translation of the Ganzhur and Danzhur into Mongolian had been the most ones. It had been time-consuming, and Mongolian Scholars worked out with Mirror of Wisdom in 1741, after endless exploration and accumulation of experiences. There wrote about principles, methods etc. of translation in the front matter. And this has been the earliest statements about translation in the history of Mongolian translation. The views of translation referred in the Mirror of Wisdom not only had been very important to the translation of Danzhur into Mongolian but also had had indelible influence on the entire translation careers in Mongolian. Thus the historical value and practical significance ought to be evaluated correctly to serve the translation today.This dissertation is formed of four sections, foreword, the main text, conclusion and the references.Foreword, introduces the purpose and meaning of choosing this topic, the methods, research status, innovation, structure and materials involved in this dissertation.The main text is arranged into three chapters.Chapter one, introduced the written condition of the Mirror of Wisdom, includes tmainspring, the background and editors.Chapter two, discussed the historical values. This section tried to evaluate the historical values correctly through discussing the contents, historical functions, the principles of translation, etc. and proposed that the viewpoints of the Mirror of Wisdom should be the guidance in the future translation practice and be developed and perfectionised.Chapter three, is on the practical significance. All through the two hundred years, the principles of translation in Mirror of Wisdom laid the foundation for Mongolian translation theories. And it had great influence on the development of Mongolian language and literature.The conclusion, concluded that the Mirror of Wisdom has been a guidebook for the Mongolian translation history. And also, pointed out certain shortcomings and limitations of it.