DaoAnandHisContributiontoChineseBuddhism

傅建一

【Abstract】Dharma master Dao An is an important and outstanding figure in the history of Chinese Buddhism. It was Dao Ans proposal that Shi（釋） should be used as surname by all monks and nuns， which brought far-reaching influences on the development of Buddhism in China. He also contributed to the theorization of Buddhist sutra translation by claiming the problem on translation style in his “Five Losses and Three Difficulties”.

【Key words】Dao An； Buddhism； Shi； Sutra Translation

Dao An（314—385CE）， surnamed Wei（衛）， was a highly influential Buddhist monk in the Eastern Jin Dynasty（317—420CE）. He facilitated the assimilation of Buddhism in China through his work in translating Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. In 383—385， Fu jian（苻堅）， ruler of the Former Qin， organized many well-known Chinese and foreign monks to translate Buddhist sutra. Dao An played a vital role in the project.

Kumarajiva， the great Buddhist monk， scholar and translator from the Kingdom of Kucha， once described Dao An as a “Sage of the East” （東方圣人）. Dao An is not only recognized as an influential Chinese Buddhist scholar， but also a “Perfect Man”. Until today， the words and deeds of Dao An still remain as a major driving force behind the development and expansion of Buddhism in China. Zhao Puchu（趙樸初）once said：“Buddhism in China spread widely and became very popular. Within the Buddhist monk profession of China， Dharma master Dao An is an important and outstanding figure. This is because he played a very great and positive role fulfilling the task of providing effective leadership for the Buddhist community. ”

Dao An was gifted with an extraordinary retentive memory since childhood. At the age of 15， Dao An decided to study the Buddha-Dharma， and at the age of 18， he became a Buddhist monk. Dao An had long been ignored and his abilities were neither acknowledged nor valued. To some extent， it was due to his plain or even ugly appearance. However， his great talents were finally recognized by his master. At the age of 24， Dao An went to Ye Du （鄴都）， where he studied Buddhism for over 20 years. At the age of 45， Dao An was appointed the abbot of the temple at Ye Du. The Chinese monks at Ye Du held the eminent Indian Buddhist monk named Fo Tu Deng（佛圖澄）in high regard. In Fo Tu Dengs request， Dao An assist him in teaching the Dharma.

During the Han dynasty and Jin dynasties， many Buddhist sutras were translated from India to China. However， few detail of those who translated the sutras were kept. Whats more， the translation of Buddist sutra from Sanskrit into Chinese contained many errors. Facing such situations， Dao An launch a project of compiling notes about the sutras to examine and eradicate the errors. Though Dao An did not know any Sanskrit， but he did much research on the translated sutra. He compared different translation and compiled a catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka， A comprehensive catalogue of the Sutra（《綜理眾經目錄》）. His careful study of the colophons contained in the translation， meticulous analysis of the vocabulary and the translation style， and in-depth comparison of different translation， established a consistency of Buddhist philosophy through the correct interpretation. For 6 years（379—385CE）， Dao An presided over a Translation Assembly together with Zhao Zheng（趙政） and exerted a considerable influence on Buddhist sutra translation. During his late years in Changan， he presided the translation of 187 sutras， which amounted to over one million words. According to the historical records， Dao Ans works was comprised of more than 60 large volumes， among them， about 40 volumes have lost over time.endprint

Dao An was also an Buddhist philosophy theoretician， religious practician and organizer. He had great influences on Chinese Sangha Formation and Chinese Buddhist Doctrinal System establishment. As a religious leader， Dao An not only need to unify the religious philosophy， but also need to establish a unified religious community；and the most effective way is to promote standard commandments（戒律）. The Buddhist taboos and commandments came along with the translation of Buddhist sutra to China. However， in the early stage， they were often not standardized， full of errors， or too simple. It was until the day of Dao An that the commandments of Buddhism became really important.

Before the time of Dao An， all the Buddhist monks living during the Wei-Jin Period followed the tradition of using their masters family name as their surname. Therefore， monks had a lot different surnames. In Dao Ans opinion， Buddhist monks should only venerate Sakyamuni， and he advocated all monks take Shi（釋） as surname. Shi is short for Sakyamuni and impies that the monk is a follower of the Buddha——“All rivers and streams flow into the great sea， and then the rivers and streams disappear；All human individuals flow into the Buddhism， and all are then called Shi ”（四河入海，無復河名，四姓為沙門，皆稱釋種——《增一阿含經》）. Since then， Shi has been used as surname by later generations of all monks.

Dao An also contributed to the theorization of Buddhist sutra translation. It was Dao An who first claimed the problem on translation style， when he set up the view of “Five Losses and Three Difficulties”（五失本三不易）. Dao An criticized other translators for loss in translation by asking how they would feel if a translator cut the boring bits out of classics like The Book of Songs or Shi Ji. Dao Ans “Five Losses and Three Difficulties” is one of the key steps in the history of Chinese discourse on translation. Some Buddhist sutra translators， such as Seng Rui（僧睿）， who was Dao Ans disciple， used “Five Losses and Three Difficulties” as the standard of Buddhist sutra translation. Others would also cite and even follow Dao Ans remarks， such as Kumurajivas view on translation style， which was recorded in Chu San Zang Ji Ji（《出三藏記集》）written by Seng You， as follows：

“…Kumurajiva ever said：‘The Indian people are in favor of the flowery words and the rhythm. Every time people see the king， they must give some prasise. When they meet the Buddha， it is better for them to extol. The Jie and Song（偈頌）are their rituals in Sanskrit. So， if we directly translate them into Chinese， the spirit will be lost. Though the meaning is grasped， the style is altered a lot. It is just like that you chew food for someone else；the one， who eats it， will not only feel tasteless， but also want to vomit.”

References：

[1]阮氏李（NGUYEN THI MAN）.道安與佛教中國化[D].福建師范大學，2011.

[2]姚曉菲.鳩摩羅什翻譯思想考辨[D].山西大學，2012.endprint