The author is a Ph.D. student at École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, Department of Religions and Systems of Thought.
關鍵詞
Buddhism in Europe; French; Translations; The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters
摘要
The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters (Sishi’er zhang jing 四十二章經) is traditionally considered to be the first Buddhist sūtra translated into Chinese. Interestingly, after more than a millennium, its French translation also became the first integral translation of a Buddhist sūtra published in western language. However, despite its importance, its French translations have never been studied systematically. The present study is a historical and textual research of its four consecutive French translations from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, respectively translated by Joseph de Guignes (1721–1800), Joseph Gabet (1808–1853) and Évariste Huc (1813–1860), Léon Feer (1830–1902), and Charles de Harlez (1832–1899). Through an analysis of vocabulary, style and interpretation of the translations, it shows that the image of Buddhism represented in these translations has changed from a monotheism, to a pantheism, a nihilism and a panpsychism. The evolution of its representations, as the result of a search for ‘God’ when defining a religion, is analyzed from the historical point of view which reengages the translations in the cultural controversies during the period when the discovery of the Orient was used to both challenge and defend the European conscience.
目次
The First Sūtra 77 Editions of The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters 78 One Sūtra, Four Identities 80 1. Joseph de Guignes and the ‘adoration of chi’ 80 2. Auguste Bonnetty and Pantheism 88 3. Feer and nihilism 93 4. Charles de Harlez and the ‘panpsyche’ 97 Who was creating the Gods? 100 Conclusion 106
