The morning and evening recitations are the most crucial parts of cultivation within a Chinese Buddhist monastery. The contents of the Chinese Buddhist morning and evening recitations started with an edition collected by Dao An道安 of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (late 4th Century). The popularity of practicing the Chinese Buddhist morning and evening recitations reached its highest point in the late Ming Dynasty (early 1600’s) when Yun-qi Lien-Che 雲棲蓮池 re-edited Zhu Jing Ri Song Ji Yao 諸經日誦集要 (Important Collections of Scriptures for Daily Recitations), whose original author is unknown. In 1732, during the Chinese Qing Dynasty, the Buddhist Morning and Evening Recitations reappeared in a collection called Chan Men Ri Song 禪門日誦 (Daily Recitations for Ch'an Monastery). A few decades later, the publication of Fo Men Bi Bei Ke Song Ben 佛門必備課誦本 (The Essential Recitation Book for Buddhist Monastery) in 1954 set the grounds for the modern-day Chinese Buddhist Morning and Evening Recitations. Considering the debated issue regarding the correct time frame for the “immigration” of Chinese Buddhism to the United States of America to be as early as the 1840’s, the English translation of Chinese Buddhist recitation books did not occur until 1980. The first English translation of the modern-day Chinese Buddhist recitation text was due to the efforts of Venerable Xuan Hua’s American disciples and followers and is called Sagely City of 10,000 Buddhas Daily Recitation Handbook (萬佛聖城日誦儀規). As of the time that the research for this thesis commenced, there have been four published versions of the English translated Fo Men Bi Bei Ke Song Ben 佛門必備課誦本 (The Essential Recitation Book for Buddhist Monastery). As with the development of Chinese translated Buddhist scriptures and texts, English translated Buddhist scriptures and texts are also facing similar translation challenges and making translation mistakes along the way. This thesis follows renowned translation theorist and educator Peter Newmark’s instructions in translation procedure, approach, and theory to conduct a preliminary translation study of the English translations of the Morning Recitations chapter of the modern-day Fo Men Bi Bei Ke Song Ben 佛門必備課誦本. Based on Newmark’s translation approaches in analyzing the source text, we have identified five text styles in the Morning Recitations: (1) invocation, (2) mantra / dhāraṇī, (3) prose, (4) verse, and (5) song. Adhering to Peter Newmark’s theory of Four Levels of Translation Consciousness, we will discuss the problems found in each of the four English translations of the Morning Recitations by text styles. In this thesis, we have pointed out and discussed the various translation problems according to the five text styles based on Peter Newmark’s translation theory. Then we have attempted to produce an English translation that we would be able to recite along the original melodies and rhythms composed with classical Chinese.
目次
ABSTRACT i 摘 要 iii DEDICATION iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v CONTENTS vi ABBREVIATIONS ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Purpose 2 1.2. Research Method 4 1.3. Issue Statement 8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE MODERN-DAY CHINESE BUDDHIST MORNING RECITATIONS 10 2.1. Historical Development of the Chinese Buddhist Daily Recitations 10 2.2. Contents of the Modern-Day Chinese Buddhist Morning Recitations 13 2.3. English Translations of the Modern-Day Chinese Buddhist Morning Recitations 17 2.3.1. Sagely City of 10,000 Buddhas Daily Recitation Handbook 萬佛聖城日誦儀規 18 2.3.2. The Buddhist Liturgy 佛門課誦 19 2.3.3. Rise Up: Buddhist Study and Practice Guide 19 2.3.4. Huifeng Shi: (1) Morning Chanting, (2) Humanistic Buddhism Monastic Life Program Chanting Book 20 2.4. Ritual Before Two Meal Times 21 2.5. Additions / Changes for the Lunar First and Fifteenth Mornings 24 2.5.1. Song in Praise of Incense-Offering 24 2.5.2. Salutations to Patriarchs 25 2.5.3. Changes for Sections (K) through (O) 26 2.5.4. Change for Section (Q) 26 2.6. Summary 27 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHOD 29 3.1. The Analysis of a Text 30 3.1.1. Intention of the Source Text 30 3.1.2. Intention of the Translator 32 3.1.3. Text Styles 32 3.1.4. The Readership 33 3.1.5. Setting 33 3.2. The Process of Translating 34 3.2.1. Translation Theory: Four Levels of Translating Consciousness 34 3.2.1.1. Textual Level 34 3.2.1.2. Referential Level 35 3.2.1.3. Cohesive Level 35 3.2.1.4. Naturalness Level 36 3.3. Translation Methods 37 3.4. Buddhist Hybrid Terms 39 3.5. Summary 40 CHAPTER 4: TRANSLATION OF INVOCATIONS 42 4.1. Invocation Alone 42 4.2. Invocation Within a Verse 43 4.3. Invocation Within a Song 44 4.4. Application of Translation Theory 44 4.4.1. Invocation of Buddha / Bodhisattva Alone 44 4.4.2. Buddhas’ and Bodhisattvas’ names within a verse 48 4.4.3. Buddhas’ and Bodhisattvas’ names within a song 50 4.5. Summary 52 CHAPTER 5: TRANSLATION OF MANTRA / DHĀRAṆĪ 53 5.1. Application of Translation Theory 56 5.2. Ten Small Dāraṇī in Sanskrit 56 5.3. Summary 59 CHAPTER 6: TRANSLATION OF PROSE 60 6.1. Application of Translation Theory 61 6.2. Translation of Hybrid Buddhist Terms 63 6.3. Summary 64 CHAPTER 7: TRANSLATION OF VERSE 66 7.1. Verse in Praise of Buddha / Bodhisattva 67 7.2. Application of Translation Theory 67 7.3. Summary 71 CHAPTER 8: TRANSLATION OF SONG 72 8.1. Application of Translation Theory 73 8.2. Summary 75 CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSION 77 APPENDICES 83 BIBLIOGRAPHY 84 Primary Sources 84 Secondary Sources 85 Other References 86
