The Sixteen Kingdoms is a period of division in ancient China which seems to be in political chaos caused by continuous incursion of barbarian tribes and military rebellions, but it is indeed a great era of cultural interaction between China and foreign empires from a different historical perspective. During the 4th - 5th centuries, Buddhism was gradually disseminated to East Asia and became popular among intellectuals. In North China, numerous rulers of nomadic origin believed in Buddhism and supported Buddhist translation by establishing imperial translation teams in order to widely propagate Tripiṭaka. Owing to these official patrons, sutra translation became a kind of collective cultural activity with efficient organization as well as effective management. Translators from the Western Regions and central plain participated actively in the teams. This practice was a distinguishing characteristic of Buddhist translation in early medieval China and deserves our attention. In general, there were several imperial translation teams in the Sixteen Kingdoms and the one in the Northern Liang Dynasty was a representative example. In the early 5th century, Juqu Mengxun, who seized power in Hexi Corridor and founded his empire, was a devout Buddhist. His son Juqu Mujian, who inherited the throne after the death of Mengxun, adopted favourable attitude to the religion as well. Both of them established translation teams in Guzang and invited renowned Buddhist monks, such as Dharmarakṣa and Buddhavarman, to translate a number of sacred scriptures, including Sutra of the Great Decease and Abhidharma Vibhāṣā Śāstra. Their translation projects stimulated rapid development of Buddhism in Northwest China. Despite their significant contribution to the advancement of Chinese Buddhism, the teams supported by the Ju-qu family have largely been unchartered territory over past decades. To fill this research gap in the history of Chinese translation, this paper aims to examine the duties and influence of the translators with a wide range of historical records and archeological findings. It will shed light on Buddhist translation in the Sixteen Kingdoms.
