This paper aims at inspiring a discussion about the aspirations that lie behind the translation of Chinese Buddhist biographies. Working on the Biographies of Thaumaturge Monks for several years, the author of this paper asked herself about the different approaches and the methodological concepts that can be applied to biographical material and reflects on the aspirations that drive us translating biographies.
Translating biographies is by no means a simple task and its complexity soon demands for reflecting on the desired outcome of any such project. Chinese biographies have seen an extensive development over the centuries as part of historiographical writing starting with the very first dynastic history of Sima Qian 司馬遷 (ca. 145-90 BCE). Biographies are compiled from various material such as eulogies, tomb inscriptions or family records. Joining these kinds of material together is done with the intention to provide a faithful preservation of the material securing the authenticity of the text. It goes without saying that this kind of biographical writing is not intending to show the inner development of a personality as other narrative literature does. In contrast, biographies mainly follow a standardized form and are written with the aim to provide insight into the impact morally good or bad behavior had upon historical developments (principle of baobian 褒貶). Buddhist biographical writing as it is preserved in the large corpora of Biographies of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng zhuan 高僧傳, Xu gaoseng zhuan 續高僧傳, Song gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧傳, etc.) was assembled in order to put up with the challenge of legitimizing Buddhism as a tradition in its own right. At the same time, these biographies are a rich source for understanding Buddhist social practice over the centuries.
This paper starts with the Biographies of Thaumaturge Monks. In 1417 CE, the third emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Di 朱棣 (1360-1424), assembled these biographies by selecting passages of 208 biographies from the large corpus of Buddhist biographical writings. Decisive for the choices the emperor made in his selection was whether he considered the passages convincing to demonstrate the strength Buddhism through the extraordinary abilities of wonder-working monks.
By introducing the corpus and going through selected examples, the paper sheds light on the complexity that is connected with translating Buddhist biographical works (identifying and contextualizing people, places, times, social action, language style etc.). In consequence, it asks which approaches can be taken in order to make sense of the enormous effort put into the work of translation itself. How can we trace what actually was central to the reading experience of contemporary and later readers? In how far does our reconstructive work mirror (or even conceal?) what made these biographies a pleasant read? The paper elucidates different approaches such as in-depth-translations of single biographies, topic screening through the corpus, and ways of analysis that are informed by concepts discussed in the context of debates around narrative cultures and religious aesthetics/material religion.
