【A 場】第一場論文集 - 佛光大學

第 二 十 屆 全峖 國 佛 學 論 文尠 聯 合峯 發 表 會Tripitaka Master Prajnā of the Tang Dynasty釋 妙 哲 Shih Miao Zhe佛 光峒 大 學 佛 教 學 所ABSTRACTThe translation of Buddhist texts has contributed greatly to the spread and developmentof Chinese Buddhism. There were many translators from Central Asia, India, and China whotook part in the daunting task during the few hundred years of development of Buddhism inChina. The four well-known translators include Kumarajiva, Xuanzhuang ( 玄 鞾 ), Yijing ( 義 淨 )and Amoghavajra ( 不 空 ).After Amoghavajra, the number of texts to translate began to decrease. Although therewere translation centers and monks from in and outside China translating texts, however, thenumber of translations done was incomparable to the amount done before. Near the end of theTang dynasty during Emperor Dezong’s reign, Prajnā (9 th century), an Indian monk who traveledto China and translated The Mahāyāna Sutra on the Way to Six Pāramitās ( 大 乘靭 理 趣賱 六 波 羅訌 蜜犪多 經 ). As a result, the Emperor Dezong recognized the importance of his translation work andhad it placed in the Buddhist catalogues. Also, he decreed that Prajnā be taken to Xi MingTemple ( 西 明 寺 ), in which Xuanzhuang had previously conducted his translations. He with ateam of monks completed the translation of a small number of texts. As small as they may be,some of the texts such as Avatamsaka Sutra in 40 fascicles and the Mahāyāna Sutra of MindGround ( 本 生 心 地 觀 經 ) are significant today.This paper is a brief survey of the life and translations of Tripitaka Master Prajnā.Keywords: Tripitaka Master Prajna, translator, Tang dynasty, Emperor Dezong39