How Is It Possible to Translate a Religious Classic into Another Religious Tradition: On Timothy Richard’s Translation of the <i>Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana Doctrine</i>

WU Hanlai

doi:10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236405

Volume 6 Issue 4

Dec. 2023

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WU Hanlai. How Is It Possible to Translate a Religious Classic into Another Religious Tradition: On Timothy Richard’s Translation of the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana Doctrine[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2023, 6(4): 68-82. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236405

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WU Hanlai. How Is It Possible to Translate a Religious Classic into Another Religious Tradition: On Timothy Richard’s Translation of the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana Doctrine[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2023, 6(4): 68-82. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236405

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How Is It Possible to Translate a Religious Classic into Another Religious Tradition: On Timothy Richard’s Translation of the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana Doctrine

doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236405

WU Hanlai^,

Zhejiang Normal University

Received Date: 2023-09-15
Accepted Date: 2023-11-21

Abstract

Abstract

A missionary and politician active in late Qing China, Timothy Richard translated the Buddhist classic Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana Buddhism into English. However, his translation had a strong Christian flavor, which aroused protests from the Chinese Buddhist community. This article seeks to explore how knowledge and faith are intertwined in Timothy Richard's translation, as well as the trans-religious issues underlying the aforesaid phenomenon. In order to explore this issue in depth, it is necessary to sort out the historical and social background of Richard's English translation of Awakening of Faith in the first place: British scholars' collective understanding of Buddhism at that time, the sources of the translator's knowledge about Buddhism, his acquaintance and cooperation with Yang Wenhui, and reader response to his translation. Next, focusing on two key concepts in Awakening of Faith, “zhenru”(tathatā) and “xin”(citta), we will find that by introducing Platonic philosophy and the Christian idea of “Incarnation,” Richard successfully completed the theological construction of Christian principles in his translation of Awakening of Faith, even if the cost is that the eventual translation deviates from the original Buddhist thought. Finally, it is arguable that the foundation of Richard's religious faith and knowledge lies between Protestant Liberalism and Euro-Orientalism, both of which are literally British society's response to the spiritual crisis of the Victorian era. As a matter of fact, Richard's religious beliefs limited the production of knowledge in his translation. The results of this discourse practice and his original intention to preach the gospel in China both derive from his Christian beliefs, while the distortion of Buddhist knowledge reveals the problematic of power relations in the process of cultural syncretism.
- Timothy Richard,
- Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana Doctrine,
- Oriental Studies,
- Christianity

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References(38)

References

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