Two strategies
When Buddhism reached China around the 1st century CE, translators had a choice for every unfamiliar term: borrow the sound (音譯 yīnyì) or translate the meaning (義譯 yìyì). Nirvāṇa took the first path and became 涅槃 (nièpán) — characters chosen purely for their sound. Śūnyatā took the second and became 空 (kōng, "empty") — a character that already meant the right thing. Many terms ended up with both forms in circulation.
Xuanzang's five categories not to translate
The 7th-century monk-translator Xuánzàng (玄奘) — the same one who traveled to India and inspired the novel Journey to the West — codified the principles for when to transliterate rather than translate. His 五種不翻 (wǔ zhǒng bù fān, "five categories not to translate"):
- Esoteric (秘密故) — mantras and dhāraṇīs, kept phonetic so their ritual power isn't lost.
- Multivalent (多含故) — words with many meanings at once, like bhagavān, which combines "lord," "fortunate," and "destroyer of evil."
- Absent referent (此無故) — things that don't exist in China, like the jambū tree.
- Following precedent (順古故) — terms with long-established transliterations, even when a translation would now be possible.
- To inspire reverence (生善故) — keeping the foreign word when a translation would sound too mundane. Prajñā stayed as 般若 (bōrě) rather than the everyday 智慧 (zhìhuì, "wisdom") for exactly this reason.
The vocabulary
A working glossary of important terms, showing which strategy each translator chose and why.
Transliterations that dominated
| Sanskrit / Pali | Chinese (transliteration) | Translation (if any) | Why transliteration won |
|---|---|---|---|
| buddha | 佛 (fó); full: 佛陀 (fótuó) | 覺者 (juézhě) "awakened one" — used as gloss only | Precedent; 佛 became fully naturalized as a Chinese character |
| nirvāṇa | 涅槃 (nièpán) | 滅度 (mièdù) "extinction-crossing" | Reverence — 滅 sounded too negative |
| bodhisattva | 菩薩 (púsà); full: 菩提薩埵 (pútísàduǒ) | 覺有情 (juéyǒuqíng) "awakening sentient being" | Kumārajīva's shorter 菩薩 spread first; conciseness won |
| prajñā | 般若 (bōrě) | 智慧 (zhìhuì) "wisdom" | Xuanzang's rule #5 — reverence; 智慧 too mundane |
| arhat | 阿羅漢 (āluóhàn); short: 羅漢 (luóhàn) | 應供 (yìnggōng) "worthy of offerings" | Precedent |
| Amitābha | 阿彌陀 (Āmítuó) | 無量光 (wúliángguāng) "infinite light" | Both used: 阿彌陀 in chanting, 無量光 in scholarship |
| Śākyamuni | 釋迦牟尼 (Shìjiāmóuní) | 能仁 (néngrén) "able sage" — rare | It's a name; transliteration default |
| dhyāna | 禪 (chán); from 禪那 (chánnà) | 思惟修 (sīwéixiū) "contemplation cultivation" | Precedent; 禪 became its own concept (the Chán / Zen school) |
| stūpa | 塔 (tǎ); from 塔婆 (tǎpó) or 窣堵波 (sūdǔbō) | 廟 (miào) "temple" — too generic | 塔 became the generic Chinese word for "pagoda" |
| māra | 魔 (mó) | — | A character invented for this concept; later generalized to "demon" |
| namo (homage) | 南無 (nāmó) | — | Liturgical only — used in chants like 南無阿彌陀佛 |
Translations that dominated
| Sanskrit / Pali | Chinese (translation) | Transliteration (if any) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| dharma | 法 (fǎ) | 達摩 (dámó) | 達摩 survives only in proper names (e.g., Bodhidharma 菩提達摩) |
| karma | 業 (yè) | 羯磨 (jiémó) | 羯磨 retained for monastic legal procedures only |
| śūnyatā | 空 (kōng); abstract: 空性 (kōngxìng) | — | Borrowed an existing Daoist term — perfect fit |
| duḥkha | 苦 (kǔ) "bitter, suffering" | — | Simple, vivid translation |
| saṃsāra | 輪迴 (lúnhuí) "wheel-turning" | — | Translation captures the imagery |
| pratītya-samutpāda | 緣起 (yuánqǐ) "condition-arising" | — | Dependent origination |
| mārga | 道 (dào) "way, path" | — | Borrowed from Daoism, where 道 was already the central term for "the Way" |
| maitrī + karuṇā | 慈悲 (cíbēi) "loving-kindness + compassion" | — | Pairs two existing Chinese words |
| Avalokiteśvara | 觀世音 (Guānshìyīn) "Observer of the World's Sounds" | — | Kumārajīva's translation; Xuanzang later proposed the more literal 觀自在 (Guānzìzài), used in the Heart Sutra |
| pañca-śīla | 五戒 (wǔjiè) "five precepts" | — |
The translators
Two figures shaped most of the surviving vocabulary:
- Kumārajīva (鳩摩羅什, 344–413) — translated the Lotus, Diamond, and Heart Sutras. Favored fluent Chinese over literal accuracy; most terms that "feel" Chinese (觀世音, 般若波羅蜜) come from his workshop.
- Xuánzàng (玄奘, 602–664) — traveled overland to India for 17 years and produced famously precise translations. Where Kumārajīva smoothed, Xuanzang preferred to leave the Sanskrit visible.
Earlier translators (2nd–4th c.) also used géyì (格義, "matching meanings"), reaching for Daoist vocabulary to render Buddhist concepts — calling nirvāṇa 無為 (wúwéi), for instance. Most such renderings were later abandoned, but 道 for mārga stuck.