Author: Nirmala Sharma
Several Contributors/
Translator(s)/ Editors(s): Lokesh Chandra
Publisher: Niyogi Books
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 180
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788189738198
Description
This work by Prof. Nirmala Sharma is the first full-length narration of the extraordinary life, immense literary output, manifold philosophical perspectives of Kumarajiva and the development of a new translation Methodology by him. He is the great transcreator of Buddhist Chinese diction. His oeuvre covers all genres of Buddhist literature. All his works, both extant and lost, are detailed.
The author discusses at length his crucial Texts that became the foundation of sects and philosophical systems in East Asia. Kucha the homeland of Kumarajiva excelled in painting, Music and dance. Around a hundred illustrations of murals and scrolls vividly portray this ambience of Kucha.
The author has added a writeup of President Daisaku Ikeda, whose devotion to the unparalleled monk-translator adds to the deep understanding of the mind and message of Kumarajiva to humanity. President Ikeda discusses Kumarajiva’s new systematization of terminology to bring greater clarity to Buddhist thought and practice.
The author ends the Book with the translation of the Original Chinese life of Kumarajiva, translated by Prof. J. Nobel, from the Lives of Eminent Monks written by Hui-chiao in AD 519. The original text in Chinese has also been reproduced.
“Kumarajiva’s charismatic diction has cast its sheen on the succeeding centuries in East Asian lands. His masterfully crafted style like a diamond has been the radiance of Buddhism. His translation of the Satya-Siddhi-Sastra gave rise to Hsieh-ho’s six principles of Chinese Painting, which still remain the basis of theoretical discussions on the aesthetics of poetry, painting, sculpture and calligraphy in East Asia.”
Contents
Foreword
Preface
1. Life and works of Kumarajiva
2. Kumarajiva and his translation activities
3. Kumarajiva’s biography in the Kao-seng-chuan of Hui-Chiao AD-519
Biography of Seng Jui
Endnotes
Chinese text of the Life Kumarajiva
Index