Dàmíngdù jīng 大明度經
Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (Wú-period Translation) by 支謙 (Zhī Qiān, 譯)
About the work
A six-fascicle Wú-period translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā by Zhī Qiān 支謙. Signature: 「南吳月支國居士支謙譯」. The Taishō header cross-references all the Aṣṭasāhasrikā parallels in the canon. The title translates prajñāpāramitā with the calque 明度 (“Illumination-Crossing”) rather than the transliteration 般若波羅蜜 used in T224 — Zhī Qiān’s lexical experimentation moves toward semantic translation of the term.
Prefaces
No preface or postface in the source file; only the canonical translator-signature.
Abstract
T225 is one of the four early Chinese translations of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā (alongside T224, T226, T227); the doublet relationship is canonically acknowledged. The translation is one of Zhī Qiān’s documented Wú-period works (222–253). T225’s lexical choice — 明度 for prajñāpāramitā — represents an early Chinese movement away from pure transliteration toward semantic translation of Sanskrit Buddhist terminology, a direction that was eventually displaced by Kumārajīva’s standardisation.
Translations and research
- See bibliography under T224.
- Karashima Seishi 辛島静志. Various lexicographic studies on Zhī Qiān’s translations.
Links
- CBETA T08n0225
- Kanseki DB
- 支謙 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (245, 250) — Nattier, Jan. “Who Produced the Dàmíngdù jīng 大明度經 (T225)? A Reassessment of the Evidence.” JIABS 31, no. 1–2 (2008/2010): 295–337.