Niè Chéngyuǎn 聶承遠 (flourished 280–311 CE) was a Chinese lay Buddhist scholar who served as the chief Chinese collaborator of Dharmarakṣa 竺法護 (竺法護) at Cháng’ān during the Western Jìn 西晉. He was responsible for editing many of Dharmarakṣa’s translations into idiomatic Chinese — much like the role Sēngzhào 僧肇 (僧肇) later played for Kumārajīva 鳩摩羅什 (鳩摩羅什). The Chū sānzàng jì jí records that Dharmarakṣa’s translations would have been far less polished without Niè’s editorial work.
He was the father of Niè Dàozhēn 聶道真 (聶道真), who continued in his father’s footsteps as a translator-collaborator (cf. KR6i0064 Wénshūshīlì bān nièpán jīng, KR6i0112 Sānmàntuó báduóluó púsà jīng). The Niè family represents one of the earliest cases of intergenerational Chinese lay engagement in Buddhist translation work.
A small number of texts are attributed to Niè Chéngyuǎn independently of Dharmarakṣa, including KR6i0167 Fóshuō Yuènán jīng (T537). His working dates are estimated as 280–311 CE based on the parallel dates of Dharmarakṣa’s career.