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Languages and Buddhist Texts: Translation, Transmission, and Interpretation Across Traditions
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Languages and Buddhist Texts: Translation, Transmission, and Interpretation Across Traditions

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 June 2026 | Viewed by 10203

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Lu Lu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Literature, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: language of Buddhist scriptures; history of Chinese vocabulary
Dr. Bohan Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518172, China
Interests: language of Buddhist scriptures; history of Chinese grammar
Dr. Zhouyuan Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Liberal Arts, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Interests: Chinese Buddhism; Chinese Buddhist canon; Buddhist text; Buddhist translation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Language has always been central to the development, transmission, and interpretation of Buddhism—from the Buddha’s own refusal to restrict his teachings to the elitist register of Sanskrit, and his encouragement of teaching the Dharma in vernaculars, to the intricate multilingual translation projects that marked the spread of Buddhism across Asia—the religion has maintained a dynamic and complex relationship with language. In fact, Buddhism may be one of the earliest major traditions to actively recognize both the power and the limitations of languages in conveying truth.

As Buddhism moved across cultural and geographic boundaries—from the Pāli and Gāndhārī texts of early India to the vast canon of Classical Chinese translations, and from Tibetan scholasticism to the modern global discourse in English and other contemporary languages—it evolved new linguistic forms, translation strategies, and even metaphysical reflections on the nature of language itself. These developments not only facilitated the global transmission of Buddhist teachings but also helped shape the languages into which they were translated.

This Special Issue invites contributions that explore the dynamic relationship between Buddhism and diverse linguistic traditions, tracing the evolution of Buddhist textual language across historical periods, textual genres, and interpretive frameworks. It aims to bring together scholars working on Buddhist linguistics, philology, translation studies, and cognitive or philosophical approaches to language in Buddhist texts, as well as those applying digital tools such as corpus linguistics, topic modeling, and natural language processing (NLP) to the study of Buddhist literature.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome, and research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following topics:

  • The linguistic features of Buddhist texts in Pāli, Sanskrit, Gāndhārī, Classical Chinese, Tibetan, and other scriptural languages;
  • The use of vernaculars versus sacred languages in Buddhist history;
  • Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit and the linguistic traces of oral-to-written transmission;
  • Translation theory and praxis in the Chinese and Tibetan traditions, including standardized terminologies and debates over fidelity vs. fluency;
  • Cross-linguistic textual comparison of parallel texts;
  • The role of language in Buddhist philosophical reflection, including both its instrumental uses and its perceived limitations in conveying ultimate truth;
  • The development of specialized “Buddhist language” registers and their impact on local linguistic traditions;
  • Computational and corpus-based analyses of Buddhist texts, including the creation of aligned multilingual corpora;
  • The digital future of Buddhist textual research, including AI-assisted translation, automatic annotation, and textual stylometry.

Our goal is to encourage a genuinely interdisciplinary dialogue among linguists, Buddhologists, philosophers, digital humanists, and scholars working on textual and manuscript traditions. We hope this Special Issue will not only deepen our understanding of Buddhist texts as linguistic artefacts, but also provide new methodological bridges between humanities and computational sciences.

We warmly welcome proposals for theoretical, historical, and methodological studies, as well as case-driven textual analyses, digital experiments, or reflections on Buddhist language philosophy. Together, these contributions will enrich our understanding of how language has shaped, and continues to shape, the Buddhist tradition in all its complexity.

Authors who are unsure whether their research aligns with the scope of this Special Issue are welcome to contact the Guest Editors with a tentative title or a short abstract for initial feedback.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Lu Lu
Dr. Bohan Li
Dr. Zhouyuan Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Buddhist texts
  • multilingualism
  • translation studies
  • Buddhist philology
  • languages of Buddhist scriptures
  • linguistic philosophy
  • corpus linguistics
  • natural language processing (NLP)
  • digital humanities
  • comparative Buddhist studies
  • Chinese Buddhist translations

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 3025 KB  
Article
A Multilingual Collation and Comparative Study of Multiple Editions of the Zhenshimingjing: Textual Variants, Editorial History, and Philological Value
by An Wang and Sheng Feng
Religions 2026, 17(1), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010085 - 12 Jan 2026
Viewed by 721
Abstract
The Zhenshimingjing 真實名經, a Chinese Buddhist scripture translated from the Tibetan Nāmasaṃgīti, is preserved in multiple Tripitaka editions and multilingual manuscripts. Previous studies either confined themselves to intra-Chinese collation without the Tibetan source, or to multilingual comparison based solely on the Taisho [...] Read more.
The Zhenshimingjing 真實名經, a Chinese Buddhist scripture translated from the Tibetan Nāmasaṃgīti, is preserved in multiple Tripitaka editions and multilingual manuscripts. Previous studies either confined themselves to intra-Chinese collation without the Tibetan source, or to multilingual comparison based solely on the Taisho Tripitaka. This study integrates both approaches by analyzing Chinese Tripitaka editions alongside two multilingual versions of the Zhenshimingjing. It clarifies the interrelationships among the extant versions and evaluates their correspondence to the Tibetan source text, thereby determining their philological value. The results show that the earliest Tripitaka editions already contained numerous graphic and phonetic corruptions, which later recensions largely perpetuated. Although the Yonglebei Tripitaka represents the most extensively collated recension, it remained limited by the collators’ lack of Tibetan knowledge. By contrast, the multilingual manuscripts—especially the Vira edition—preserve readings closer to the Tibetan Nāmasaṃgīti and demonstrate the diachronic continuity of transmission independent of the Tripitaka. The study underscores the necessity of combining intra-Chinese collation with multilingual comparison to reconstruct a more reliable text and reassess long-standing issues in the philological study of Chinese Buddhist translations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Languages and Buddhist Texts: Translation, Transmission, and Interpretation Across Traditions)
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26 pages, 713 KB  
Article
The Buddha as the Legitimate Knower of Bráhman—The Brahminical Interpretation of the Brahmin Disciples of the Buddha
by Efraín Villamor Herrero
Religions 2026, 17(1), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010038 - 30 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1384
Abstract
The influence of Brahmanism on Buddhist thought, is plausible in the Pāli Canon. Words attributed to the Buddha say that he defined himself as Brahmā (AN 4.89) and that he can read the very thoughts of the Vedic god (aham asmi brahmā [...] Read more.
The influence of Brahmanism on Buddhist thought, is plausible in the Pāli Canon. Words attributed to the Buddha say that he defined himself as Brahmā (AN 4.89) and that he can read the very thoughts of the Vedic god (aham asmi brahmā mahābrahmā DN 1.18, DN 1.221, DN 3.29). There are many other instances in the canon where Buddhists have interpreted terms in ways that did not develop from the context of orthodox Brahmanism. It has been documented even that Vedic Brahmins (who at the end converted to Buddhism) consistently asked the Buddha for the way to realize Brahma(n) (MN 2.206, DN 1.249), a hope also shared by Buddhists to be attained in the afterlife (AN 3.225, MN 2.76–78, DN 2.195), using the same formulas that the canonical tradition records as having been used by the Buddha to describe not his teachings (AN 3.371, AN 4.135) but the beliefs of ancient Brahmins (AN 4.103). Why is Buddhism understood in the light of Brahmanism? Why is Brahminical terminology and religious thought so present in the interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings? This paper discusses the historical influence of Upaniṣadic thought on the development and transmission of Buddhism. Here, I propose two significant theoretical frameworks to understand the development of Indian Buddhism: (1) the Buddha was praised as Brahmā: as the supreme Brahmin, represented by Buddhists as (2) the legitimate knower of Bráhman. Since the times of the Buddha, converted Brahmins, such as Sāriputta, seem to have influenced significantly the transmission of Indian Buddhism. This is reflected in Chinese translations, which portray an earlier interpretation of Buddhism, before the late opposition against Brahminism was established in Theravāda, and the decline of Brahmā and rebirth in the Brahmaloka were relegated in Buddhism as subordinate entities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Languages and Buddhist Texts: Translation, Transmission, and Interpretation Across Traditions)
20 pages, 5697 KB  
Article
Reconstruction and Re-Designation of the Dunhuang Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra Manuscripts: The Role of Variant Text Collation
by Liting Fan and Huaiyong Dou
Religions 2025, 16(11), 1387; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111387 - 30 Oct 2025
Viewed by 1447
Abstract
The Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra Dazhidu lun 大智度論 is often regarded as the “king of commentaries”; a total of 574 manuscript scrolls have been identified among the Dunhuang manuscripts, many of which constitute dispersed fragments that can be reassembled. In addition to comparing physical features such [...] Read more.
The Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra Dazhidu lun 大智度論 is often regarded as the “king of commentaries”; a total of 574 manuscript scrolls have been identified among the Dunhuang manuscripts, many of which constitute dispersed fragments that can be reassembled. In addition to comparing physical features such as format, handwriting style, and paper dimensions, the presence of shared textual variants serves as a key criterion for assessing their potential for reconstruction. Advances in the work of rejoining fragments provide a crucial foundation for further research. However, since the Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra is a commentary on the Mahāprajñāpāramitāśūstra and follows a format that first cites the sutra text and then provides an explanation, there is an overlap in content between the two types of texts. As a result, even after rejoining, 355 scrolls still cannot be definitively attributed to a specific source. Under such circumstances, shared textual variants become the key basis for reattributing these dubiously titled scrolls. Through an examination of three cases of rejoined scrolls exhibiting identical variants, along with three instances of scroll renaming, in this study, we demonstrate the crucial role of textual variant collation in the foundational research of Dunhuang manuscripts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Languages and Buddhist Texts: Translation, Transmission, and Interpretation Across Traditions)
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23 pages, 1094 KB  
Article
The Sinicization of “ojas”, the Formation of “鬼舐/剃頭 Ghost Licking/Shaving Head”, and the Authenticity of the Guanding Sūtra
by Minhui Zheng
Religions 2025, 16(8), 1077; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16081077 - 20 Aug 2025
Viewed by 2348
Abstract
The translations of the Sanskrit term “ojas (apahṛ)” in various Chinese versions of the Bhaiṣajyaguru Sūtra are as follows: The Guanding Sūtra (Sūtra on Abhiṣeka) avoided translating “ojas” independently, rendering “ojaḥ apahṛ” as “舐頭” (licking the head), “中害” (harming), and “得便” [...] Read more.
The translations of the Sanskrit term “ojas (apahṛ)” in various Chinese versions of the Bhaiṣajyaguru Sūtra are as follows: The Guanding Sūtra (Sūtra on Abhiṣeka) avoided translating “ojas” independently, rendering “ojaḥ apahṛ” as “舐頭” (licking the head), “中害” (harming), and “得便” (taking advantage of). These translations are either perplexing or overly vague. Dharmagupta translated “ojas” as “魂魄” (soul/spirit) and “ojaḥ apahṛ” as “奪/害魂魄” (robbing/harming the soul/spirit), but the term “魂魄” (soul/spirit) is prone to ambiguity. Both Xuanzang and Yijing translated “ojas” as “精氣” (vital essence) and “ojaḥ apahṛ” as “奪精氣” (robbing the vital essence), with consistent and precise terminology throughout their translations. Without Sanskrit–Chinese collation or a comparison of different translations, it is impossible to establish a synonymous relationship between “舐頭” (licking the head), “中害” (harming), “得便” (taking advantage of), “奪/害魂魄” (robbing/harming the soul/spirit), and “奪精氣” (robbing the vital energy). Assuming that the Guanding Sūtra is a translated sūtra from abroad, the aforementioned semantic differences can be reasonably explained, precisely reflecting the historical trajectory of its translation from uncertainty to certainty, from imprecision to precision, and from non-literal translation to literal translation. Meanwhile, the theory of it being a foreign-translated sūtra also helps explain the origin of the new phrase “惡鬼舐頭” (evil ghost licking the head). If we assume that the Guanding Sūtra is a native apocryphal text that was translated into Sanskrit and then back into Chinese, there would be significant difficulties in explaining how “舐頭” (licking the head), “中害” (harming), and “得便” (taking advantage of) could have been unified as “ojaḥ apahṛ” either during the translation into Sanskrit or in the process of transmission. Therefore, the translation trajectory of “ojaḥ (apahṛ)” and the emergence of the new phrase “惡鬼舐頭” (evil ghost licking the head) could serve as linguistic empirical evidence supporting the theory that the text is a foreign-translated sūtra. According to the Chu Sanzang Jiji (Collection of Records of the Translation of the Tripiṭaka), this sūtra “circulated widely in the world”; thus, the phrase “惡鬼舐頭” (evil ghost licking the head) should have been familiar to the general public. Alopecia areata, a condition characterized by sudden, patchy hair loss, was not understood by ancient people, who attributed it to “evil ghost licking the head” and thus referred to it as “鬼舐頭” (ghost licking head). This term emerged during the Sui Dynasty. After Xuanzang’s translation became the prevalent version, replacing the Guanding Sūtra, “鬼舐頭” (ghost licking head) gradually fell into obscurity and was replaced by “鬼剃頭” (ghost shaving head) during the Qing Dynasty. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Languages and Buddhist Texts: Translation, Transmission, and Interpretation Across Traditions)
19 pages, 435 KB  
Article
Translation as Pedagogy: Dharmagupta’s Didactic Rendering of the Diamond Sutra (Vajracchedikā-Prajñāpāramitā-Sūtra) and Sanskrit Instruction in the Sui–Tang Period
by Jiayi Wang and Nan Wang
Religions 2025, 16(8), 959; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16080959 - 24 Jul 2025
Viewed by 2281
Abstract
The Diamond Sutra (Vajracchedikā-Prajñāpāramitā-Sūtra) translated by the Sui Dynasty monk Dharmagupta is the fourth Chinese rendition of the Diamond Sutra. Characterized by unprecedented linguistic opacity and syntactic complexity within the history of Buddhist textual transmission, this translation’s distinctive features have attracted significant scholarly [...] Read more.
The Diamond Sutra (Vajracchedikā-Prajñāpāramitā-Sūtra) translated by the Sui Dynasty monk Dharmagupta is the fourth Chinese rendition of the Diamond Sutra. Characterized by unprecedented linguistic opacity and syntactic complexity within the history of Buddhist textual transmission, this translation’s distinctive features have attracted significant scholarly attention. This study synthesizes existing academic perspectives and employs Sanskrit–Chinese textual criticism and comparative analysis of parallel translations to conduct a granular examination of Dharmagupta’s retranslation. Our findings reveal that this text fundamentally deviates from conventional sutras designed for religious dissemination or liturgical recitation. Its defining traits, including morphological calquing of Sanskrit structures, simplified pronominal systems, and etymologically prioritized equivalence, collectively reflect a pedagogical focus characteristic of language instructional texts. Dharmagupta’s approach epitomizes a translation-as-pedagogy paradigm, with the text’s deviations from conventional norms resulting from the interplay of religious development, historical context, and translator agency. We argue that the Diamond Sutra retranslation constitutes a radical experimental paradigm in translation history, warranting re-evaluation of its significance within the broader trajectory of Buddhist textual practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Languages and Buddhist Texts: Translation, Transmission, and Interpretation Across Traditions)
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