Shiken

A Buddhist scripture translator who was active in the state of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period in China. He spent his life as a layperson. He was a descendant of naturalized people from the Great Yuezhi, and perhaps because of this, he excelled in languages ​​and was well versed in many Western languages. King Sun Quan of Wu was impressed by his erudition and talent, and appointed him as a doctor. Among the many Buddhist scriptures he translated, his most famous are the Dhammapada, the Vimalakirti Sutra, the Great Light-Ending Sutra, the Amitabha Sutra, and the Zuiō Hongikyō. The content is a mixture of Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhist scriptures. He avoided transliterations and made frequent use of literal translations. His writing style was elegant, incorporating four-six sentences.

[Kazuo Okabe February 16, 2017]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、三国時代の呉(ご)国で活躍した訳経家。生涯を在俗のまま過ごした。大月氏(だいげっし)からの帰化人の子孫で、そのためもあってか語学の才に秀で、多くの西域(さいいき)語に精通していたという。呉王孫権(そんけん)は彼の博学と才能を信服し、博士に任じた。多数の仏典を翻訳したなかでとくに有名なものは『法句経(ほっくきょう)』『維摩詰経(ゆいまきつきょう)』『大明度無極経(たいみょうどむごくきょう)』『阿弥陀経(あみだきょう)』『瑞応本起経(ずいおうほんぎきょう)』などである。内容的には大乗、部派仏教の仏典が入り交じっている。訳語には音訳語を避けて義訳語を多用した。文体は四六(しろく)文を取り入れ、流麗であった。

［岡部和雄　2017年2月16日］

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