Balancing Indic Fidelity and Chinese Expression: Xuanzang’s Approach to Translating the Yogācārabhūmi

This study examines Xuanzang’s methodology for translating the Yogācārabhūmi into Chinese, with particular focus on his translation of passages explaining the central concept of volition (cetanā). Through comparative analysis of Chinese and Tibetan translations—particularly passages for which Sanskrit parallels are not available—this paper investigates textual divergences and interpretative challenges in the two translations. Comprehensive examination of textual evidence across the Yogācārabhūmi corpus confirms that a problematic term in Xuanzang’s Chinese translation—suiyu—authentically reflects the Sanskrit source text, specifically corresponding to the Sanskrit term anupradāna. This allows us greater insight into Xuanzang’s translational strategy and its reception among his disciples. While previous scholarship has traditionally emphasized Xuanzang’s strict fidelity to Sanskrit grammatical structures, this study reveals a more sophisticated approach: he employed suiyu as a translation of anupradāna specifically for technical discussions of consciousness and mental factors, but adopted more idiomatic renderings of anupradāna in general contexts. However, the interpretations of suiyu among his disciples suggest that even this careful methodology sometimes failed to achieve its intended clarity, highlighting the inherent tension between preserving original textual features and ensuring accurate semantic transmission—a fundamental challenge in cross-cultural Buddhist transmission that continues to shape our understanding of Buddhist traditions.