From Chang'an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist Monk Xuanzang (602?-664) From Chang'an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist Monk Xuanzang (602?-664), 2020
Abstract: Xuanzang is one of the rare translators of Indic material into Chinese who was himself ... more Abstract: Xuanzang is one of the rare translators of Indic material into Chinese who was himself Chinese, and the most proli c of any translator. His translations cover all Buddhist genres, including āgamas, Mahāyāna sutras, devotional sutras on speci c buddhas and bodhisattvas (e.g. Maitreya, Avalokiteśvara, Amitābha, and Kṣitigarbha), avadāna, dhāraṇīs, abhidharma, Indian commentaries, Madhyama- ka, Yogācāra, hetu-vidyā, and his famous travelogue, Xiyu ji 西域記. His translation of the Mahā-Prajñāpāramitā-sūtras (600 fascicles in three entire Taishō volumes) is by far the largest translation in the Chinese canon, followed by his 200-fascicle translation of the Sarvās- tivādin Mahāvibhāṣa. His Heart Sūtra translation is still recited daily throughout the East Asian Buddhist world. His translations are often labeled the ‘New Translation’ style, indicating a break or change with his predecessor’s e orts. This presentation will examine what is ‘new’ in his translations. Xuanzang introduced new Chinese equivalents for Indic terms that had already acquired standard Chinese renderings, though this was a gradual process, as I will illustrate with a few examples (e.g., his treatment of √kḷp terms). He is also frequently credited with being a more literal translator, which turns out to not always be the case (e.g. his translation of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), though often his translations are more accurate than earlier translations of the same texts (e.g. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa sūtra). But these technical details are only part of the story. What was truly new and revealing about his philosophical orientation were his choices of texts to translate, which included numerous texts previously translated by others that he felt needed newer, more accurate translations, as well as new texts that introduced new facets of Indian thinking to a Chinese audience pre- viously unaware of these Indian developments. Taking all of this into account, I will attempt to shed some light on Xuanzang’s thinking and orientation beyond the usual stereotypical accounts.
• Translates into English one of the most important texts in East Asian Buddhist thought
• Provid... more • Translates into English one of the most important texts in East Asian Buddhist thought • Provides extensive commentary on the text, informed by early interpretations • Gives a comprehensive overview of the Treatise's historical and intellectual context
A richly complex study of the Yogacara tradition of Buddhism in India and China, divided into five parts. Part 1 is on Buddhism and phenomenology, with close attention to elements in Husserl and Merleau-Ponty that are helpful for understanding Yogacara. Part 2 details the four basic models of Indian Buddhist thought - the five skandhas, conditioned co-arising, the triple world, and the interplay of behaviour/meditation/understanding. A chapter on the attainment of cessation nirodha- samapatti illustrates some of the intricate ways in which these models were deployed. Part 3 discusses karma, meditation, and epistemology, from Pali Abhidhamma and Nagarjuna to Yogacara. Part 4 presents texts, translations, and comparative analysis of Vasubandhu's Trimsika with the Chinese versions by Paramartha and Hsuan-tsang. Part 5 deals with the Ch'eng wei-shih lun and Yogacara in China.
The Prajnaparamita-hrdaya-sutra (Heart Sutra), so-called because it is said to distill the essenc... more The Prajnaparamita-hrdaya-sutra (Heart Sutra), so-called because it is said to distill the essence of the voluminous Prajnaparamita teachings on emptiness, is one of the most highly regarded, oft-recited, and influential Mahayana texts in East Asian Buddhism. This text, the earliest Chinese commentary on the Heart Sutra, was composed in the seventh-century by monk scholar Ku'ei-chi (Kuiji), a disciple of the renowned monk Hsuan-tsang and the founder of the Fa-hsiang school, the Chinese version of the Indian Yogacara ("Consciousness Only") school. Drawing on a variety of textual sources, Ku'ei-chi presents a line by line commentary on the sutra. [Taisho #1710] (Chinese name: Pan-jo-po-lo-mi-to-hsin-ching-yu-tsan).
From Chang’an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist Monk Xuanzang (602?–664), 2020
Xuanzang is one of the rare translators of Indic material into Chinese who was himself Chinese, a... more Xuanzang is one of the rare translators of Indic material into Chinese who was himself Chinese, and the most prolific of any translator. His translations cover all Buddhist genres, including āgamas, Mahāyāna sutras, devotional sutras on specific buddhas and bodhisattvas (e.g., Maitreya, Avalokiteśvara, Amitābha, and Kṣitigarbha), avadāna, dhāraṇīs, abhidharma, Indian commentaries, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, hetu-vidyā, and his famous travelogue, Xiyuji. His translation of the Mahā-Prajñāpāramitā-sūtras (600 fascicles in 3 entire Taishō volumes) is by far the largest translation in the Chinese canon, followed by his 200 fascicle translation of the Sarvāstivādin Mahāvibhāṣā. His Heart Sūtra translation is still recited daily throughout the East Asian Buddhist world. His translations are often labeled the “New Translation” style, indicating a break or change with his predecessor’s efforts. This presentation will examine what is “new” in his translations? Xuanzang introduced new Chinese equivalents for Indic terms that had already acquired standard Chinese renderings, though this was a gradual process, as I will illustrate with a few examples (e.g., his treatment of kḷp terms). He is also frequently credited with being a more literal translator, which turns out to not always be the case (e.g. his translation of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), though often his translations are more accurate than earlier translations of the same texts (e.g. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa sūtra). But these technical details are only part of the story. What was truly new and revealing about his philosophical orientation were his choices of texts to translate, and the order in which he introduced them in new translations, which included numerous texts previously translated by others that he felt needed newer, more accurate translations, as well as new texts that introduced new facets of Indian thinking to a Chinese audience previously unaware of these Indian developments.
Drawing on the historical and intellectual contexts of the Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith’s... more Drawing on the historical and intellectual contexts of the Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith’s composition and paying sustained attention to its interpretation in early commentaries, this new annotated translation of the classic makes its ideas available to English readers like never before. The introduction orients the reader with the main topics taken up in the Treatise and also provides a scholarly resource for students, teachers, and researchers. The Treatise succinctly addresses many of the doctrines of greatest importance to Buddhists in China between the fifth and seventh centuries, in an attempt to reconcile seemingly contradictory ideas in Buddhist texts introduced from India. One reason for the popularity of the Treatise is its compelling vision of how to realize why we are deluded and then follow a path to actualize our inherent buddhahood. “Awakening Mahāyāna Faith” refers to having the initial faith or trust that the Mahāyāna Buddhist path will work and is worth purs...
This appeared in Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Premodern Sources, edited by C. Pierce Salguero, Columbia University Press, 2017. pp. 49-60., 2017
Selection of a few passages from the Yogācārabhūmi related to medicine.
Partial translations of three texts preserved in Chinese, two by Vātsīputrīyas and the other the ... more Partial translations of three texts preserved in Chinese, two by Vātsīputrīyas and the other the section on the Vātsīputrīyas in Vasumitra's "Different Doctrinal Tenets of the Dharma-wheel." Far from the heretical ātmavādins their rivals and detractors accused them of being, they insisted that the pudgala (person) is a prajñapti (heuristic fiction), required to account for past lives, future accomplishments and karmic recompense. Their claim is that any Buddhist who denies that a continuity with karmic consequences follows individuals within a lifetime and from life to life, is losing the raison d’être of Buddhism.
A concise overview of Yogācāra views of consciousness, especially those expressed by Vasubandhu a... more A concise overview of Yogācāra views of consciousness, especially those expressed by Vasubandhu and Xuanzang, including how their thought would deal with the 'hard problem.' Appeared in Consciousness and the great philosophers: what would they have said about our mind-body problem? -- edited by Stephen Leach and James Tartaglia, Routledge, 2017. The bibliographical references were transferred by the editors to the book's bibliography and are not included in this PDF.
Journal of Chinese Philosophy, vol.17(3), (1990) 387-96
This is a better copy -- the previous PDF... more Journal of Chinese Philosophy, vol.17(3), (1990) 387-96 This is a better copy -- the previous PDF posted here was difficult to read.
Journal of Chinese Philosophy, Vol.11(4), (Dec. 1984) pp. 421-27
A more readable PDF of a book re... more Journal of Chinese Philosophy, Vol.11(4), (Dec. 1984) pp. 421-27 A more readable PDF of a book review of Kuang-ming Wu's insightful, now hard to find first book on Zhuangzi.
Appeared in Wonhyo's Philosophy of Mind, ed. by A. Charles Muller and Cuong T. Nguyen. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2012, pp. 263-297, 361-377
The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 62, No. 3, Aug 2003
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
From Chang'an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist Monk Xuanzang (602?-664) From Chang'an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist Monk Xuanzang (602?-664), 2020
Abstract: Xuanzang is one of the rare translators of Indic material into Chinese who was himself ... more Abstract: Xuanzang is one of the rare translators of Indic material into Chinese who was himself Chinese, and the most proli c of any translator. His translations cover all Buddhist genres, including āgamas, Mahāyāna sutras, devotional sutras on speci c buddhas and bodhisattvas (e.g. Maitreya, Avalokiteśvara, Amitābha, and Kṣitigarbha), avadāna, dhāraṇīs, abhidharma, Indian commentaries, Madhyama- ka, Yogācāra, hetu-vidyā, and his famous travelogue, Xiyu ji 西域記. His translation of the Mahā-Prajñāpāramitā-sūtras (600 fascicles in three entire Taishō volumes) is by far the largest translation in the Chinese canon, followed by his 200-fascicle translation of the Sarvās- tivādin Mahāvibhāṣa. His Heart Sūtra translation is still recited daily throughout the East Asian Buddhist world. His translations are often labeled the ‘New Translation’ style, indicating a break or change with his predecessor’s e orts. This presentation will examine what is ‘new’ in his translations. Xuanzang introduced new Chinese equivalents for Indic terms that had already acquired standard Chinese renderings, though this was a gradual process, as I will illustrate with a few examples (e.g., his treatment of √kḷp terms). He is also frequently credited with being a more literal translator, which turns out to not always be the case (e.g. his translation of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), though often his translations are more accurate than earlier translations of the same texts (e.g. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa sūtra). But these technical details are only part of the story. What was truly new and revealing about his philosophical orientation were his choices of texts to translate, which included numerous texts previously translated by others that he felt needed newer, more accurate translations, as well as new texts that introduced new facets of Indian thinking to a Chinese audience pre- viously unaware of these Indian developments. Taking all of this into account, I will attempt to shed some light on Xuanzang’s thinking and orientation beyond the usual stereotypical accounts.
• Translates into English one of the most important texts in East Asian Buddhist thought
• Provid... more • Translates into English one of the most important texts in East Asian Buddhist thought • Provides extensive commentary on the text, informed by early interpretations • Gives a comprehensive overview of the Treatise's historical and intellectual context
A richly complex study of the Yogacara tradition of Buddhism in India and China, divided into five parts. Part 1 is on Buddhism and phenomenology, with close attention to elements in Husserl and Merleau-Ponty that are helpful for understanding Yogacara. Part 2 details the four basic models of Indian Buddhist thought - the five skandhas, conditioned co-arising, the triple world, and the interplay of behaviour/meditation/understanding. A chapter on the attainment of cessation nirodha- samapatti illustrates some of the intricate ways in which these models were deployed. Part 3 discusses karma, meditation, and epistemology, from Pali Abhidhamma and Nagarjuna to Yogacara. Part 4 presents texts, translations, and comparative analysis of Vasubandhu's Trimsika with the Chinese versions by Paramartha and Hsuan-tsang. Part 5 deals with the Ch'eng wei-shih lun and Yogacara in China.
The Prajnaparamita-hrdaya-sutra (Heart Sutra), so-called because it is said to distill the essenc... more The Prajnaparamita-hrdaya-sutra (Heart Sutra), so-called because it is said to distill the essence of the voluminous Prajnaparamita teachings on emptiness, is one of the most highly regarded, oft-recited, and influential Mahayana texts in East Asian Buddhism. This text, the earliest Chinese commentary on the Heart Sutra, was composed in the seventh-century by monk scholar Ku'ei-chi (Kuiji), a disciple of the renowned monk Hsuan-tsang and the founder of the Fa-hsiang school, the Chinese version of the Indian Yogacara ("Consciousness Only") school. Drawing on a variety of textual sources, Ku'ei-chi presents a line by line commentary on the sutra. [Taisho #1710] (Chinese name: Pan-jo-po-lo-mi-to-hsin-ching-yu-tsan).
From Chang’an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist Monk Xuanzang (602?–664), 2020
Xuanzang is one of the rare translators of Indic material into Chinese who was himself Chinese, a... more Xuanzang is one of the rare translators of Indic material into Chinese who was himself Chinese, and the most prolific of any translator. His translations cover all Buddhist genres, including āgamas, Mahāyāna sutras, devotional sutras on specific buddhas and bodhisattvas (e.g., Maitreya, Avalokiteśvara, Amitābha, and Kṣitigarbha), avadāna, dhāraṇīs, abhidharma, Indian commentaries, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, hetu-vidyā, and his famous travelogue, Xiyuji. His translation of the Mahā-Prajñāpāramitā-sūtras (600 fascicles in 3 entire Taishō volumes) is by far the largest translation in the Chinese canon, followed by his 200 fascicle translation of the Sarvāstivādin Mahāvibhāṣā. His Heart Sūtra translation is still recited daily throughout the East Asian Buddhist world. His translations are often labeled the “New Translation” style, indicating a break or change with his predecessor’s efforts. This presentation will examine what is “new” in his translations? Xuanzang introduced new Chinese equivalents for Indic terms that had already acquired standard Chinese renderings, though this was a gradual process, as I will illustrate with a few examples (e.g., his treatment of kḷp terms). He is also frequently credited with being a more literal translator, which turns out to not always be the case (e.g. his translation of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), though often his translations are more accurate than earlier translations of the same texts (e.g. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa sūtra). But these technical details are only part of the story. What was truly new and revealing about his philosophical orientation were his choices of texts to translate, and the order in which he introduced them in new translations, which included numerous texts previously translated by others that he felt needed newer, more accurate translations, as well as new texts that introduced new facets of Indian thinking to a Chinese audience previously unaware of these Indian developments.
Drawing on the historical and intellectual contexts of the Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith’s... more Drawing on the historical and intellectual contexts of the Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith’s composition and paying sustained attention to its interpretation in early commentaries, this new annotated translation of the classic makes its ideas available to English readers like never before. The introduction orients the reader with the main topics taken up in the Treatise and also provides a scholarly resource for students, teachers, and researchers. The Treatise succinctly addresses many of the doctrines of greatest importance to Buddhists in China between the fifth and seventh centuries, in an attempt to reconcile seemingly contradictory ideas in Buddhist texts introduced from India. One reason for the popularity of the Treatise is its compelling vision of how to realize why we are deluded and then follow a path to actualize our inherent buddhahood. “Awakening Mahāyāna Faith” refers to having the initial faith or trust that the Mahāyāna Buddhist path will work and is worth purs...
This appeared in Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Premodern Sources, edited by C. Pierce Salguero, Columbia University Press, 2017. pp. 49-60., 2017
Selection of a few passages from the Yogācārabhūmi related to medicine.
Partial translations of three texts preserved in Chinese, two by Vātsīputrīyas and the other the ... more Partial translations of three texts preserved in Chinese, two by Vātsīputrīyas and the other the section on the Vātsīputrīyas in Vasumitra's "Different Doctrinal Tenets of the Dharma-wheel." Far from the heretical ātmavādins their rivals and detractors accused them of being, they insisted that the pudgala (person) is a prajñapti (heuristic fiction), required to account for past lives, future accomplishments and karmic recompense. Their claim is that any Buddhist who denies that a continuity with karmic consequences follows individuals within a lifetime and from life to life, is losing the raison d’être of Buddhism.
A concise overview of Yogācāra views of consciousness, especially those expressed by Vasubandhu a... more A concise overview of Yogācāra views of consciousness, especially those expressed by Vasubandhu and Xuanzang, including how their thought would deal with the 'hard problem.' Appeared in Consciousness and the great philosophers: what would they have said about our mind-body problem? -- edited by Stephen Leach and James Tartaglia, Routledge, 2017. The bibliographical references were transferred by the editors to the book's bibliography and are not included in this PDF.
Journal of Chinese Philosophy, vol.17(3), (1990) 387-96
This is a better copy -- the previous PDF... more Journal of Chinese Philosophy, vol.17(3), (1990) 387-96 This is a better copy -- the previous PDF posted here was difficult to read.
Journal of Chinese Philosophy, Vol.11(4), (Dec. 1984) pp. 421-27
A more readable PDF of a book re... more Journal of Chinese Philosophy, Vol.11(4), (Dec. 1984) pp. 421-27 A more readable PDF of a book review of Kuang-ming Wu's insightful, now hard to find first book on Zhuangzi.
Appeared in Wonhyo's Philosophy of Mind, ed. by A. Charles Muller and Cuong T. Nguyen. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2012, pp. 263-297, 361-377
The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 62, No. 3, Aug 2003
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Routledge Encyclopedia of International Philosophy, Richard Hayes, subject editor, 1998
An detailed overview of the philosophy of the Sāṃkhya school that originally appeared in the Rout... more An detailed overview of the philosophy of the Sāṃkhya school that originally appeared in the Routledge Encyclopedia of International Philosophy, 1998. To view a version of this article, go to http://www.acmuller.net/yogacara/schools/samkhya.html In the published version, it appeared under the title "Sāṅkhya."
The Caraka-saṃhitā is widely accepted as the earliest extant Indian medical text. Its founding id... more The Caraka-saṃhitā is widely accepted as the earliest extant Indian medical text. Its founding ideas are attributed to an ancient preceptor named Ātreya and his disciple Agniveśa, about whom we know very little that is not deeply drenched in conflicting hagiographia. The core redaction of this text is attributed to someone named Caraka, whose historical identity is equally soaked in conflicting hagiographical details. 1 In this text, however, we find, along with a plethora of medical information about sundry physical and mental illnesses, symptoms, drugs, herbs, diagnostic theory, and principles, methods of prognosis, treatments, anatomical theory, and so on, what is usually considered to be the first appearance of the theory of pramāṇa, the instruments or means by which knowledge is acquired. Medieval Indian philosophy -after the Nyāya-sūtra (which appears to have been influenced by the Caraka-saṃhitā [hereafter CS] in its own treatment of the pramāṇas), and especially after the innovations in epistemology and logic developed by the Buddhist philosophers Dignāga and
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information stor... more now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Hiding the World in the World: Uneven Discourses on …
Detailed reading of the "Autumn Floods" section of the Zhuangzi, sandwiched between in depth anal... more Detailed reading of the "Autumn Floods" section of the Zhuangzi, sandwiched between in depth analyses of two important sections of Zhuangzi ch. 2: the "Eight Virtues" and the Butterfly Dream. Argues that Zhuangzi proposes two models for enabling an ethics built on facing and accepting our limitations and what we don't know or control, as opposed to attempting to lay illusory foundations or principles; and that he does so embracing rather than rejecting reason -- ethics derived from reason within its aporetic parameters. In short, he is neither a full scale relativist nor a skeptic.
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Books by Dan Lusthaus
Xuanzang introduced new Chinese equivalents for Indic terms that had already acquired standard Chinese renderings, though this was a gradual process, as I will illustrate with a few examples (e.g., his treatment of √kḷp terms). He is also frequently credited with being a more literal translator, which turns out to not always be the case (e.g. his translation of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), though often his translations are more accurate than earlier translations of the same texts (e.g. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa sūtra). But these technical details are only part of the story. What was truly new and revealing about his philosophical orientation were his choices of texts to translate, which included numerous texts previously translated by others that he felt needed newer, more accurate translations, as well as new texts that introduced new facets of Indian thinking to a Chinese audience pre- viously unaware of these Indian developments. Taking all of this into account, I will attempt to shed some light on Xuanzang’s thinking and orientation beyond the usual stereotypical accounts.
• Provides extensive commentary on the text, informed by early interpretations
• Gives a comprehensive overview of the Treatise's historical and intellectual context
If you want to read the rest of the book, please purchase a copy.
A richly complex study of the Yogacara tradition of Buddhism in India and China, divided into five parts. Part 1 is on Buddhism and phenomenology, with close attention to elements in Husserl and Merleau-Ponty that are helpful for understanding Yogacara. Part 2 details the four basic models of Indian Buddhist thought - the five skandhas, conditioned co-arising, the triple world, and the interplay of behaviour/meditation/understanding. A chapter on the attainment of cessation nirodha- samapatti illustrates some of the intricate ways in which these models were deployed. Part 3 discusses karma, meditation, and epistemology, from Pali Abhidhamma and Nagarjuna to Yogacara. Part 4 presents texts, translations, and comparative analysis of Vasubandhu's Trimsika with the Chinese versions by Paramartha and Hsuan-tsang. Part 5 deals with the Ch'eng wei-shih lun and Yogacara in China.
Papers by Dan Lusthaus
Xuanzang introduced new Chinese equivalents for Indic terms that had already acquired standard Chinese renderings, though this was a gradual process, as I will illustrate with a few examples (e.g., his treatment of kḷp terms). He is also frequently credited with being a more literal translator, which turns out to not always be the case (e.g. his translation of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), though often his translations are more accurate than earlier translations of the same texts (e.g. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa sūtra). But these technical details are only part of the story. What was truly new and revealing about his philosophical orientation were his choices of texts to translate, and the order in which he introduced them in new translations, which included numerous texts previously translated by others that he felt needed newer, more accurate translations, as well as new texts that introduced new facets of Indian thinking to a Chinese audience previously unaware of these Indian developments.
This is a better copy -- the previous PDF posted here was difficult to read.
A more readable PDF of a book review of Kuang-ming Wu's insightful, now hard to find first book on Zhuangzi.
Xuanzang introduced new Chinese equivalents for Indic terms that had already acquired standard Chinese renderings, though this was a gradual process, as I will illustrate with a few examples (e.g., his treatment of √kḷp terms). He is also frequently credited with being a more literal translator, which turns out to not always be the case (e.g. his translation of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), though often his translations are more accurate than earlier translations of the same texts (e.g. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa sūtra). But these technical details are only part of the story. What was truly new and revealing about his philosophical orientation were his choices of texts to translate, which included numerous texts previously translated by others that he felt needed newer, more accurate translations, as well as new texts that introduced new facets of Indian thinking to a Chinese audience pre- viously unaware of these Indian developments. Taking all of this into account, I will attempt to shed some light on Xuanzang’s thinking and orientation beyond the usual stereotypical accounts.
• Provides extensive commentary on the text, informed by early interpretations
• Gives a comprehensive overview of the Treatise's historical and intellectual context
If you want to read the rest of the book, please purchase a copy.
A richly complex study of the Yogacara tradition of Buddhism in India and China, divided into five parts. Part 1 is on Buddhism and phenomenology, with close attention to elements in Husserl and Merleau-Ponty that are helpful for understanding Yogacara. Part 2 details the four basic models of Indian Buddhist thought - the five skandhas, conditioned co-arising, the triple world, and the interplay of behaviour/meditation/understanding. A chapter on the attainment of cessation nirodha- samapatti illustrates some of the intricate ways in which these models were deployed. Part 3 discusses karma, meditation, and epistemology, from Pali Abhidhamma and Nagarjuna to Yogacara. Part 4 presents texts, translations, and comparative analysis of Vasubandhu's Trimsika with the Chinese versions by Paramartha and Hsuan-tsang. Part 5 deals with the Ch'eng wei-shih lun and Yogacara in China.
Xuanzang introduced new Chinese equivalents for Indic terms that had already acquired standard Chinese renderings, though this was a gradual process, as I will illustrate with a few examples (e.g., his treatment of kḷp terms). He is also frequently credited with being a more literal translator, which turns out to not always be the case (e.g. his translation of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), though often his translations are more accurate than earlier translations of the same texts (e.g. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa sūtra). But these technical details are only part of the story. What was truly new and revealing about his philosophical orientation were his choices of texts to translate, and the order in which he introduced them in new translations, which included numerous texts previously translated by others that he felt needed newer, more accurate translations, as well as new texts that introduced new facets of Indian thinking to a Chinese audience previously unaware of these Indian developments.
This is a better copy -- the previous PDF posted here was difficult to read.
A more readable PDF of a book review of Kuang-ming Wu's insightful, now hard to find first book on Zhuangzi.
In the published version, it appeared under the title "Sāṅkhya."