Chan Knowledge Reconstruction in Intra-Translation and Extra-Translation: A Study on the Translator Group of the Dunhuang Manuscript of the Platform Sutra

This article, framed within Translator Behavior Criticism, examines how D. T. Suzuki, Wing-tsit Chan, Philip B. Yampolsky, and Red Pine (Bill Porter) reconstruct Chan knowledge in their translations of the Dunhuang Platform Sutra at the intra- and extra-translational levels, with attention to how translator identity shapes translation practice and knowledge reconstruction. The four translators are found to differ in their emphases on “textual truth-seeking” and “social utility-attaining”, resulting in diversified strategies of knowledge reconstruction. At the extra-translational level, the translators’ identities shape the individualized presentation of background knowledge about Chan Buddhism in their paratexts. At the intra-translational level, their renderings of core concepts and restructuring of distinctive sentence patterns reveal different trade-offs among semantic accuracy, formal fidelity, and textual readability when translating Chan linguistic knowledge. By analyzing their translation practices, this article summarizes the shared patterns and individual differences within this translator group in their reconstruction of Chan knowledge.