Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c4.s2.82

v1.c4.s2.82

In the early Tang Dynasty, Prabhakaramitra of Nalanda came to China. In 629 CE, the Emperor Taizong decreed *sutras* to be translated at Da Xing Shan Temple, with Prabhakaramitra as the chief translator. Prabhakaramitra died in 633 CE. Twelve years later, Xuanzang returned from India and presided over *sutra* translation. From this period on, Buddhist translation was of a very high order. At Xuanzang’s workshop, division of work was meticulous, the staff was disciplined and work efficiently carried out. From 646 to 664 CE, under Xuanzang, 73 sutras, in a total of 1,330 volumes, were translated. Xuanzang also put forth his own theory, requiring translation to be “truthful and easy to understand” as well as the “Five No” principle in translation.