A Primer in Chinese Buddhist Writings

There is very little morphology in Chinese; that is, changes in the form of words to convey different meanings.¹ There are no conjugations or tenses. For understanding classical texts, it is most important to recognize the function of a small set of grammatical particles, to note parallelisms (that is, if we are given a series of five-character lines, the word order is usually the same for each of the lines), and above all, familiarity with vocabulary. It is often possible to interpret a given line in various ways, taking a given word, for instance, as either a verb or a noun. In such cases, the key is context: how is a given word used elsewhere in the same text and, the strongest argument of all: what makes sense.

I have provided an English translation key separately. But your goal should be to reach a point at which you are able to pronounce and translate the passages listed in the “review sections” without recourse to the translation or to any notes of your own. When I have used this volume in the classroom, I do not allow students to consult the translation in class or to refer to notes when translating from the “review sections.”

Notes

1. There is as yet no good grammar for Buddhist Chinese texts, but there is a good grammar for Classical Chinese in general: Edwin G. Pulleyblank, Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1995).