ABSTRACT
In translating Hu-language into Chinese, there are five instances of losing the source. The first is when the Hu-language word order is reversed to conform to that of Chinese. The second is when Hu-language sutras, unhewn in style, are converted into refined Chinese - as only refined texts can please the Chinese, who like refined writing. The third is when the Hu-language sutras, elaborate and detailed, are tailored and the repetitive chants, considered wordy are shortened or excised in the Chinese translation. The fourth is when the Chinese translation completely erases the repetitions and the gathas. The fifth is when the narrative, having completed a theme, makes a digression and then goes back to it, but the digression is removed in the Chinese translation. The point of Dao An's allusion to Zhuangzi is that pruning and reshaping the sutras, however well-intentioned, would have as grave a consequence as the making of holes in the head of Hundun.
