I’ve just discovered an excellent resource for those starting to read Chinese Buddhist texts.
Lock, G. and Linebarger, G. S. (2018). Chinese Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader. Routledge.
The authors give a full parsing of the Xīnjīng including many helpful notes. I don’t always agree with their reading, mostly because they haven’t incorporated modern research from Nattier onwards. However, it is still a good starting point. Each character is parsed with part of speech and meaning, allowing the student to arrive at their own translation with confidence.
The text is taken from CBETA electronic edition rather than the printed version of the Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō. Again this doesn’t incorporate recent research, particularly Matthew Orsborn’s discovery (Huifeng 2014) that in Kumārajīva’s oeuvre, 以無所得故 regularly represents the Sanskrit word anupalambha-yogena rather than aprāptitvād; along with the structural changes it implies.
An accompanying website is under construction. I hope to contribute an essay about the Heart Sutra.
Xīnjīng | Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya 