Dawn of a New Era: Translation Efforts in Early Tang

This chapter analyzes the paradigm of the “elite translation team” in the early Tang Dynasty, focusing on the groundbreaking translation approach initiated by Prabhākaramitra, an Indian pioneer of team-based sūtra translation in Tang China. Prabhākaramitra’s approach was later inherited by Xuanzang after his pilgrimage to India and the establishment of a translation organization in Chang’an. Also, this chapter examines how the translation teams of Prabhākaramitra and Xuanzang integrated elements from pre-Tang models, strengthened organizational systems, and benefited from imperial patronage to develop a more systematic framework for the collaborative translation of Buddhist scriptures. Their efforts paved the way for the formation of imperial translation institutions in the Tang era.