Namo Sakyamuni Buddha

Buddhism has been propagating in Việt Nam for over 2000 years. Mahayana sutras and other sacred texts have often been taken from the Chinese Tripitaka and, until now, we do not have a complete Tripitaka in Vietnamese. Only a few Vietnamese can read and write Chinese characters. Yet there are still too many sutras that have not been translated. Members of The Tuệ Quang Wisdom Light Foundation Inc. have been concerned about this issue for the last several years. We recently have access to the original texts in the Chinese Tripitaka from the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association (CBETA)  and we are committed to translate them into Vietnamese.

Our Program for the Development of a Vietnamese Tripitaka is divided into five stages:

1. Develop computerized techniques to transcribe and translate the Chinese Tripitaka into Vietnamese,

2. Transcribe the Chinese Tripitaka,

3. Translate into Vietnamese,

4. Edit and review by the Masters, and

5. Publish through conventional printing and electronic means.

The CBETA Tripitaka is based on the Taisho Tripitaka and composed of 2372 sutras, vinayas (precepts) and sastras (commentaries) that have been organized into 56 volumes (volumes 1-55 and 85). Due to this large number of sacred texts, we have spent considerable efforts in developing computerized techniques for translating them. Please refer to  Computer Translation of the Taisho Tripitaka and  CBETA Taisho Index for more details. With this Website, we will provide the sutras and other sacred texts in both original Chinese and translated Vietnamese along with the Vietnamese sutras that have been translated by the Masters and other authors. The text files are compatible with MS-Word and compressed with WinZIP. Please download the necessary software (Chinese fonts, WinZip and MS Word Viewer) if your PC does not have them. Please read the sample Chinese-Vietnamese transcription of the  Heart Sutra (Prajna Paramita Sutra). The transcription has been computerized using the  Thiều Chửu  Chinese-Vietnamese Dictionary.

At the present time, we have completed the translation (Stage 3 of Program) of all sacred texts in the Chinese Tripitaka (over 70 million words in 9035 fascicles/files). All 2372 sutras in the Chinese Tripitaka have been translated by computer in 28 hours. Please read through the sample translations of the Amitabha Sutra, Medicine Buddha Sutra and the Diamond Sutra below. These short sutras have been translated in less than 10 seconds. Larger sutras such as Kinh Hoa Nghiêm-Avatamsaka Sutra (80 fascicles) in 11 minutes, Đại Trí Độ Luận-Great Prajnaparamita Sastra (100 fascicles) in 17 minutes and Đại Bát Nhã-Great Prajna Sutra (600 fascicles) in 50 minutes.  We are making corrections to these files and updating them with modern Buddhist and Chinese-Vietnamese terms.

The Masters and experts at the Buddhist Institutes in Việt Nam are ready to start  the editing and review of these files (Stage 4 of Program). The editing and review phase will occur over the next 10 years. It will only require a relatively modest budget of $300,000 USD for sponsoring about 50 editors in Việt Nam. 

With our unique computer translation software, the time requited for translating the Tripitaka is reduced from decades or even centuries if done manually to a few short years! The Tuệ Quang Wisdom Light Foundation Inc. hopes for the development of  a complete Vietnamese Tripitaka in the near future. Following its development, we hope to distribute it widely and for free through modern electronic means such as the Internet and CD/DVD.  Our efforts only represent small contributions towards the establishment of a Vietnamese Tripitaka. Our transcribed files are still subjected to errors, and we hope to receive guidance, assistance, cooperation and ideas from the Masters, respected authors and other Buddhists so that the Vietnamese Tripitaka will soon be successfully completed.

TUE QUANG WISDOM LIGHT FOUNDATION

Program to Translate Taisho Tripitaka into English & Other Western Languages

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United Nations Day of VESAK 2008

Press Conference in July 2006 at the Vietnamese Buddhist Research Institute (Buddhist Channel TV)