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About Kukechu Translation Projects

The purpose of Kukechu Translation Projects is to promote the translation of Chinese and Japanese Buddhist texts into English, in particular the works of Tiantai Zhiyi. Ways to support and promote such translation work are under consideration.

Organizer, Producer, and Translator
Paul L. Swanson

Paul is an MK (“missionary kid”) born and raised in Japan. He has four children one wife, and three grandchildren, is a Bob Dylan freak, edited the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies for more almost 40 years, and has lost the battle against an expanding waistline and becoming a “senior citizen.” He did his graduate studies at Sophia University, the University of Tokyo, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has now fully retired from the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture and is focusing on translating Zhiyi's Tiantai works, currently the Fahuaxuanyi (Hokke Gengi) and Fahuawenju (Hokke Mongu). His dual areas of specialization are Japanese Religions (Shugendo) and Buddhist Studies (Tiantai/Tendai Buddhism). His publications include:

Foundations of T’ien-t’ai Philosophy, a study of the threefold truth as the basic structure of T’ien-t’ai Buddhist philosophy, including an annotated translation of part of the Fa-hua hsuan-i.
Religion and Society in Modern Japan, a collection of essays intended for use as a textbook for classes on Japanese religions
Pruning the Bodhi Tree, a collection of essays on “Critical Buddhism”
If you teach me Japanese, I’ll teach you English, a guide to exchanging languages
Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions, edited with Clark Chilson

Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: T’ien-t’ai Chih-i’s Mo-ho chih-kuan, a complete annotated translation of one of the most influential treatises in East Asian Buddhism, in 3 volumes.

In Search of Clarity: Essays on Translation and Tiantai Buddhism (Chisokudo, 2018), a compilation of essays written while working on translations over the past 30 years.

The Hundred Records of the Temple of National Purity, BDK English Tripitaka Series, 2022.

The Great Cessation-and-Contemplation, BDK English Tripitaka Series, forthcoming.

The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, BDK English Tripitaka Series, forthcoming.

Titles in Vietnamese:
Thien & Chi Quan

Thien Thai Tong

Paul’s current projects include:

  • translating the Tiantai texts (『法華玄義』and 『法華文句』) into English, in both non-annotated and fully annotated versions..

  • digital scanning of works on Shugendo by Niko Ryoei.

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