Taoist and Buddhist Terminology in Chang-chun zhen-ren xi you ji ("Xi you ji, or Description of the Journey to the West") Translated by Father Palladius (Kafarov)

The article is devoted to the study of the contribution of Peter Ivanovich Kafarov (Archimandrite Palladius) (1817–1878) to the study of Taoism. Kafarov translated the work “Notes on the Journey to the West of the Perfect Man Chang-chun” (Chang-chun zhen-ren xi you ji) which tells about the journey of the famous Taoist master Qiu Chang-chun (Qiu Chu-ji) to the temporary residence of Genghis Khan. The text describes the journey, the places along the route, and the people whom Qiu Chang-chun and Li Zhi-chang met along the way. Xi you ji also contains many poems by Qiu Chang-chun written in various genres. Kafarov's translation was first published in 1866, and republished in 1910 and 2020. This work is one of the first translations into Russian of the text of the Taoist religion (daojiao) in general and the texts of the Quanzhen school in particular. It seems very interesting to investigate how the translations of Taoist terms proposed in the 1860s look like from the point of view of today's science. The article analyzes the translations of Taoist and Buddhist terminology made by P.I. Kafarov. Based on this analysis, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) P.I. Kafarov was the first Russian Sinologist who saw that the late Taoist religion is a very Buddhized teaching. Kafarov had an excellent understanding of the significant influence of Buddhism on the Taoist religion and took this into account in his translations and notes. (2) Kafarov tried to make the translations as understandable as possible for the non-specialist readers. The “Christianization” of terms, which is typical for the translations of the 19th century, is minimal in Kafarov's work. Only a few such passages can be found in the translation, primarily including term “sin”. (4) Many translations of Taoist terms can be considered quite adequate from the point of view of modern Daology. It can be seen that P.I. Kafarov was fully aware of the alchemical nature of some Taoist terms and the esoteric nature of Taoism in general.