Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China by C. Pierce Salguero (review)

of this book would be familiar with these works. A more guided contextualization would have helped clarify the importance of the Miaomen youqi within these various compilations. More details on some of the participants in the project, such as Zhang Wanfu 張萬福 (fl. 710–713), the chief Daoist in the editorial team, famous for his role in ordaining Emperor Ruizong’s 睿宗 (r.684–690, 710–712) daughters, the Princesses Jinxian 金仙 (Gold Immortal; c.688–743?) and Yuzhen 玉真 (Jade Perfected; c.690–762), would also help in placing the compilation project in the broader relationship between the Tang court and Daoism. While chapter 2 is aptly titled “Survey and Thoughts on the Book,” a more analytical rather than a paraphrastic approach would have benefitted the readers, especially as chapter 3 is a full translation of the passages discussed in chapter 2. Daoist anthologies , like their secular counterparts, are essentially a series of brief quotations from earlier sources, which are deemed definitive by the editors. The six chapters of the Miaomen youqi consist of such quotes from a variety of Daoist texts of the Six Dynasties as well as the Daode jing 道德經. Too often, Reiter simply summarizes a particular entry from the Miaomen youqi, providing the title of the cited source and its location in the Daozang. As the sources used in the treatise include texts affiliated with different Daoist lineages, with distinct cosmological and ritual schemes, a more fruitful approach would provide fuller discussion for each source in its original context and how it is selectively used in the treatise. There are also several sources that are not identified . For example, we are not told what the Lingbao jingshu 靈寶經疏 is, which is cited for its intriguing discussion of the terms “void” (xu 虛) and “not being” (wu 無) (quote on p. 59; summary on p. 32). Similarly, the Zhengyi jing 正一經, which is cited extensively in the treatise (pp. 60, 86, 92) is also left unidentified (p. 32). The Xuanmiao neipian jing 玄妙內篇經 is said to be unidentified (p. 57, n. 11). This, however, is probably the same text as Xuanmiao neipian gaoshang Laozi neizhuan 玄妙內篇高上老子 內傳 (p. 68). Both quotes are probably related to an important “Conversion of the Barbarians ” (huahu 化胡) text that survives only in fragments.2 Despite a few infelicities and questionable translation choices, Reiter’s historical and philological work is exemplary. While this book may be too difficult for undergraduate classes, it would be a great resource in advanced classes on Daoism, and Chinese religion more broadly. GIL RAZ Dartmouth College C. PIERCE SALGUERO, Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014. 245 pp. US$55, £36 (hb). ISBN 978-08122 -4611-7 This book by Pierce Salguero has interesting things to say to different readerships and on different levels. As an exploration of the reception of Buddhist medical lore in medieval China, it will naturally draw attention from historians of both 2 Liu Yi 劉屹, “Xuanmiao neipian kao—liuchao zhi tangchu daodian wenben bianhua zhi yili 《玄妙內篇》考—六朝至唐初道典文本變化之一例,” in Dunhuang wenxian lunji 敦煌文獻論集 (Shenyang: Liaoning jiaoyu chubanshe, 2001), 613–634. BOOK REVIEWS 201 Buddhism and medicine, and quite possibly reveal them as neighbors. Its plan, however, is arguably more ambitious, as it generously deploys analytical frameworks that seem to envisage a more general theory of cultural transmission. Heralded in the title, the key organizing metaphor for such a project is “translation,” a concept that takes up most of the introduction and looms over the following five chapters and the conclusions. To Salguero, who builds on extensive references from translation studies, this term means more than the rendition of words from one language to another, as it broadly refers to “any and all practices of mediating, negotiating, or explaining cultural differences through literature” (p. 7). It accordingly applies to interpretive transactions both between and within languages: not only translation of Buddhist medical discourse from various forms of Middle Indic into Chinese, then, but also Chinese commentaries, imitations, and narrative projections of that discourse. Anyone objecting that more suitable English words for a referent so widely conceived would be “interpretation,” “adaptation,” or “reception” should pause to read through the rest of the book, which does tackle Buddhist translation in its proper sense. Chapter 1 paves...