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Languages and Religion
Languages and Religion
The Buddha 
After visiting the Ngong Ping village, we went to the Buddha and had an amusing finding. The signs are written in different ways when comparing with the translations of the Sanskrit holy scripts on the wall. The notice such as ‘Do not litter’, ‘Please don’t throw coins’ are written in both Chinese and English. In contrast, the Sanskrit holy scripts on the wall are translated in traditional Chinese only.
We found that writing bilingually on the notice board can let the local as well as foreign travelers understand the notice easily. Thus, we found that they wrote the information board in such a bilingual way. We also found that they translated the Sanskrit holy scripts to Chinese with both explicit and implicit reasons. The explicit reason is to let the visitors who read traditional Chinese understand the Sanskrit holy scripts’ meaning well and clearly. The implicit reason is to promote Buddhism to the local and Mainland visitors.
An interesting point about religion promotion is that, why don’t they translate the Sanskrit holy scripts to bilingual way just like the information boards so that all the travelers can understand the Sanskrit holy scripts fully and thoroughly? Dunn (2002: 3) stated that tourists usually end up gazing simply because they cannot understand the languages spoken by the objects of their gaze. Either way, analyses of language and social interaction in tourism have been noticeable by their absence. From Dunn’s perspective, translating the Sanskrit holy scripts to Chinese version only will limit the audiences, which are the Buddhism’s promotion targets. If they intend to translate the Sanskrit holy scripts so as to express the Buddhism’s beliefs and spirit, it is difficult for them to achieve the goal. It is because the foreign visitors, who mostly are English learners, can’t understand the Chinese translations as well as the Sanskrit holy scripts.
The Buddha After visiting the Ngong Ping village, we went to the Buddha and had an amusing finding. The signs are written in different ways when comparing with the translations of the Sanskrit holy scripts on the wall. The notice such as ‘Do not litter’, ‘Please don’t throw coins’ are written in both Chinese and English. In contrast, the Sanskrit holy scripts on the wall are translated in traditional Chinese only.
We found that writing bilingually on the notice board can let the local as well as foreign travelers understand the notice easily. Thus, we found that they wrote the information board in such a bilingual way. We also found that they translated the Sanskrit holy scripts to Chinese with both explicit and implicit reasons. The explicit reason is to let the visitors who read traditional Chinese understand the Sanskrit holy scripts’ meaning well and clearly. The implicit reason is to promote Buddhism to the local and Mainland visitors.
An interesting point about religion promotion is that, why don’t they translate the Sanskrit holy scripts to bilingual way just like the information boards so that all the travelers can understand the Sanskrit holy scripts fully and thoroughly? Dunn (2002: 3) stated that tourists usually end up gazing simply because they cannot understand the languages spoken by the objects of their gaze. Either way, analyses of language and social interaction in tourism have been noticeable by their absence. From Dunn’s perspective, translating the Sanskrit holy scripts to Chinese version only will limit the audiences, which are the Buddhism’s promotion targets. If they intend to translate the Sanskrit holy scripts so as to express the Buddhism’s beliefs and spirit, it is difficult for them to achieve the goal. It is because the foreign visitors, who mostly are English learners, can’t understand the Chinese translations as well as the Sanskrit holy scripts.
Kachru (1990) stated that the meaning of ‘English users’ include all those who so actually use it, even on a limited scale. T
he estimation of ‘English users’ in the world is between 1 billion and 2 billion (pp. xix- xxii). As there is an explosive spread of English,
English users must be greater than 2 billion nowadays. Translating the Sanskrit holy scripts in English, the International language, is an unpreventable trend, which not only can increase the publicity, but also the popularity of Buddhism around the world. From this refreshing observation, we found that there is a close and positive relationship between the spread of religious and the variety of languages usage. The more the languages are used to translate the holy scripts, the faster the speed of spreading the religion. However, there is a dilemma between the spreading and the protection of the religion, just like the Buddhism in Tung Chung.
he estimation of ‘English users’ in the world is between 1 billion and 2 billion (pp. xix- xxii). As there is an explosive spread of English,
English users must be greater than 2 billion nowadays. Translating the Sanskrit holy scripts in English, the International language, is an unpreventable trend, which not only can increase the publicity, but also the popularity of Buddhism around the world. From this refreshing observation, we found that there is a close and positive relationship between the spread of religious and the variety of languages usage. The more the languages are used to translate the holy scripts, the faster the speed of spreading the religion. However, there is a dilemma between the spreading and the protection of the religion, just like the Buddhism in Tung Chung.
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