玄奘翻譯佛經的步驟， 我們至今還採用， 在網上找到了一篇英文文章， 特張貼如下， 供大家參考：
Xuan Zang, Possibly China's Greatest Translator
His 10-stage quality control process initiated more than 1300 years ago is far more thorough and exacting than any existing today.
Introduction
Every Chinese, young and old, within and outside China, knows the classical language rendering of the exploits of Xuan Zang, the pious Tang dynasty monk and his three storybook disciples: the indestructible Monkey King, the Great Sage; Brother Pig, the Eight Denials (of Buddhism); and Sand Monk, the third disciple. In real life, Xuan Zang was a truly remarkable Buddhist monk. He travelled on land, across mountains and deserts, through hostile and uncharted territories, to the birthplace of Buddha in the Indian sub-continent and thereafter returned to Chang’an (modern day Xi’an) with a set of Buddhist sutras. The voluminous sutras were written in the extremely difficult Sanskrit language. Together with his doyens of pupils, he completed the translation of some 75 volumes of the sutras into an equally difficult Chinese languages.
The 10 Stages
Buddhist sutras, translated into Chinese earlier than the Tang dynasty, were difficult to read and comprehend because the responsible translators were all Buddhist monks of non-Han Chinese origin. It took China several hundred years to groom its own selection of Buddhist monks who could master both the Sanskrit language and the complex Buddhism doctrines, which were written in Sanskrit. And Xuan Zang was recognized as the foremost among them. He was appointed chief of the Tang dynasty imperial translation centre. It was he who designed and implemented a translation workflow that would guarantee the quality of the final product. The process detailed below is well worth adopting by any modern day translation team.
Stage 1
Master Translator and Buddhism expert to jointly study and interpret the original text written in Sanskrit. It could involve one or more persons.
Stage 2
Members of the translation team to attend a recital of the text in question by the Master Translator. The purpose is to verify the accuracy of the interpretation undertaken in Stage 1. A recital is necessary because the scriptures were originally written for recitation.
Stage 3
A team of junior translators produces the first Chinese draft from the Sanskrit text. The draft includes is a transliteration of Sanskrit terms into Chinese equivalents.
Stage 4
Production of a complete Chinese version by a senior Han Chinese Buddhist monk trained to undertake scripture translation. This is the most important stage in the entire process involving a monk with an in-depth knowledge of Chinese culture and language.
Stage 5
Refinement of the complete Chinese version, construction and structure of sentences. This is a necessary stage because of the vast linguistic differences between the source and target language.
Stage 6
Reverse translation of the Chinese version into Sanskrit in order to verify the accuracy in the interpretation of the original text. Mistakes in interpretation are to be promptly rectified in the Chinese version.
Stage 7
Review of the verified Chinese version to identify errors in usage of characters, and refinement in linguistic expressions to improve readability.
Stage 8
Further polishing to improve the literary beauty of the language, adding linguistic colours to the otherwise monotonous writing.
Stage 9
Verification of the audio quality by reciting the translation aloud. The audio effect is important because scriptures are for preaching aloud to an audience.
Stage 10
Final check by the Master Translator.
Conclusion
Xuan Zang did a great job in the translation of the Buddhist sutras. He was not only an outstanding linguist but he was also wholeheartedly committed to the task as a devout Buddhist possessing an extraordinary understanding of its contents. Indeed, he dedicated thirteen years of his life to the task. The task was not simply limited to transforming one language into another. In order to effectively spread Buddhism, the sutras in Chinese would have to be spiritually understood by the Chinese devotees. In today's context, he had to take into account the marketplace. Was it intended for the gentry for whom Buddhism depended for their financial support or was it for the less literate populace to widen market share or was it for both?
