Sinicised Translations of Indian Canonical Texts and Japanisations of Chinese Translation Terms

In India, there is no equivalent word for “filial piety,” and parents are mātā-pitṛ (mother and father). In China, however, this word was translated in the Chinese style as “father-mother,” and various good deeds toward one’s parents were translated as “filial piety”. In the case of Japan, in The Tale of Genji, “filial piety” meant to do good to one’s deceased parents. These differences also apply to the way natural phenomena seen in the sutras are perceived and translated.