In a discussion of how to translate "sara.na.m gacchaami" the question
arose: How do the early Chinese translations treat this expression?

The standard English translation is of course "go for refuge", but some
people are not happy with the word "refuge".

Therefore it would be interesting to see how this was translated into
Chinese. But since my Chinese is very rudimentary (to say the least), I
would appreciate some analysis of the translation. How are the connotations
of the word the Chinese chose? In what other contexts - buddhist or
non-buddhist - does the word appear, and what is the meaning of the word in
those contexts? Does it have a "pre-buddhist" meaning, and if so, what meaning?

Hoping someone can help with some explanations.

Yours,

Kåre A. Lie
http://www.lienet.no/