Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Through the translation of Buddhist scriptures, Zhu Youjian mentioned the three principles of "faithfulness and expressiveness," which were his requirements for translation work.

Historically, Yan Fu's concept of "faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance" has been regarded as the three-character classic of Chinese translation.

However, as many elegant terms are relinquished to foreigners, more and more people are questioning this practice.

Qian Zhongshu's theory of "the realm of transformation" is gaining increasing recognition. Translators such as Luo Xinzhang and Liu Mingjiu are supporters of this theory.

Zhu Youjian also approved of the word "化" (hua), and explicitly defined it as Sinicization.

The requirement is to convert foreign words into Chinese words and integrate them into Chinese culture.

It cannot be simply translated as "robustness," which leaves people confused. In fact, every time this word is encountered, it distracts them.

This was something Zhu Youjian deeply abhorred; he didn't want to use various professional terms to distinguish horses of different colors, like the classical Chinese terms "骐骥骢骊".

That would obviously increase the cost of learning and the burden of interdisciplinary learning.

His requirement is that it be clear at a glance and require no further explanation, in order to cope with the future era of knowledge explosion.

He said to Qian Qianyi:

"When translating foreign languages, it is best to select characters from 2500 commonly used characters, and no more than 4500 characters from classical texts."

“The Four Books and Five Classics can be clearly written using these words. Religious texts cannot be more difficult than the Four Books and Five Classics.”

"The same applies to Buddhist scriptures and Taoist scriptures; both need to be organized and repaired."

"Except for words like personal names and place names, which are allowed to be transliterated, we should use translation whenever possible."

“For example, the Pythagorean theorem can be expressed simply by meaning, so there is no need for the Shang Gao theorem named after a person, let alone the Pythagorean theorem used by the Westerners.”

This is also something he deeply abhors: Fermat's Last Theorem, Goldbach's Conjecture, Navier-Stokes equations... without careful understanding, one simply cannot comprehend what they refer to.

Using personal names, or even adding sequential designations like "first," "second," etc., artificially raises the barriers to entry for the industry.

If Newton's first, second, and third laws were replaced with the laws of inertia, acceleration, and interaction forces, they would be much simpler and easier to understand.

These kinds of words that are difficult to understand undermine the advantages of Chinese word formation.

Knowing all this, Zhu Youjian asked Qian Qianyi to set up a project in the Literature Museum to organize the existing translations and names, and to standardize new terms every year.

The final result was the establishment of the Ming Dynasty Character Society and the Ming Dynasty Translation Society, which served as peripheral institutions of the Hanlin Academy, responsible for orthography, pronunciation, and translation.

This significantly increased the authority of the Hanlin Academy and allowed it to expand its influence through learning.

Qian Qianyi, who was good at drawing inferences from one instance, quickly thought of establishing societies such as the Ming Dynasty Classics Society and the Ming Dynasty History Society as an extension of the Hanlin Academy's influence.

He gladly accepted the task and wrote down what the emperor had said.
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However, for Qian Qianyi, his proposal to retranslate Buddhist scriptures was not actually aimed at Buddhism, but rather at the Nestorian Church, which was closely connected with science.

He said to the emperor:

"Was the Western learning brought by missionaries from the West translated in the same way?"

"And what about the Celestial Venerable Dousi? Is he classified as an heretical deity or a righteous god?"

Zhu Youjian replied without hesitation:

"Translation standards should be standardized, and the same will naturally apply in the future."

"As for Venerable Dou Si, do you know how many people the Jingjiao Church has now?"

Qian Qianyi said:

"The church's priests are all on the roster, and the number of believers in Daming is nearly ten thousand."

“Those who resolutely refused to join the Jingjiao Church have all been expelled and sent back to Xiangshan’ao.”

This is also a work that has been ongoing, and every missionary in the Ming Dynasty is theoretically required to join the Jingxie Church.

However, since Long Huamin, who went to the Vatican to explain, has not yet returned, many people are still hesitant to follow the Vatican's orders.

Missionaries and believers who were resolute in their opposition to the Nestorian Church were expelled from the Ming Dynasty without hesitation. The missionaries in the Ming Dynasty had already undergone a screening process, and those who remained were the more adaptable ones.

Upon hearing that the Jingjiao Church had fewer than ten thousand believers, Zhu Youjian immediately decided:

"The Celestial Venerable Dousi has not yet been converted and is regarded as a heretical deity."

"His rank is equivalent to that of the Three Pure Ones, but he is not worshipped as a righteous god."

"Officials who believe in non-orthodox gods are not allowed to hold positions in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."

"I will order someone to inform the Ministry of Personnel to note in the officials' files that they are not practicing orthodox religions."

This represents another tightening of religious policies, with special distinctions made for officials who believe in non-orthodox gods.

Zhu Youjian was certain that the unity of the three religions (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism) could be achieved, because since the Song Dynasty, the three religions had shifted from competition to harmonious integration and unity.

However, Zhu Youjian wasn't entirely confident in the idea of ​​unifying all religions. Buddhism's Sinicization process had involved the suppression of Buddhism by the Three Wu and One Zong emperors. Religions like Nestorianism were unaware of the potential dangers and could potentially trigger upheavals like the Taiping Rebellion or the Shaanxi-Gansu Rebellion.

Because of these concerns, Zhu Youjian decided to tighten the spread of religions other than the three major religions and restrict their scope of activities.

Those who believed in these gods were treated differently in official circles, and scholars were prevented from turning to these religions.

The Buddhist and Taoist deities, widely worshipped in the Ming Dynasty, were enshrined as orthodox gods, just like the immortals in the pantheon of celestial beings. Officials who worshipped these orthodox gods did not need to be specially marked on their resumes.

However, there was a question that Qian Qianyi inquired about:

"Since Shakyamuni has no incarnation or temple in China, and the legendary Buddha relics have long been lost, should he be recognized as a deity?"

This is the Buddha of Buddhism, the most widely worshipped figure.

If he cannot be designated as a deity, Buddhists will likely cause a disturbance.

Zhu Youjian happened to know how to resolve this matter, and he said with a smile:
"The Buddha's relics that Han Yu opposed in his 'Admonition Against Welcoming the Buddha's Relics' are now in the underground palace of Famen Temple in Shaanxi."

"That is the middle finger bone relic of Shakyamuni Buddha, evidence that the Tathagata Buddha was willing to be converted."

"Moreover, beneath the glazed pagoda of the Great Bao'en Temple lies the original underground palace of the Changgan Temple from the Song Dynasty, which contains the skull relic of Sakyamuni Buddha."

"This is a message relayed by the Buddha through the Taizu Emperor, that he is willing to be assimilated into China and can be officially recognized as a deity."

Qian Qianyi was stunned, unsure whether to believe it or not.

For Buddhism as a whole, the Buddha's relics are the most sacred objects.

Unexpectedly, the emperor suddenly mentioned two pieces.

If it really exists, why doesn't anyone know about it?
Qian Qianyi was skeptical about whether Buddha relics existed in the two places.

Such things cannot be said carelessly, otherwise, if they are proven false, the emperor's prestige will be greatly damaged.

He subtly advised the emperor:
"The matter of the Buddha's bone is shrouded in mystery. I believe we should secretly send someone to investigate and then make a decision after confirming it."

Zhu Youjian, however, was certain that the two relics were there. This was a relatively famous archaeological discovery that he remembered. He stated without hesitation:
"The Emperor Taizu appeared to me in a dream and told me this; how could it be false?"

"You shall send officials from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and the Buddhist Association to immediately organize an exploration and retrieve the Buddha's relics for worship."

"I will have the Privy Council issue an order to send troops to protect both locations."

"This must be done quickly to prevent tomb raiders from coveting it."

He instructed Qian Qianyi to wait for his decree to protect the relics, and then contact eminent Buddhist monks to go to the two places to retrieve them.

Qian Qianyi harbored doubts but could not question them, so he could only follow the emperor's arrangements and prepare to welcome the Buddha's relics.

Needless to say, the Buddha's skull relic in Nanjing is located beneath the glazed pagoda of the Great Bao'en Temple, and it is enshrined there after being brought out.

Zhu Youjian intended to bring the Buddha's finger bone relic from Famen Temple to Beijing and place it in Chongfu Temple. He also planned to change the temple's name to Fayuan Temple and use it as the location of the Buddhist Association.

With these two famous Buddha relics, along with other Buddha relics from various regions, the Ming Dynasty aimed to gain dominance in Buddhism and spread Chinese Buddhist teachings to Southeast Asia and other places. (End of Chapter)