Since the harmonious spirit of the Chinese traditional culture(s) is highly similar with Buddhist philosophy, Buddhism as it developed in China incorporated itself with the indigenous culture(s) and as a result Buddhism and Chinese culture(s) brought out the best in each other, thus Chinese civilization was advanced and perfected. Because the early Buddhist monks and translators adopted a way which allows Chinese people to easily understand and accept its thoughts and teachings, they promoted the historical course of mutual incorporation between Buddhism and Chinese culture(s) to some extent and finally cause Buddhism to become an indispensable part of Chinese culture(s). Harmonious co-existence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism was established. Therefore, during the process of the Buddhist scripture translation, Buddhism and Chinese traditional culture(s) were always in a benign circulation of mutual learning and complementing.

3. The demands of indigenous belief have set the specific working direction for the project of propagating and translating the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka

In the pioneering stage, Buddhism experienced a time when it attached itself with Chinese traditional culture(s), this strategy has deeply influenced the translation project of Buddhist scriptures which aimed at the propagation of Buddhism in China. In order to facilitate the dissemination of Buddhism, the early Buddhist monks and translators had to consider what Chinese readers’ and believers’ could understand and accept especially on a practical level. Thus, adaptation became the main strategy for the translation project of Buddhist scriptures. In accordance with the initial strategy of accepting the Chinese indigenous culture(s) and changing with them, in the following years, the Buddhist monks and translators adopted a phonetic translation which includes 格义Geyi and 比附 Bifu, they borrowed Confucian and Taoist terminologies in their Buddhist translation works so that more Chinese people could understand and accept the Buddhist teachings.

A successful translation means a successful cultural propagation, from the beginning, the project of translating the Buddhist scriptures was not simply one of text conversion, but was aimed at the dissemination of Buddhism in China. It was “an activity with a purpose, but this ‘purpose’ was not fully determined by the translators, because the translators did not enjoy absolute freedom, they were subject to the host culture.” （张春柏，2005）The whole project its organizing formats, ways, skills, principles and standards, had to be adjusted to Chinese indigenous culture(s) and other contextual elements.

From the Tang dynasty, the renowned translator 玄奘Xuanzang utilized some skills such as, supplementing, omitting, splitting and combining, etc which covered all different translation skilled employed in modern times. His translation works achieved a tight unity between content and form. These high quality Buddhist translations which were in complete harmony with Chinese traditional culture(s) caused a growing number of Chinese people to accept Buddhism and its teachings in an unconscious way. Observing the array of translators, the course of Buddhist scripture translation was always developing towards a more mature and sound track. In the initial stage, the organizing form was private and translators from foreign countries dominated the translation project. From the developing stage to the golden age of Buddhist scripture translation in the Sui and Tang dynasties, more and more Chinese Buddhist monks studied Buddhist doctrine in the Indian subcontinent and there were a growing number of people who mastered both Chinese and Sanskrit. The organizing form was changed from private to official and the division of work was very detailed and specific. This kind of translation form still has a great influence upon today’s translation activities.

4. The self-development of Buddhism has brought forward the pressing time theme for the propagation and translation of the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka

Buddhism’s organic properties of self-propagation, self-adjustment, self-renovation, and self-regeneration destined it to change and adapt to society when faced with challenges from both inside and outside. The existing form of Buddhism in China resulted from conceptualization or localization. Though the time and karma are in complete harmony, we must still discern how to promote the good traditions of Buddhism so that they may play a positive role in constructing a harmonious world and so that Buddhism may achieve the goal of “promoting the orthodox Dhamma, teaching and transforming the people.” It is an important task worthy of deep discussion for us.

We believe our chief mission in the present age is to modernize the Buddhist scriptures. That is to say we should use the modern language to explain Buddhist philosophical concepts to facilitate modern people’s understanding. The new exegesis of Buddhist philosophical concepts includes: to reason some explications which conformed to logic, to illuminate the implications of Buddhist philosophical concepts in response to some practical problems of society, to advance the elements of truth and wisdom which are contained in Buddhist philosophical concepts, to promote the positive theoretical thinking system in accord with the content of social development, to bring forward new concepts which correspond to objective practice and adaptation to modern demands.

Ⅳ. Some questions must be paid attention to the compilation, propagation and translation of the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka in modern times

1. Regarding the research of the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka, we should strengthen the discussion about the compilation and digitalization of the Tripitaka in modern times.

A number of different versions of the Tripitaka have been compiled and published in recent years. It is a good phenomenon. However, most of them are re-printings of the ancient Buddhist scriptures. Though these ancient scriptures have a great significance in edition and literature for academic and Buddhist communities, they have less value on the practical level. In order to compile one ideal edition which can meet the Buddhist believers’ reading and reciting needs and can be used as a reliable research and reading resource for people from all circles, we should transcend the sectarian bias by which our predecessors have only upheld one certain school or sect and we also should avoid those printing mistakes contained in the existing published editions of the Tripitaka and learn the unique characteristics of the Tripitaka in the past dynasties, this requires us to not hold prejudice and blindly trust our forefathers. Only by taking these measures, can we achieve the compilation of a Buddhist encyclopedia which meet the requirements of the present age and reflects the spirit of modern times.[8] Thus, the compilation project of the Tripitaka should strengthen its practicability from the following aspects:

(1). We should process, punctuate and proofread the important editions of the Tripitaka and re-do the typesetting to fit modern people’s reading habits. Currently, Mr. 李家振Li Jiazhen and 李富华Li Fuhua are leading some experts to proofread 《赵城金藏》the Zhaochen Jinzang and their work has achieved great progress. It is reported that the new typesetting of《乾隆大藏经》the Qianlong Dazangjin will be published by 中国书店China Bookstore (Publishing Company) , the new typesetting of《净土藏》the Jingtu zang was published by 河北佛协Hebei Buddhist Association not long ago and 《禅宗全书》the complete scriptures of Chan Buddhism will be published soon. All these efforts should be praised.

(2). It is extremely necessary to construct summaries and reading guides of all the Buddhist scriptures in order to facilitate modern people’s use. Currently, Mr. 陈士强Chen Shiqiang edited《大藏经总目提要》the catalogue and index of the Tripitaka and published by 上海古籍Shanghai Guji (Publishing House), but he only finished the section of the Sutta-pitaka (The Basket of Buddha’s discourses) and it was based on the basic catalog of the Tripitaka which did not cover the whole scriptures. Therefore, there is still a long way to go.