(3). It is extremely urgent to make a proper and systematic vernacular translation of the Buddhist scriptures written in classical Chinese. Though these translated Chinese Buddhist scriptures are important, they have not received much attention. In the past, few people read Buddhist scriptures. And Buddhist scholars claimed that not only were these scriptures difficult to understand but they were also merely secondary literatures compared with those written in Pali and Sanskrit. However, concepts must be expressed and handed down through a particular language, language is the vehicle of concepts and concepts can not divorce themselves from a particular language. They must indwell the language. Without a proper perception of language, it is impossible to understand the concepts correctly. Therefore, a proper and systematic vernacular translation of the Buddhist scriptures written in classical Chinese is very helpful to expatiate and understand the Buddhist concepts accurately.

2. Some of our practical and operational suggestions for the compilation, propagation and translation of the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka in modern times

A correct understanding of the Chinese Buddhist scriptures is an indispensable and basic skill for Buddhist believers and researchers. But, there are a number of peculiar and special Buddhist grammatical constructions and terminologies which are not found in other Chinese works and are not adequately explained in current reference books. This makes reading and understanding the Chinese Buddhist scriptures more challenging. Another point of difficulty is the necessity of doing comparative studies of other Chinese literature because some of the translators’ explanations rest on similar uses contained in Chinese literature outside the Buddhist scriptures. These translators’ explanations can not be read as a pure one-to-one translation of the original Buddhist texts. Those ancient scriptures are difficult for general Buddhist believers to read since people might misunderstand and sometimes even distort the original meaning if they do not consult sutras written in Pali, Sanskrit and Tibetan languages.

Herein we brought forward some practical and operational suggestions for the compilation, propagation and translation of the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka in modern times.

(1). Collect all editions of Tripitaka in Chinese, including those published and unpublished. And make an electronic version and catalogue of them. There are many precious Buddhist scriptures which have not been published, such as 崇宁藏the Chongning zang preserved in 崇善寺Chongshan temple in 山西Shanxi province, 辽藏the Liaozang collected in 应县木塔Yinxian wooden pogoda, etc. These precious scriptures need to be protected and compiled one by one.

(2). Make a uniform catalogue of all Buddhist scriptures according to the index system and carving and printing age of the Tripitaka, re-compile 《新编一切经》a new edition of all Buddhist scriptures which can cover all different versions of the Tripitaka (electronic edition)

(3) Collate and compare the editions of those scriptures which appeared repeatedly, select the best one and organize some experts who are capable of translating it into vernacular language. Other editions of those scriptures are cataloged.

In Conclusion, the classics and literature of Chinese Buddhism are truly rich and the development of its history is quite complex. In recent years, both scholars from home and abroad have paid much attention in order to research Buddhism in all its different