Buddhism

Buddhism is the only important foreign religiousinfluence that has become part and parcel2 ofChinese life. The influence is so deep that we nowspeak of children’s dolls, and sometimes the childrenthemselves, as“ little Buddha ”, and the EmpressDowager3 herself was addressed as“Old Buddha”.The Goddess of Mercy and the laughing Buddha 4have become Chinese household words. Buddhism has affected our language , our food, ourarts, our sculpture and directly inspired the characteristic pagoda5 . It has stimulated ourliterature and our whole world of imagination. The little monkish figure, with his bald head andhis gray robes, forms an intimate part of any panorama of society, and Buddhist temples,rather than those of Confucius, are the center of the town and village life, where the eldersgather to decide on6 village matters and annual celebrations. Its monks and nuns penetratethe privacies of Chinese households, on all occasions of births, deaths and weddings, as noother persons are allowed to do, and hardly a widow or virgin can be seduced , according to theChinese novels, without the help of these religious figures.

Buddhism has conquered China as a philosophy and as a religion, as a philosophy for thescholars and as a religion for the common people. Whereas Confucianism has only a philosophyof moral conduct, Buddhism possesses a logical method, a metaphysics7 , and a theory ofknowledge . Besides, it is fortunate in having a high tradition of scholarship in the translationsof Buddhist classics, and the language of these translations, so succinct and often sodistinguished by a beautiful lucidity of language and reasoning, cannot but attract scholarswith a philosophical bias. Hence Buddhism has always enjoyed a prestige among the Chinesescholars, which so far Christianity has failed to achieve.

阅读自测

Ⅰ. Fill in each blank with the proper form of the words given in the brackets :

1. The injury to their key player could be a________ ( decide ) factor in the basketball game .

2. The president is paying a ________ ( privacy) visit to Europe.

3. She had the good ________ ( fortunate) to be free from the disease.

4. Some ________ ( influence) politicians change the world chaotic situation.

5. The offer of a high salary and a free house is very________ ( seduce) . 6. He is a truly________ ( religion ) man who goes to church every day.

Ⅱ. Answer the following question in your own words :

Why can Buddhism win the favor of Chinese scholars?

参考答案

Ⅰ. 1. decisive / deciding 2. private 3 . fortune 4.influential 5 . seductive 6. religious

Ⅱ. Because Buddhism possesses a logical method,a metaphysics, and a theory of knowledge, inaddition, Buddhist classics have been translatedinto brief and beautiful Chinese .

参考译文 重庆六级联考

佛教

佛教是唯一一个成为中国人生活重要组成部分的重要外国教派。佛教对中国影响巨大, 现在我们常常将一些孩子的玩具娃娃称为“ 小菩萨”, 有时甚至将孩子也称为“ 小菩 萨”, 我们还将慈禧太后称为“ 老菩萨( 老佛爷) ”。观音菩萨和弥勒佛已经成为中国家喻户 晓的名字。佛教影响了我们的语言、饮食、艺术、雕塑, 还直接给我们灵感, 建造起佛教特有 的宝塔。佛教促进了我国文学的发展, 刺激了我们整个想象空间。留着光头、穿着灰色长 袍的小和尚形象已成为中国社会全景图中不可缺少的画面。佛教寺庙成为中国乡镇人民 生活的中心, 在寺庙里村中老人聚集在一起对村里事务和每年举行的庆祝活动做出决定, 而儒教的寺庙则不能发挥如此大的作用。佛教里的和尚和尼姑已经渗透到中国家庭的日 常生活中, 他们出现在孩子出生、葬礼和婚礼等所有重要场合里, 而和尚和尼姑在这些场合 的作用是他人所无法替代的。在中国传统小说里, 如果没有这些宗教人物的帮助, 几乎没 有一个寡妇或处女不会被人引诱而误入歧途。

佛教作为哲学和宗教征服了中国。作为哲学, 佛教赢得了中国学者的心; 作为宗教, 佛 教则获得了平民百姓的支持。儒教只具有道德行为的哲学, 而佛教则拥有逻辑方法、形而 上学理论和一整套认识学说。另外, 幸运的是, 在翻译佛家经典著作时, 中国具有优良的学 术传统, 翻译过来的语言简洁明快, 经文中的语言和推理因美妙易懂而卓尔不群, 即使对哲 学抱有偏见的学者也会被其吸引。因此, 佛教在中国学者中一直享有较高的威望, 这一点 基督教至今还未能达到。