The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Tu Long said: "The ancients said that Shinto established religion, and if religion is used properly, it can also make people happy and comfortable. This is how Jianyang asked Trinity Church to help spread sweet potatoes and be responsible for immigration."

Matteo Ricci shook his head and said: "This is not the result of the Trinity Religion. It is actually due to the kindness in human nature. Human beings were originally created by God, and they naturally carry part of the divinity. The God of heaven and earth is naturally infinitely kind. , then human nature is also good. Even if the Trinity believers believe in false gods, they can always do some kind things from the heart."

Tu Long was stunned by Matteo Ricci's suddenly very aggressive words. Wang Wenlong was secretly amused. He knew that Matteo Ricci was taking the opportunity to preach again.

After the early Catholic Church came to China, they often thought that Confucianism was a religion, and even gave it a name like "Confucianism". They regarded Confucianism as the main competitor for the spread of Christianity in China, and thought that as long as it defeated Confucianism, Christianity could rule. China.

From this point of view, many early missionaries in China prohibited their followers from engaging in various Confucian etiquette activities, and even belittled Confucianism when preaching.

The natural result was that these missionaries were opposed by Confucian scholar-bureaucrats and could not even leave the county-level administrative districts. They were often reported as soon as they started preaching and were then driven back to Macau.

After Matteo Ricci lived for a long time in the Ming Dynasty, he discovered that the essence of Confucianism is not a religion like Catholicism, but a philosophical thought for understanding the world. Confucius's status in China is not like that of a god, and his tablet has been compared with some The great moral figures and political leaders of ancient China were placed together and worshiped by everyone. They were more like respected philosophers than gods.

Matteo Ricci therefore pointed out that if Christianity wants to spread its religion in China, the real opponent it faces is not Confucianism, but Buddhism, Taoism and other religions.

The reason why these religions were able to spread widely in the Ming Dynasty was because Confucianism did not give the people of the world a god. Many people's souls had nothing to rely on, and they had to have illusory masters to help them solve some practical problems that could not be solved in reality.

Therefore, the missionary method set by Matteo Ricci was to try to make Christianity replace Buddhism and Taoism in the Ming Dynasty, and to supplement the sense of stability that Confucianism did not bring to the people.

Following this line of thinking, Matteo Ricci discovered that there was no provision for European "friendship" in the Confucian Three Cardinal Principles and Five Constant Principles. Out of the idea of ​​"complementing Confucianism", he wrote a book "On Friendship".

Matteo Ricci wanted to use this book to verify the feasibility of his preaching method. Although the purpose of "On Friendship" was to preach, the content contained almost nothing about religion, but a collection of a lot of European aphorisms about friendship.

After the book was published, it turned out that many famous quotes and aphorisms made people in the Ming Dynasty feel that the author was quite knowledgeable. Matteo Ricci became famous because of this book.

From then on, Matteo Ricci changed from the clothes of a monk to the clothes of a Confucian scholar, and defined his missionary idea as "changing Buddhism and supplementing Confucianism".

In front of Confucian scholars, Matteo Ricci was polite and respectful. While showing respect for Confucianism, he also tried his best to "supplement" Confucianism, just like a Thai and Western Confucian.

Matteo Ricci's behavior made many Confucians have a good impression of him and then of Catholicism.

But in front of other religions, Matteo Ricci had a different face.

He would not hesitate to be aggressive and eloquent in front of pagans, and would use almost every opportunity to disparage other religions that were popular in Ming Dynasty at this time.

The former is "supplementing Confucianism" and the latter is "changing Buddhism".

Five years ago in Nanjing, Matteo Ricci had three debates with Master Xuelang, the abbot of Nanjing Baoen Temple. During the debate, his words were as aggressive as fire, and Master Xuelang was shocked when he beat him.

For example, one of the debates was about the theory of "good nature".

The people present asked Ricci and Master Xuelang to debate whether "human nature is inherently good" or "human nature is inherently evil." Because Xuelang had previously said that people can become Buddhas through practice, and that Buddha is a God-like creator of heaven and earth, and that Buddha is also infinitely compassionate.

So after Matteo Ricci heard this question, he did not answer directly, but said very aggressively: "We all agree that the gods of heaven and earth, whether it is God or your Buddha, are infinitely good and there is no doubt about it. But now You also said that human nature is so fragile that we still struggle with whether it is good or evil.

If, as Master Xuelang concluded a few minutes ago, humans can be the creators of heaven and earth like God, and those who become the creators of heaven and earth are infinitely compassionate, but if human nature is fragile and does not distinguish between good and evil, then how can you conclude that becoming the creator of heaven and earth Is the creator Buddha good? "

Matteo Ricci used logical methods to criticize Xuelang's theory for problems. This kind of debate method was really rare among religious debates in the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, many Confucian scholars present were quite surprised when they heard Matteo Ricci's answer. Some people thought about Ricci's way of thinking and agreed very much. Master Xuelang could only "smile contemptuously in return."

Although Xuelang later used some theories from the Huayan Sect to defend himself, they did not produce the astonishing effect of Matteo Ricci's defense.

In fact, in Wang Wenlong's view, Master Xuelang really had no chance of defeating Matteo Ricci.

Both Buddhism and Christianity believe that the world has an ultimate master, and that this master must be benevolent.

Christianity does not regard God as a human being at all, but Buddhism also believes that Buddha can be cultivated by human beings. From this, for Matteo Ricci, all doubts about human beings can be pointed to Buddha in debates. . Master Xuelang is fundamentally at a disadvantage.

Moreover, now is the period of great debate between Catholicism and Protestantism in Europe, and the educational resources held by Catholicism are far from comparable to those of Buddhism. Missionaries such as Matteo Ricci were trained in the seminary system, and many have received strict debate training, and Foreign monks like to chant sutras, and any European debating method they randomly come up with will seem novel to the people of the Ming Dynasty.

It is not that Master Xuelang is not good at Buddhism, but the debate methods such as Buddhism and Mingxue that he is familiar with are all derived from the thinking of Buddhist scriptures. They must be most effective among people who are familiar with or believe in Buddhism. Let alone Lima. It was difficult for Dou to understand, and even Wang Wenlong had to think for a long time to understand its meaning.

Buddhism and Catholicism are both religions with main gods. Neither one is superior to the other, and the methods of debate are still limited in every way. It is natural that Master Xuelang was overpowered by Matteo Ricci.

At this time, Matteo Ricci said to Wang Wenlong: "Jian Yang, who came into contact with Catholicism in the West, should understand that Catholicism and Confucianism do not conflict. As for Buddhism and Taoism, they are just a collection of superstitions. The reason why some people in the Ming Dynasty thought that the world Being godless is also the result of being influenced by Buddhism."

Wang Wenlong frowned inwardly when he heard this.

In fact, Wang Wenlong agreed with Matteo Ricci's approach of turning the target of his struggle to Buddhism and Taoism without trying to change Confucianism.

At least Matteo Ricci understood that Catholicism is a religion like Buddhism and Taoism, unlike some other Macau priests who dreamed of turning the entire Ming Dynasty into a religious country.

However, Wang Wenlong really did not want to participate in the debate between Ricci and Buddhism.

Wang Wenlong drank wine and said: "Mr. Xijiang, I have a good friend named Ye Zhouze. He has profound research on Buddhism and Taoism. You should ask him this question. I can introduce him to you."

Matteo Ricci nodded: "I have also heard of Ye Wentong's name. It would be great if I have the opportunity to meet him."

(End of this chapter)