Chapter 1103: Heavenly Principle Is Supreme! (Seeking Subscriptions)

"Nani?!" Takada Miho was so startled by the Zhu Emperor's words that she broke into Japanese. The young girl just stared at Zhu Cilang with wide, dumbfounded eyes.

"What?" Zhu Cilang's face darkened. "Do We not have the standing to confer the title of Successor Sage upon the monk Jianzhen?"

Right! How could the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming possibly lack the standing? The Son of Heaven held so many truths in his hands — even the truth of the explosive shells — how could he lack the standing to enfeoff a Japanese monk?

Takada Miho broke into a cold sweat at the Emperor's suddenly stern face — although she was one hundred percent willing to offer herself, and would even comply if ordered to commit seppuku, she was still afraid of dying!

"No, no, this slave was wrong!" Takada prostrated herself on the ground. "Please, Your Majesty, punish me severely."

Zhu Cilang's gentle smile returned. "Punishment won't be necessary. Raise your head and speak."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The young Takada girl breathed a sigh of relief — she had heard in Japan that the Ming Emperor, unlike the Japanese Tenno, truly held great power in his hands. If she angered him, it would be death, death!

"Your Majesty, who exactly is this Master Jianzhen?" asked Kong Yinzheng, the Duke for Perpetuating the Sage. "Why do you wish to enfeoff him as a Sage?"

Yes! What exactly did this master do? How did he get enfeoffed as a Sage?

All the ministers looked at the Zhu Emperor, every one of them utterly baffled. Including Luo Dagong, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, no one had ever heard the name of Master Jianzhen.

Zhu Cilang said, "He is a Japanese monk who achieved both loyalty and filial piety!"

"There is such a monk?"

"How can a monk possibly achieve both loyalty and filial piety?"

"Indeed, a monk can at most be loyal to his sovereign and love his country. How can he speak of filial piety?"

"Perhaps this monk only became a monk after both his parents had passed away."

"Of the three unfilial acts, having no descendants is the greatest!"

"Perhaps he first sired a son, and only then became a monk."

The ministers and great Confucian scholars all began guessing wildly. Zhu Cilang cleared his throat, and everyone immediately fell silent. He looked again at Takada Miho. "Miho, tell everyone who Master Jianzhen is. And why do We say he is a monk of both loyalty and filial piety?"

"Hai." Takada Miho had been made somewhat dizzy by the Zhu Emperor as well, and for a moment did not know where to begin. She stood dumbly for a good while before stammering, "This Master Jianzhen's original name was Hino Norien. Jianzhen is his dharma name. He also had the dharma name Shinran. He was the founding patriarch of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Japan, a man of antiquity from several hundred years ago. And the foremost Buddhist sect in Japan today is the Honganji school, which developed from the Jodo Shinshu sect he founded.

As for loyalty and filial piety both fulfilled — this slave truly does not know how to explain it."

The poor girl really was pitiable. She had never read much, so she did not understand Shinran, a man from several hundred years ago. How could she possibly know how this old monk had achieved both loyalty and filial piety?

Zhu Cilang prompted her: "Then do you know who founded the Honganji?"

"It was founded by Shinran's daughter, Kakushinni."

"A monk had a daughter?" Kong Yinzheng asked. "Was she born before he became a monk?"

"It should not be so. The holy man seems to have become a monk in childhood, at age six or perhaps seven."

"Then this daughter was—"

"She was born after the holy man had seen through the great matter of life and death and then taken a wife," Takada said. "The holy man not only had a wife, he also ate meat, and he had a son and a daughter with his wife. His son founded the Ganjoji, and his daughter founded the Honganji. Later the Ganjoji did not grow large, while the Honganji developed into the foremost Buddhist sect in Japan. And the successive heads of the Honganji have all been descendants of the holy man's daughter, Kakushinni."

Zhu Cilang laughed. "Well? Are not all the monks of this house filial sons?"

They truly were! Monks of other houses left their families upon ordination, renounced the four great elements as empty, and had neither wives nor children — surely unfilial!

These great monks of the Honganji were excellent — they ran their temple like a family business, passed down from generation to generation!

Zhu Cilang spoke again: "Before the Tokugawa shogunate unified Japan, the king of Japan had no power or influence. The regional lords and daimyo were unwilling to contribute wealth, so the king was left stranded in his palace. Even his meals became a problem. He did not know how to farm or trade, and was too embarrassed to beg. Fortunately, the great monks of the Honganji had conscience. They donated a good portion of their incense money to the king of Japan, saving the king of Japan from starvation. Tell me, were these great monks of the Honganji loyal subjects?"

That was true!

The vassals who held territory did not even provide meals for their king, yet the monks of the Honganji fed the king — and kept it up for so many years. If they were not loyal subjects, who was?

Kong Yinzheng nodded and said, "These monks of the Honganji, though they do not keep the monastic precepts, are indeed filial sons and loyal subjects. But is it truly necessary to enfeoff them as Successor Sages?"

"Of course it is necessary!" Zhu Cilang said. "Within Japan, the Confucian school is weak, while Buddhism flourishes. The Honganji school of Jodo Shinshu is the foremost Buddhist sect in Japan. And this sect does not speak of the emptiness of the four great elements, nor does it chant sutras. Instead it emphasizes loyalty, filial piety, courage, and martial valor. It is therefore a sect that unites Buddhism and Confucianism — both Buddhist and Confucian."

Kong Yinzheng's curiosity was thoroughly aroused today, and he asked another question: "Your Majesty, you say the Honganji is loyal, filial, courageous, and martial? Where does this courage and martial valor come from?"

"This subject knows," Luo Dagong took up the question. "The Honganji maintains warrior-monks. In the Warring States chaos of Japan before the Tokugawa shogunate unified the realm, the Honganji also held territory. Its warrior-monks frequently took part in wars, and once held Ishiyama Honganji for ten years against Oda Nobunaga, the greatest warlord of Japan."

Warrior-monks? And they fought for ten years against someone called Oda Nobunaga... What kind of monks were these?

The ministers and great Confucian scholars present did not know what to say.

But although these men were astonished, they immediately understood the Zhu Emperor's intent.

Enfeoffing the founding patriarch of Japan's foremost Buddhist sect as a Successor Sage was a way of drawing in these violent monks who could not chant sutras. Since they did not chant sutras anyway, they might as well take the Confucian Classics and use them!

There was no need to turn the entire Honganji into a "Confucian temple." Even making it half-Confucian would greatly increase Confucianism's influence in Japan.

Moreover, the Zhu Emperor was also preparing to send a portion of the Nagasaki samurai to attack Pattani, and after the campaign to leave them there to garrison the place — stationing them at the front line, so that Siam and Ca Mau behind them could become the hinterland. Only by becoming the hinterland could they be developed and absorbed in peace!

But having samurai who could cut people down was not enough by itself. The Honganji monks were also needed to do ideological work. Those monks might not be able to chant sutras, but they were quite skilled at doctrinal debate!

At this point Zhu Cilang spoke again: "We enfeoff Sages on behalf of Heavenly Principle. Beneath Heavenly Principle there is not only Confucianism, but also Buddhism, Daoism, Shinto, and all schools and sects under heaven. All things in the world proceed from Heavenly Principle!

Therefore this monk Jianzhen is only one of the external-path sages We intend to posthumously enfeoff. There will be more eminent figures of Buddhism, Daoism, and Shinto who receive enfeoffment."

The great Confucian scholars present had by now fully grasped the point — enfeoffing the great predecessors of Buddhism and Daoism as Sages was in fact placing Heavenly Principle above Buddhism and Daoism!

In sectarian disputes, whoever stands above holds the truth!

"Your Majesty," Kong Yinzheng said, "external-path sages may be somewhat difficult to enfeoff! You may be willing to enfeoff them, but they may not necessarily be willing to accept the enfeoffment."

Zhu Cilang smiled and said, "That is precisely why We have brought out the monk Jianzhen to enfeoff! Miho, do you think Jakunyo of the Honganji and Takunyo of the Honganji would dare refuse Our posthumous enfeoffment of their founding patriarch?"

The present-day Honganji was divided into eastern and western branches. The head of the Western Honganji was Jakunyo, and the head of the Eastern Honganji was Takunyo.

Takada Miho replied, "They would not dare. They absolutely would not dare defy the Celestial Court, nor defy Your Majesty!"

"We knew they would not dare!" Zhu Cilang smiled. "We are far more formidable than Oda Nobunaga. If We were to attack Ishiyama Honganji, We would not need ten years — ten days would suffice to take it!"

Zhu Cilang continued: "The other day, when Galdan left Wuhan for the Western Regions, We also spoke with him about conferring the title of Worthy upon the lamas of Chuhe City. Enfeoffment as a Sage while living is probably beyond their qualifications, but the title of Worthy can still be conferred.

Worthy in life, Sage in death! Since Sagehood in death has four ranks — Imperial Ancestral Temple, Loyal and Martyr, Worthy, and Local Worthy — then Worthiness in life should likewise have four ranks: Worthy of the Nation, Loyal of the Nation, Worthy of the Prefecture, and Worthy of the Countryside. As for Worthies of the Nation who may after death be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, there should still be a few of those over in Chuhe City."

(End of Chapter)