Buddhist monks and nuns in China plan to learn foreign languages to spread their message worldwide.

Buddhists will be encouraged to take a global perspective on learning and preaching at a seminar held today at Shanghai's 100 year-old Yufo Temple.

Some 100 monastic figures from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan will attend the seminar, the first multi-lingual Buddhist forum to be held in 59 years.

"Buddhism in China lacks qualified translators to help transmit its theories to the world," said Liu Wei, vice secretary-general of China's Religious Culture Communication Association.

China has a long history of translating Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese. The most renowned translator was Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang (618-917), who spent 17 years traveling overland between China and India, and translated hundreds of Indian scriptures.

"Chinese Buddhism has caught the attention of the world as China's international standing has grown. Buddhists in China face new challenges in communicating with the rest of the world," said Liu in a press conference a day ahead of the seminar.

According to Cao Bin, vice director of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, more than 400 monks and nuns are studying foreign languages in the city, and English is a compulsory subject for all of them.

Monk Juexing, director of the Shanghai Buddhist Association said "It is important for us to learn foreign languages as our contacts with the rest of the world grow deeper and more frequent."

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Wu Jin July 9, 2008)