Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Chinese Say, “Heavenly Father”

Regarding Shi Ke’s explanation, several Greek officials showed clear curiosity.

“How exactly is this unified dynasty calculated?” asked John Papadopoulos, the Minister of Revenue.

“You look at whether there are any other claimants,” Shi Ke replied.

“A unified dynasty must itself be a claimant to the title of ‘Son of Heaven.’ At the same time, it must either eliminate all regimes that also claim the title of ‘Son of Heaven,’ or at least force them to renounce their claims in formal diplomatic settings.” He explained, “In short, only by ensuring the uniqueness of the ‘Son of Heaven’ can one be considered a unified dynasty.”

“Unification is not a geographical concept, but rather a... theological one,” Shi Ke concluded by way of analogy. “That is why, sometimes, a territory with a small landmass is considered a legitimate unified dynasty, while one with vast territories is not.”

“I think I understand now,” Papadopoulos nodded. “The wars between the Yuan and Ming are not just dynastic wars like the ones we have here. They actually possess the nature of religious wars, is that right?”

“You could put it that way,” Shi Ke nodded. “This is the religion of the Seres.”

“Then we should indeed avoid this topic,” the Grand Treasurer Otrephos also realized. “When it comes to religious matters, one cannot consider them through purely economic lenses. No wonder the Ming Empire is constantly chasing after this Java regime...”

“Yes,” the Great Lama agreed. “In fact, even the Great Tang did not penetrate as deeply into the southwest, let alone the Song. But because the Yuan Dynasty once controlled this area and established a regime that claimed to be the successor to the Yuan, the Ming must commit resources to destroy them, even if the region is remote, simply for the sake of ‘orthodoxy’—which is one of the most important forms of legitimacy for a Seres regime.”

“Generally speaking, successor dynasties tend to recover all the territories of the previous dynasty. Because the Seres, like us Romans, are a nation with immense cultural appeal,” he explained to the Greeks. “Wherever Rome has ruled, the local barbarians love to style themselves as Roman, and it is the same over there.”

“This has led to a situation where, in places previously controlled or even influenced by a past dynasty, a multitude of regimes appear claiming to be the ‘Seres Son of Heaven’—much like the Holy Roman Empire. Unless these guys are all eliminated, one cannot claim to have achieved unification. Therefore, although it is a religious concept, geographically, it does indeed amount to recovering all the territory of the previous dynasty.”

“But the Yuan Dynasty was very large...” Toghtogha Bukha also realized.

“Indeed, and not only was it large, but it was also mobile,” the Great Lama pointed out. “The remnants of the Yuan fled everywhere. To prove that it is the orthodox ‘Ming Dynasty’ of Great Unification, the Ming must pursue them one by one. Otherwise, as long as they continue to claim orthodoxy, they will exert a constant influence that makes the Ming uncomfortable.”

“Moreover, these Yuan remnants—these ‘friends’—are very good at running. As soon as you hit them, they might run further away, yet they insist on not giving up their orthodox titles. That is the situation we are facing right now.”

“This faith of the Seres people is truly interesting,” Otrephos said with great interest. “So, strictly speaking, is the Ming still just the ‘Ming State’? Has there been any precedent for this in the past?”

“There has, and there have been quite a few of these cases over the years,” said Yelü Xin, a myriad-house commander of the Yeligosalai, stroking his beard. “Ever since the collapse of the Great Tang, the Seres region has been in this state.”

“In the early Tang, they once paid tribute to the Turkic Khaganate. But the Turks did not use the Middle Kingdom’s system of... well, legitimacy, so the subsequent impact was not great. After Emperor Taizong destroyed the Turks, there was no more doubt. The Great Tang’s legitimacy system lasted for a long time; one could say it still influences things to this day.”

“After the Great Tang collapsed, a host of regimes appeared from Japan to the east of Persia. Many claimed to be the Son of Heaven, so during this period, there was no unified dynasty.”

“By the time of the Liao and Song, the world stabilized, but there were still two opposing Sons of Heaven. My ancestor, Liu Yi, consulted with his ministers on a state religion. The ministers thought Buddhism was flourishing and that we should worship the Buddha. My ancestor said, ‘The Buddha is not a Chinese deity, so we cannot.’ In the end, they established a Confucius temple for worship.”

“The Liao State always demanded that it be treated as China and competed for orthodoxy; the Song could not stop them. But conversely, the Liao was powerless to force the Song to abandon its claim. Thus, at this time, there was still no unified dynasty.”

Guo Kang was already familiar with these terms. For example, “Liu Yi” was the founder of the Liao Dynasty, Yelü Abaoji. This man was a “Han-enthusiast” who took “Liu” as his surname and even adopted a Han name.

The word “Yelü” was simply the pronunciation of “Liu” in the Khitan language. The consort clan, the “Xiao” surname, was also borrowed from the Han chancellor Xiao He.

Not many documents from the Liao Dynasty have survived. In the records of the Song, perhaps to seize the mantle of orthodoxy, the Xiao surname was always used, while the Liu surname was persistently written as “Yelü.” Over time, it became a habit, and it continued to be used that way.

“You said Buddhism is not a Chinese religion? Does that mean you cannot believe in foreign religions?” Otrephos discovered a question and asked, “Why is that?”

“At that time in the Liao State, the culture was not as developed as in the Song, but everyone still understood the basic principles,” Yelü Xin said very firmly. “The reason? The reason is that we are Chinese. How can the Chinese adopt a foreign religion as their state religion?”

“Ah? Isn’t Christianity also a foreign religion to you?” Otrephos asked curiously.

Guo Kang wanted to cover his face. He was becoming numb to these “Khitan war-wolves.”

Yelü Xin was a stubborn old man who was usually quite displeased with people in his clan believing in other religions; who would have thought they would say it out loud in the imperial court? To prevent these Khitans from having a “Chinese vs. Foreigner” brawl right in the middle of the court, he hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.

“That doesn’t count,” Guo Kang quickly stood up, waving his hands. “The Heavenly Brother Yishu was a Roman. Since the Heavenly Brother is Roman, the Heavenly Father is naturally Roman as well.”

“Rome was historically known as Da Qin, and the *Records of Wei* say that the people of Da Qin are a branch of the Chinese. Therefore, the Romans are Chinese; therefore, the Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Brother are also Chinese, and Christianity is a Chinese religion. It is perfectly fine for the Chinese to believe in a Chinese religion.”

After he finished speaking, the great hall was quiet for a moment.

The Great Lama let out a long sigh of relief, casting a look of gratitude at Guo Kang. The old pedant Bolzhan subconsciously began to clap, seemingly feeling that Guo Kang’s logical presentation was excellent, but upon realizing he was the only one making noise, he quickly pulled his hands back. Most of the others were still dazed, as if they hadn’t quite reacted yet.

The godfather, however, beamed at him, seemingly encouraging him to continue.

He finally understood why his godmother had specifically instructed his godfather to support him whenever he spoke.