Living Religions8th Edition

Mary Pat Fisher

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Ancient traditions

Daoism--the way of nature and immortality

Confucianism--the practice of virtue

Chapter 6Daoism and Confucianism

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Dao (Tao)liNeo-Confucianismqi (ch’i)renwu weiyangyiyin

Key terms

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“The Dao that can be told of Is not the Absolute Dao,

The Names that can be given Are not Absolute Names.

The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;The Named is the Mother of All Things...These two (the Secret and its manifestations)

Are (in their nature) the same;...They may both be called the Cosmic Mystery: Reaching from the Mystery into the Deeper MysteryIs the Gate to the Secret of All Life.”

Dao de jing, verse 1

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“We are the guardians of the good earth, the trustees of the Mandate of Heaven that enjoins us to make our bodies healthy, our hearts sensitive, our minds alert, our souls refined, and our spirits brilliant....We serve Heaven with common sense, the lack of which nowadays has brought us to the brink of self-destruction. Since we help Heaven to realize itself through our self-discovery and self-understanding in day-to-day living, the ultimate meaning of life is found in our ordinary, human existence.”

Tu Wei-Ming modern Neo-Confucian

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DynastiesShang (1751-1123)Zhou (1122-221)Jin or Qin (221-206 BCE)Han (206 BCE-220 CE)Tang (618-907 CE)Song (960-1280)Republic (1912-1949)People’s Republic (1949-)

Timeline

Ancient traditionsConfucius (551-479)Mengzi (390-305)Xunzi (340-245)PersecutionCivil service examsRevivalZhu Xi (1130-1200)DisestablishmentPersecutionRevival

DaoismAncient traditionsLaozi (600?-300?)Zhuangzi (365-290)Immortality movementsHeavenly Masters originateBuddhist influenceCanon formed (748)Taiji quan appearsPersecutionFalun Gong/Dafa

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Ancient Traditions

• Spiritual ways of ancient Chinese civilization influence all later developments

• Ancestor worship• Invisible spirits• Various rites to ward off demons• Rulers played major spiritual roles

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Cosmic Balance

• Belief that the comos is a manifestation of an impersonal spiritual substance– qi (ch’i): the stuff of which all things are

composed; has 2 aspects• yin is the dark, receptive “female”• yang is the bright assertive “male”

• Dao (way): the creative rhythm of the universe

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Chinese tradition was that the universe arises from the interplay of dark, receptive yin and bright, assertive yang, shown within the circle, which is surrounded by hexagrams of the Yijing.

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Daoism—the way of nature and immortality

• Scholarly label applied to an array of beliefs and practices

• May involve Daoist practices and Confucian virtues and Buddhist-style rituals

• Institutional Daoism has tried to distance itself from popular religion

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Teachings of Daoist Sages• Two major texts of philosophical tradition

– Dao de jing (The Classic of the Way and its Power)

• Written by Laozi • Can live happily by harmonizing self with the

universe, being receptive to beauty and nature, and being silent

– Zhuangzi• Best approach to life is detachment

• Daoist paradox of wu wei: actionless action

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Laozi rode an ox into oblivion after he wrote Dao de jing for a border guard.

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Popular Religion and Organized Daoism

• Became intertwined when Daoist specialists took charge of spiritual tasks such as alchemy, faith healing, and the use of talismans

• Burning incense and making offerings is a way to communicate with invisible spirits

• Feng shui: one means of seeking harmony• Kitchen God

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Sites for Daoist and Buddhist temples in China were traditionally chosen according to feng shui, or geomancy, the awareness of the presence and movement of natural energies.

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Inner Alchemy• Individual spiritual practices for self-

cultivation, longevity, and perhaps immortality• Practices passed secretly from teacher to

pupil• Seek to use the energy available to the body

for physical health and intuitive perception• Three treasures: generative force (jing), vital

life force (qi), spirit (shen)• Queen Mother of the West guards the elixir of

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Daoism Sects• Organized sects developed complex rituals,

texts, and had organized clergy• Highest Purity Daoism advocated celibacy• Numinous Treasure assimilated elements of

Buddhism• Complete Perfection is the dominant

monastic school– Unites Daoist inner alchemy with Chan Buddhist

meditation and Confucian social morality– White Cloud Monastery in Beijing

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The Lantern Festival ends Chinese New Year Celebrations.©2011 PRENTICE HALL | Pearson Education, Inc. | Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Daoism Today

• Continues in 3 major forms– Organized religious institutions– Societies for self-cultivation

• Qigong– Practitioners of spiritual development,

health, and longevity• Accupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine,

energy training practice (Taiji quan)

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Confucianism: the practice of virtue

• Originated about the same time as Daoism

• In Chinese Confucious is known as Kong fuzi and his teachings are called Rujiao: the teaching of the scholars

• Based on ancient Chinese beliefs in the Mandate of Heaven, ancestor worship, spirits, and the power of ritual

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Master Kong’s Life

• Father died when he was 3 and his mother when he was 23.

• Mourning period after his mother’s death; studied ancient ceremonial rites

• Instructed students in the Six Classics of China’s cultural heritage: the Yijing, poetry, history, rituals, music, dance

• His teaching was recognized only in the centuries after his death

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The Confucian Virtues

• Ren is the most important– innate goodness, love, benevolence,

humaneness, human heartedness• Strong government required rulers who lead

virtuous lives to set a good example• Emphasizes relationships over individuality

(parent/child, older/younger siblings, husband/wife, older/younger friend, ruler/subject

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Divergent Followers

• Mengzi (Mencius) stressed the goodness of human nature and the virtue of yi (righteous conduct)

• Xunzi argued that humans are self-centered by nature and that Heaven operates according to natural laws

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The State Cult

• Confucianism was adopted by the state during the Han dynasty (205 BCE – 220 CE)

• Men seeking government positions had to pass examinations based on the six classics

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Neo-Confucianism

• Stressed the importance of meditation and dedication to becoming a noble person

• Encouraged women to offer themselves in total sacrifice to others

• Premised on the idea that Buddhism and Daoism brought moral and political weakness into Chinese society

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The emperor sacrificed in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

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Confucianism under Communism

• During Cultural Revolution attacked as one of the “Four Olds”: old ideas, culture, customs, habits

• Recent Communist leaders have advocated Confucian virtues without naming them

• Not officially recognized as a religion• Confucian morality forms the basis of

Chinese ethics

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