THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA

Chinese culture is marked by four main religious traditions: 1. The traditional folk religion 2. Taoism 3. Confucianism (had state patronnage) 4. Buddhism

MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF CHINESE RELIGIONS 1. Martial Art 2. Chinese Medicine and architecture 3. WU-WEI (the Spirit of Tao) 4. WEN (The Art of Peace) 5. YIN-YANG 6. Ideal Personhood: Shun-Tzu/The Man of Dao

7. Belief in the “Path of Heaven” T'ien (Sky or Heaven) T'ien Ming (the mandate of Heaven) and Sage King Tao

8. Ancestor Veneration 9. Belief in Divination, Exorcism, Magical power

10. Belief in simplicity and humility (no big ego);Belief in the interconnectedness of everybody and everything; and Quest for Balance and Harmony

TEN KEY CONCEPTS OF CHINESE THOUGHT

1. The “San-jiao heyi” concept2. YIN-YANG3. TAO4. TIEN

- TIEN MING (the Mandate of Heaven)- REN TAO ( The path of men)- T’IEN TAO (the path of Heaven)

5. WEN (Confucianism)6. WU-WEI (Taoism)7. SHUN-TZU 8. THE MAN OF DAO9. JEN/REN10. HSIAO

6 KEY CONCEPTS EXPLAINED

* “San-jiao heyi”* YIN-YANG* TAO* TIEN * WEN * WU-WEI

1. The “San-jiao heyi” concept The Chinese emphasis on harmony was also

extended to “the unity of the three faiths” “San-jiao heyi” is still widely used to refer to

Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.

More popular teachers such as Jiao Hong (1540-1620) taught that all three religions constitute in fact “a single teaching,” and all three should be believed because each merely uses separate language to articulate its truth.

Liu Mi (Active 1324):“Although the Three Teaching are different,

in the arguments they put forward, they are One.”

Emperor Xiaozong (1163-1189):

“Use Buddhism to rule the mind,Daoism to rule the bodyConfucianism to rule the world.”

Lin Zhaoen (1517-1598):

“if someone is a Confucian, give him Confucius;

If he is a Daoist, give him Lao Zi;

If he is a Buddhist, give him Shakyamuni;

If he isn’t any of them, give him their unity.”

2. Yin Yang

YIN-YANG DOCTRINE

“Yin-Yang” worldview is central to both Taoism and

Confucianism, and constitutes the soul of the Chinese

character. formulated during the 4th century B.C. in

the form now known to us.

The “Yin-Yang” doctrine is

the doctrine of “the harmony of opposites”

the view that everything

in the universe is composed of two different

but complementary cosmic forces.

Both forces are necessary and are present in everything that exists.

All objects in the universe, including human beings, are made up of both.

Evil results from an imbalance between them.

Each of us is an ever moving blend of Yin-Yang. The interaction extends beyond this world.

Even heaven and earth are linked together: heaven is Yang and earth is Yin, and the two are inseparable.

Yin-Yang is everything, Yin-Yang is in everything.Even the Tao is both male and female, according to Lao-Tzu.

YANG YIN

* MALE *FEMALE 1. DRAGON TIGER 2. SKY EARTH 3. DAY NIGHT 4. SUN MOON 5. SUMMER WINTER 6. BRIGHT DARK 7. DRY MOIST 8. HOT COOL 9. ACTIVE PASSIVE 10. POSITIVE NEGATIVE

3-4. TIEN and The TAO (DAO)

Tien Tao Ren Tao T'ien Tao T ’ien Ming

T'ien (Sky or Heaven) T'ien Ming (the mandate of Heaven: what the

sage king must follow)

TAO = THE WAY= the way of Heaven

= the way of the universe

The path of men (Ren Tao) must follow

the path of Heaven (T'ien Tao)

T’IEN (=HEAVEN)For Confucians, generally, Heaven is

“a supreme spiritual presence, a great moral power, and the source of all.”It is an exalted sacred reality

To follow the Tao means to be in harmony

with the ancestors and the spirits, with the forces of yin and yang and the

five elements.

5. WEN (in Confucianism) = The Arts of Peace ( > < the arts of war) = the sum of culture in its aesthetic and spiritual

mode ( = poetry, music, and art) Confucius valued the arts tremendously, and

considered people who are indifferent to art only half human.

He was not interested in art for art’s sake, But rather in art’s power to transform human

nature in the direction of virtues, its capacity to ennoble the heart, to soften people by leading them to be sensitive to the needs of others.

For Confucius the superior nation is not the one that has military might and uses physical or military force to solve problems,

but rather the one that develops the highest wen, the most exalted culture,

the nation that has the finest art, the noblest philosophy, the grandest poetry,

the superior nation is that one that gives evidence of realizing that “it is the moral character

of a neighborhood that constitutes its excellence.”

6. WU-WEI (in Taoism)The soft overcomes the hard;The gentle overcomes the rigid.Everyone knows this is true,But few can put it into practice.

(Tao Te Ching, chap.78)

WU-WEI WEI= Action WU = not

= “inactive action,” = “creative quietude.” = “the way to do is to be.” The man of wu wei “works without working.” Does not mean “do-nothingness” or “inaction.”

The supreme good is like water, Which nourishes all things without trying to. It is content with the low places that people

disdain. Thus it is like the Tao

(chap.8).

“Nothing in the world Is as soft and yielding as water: Yet for dissolving he hard and

inflexible, Nothing can surpass it.

PACIFISM (inTaoism) Taoism is radically averse to violence and

militarism. In China the scholar ranked at the top of the social

scale, and Taoism is responsible for placing the soldier at the bottom.

For Taoism,

“the way for a vital person to go is not the way of a soldier.”

Lao-Tzu taught that

“Only one who recognizes all people as members of his or his own body is qualified to guard them… Heaven arms with compassion those whom she would not see destroyed.”

“One who would guide a leader of men in the uses of life will warn him against the use of arms for conquest. Even the finest arms are an instrument of evil: an army’s harvest is a waste of thorns.”

(Tao Te Ching, chap. 30)

“Weapons are the tools of violence; All decent men detest them. Weapons are the tool of fear; A decent man will avoid them Except with the utmost restraint…

Peace is the highest value…He enters a battle gravely,With sorrow and with great

compassion,As if he were attending a funeral.”

(Tao Te Ching, chap. 31).