Philosophy and Religion
China’s history has been full of richness of culture, mainly due to how they progressed with philosophy and religion. Since the beginning of the Chinese’s civilization philosophy and religion has been at the forefront of Chinese culture. From the ancient oracle bones and bronze inscriptions to the development of different schools of thought, the Chinese have always been adept for the time period in philosophy and religion. And over the course of their history they have combined the two in a manner that suits their needs, through this evolution and combination of the two they have become a strong nation.
Oracle bones were the corner stone of the early Chinese dynasties such as the Shang from around 1200-1050 B.C (Shang pg. 1). In one of the articles it attempts to explain the use of these bones by saying that the kings of the Shang Dynasty would “attempt to communicate with the spiritual forces that ruled their world by reading the stress cracks in cattle bones…” (Shang 1). These kings would apply a heated poker to the bones which would produce cracks that they would analyze based on the direction and deepness of the crack. Recently these bones and the records of the king’s analyzation were uncovered. An estimated 150,000 oracle bones were found, and have references to the god of the Shang, Di (Shang pg. 1). This type of analysis by the kings is an early form of a religion, and the building blocks for later philosophy and schools of thought in China’s history.
Much progression can be seen between the oracles bones in the Shang dynasty and the emergence of Confucius (551-479 BC) (Ebrey Text pg. 42). The oracle bones played the basis for the development of the schools of thought and religion in China. Confucius’ goal was the convince people that his moral vision was correct, that “intentions and acts towards other men are at least as important as those towards gods or ancestors (Ebrey Text pg. 42). Confucius’ teachings would soon become the basis for all philosophy and religion in China. With the aid of his students, it led to the success of Confuciu’s ideas about philosophy. One of his students, Mencius, was taught by Confucius’ grandson. Mencius would go on to travel and offer advice to all the rulers of nearby states in China. Mencius took Confucius’ teachings and added a little bit of his own to them, as he begun to spread them. His ideas were very similar to Confucius, but Mencius decided to focus on the subject of human nature unlike Confucius. In one of the articles it states that Mencius said, “Everyone has a heart that is sensitive to the sufferings of others” (Ebrey pg. 23). This shows a progression beyond that of Confucius to the point they are incorporating the thoughts and sufferings of humans themselves. And not just focusing on the morality of how others treat each other.
Two hundred years later emerged Xunzi, who is arguably the most influential Confucian thinker that progressed philosophy much from where Mencius left it (Ebrey Text pg. 45). Xunzi was the philosopher who combined philosophy and religion in Chinese culture. Confucius and Mencius both declined to discuss gods, portents, and anomalies, while Xunzi began work in developing arguments for rationalizing the cosmos (Ebrey Text 45). Xunzi began to ask questions like “Why does it rain after a prayer for rain?” or “Are order and disorder the product of heaven?” (Ebrey pg. 24). Up to this point religion has been strangely absent from philosophy. Xunzi even begins to describe rituals and how sacrifices come into play in philosophy. One of the main ways he differs from Mencius is his views on human nature. Xunzi states that “Human nature is bad. Good is a human product” (Ebrey pg. 25). This contradicts what Mencius stated earlier, and brings into play multiple schools of thought for people to choose from. This progression further shows the evolution of Chinese religion and philosophy and how they have become intertwined.
Around the same time period, Daoism began to emerge and give the people of China more choice for religion and philosophy. One similarity between Confucius and his followers was that they were all “activists” (Ebrey Text pg. 46). They had specific views on the government, and those who chose not to follow those became known as Daoists because they didn’t accept the Confucian’s basis for their thought. Daoists “defended private life and wanted the rulers to leave people alone” (Ebrey Text pg. 47). In the excerpts from Zhuangzi he attacks the Confucian teachings by saying “You and Confucius are both dreaming, and I who say you are a dream am also a dream” (Daoist pg. 29). This is a further step in philosophy by trying to say that we could all in a dream state, but we don’t know it yet. The Daoists, such as Zhuangzi, were almost opposite to the Confucianism approach to thought. Confucianism mainly focused on “Human affairs and is properly labeled a humanistic philosophy” (Ebrey Text pg. 49). While Daoism opened up another aspect where human society is small in comparison to how big reality actually is.
In China, these schools of thought held strong until around 400 A.D. Soon a new religion began to appear, and was seen as a variant of Daoism. The origins of Buddhism in China are unknown but it is assumed that people that came into China from Central Asia brought with them their own cultures and religion (Sources 1 pg. 430) Buddhism spread is attributed with its greatest teacher, Huiyuan (Ebrey Text pg. 97). He was an incredibly intelligent individual, and he also had a basic education in both Confucianism and Daoism. In 404, Huiyuan asserted the political independence of Buddhism and made Buddhism a legitimate competitor against Confucianism and Daoism (Ebrey Text pg. 97). It soon had a large hold on the population of China, by basing its ideals on salvation and release from suffering. Buddhism also incorporated women into their religion by allowing them to pursue salvation on equal terms when compared to men, which is one of the factors that started the diminishment of sexism in China. In one of the articles provided for class titled “Daily Life in the Assembly” it states some of the rules for Buddhism in China. It goes into Rules for “Setting Out Bowls,” “Assembly,” and even for “Eating” (Foulk pg. 461-466). Having a strict religion in China was a new prospect for most of the people, and it was one that caught on easily.
Daoism soon saw itself pushed to the side as Buddhism began to emerge, so Daoists attempt to reemerge Daoism as a religion. In order to compete with Buddhism, Daoism “acquired a body of scriptures that rivaled the Buddhist sutras” (Ebrey Text pg. 101). Over the next couple hundred years, Daoism progressed into a religion that legitimately could compete against Buddhism. They even opened up buildings for worship, similar to Buddhist monasteries. The two religions would compete for the Chinese people by rejecting the teachings of the other religion and saying that their religion is superior in every way from hygiene to control (Ebrey Text pg. 102). Both religions accepted the local deities of the people in order to accommodate as many people as possible. But in the long run, Buddhism would prevail in incorporating more people but both religions would play an important part in Chinese politics and lay society (Ebrey Text pg. 102).
In Chinese history, the evolution of religion and philosophy has been one of the most important phases. From early oracle bones to the religions of Daoism and Buddhism, China has progressed a long way since its origins. The early schools of thought based on Confucius’ teaching were key to the progression of China. It shaped their overall political structure, and their ways for worship. With the help of students like Mencius, and Xzuni, Confucianism was allowed to exapand and incorporate in it religious aspects that made it a hybrid philosophy. From there Daoism came into the picture and gave people more choices instead of being forced into Confucianism. But it wasn’t until hundreds of years later did a true religion come into play, Buddhism. To adapt to change, Daoism reemerged as a religion to be able to further spread its message and continue to affect political authority in China. Overall, all of these schools of thought, and religions have played incredibly important roles in China’s political structure, and development as a country.