...In Chinese religion there are three traditions that have been practiced including folk religion, taoism and confucianism. This trio can also be known as the three dimensions and has had a significant impact on buddhism throughout the years. Taoism is a way of living in harmony with a group of individuals. This can also be said as living with the tao which would mean living with the path or basically getting along with one another. A significant piece of taoism is tao te ching which helped to teach various characteristics to Laozi. Laozi was the founder of tao te ching and really had a major impact on the chinese religion through the teachings from the book. Also through taoism there is wu wei a perception that Laozi uses to reveal in taoism...
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...The features of Chinese religions compared with Western religions Religion has no boundaries geographically, which can be develop and exist in any culture. China is an old country which is able to syncretize distinguished cultures to develop a new look of a religion. Chinese religions have their own features, and western religions which come to China bring new look of Chinese religions. In my paper, I will argue that Chinese religion focus more on practice rather than belief firstly; Hence, Chinese religion associated with the faith with human being features, but not the supreme beings instead. In addition, Chinese religions is free to accept and follow, compared with Western religions. First of all, Chinese religions emphasize people to concentrate more on practice than belief. According to DeBary’s book, it is said “The Chinese were particularly desirous of knowing whether Buddhism could add to their knowledge of elixirs and practices that would contribute to longevity, levitation and other superhuman achievements.” (DeBary, 421) This quotation expresses that, Chinese people do not only believe in Buddhism, but also desire to explore the real use of Buddhism. For this reason, temples and statuary were soon erected all over China (DeBary, 421). Monks who practices the Buddhism in temples and statuary were required to shave their head and not allowed to marry. Yoga and dhyana also come to China from India as a form of practices of Buddhism. In addition, there are many popular...
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...Han Dynasty was a strong and united empire established by Gaozu Liu bang in 202 B.C. The empire prior to Han, also the first empire in the history of China, Qin Dynasty was established and governed based on the ideology of legalists. Under the reign of Qin Shi Huang, legalists’ ideology was spread and executed across the entire empire. Without any doubt, legalists ideology made Qin a very powerful empire, as legalists ideology gave Qin a very disciplined army and a very centralized bureaucratic system, but legalists ideology was also a major factor that contributed to the fall of Qin Dynasty, as this ideology was rigid and harsh, bringing strong discontent from both government officials and ordinary citizens to the ruler. Therefore, Han Gaozu Liu Bang, learned the lesson from Qin Dynasty, founded the Han on the basis of Confucianism. Hence, in my point of view, Han Dynasty, especially early Han dynasty, was dominated by the Confucianism. I have two points to demonstrate my argument. First and foremost, Ren (benevolence) is one of five fundamental concepts of Confucianism, and Ren zheng (a benevolent government), brought up by Mencius, is a concept of government that is benevolent to the people. “Ren Zheng” advocates that a ruler should treat his officials and his people with benevolence and tolerance. Mencius believes that a great emperor should regard its people as priority, then the state, and last the emperor himself. Mencius states that an emperor should often implement...
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...PESTLE ANALYSIS OF CHINA Introduction Location: It is Northwest of the Tibet. The greater part of the country is mountainous. Its principal ranges are the Tien Shan, the Kunlun chain, and the Trans-Himalaya. These separating China from South and Central Asia. Mt. Everest (8,848 m), lies on the China–Nepal border, while the world's second-highest point, K2 is situated on China's border with Pakistan. Capital:- Beijing World's second-largest country by land area,and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area. Area: 9,596,960 sq km Coastline: 14,500 kilometres Population: 1,336,718,015(2011 est.)(over 1.3 billion) Currency: Renminbi (yuan) (¥) (CNY) Political factors Government type: Nominally Marxist–Leninist single-party state. The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. President:- HU JINTAO Prime Minister:- WEN JIABAU Independence:- 1 October 1949(People's Republic of China ) Economic factors GDP:- $11.316 trillion (2011 est.) GDP growth:- 9.5% (2011 est.) (CIA World fact book) Per capita:- $8,394(2011 est.) Unemployment Rate:- 6.1% Inflation rate:- 3.2% Population below poverty line 10% (2010 est.) Economic Factors Labor force: 815.3 million (2010); agriculture 10.2%, industry 46.9%, services 43% (2010 est.). Exports: $1.581 trillion (2010 est.): machinery and equipment, plastics, optical and medical equipment, iron and steel. Imports: $1.327 trillion (2010...
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...Chinese Valentine's Day Everyone knows Valentine’s Day. But I believe most of people except Chinese don’t know that China have their own Valentine’s Day, We call it Chinese Valentine’s Day. This festival is very important for Chinese people. So let me introduce some information about this festival. At the beginning, I should introduce a myth for Chinese Valentine’s Day. Three or four thousand years ago, there was an honest and kind-hearted fellow named Niu Lang (Cowhand). His parents died when he was a child. Later he was driven out of his home by his sister-in-law. So he lived by himself herding cattle and farming. One day, a fairy from heaven Zhi Nu (Weaver Maid) fell in love with him and came down secretly to earth and married him. The cowhand farmed in the field and the Weaver Maid wove at home. They lived a happy life and gave birth to a boy and a girl. Unfortunately, the God of Heaven soon found out the fact and ordered the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens to bring the Weaver Maid back. But that is not the end, love is a very powerful thing. It can change a lot of thing. Niu Lang was very sad and he didn’t know what could he do. So With the help of celestial cattle, the Cowhand flew to heaven with his son and daughter. At the time when he was about to catch up with his wife, the Queen Mother took off one of her gold hairpins and made a stroke. One billowy river appeared in front of the Cowhand. The Cowhand and Weaver Maid were separated on the two banks forever...
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...The only five faiths that are legal in China today are Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Islam, and Protestantism. Due to the incident happened at the Tiananmen Square in 1989, the Chinese lost their confidence towards the government. In an effort to rebuild their confidence, the government began to revive temples that were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution in 1960s to 1970s. The government wants to bring unity back between the Chinese and the government by allowing the citizens to practice religions in order to create a harmonious society. There are different types of religious organizations or churches that exist in China’s society. However, the government still controls over religion and keeps it under surveillance. In The Gods Come Home, the Kuan Yin Festival attracted a large group of Buddhists to Mount Putou. Wong Ling is a tour guide that leads the pilgrims to seek blessing from Kuan Yin. Miss Wong helped to organize a flood of pilgrims to get to the top of Mount Putou, one of the holiest place, to worship Kuan Yin. A pilgrim named Xio Cho wanted to receive the blessing from Kuan Yin to improve her health. The pilgrims need to travel one thousand steps in order to reach their destination. At the foot of the mountain, many police was there to marshal the people. Government was...
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...here. For starters, let’s discuss religion and some of the earliest forms of religion in recorded human history. Early Chinese religions were classified into Buddhism and Confucianism. As the culture spread to Japan, citizens of China felt the need to almost force Japan and its citizens to make a choice as to which religion they were going to follow. “Confucianism, a systematic religious belief system, had a lot to say about governance and society and proved attractive for the Japanese,” (Char4u, 2011). As the Japanese found this as a favorable form of religion, they adopted this and have continued with this religion steadfastly. Another way that China influenced Japanese cultures is the language that is now spoken and written. There was a time when Japan did not have a form of written communication or recording. This did not sit well with citizens of China as they had their system of written communication established and felt that other nations and countries needed this. This was considered a favorable change by the emperor at the time and not only did it give Japan a chance to be able to record historic events, it also gave them a chance to provide a sort of unity or a feeling of togetherness in a nation that needed unity. Another way that Japan benefitted from the influence of China was how they helped to form and organize a form of government. “The method of organization of the Imperial Court, a significant element of ancient Chinese culture, was also adopted by the Japanese...
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... Stereotypes versus Truths The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, simplified as the Mormon, has drawn my great attention since I was very young. At that time, I was in China and the only religion I have encountered there were Buddhism, Chinese Folk religions and some foreign religions such as : Christianity and Roman Catholicism. I used to read a lot of newspaper and magazines with my parents because my parents were both college professors and they believed a well-educated person must be gaining the knowledge from the outside resources. If I remember correctly, there was a time in my middle school year and I read an anecdote about the religion Mormon from a local newspaper. This particular anecdote captured my curious young mind and I decided to finish it. Basically, the story was saying some Mormon believers in America had many waives and forced many minors to get married with them. And, they argument was that their religion once allowed them to have many waives and do some abnormal activities. I was quite shocked by this story and put the Mormon religion into my head. Right now, I am studying in America and therefore get the chance to study the Mormon religion. In order to fully investigate the Mormon religion, I decided to visit one of the Mormon institutions near our school, interview some Mormon missionaries and at last attend the Mormon churches’s Sunday service. Last week, I had the chance to tour around the Mormon institution...
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...Religion in China was quite common for different areas of the country. The 3 religions were named Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. The different types of religions were important because of the different times in China. Each religion had a different meaning for that religion and time period. Taoism was founded during the Zhou Dynasty in the 6th century. Taoism people believed that one should be with nature and all living things to have a living flow throughout them. Taoist believers didn’t feel that the use of rules and government should be allowed and were very unique in this way. The second religion is Confucianism. Not long after Lao-Tzu found Taoism, Confucius was discovered in 551 BCE. Confucius came up with ways to how people should live...
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...R. Lee Continuity and change in Chinese spirit mediumship in urban Malaysia In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 142 (1986), no: 2/3, Leiden, 198-214 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl RAYMOND L. M. LEE CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN CHINESE SPIRIT MEDIUMSHIP IN URBAN MALAYSIA The spirit medium occupies an important position in popular Chinese religion. As an arbiter between the spiritual and the mundane world, he not only provides services in healing and divination but also performs vital roles at temple and spirit festivals. The history of Chinese spirit mediumship can be traced to the Shang Dynasty of the second millennium B.C., where priest-shamans (wu) were accorded high official standing in the imperial courts, until their decline in the late Chou period in the third century B.C.1 However, spirit mediumship did not become obsolete but continued to be practised at the popular level (Yang 1967: 106, 303). Few reports of spirit mediumship in modern China have appeared in print, except for the detailed observations of De Groot (1964) made in the southern provinces in the late nineteenth century. Since then, most anthropologists have studied Chinese spirit mediumship in various Chinese communities, particularly in Taiwan (Jordan 1972, Seaman 1978, Kleinman 1980) and Hong Kong (Potter 1974). Spirit mediumship is also practised in various Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, but few ethnographies have been published...
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...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...
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...and Summary.doc REL-133 Week 3 Learning Team Assignment Buddhism Presentation.pptx REL-133 Week 4 DQs and Summary.doc REL-133 Week 4 Individual Assignment.doc REL-133 Week 5 DQs and Summary.doc REL-133 Week 5 Individual Assignment Common Elements of Eastern Religious Traditions.doc REL-133 Week 5 Learning Team Assignment Contemporary Issues in Eastern Religions Paper and Presentation.pptx REL-133 Week 5 LT Assignment Contemporary Issues in Eastern Religions Paper and Presentation.doc Religious Studies - General Religious Studies Week One Individual Assignment: Elements of Religious Traditions Paper Week Two Individual Assignment: Four Yogic Paths and Jainism Worksheet Week Three Individual Assignment: Buddhism Worksheet Learning Team Assignment: Buddhism Presentation Week Four Individual Assignment: Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto Week Five Learning Team Assignment: Contemporary Issues in Eastern Religions Paper (Paper, 12 points and Presentation, 8 points) All Weeks Participation Discussion Questions (4 points each week) Assignment Totals Individual Learning Team Talk to your professors. Things are a little different when you get to college. Your teachers are more approachable, and...
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...Religion in china related to 法轮功（Fa lun gong） ‘Fa lun gong’ is a recent religious movement in china. It was created by Li hong zhi in 1992. It is the combination of the practice of meditation and qi-gong. It also combines the dogmas such as morality and the cultivation of virtue in its central tenets of Truthfulness, compassion and Forbearance. Fa lun gong was originated from ‘qigong’. Qigong is the exercise that activates Qi in human body. Qi is Asian concept which means human’s innate power. People can feel Qi by themselves and also other people can feel another people’s Qi. Qi is measured by strength. A person who has strong Qi is healthy. Therefore, Qigong is kind of a martial art that makes human more active and powerful. This is beneficial for the people who sick but don’t know how to cure or originally born weak. Qi gong and Fa lun gong are both really good for mental health. However, Chinese government considers Fa lun gong as a cult and made very strict laws to oppress them. Chinese government even made a documentary about the false of the Fa lun gong and broadcast into whole china. Yet Fa lun gong is still really a big movement in china and the other countries like Korea or some western countries. There are 2 points that are arguable about the Fa lun gong. The first question is that whether Fa lun gong is really a religion or not. What is religion? Perhaps no one can give proper answer to this question. According to some socialists, people made religion because...
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...deals solely with the topic of religion in China. Right away it is told that the Chinese do not worship any one god, diety, or force. They are very spiritual but have no set predominant religion that most people worship. The Chinese culture can be said to be a mix between polytheistic, pantheistic, and atheistic. In the past some sinologists and sociologists such as Jan De Groot and C.K. Yang have sought to fully understand China’s religious position and have conducted many studies about Chinese spirituality and worship. Through time it was found that two types of religion exist in China, diffused and institutional. Diffused religion such as Confucianism is part of the country and its systems. It is within the families, education, and the state as a belief. Institutional religion exists as a separate entity of the systems and is in itself a system. Certain religions like Buddhism and Daoism can be said to be this because of their separate institutions and priesthoods. Before todays beliefs, however, existed many different cults and sects that practiced a variety of values and rituals. Way back in ancient times between 2000 and 1123 BC existed the ancient cults which included totemism, animism, and occultism. After that came the humanistic religions when the Zhou dynasty came into control between 1122 and 256 BC. Proceeding that came Confucianism and Daoism between 772 and 481 BC. This was followed by the introduction of foreign religions and their integration within...
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...Although many people see the values and teachings of Confucius as being religious, it is not a religion at all, but rather a spiritual tradition. One of the main reasons people see Confucianism as being a form of religions, is because all the core values are very similar to values in religion. Although it is not a religion, it can still be viewed as being spiritual. Confucius was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the spring and autumn period of Chinese history. Confucianism was important in Chinese history because it taught justice, sincerity, and that family units were important. It also taught that the government should be based on morals. Confucius believed that the human brain was not capable of understanding religion,...
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