We will have a break at 8:00. I will take roll early, Discussion at 9:45 before you are dismissed.
Yin/Yang: women in Ancient China
Daoism and Confucianism
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B89mbbDRAuYDR0xaamxQcDY4eWs
"Beyond the Sound Bites"
Review
Buddhism Review, Week 3, :17
Masterpiece: Seated Buddha Dated 338, 2:02
This Buddha has a unique status among Buddhas in China. It bears an inscription on the back that is equivalent to the year 338. This is the earliest date inscribed on any Buddha sculpture from China, anywhere in the world. Listen to Michael Knight, Curator Emeritus of Chinese Art at the Asian Art Museum, discuss one of the museum's masterpieces, a seated Buddha from 338, as you view images of the object and a rendering in 3D. Learn more about this seated Buddha on the Asian Art Museum's education website. Created by Asian Art Museum.
https://youtu.be/iKjVbO2R4_w
Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism were the dominant teachings or religions in Imperial China and most individuals combined all three in their daily lives. Each of these teachings is represented by paintings in The British Museum, most notably by The Admonitions Scroll after Gu Kaizhi (image above) and the cache of Buddhist scroll paintings from the eighth to tenth century that had been rolled up and sealed away in the eleventh century in Cave 17 at Dunhuang’s Caves of the Thousand Buddhas.
"The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies," The Admonitions Scroll. Traditionally attributed to Gu Kaizhi (c. 344–406). Painting on silk with ink and colours, China, a work of the 6th to 7th century © Trustees of the British Museum
Lecture 1, 4:23
Pre-Built Course Content
Join Strayer professor Dr. Meg Rinck as she discusses how religious beliefs affect how people live.
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/REL/212/1152/Week%204/Lecture%201/lecture.html
Lecture 2, 4:10
Please watch this video describing Yin and Yang. This is a good example of the "View of Good and Evil" from your World View Chart.
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/REL/212/1152/Week%204/Lecture%202/lecture.html
Assignments and Activities
Join Strayer professor Dr. Meg Rinck as she discusses how religious beliefs affect how people live. 4:23
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/REL/212/1152/Week%204/Lecture%201/lecture.html
In the "Student Center" refer to the weekly chart material for further assistance.
WEEK 4
1. Ask students to write down the first five things that come to mind when they think of China. Form small groups in which to share what they wrote down. Ask them to reflect on what their lists suggest about their attitudes toward China as they begin a study of the religions of China.
Work
One of the most intriguing aspects of China's rise according to Ferguson is the simultaneous popularity of Christianity (pp. 277-88). The Chinese authorities have long been wary of religious movements but Christianity is making significant inroads among the population. According to one scholar, the Communists looked into why the West was pre-eminent, and various reasons were advanced: guns, politics, economics, "but in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful" (p. 287). Christianity and transcendence leads society to understand tolerance, equality, environmental protection, among the leading ideas advanced by the West. "The XIVth Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Part was presented with a report specifying three requirements for sustainable economic growth: property rights as a foundation, the law as a safeguard and morality as a support" (p. 288). It is the West that has lost faith in itself.
Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson, Penguin Books (2012).
Read: Chapter 6: Daoism and Confucianism
Learn about some of the most prolific archeological sites in China, including the burial complex of the First Emperor of China and Sanxingdui. Learn more about archaeology and the study of ancient China on the Asian Art Museum's education website. Created by Asian Art Museum.
Religion of China by Max Weber, Free Press (1968).
https://www.librarything.com/catalog/gmicksmith&collection=-1&deepsearch=Confucianism
The Analects of Confucius (A Vintage Book) by Arthur Waley, Vintage Books, Random House (1938).
Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India, China, Tibet, Japan (Revised) (National Foreign Language Center Technical Re by Hajime Nakamura, University of Hawaii Press (1964).
Chinese Religion: An Introduction (Religious Life in History) by Laurence G. Thompson, Wadsworth Publishing (1995).
Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China by Arthur Waley, Stanford University Press (1939).
Science in Traditional China by Joseph Needham, Harvard University Press (1982).
Religions of China: The World As a Living System by Daniel L. Overmyer, Waveland Press (1998).
Legacy of China by Raymond Dawson, Oxford University Press
View the lectures contained in the course shell
Participate in the Discussion titled "Actionless Action (Daosim) and the Practice of Virtue (Confucianism)"
Complete and submit the World View Chart Assignment
Daoism and Confucianism PP
Religion Profile
Confucianism and Taoism developed as relative historical proximity with both having their historical founding in the sixth century BCE.
In more recent years, vestiges of Chinese religions, such as temples and pilgrimage sites, have been promoted by the government as cultural heritage sites; however, active dissemination of ancient religious knowledge in institutional format still meets with formal state resistance.
Acupuncture, feng shui (the systematic organization of objects in space), and T’ai Chi have all introduced Taoist concepts to the West, though often forms somewhat divorced from their cultural origins.
In recent centuries, Taoism flourished in Taiwan and Hong Kong and did not suffer active suppression as it did in mainland China.
With the introduction of Buddhism into China during the Han Dynasty, Taoism adopted many features of Buddhism.
Rather than having to be a strict adherent of a single worldview, many Chinese accept the idea of a holistic social and religious existence that blends religions in ways that are personally and socially useful.
Confucianism identifies five great relationships: father and son, elder brother and younger brother, husband and wife, elder and younger, ruler and subject.
The two most significant texts in Taoism are the Tao Te Ching and the Zhuangzi. The Tao Te Ching, the “Classic of the Way,” is said to have been the composition of the sixth century BCE sage, Lao-Tzu.
Ineffability of genesis
- The Way that can be told of is not an unvarying way;
- The names that can be named are not unvarying names.
- It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;
- The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind. (chap. 1, tr. Waley)
In Laozi's Qingjing Jing (verse 1-8) he clarified the term Tao was nominated as he was trying to describe a state of existence before it happened and before time or space. Way or path happened to be the side meaning of Tao, ineffability would be just poetic. This is the Chinese creation myth from the primordial Tao.
Confucius was himself an editor of a famous Chinese divination text called the I Ching, and he saw himself as a transmitter of ancient wisdom.
This video presents "Confucianism," 5:06
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/religion/MRK/videos/myreligionkit/Confucianism_MyLab.html
American Transcendentalism, 2:32
Pre-Built Course Content
The Philosophy of Romantic Idealism: Emerson and Thoreau 958
Emerson and Thoreau: American Transcendentalism, 1:27
In the 19th century, a small group of New England radicals seeking a break with spiritual conventions, an immediate encounter with the natural world, and a revitalization of daily life—what Emerson called "an original relation to the universe"—became known as transcendentalists. What kind of individual life, and what sorts of social communities, did the transcendentalists imagine? How did they understand notions like "self-reliance" and "experience"? Is Thoreau's famous move to Walden Pond best interpreted as a proto-libertarian withdrawal from the community, or the first step towards a new community, differently oriented and committed? In this course we will read Emerson's Nature and his major essays, and Thoreau's Walden and selections from his journals. We will be attentive to how transcendentalist thought was influenced by German idealists, English romantics, the Bhavagad-Gita, and other sources, and how it in turn influenced abolitionist actions and communal utopian experiments. (Thoreau, on a visit to Brook Farm: "As for these communities, I think I had rather keep a bachelor's room in Hell than go to board in Heaven.") Critical reading will include Stanley Cavell, Barbara Packer, and Leo Marx.
https://youtu.be/7vI9QBkyQ_s
Classical China
Historic Sites
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/shared_hss_assets/religion/images/06_historic_sites.jpg
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/WW/interactiveMaps/Classical_China/Classical_China.htm
Yin Yang and Immortality, :29
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/religion/MRK/videos/myreligionkit/TaoistImmortality_MyLab.html
Flashcards
http://flashcards.pearsoncmg.com/?bookID=4677
Check
Pre-test
http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_fisher_livingrel_BRIEF_3e/206/52790/13514333.cw/index.html
Post-test
http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_fisher_livingrel_BRIEF_3e/206/52790/13514333.cw/index.html
Chapter 6 Exam
http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_fisher_livingrel_BRIEF_3e/206/52790/13514333.cw/index.html
Taoism and the Text, 1:25
Consider:
a) Language; b) Culture; and c) Time
http://voice.adobe.com/v/NYY7sErgUhE
Assignments and Activities
Two additional translations can be reviewed.
1. Have students read one of the modern translations of the Daodejing and discuss what the poems suggest about some of the following: the meaning of life, death and life beyond death, leadership, education, politics, religion, and money.
2. Ask students to think of situations in which, from the perspective of the traditional Chinese worldview, their (or someone else’s) actions clearly manifested the yin force and others in which their actions that manifest the yang force.
3. In small groups have students discuss which of the two complementary forces (yin and yang) are dominant at this point in this class, in themselves, in their families, in the nation, and in the world.
4. After they have read the poems of the Daodejing, have students write a letter to the President of the United States, giving him/her advice on how she/he might be a more effective leader by drawing on the insights to be found in these poems.
1. Ask students to critique the governing of the nation, the school, and this class from a Confucian perspective.
2. Ask students which approach to morality they prefer and why: the Daoist or Confucian. Then ask them which they think creates the most social harmony and why.
Origin of All Things
Taoism
Cosmology
Taoist cosmology is cyclic; relativity, evolution and 'extremes meet' are main characters. [60] It shares similar views with the School of Yin Yang[26] which was headed by Zou Yan (305 – 240 BCE). The school's tenets harmonized the concepts of the Wu Xing (Five Phases) and yin and yang. In this spirit, the universe is seen as being in a constant process of re-creating itself, as everything that exists is a mere aspect of qi, which, "condensed, becomes life; diluted, it is indefinite potential".[69] Qi is in a perpetual transformation between its condensed and diluted state.[70] These two different states of qi, on the other hand, are embodiments of the abstract entities of yin and yang,[70] two complementary extremes that constantly play against and with each other and cannot exist without the other.[71]Human beings are seen as a microcosm of the universe,[16] and for example comprise the Wu Xing in form of the zang-fu organs.[72] As a consequence, it is believed that deeper understanding of the universe can be achieved by understanding oneself.[73]
Nature of God/Creator
Confucian
Tian and the gods
Zhou period oracle bone script for Tian.
Tian (天), commonly translated as "Heaven" or "Sky", but philologically meaning the "Great One", "Great Whole", is a key concept in Confucianism.[25][26] It denotes the source of reality, the cosmos, and nature in Chinese religions and philosophies.[26] The Confucians mean by Tian and li (order) what the Taoists mean by Tao.[27] The Tian can also be compared to the Brahman of Hindu and Vedic traditions.[23]Tank Man: The amazing story behind THAT photo - Newsnight, 5:05
Twenty-five years on, one image of the Tiananmen Square protests sustains. The iconic photograph 'Tank Man' was taken by Jeff Widener and this is his story. Produced by James Clayton.
https://youtu.be/SACHK-W4o1E
In Analects 9.5 Confucius says that a person can know the movement of the Tian, and speaks about his own sense of having a special place in the universe.[26] In 7.19 he says that he is able to understand the order of Tian.[28]
Zigong, a disciple of Confucius, said that Tian had set the master on the path to become a wise man (Analects 9.6).[26] In Analects 7.23 Confucius says that he has no doubt left that the Tian gave him life, and from it he had developed the virtue (de).[26] In Analects 8.19 he says that the lives of the sages and their communion with Tian are interwoven.[26]
Regarding personal gods (shen, energies who emanate from and reproduce the Tian) enliving nature, in Analects 6.22 Confucius says that it is appropriate (yi) for people to worship (jing) them,[28] though through proper rites (li), implying respect of positions and discretion.[28] Confucius himself was a ritual and sacrificial master.[29] In Analects 3.12 he explains that religious rituals produce meaningful experiences.[30] Rites and sacrifices to the gods have an ethical importance: they generate good life, because taking part in them leads to the overcoming of the self.[note 3] Analects 10.11 tells that Confucius always took a small part of his food and placed it on the sacrificial bowls as an offering to his ancestors.[29]
In original Confucianism the concept of Tian expresses a form of pantheism. Other philosophical currents, like Mohism, developed a more theistic idea of the Tian.[32]
View of Human Nature
View of Good and Evil
Tao Te Ching Chapter 20-2 Good = Evil, 1:15
http://taotechingdecoded.blogspot.com/2009/12/tao-te-ching-chapter-20-2-good-evil.html
http://taotechingdecoded.blogspot.com... «Tao by Matsumoto» to read the text!
http://taotechingdecoded.com/chapter2... Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. Chapter 20 in English.
Between good and evil how great is the distance? (Ch.20-2)
http://youtu.be/K9_3Xzy0t14
https://youtu.be/K9_3Xzy0t14
Please watch this video describing Yin and Yang. This is a good example of the "View of Good and Evil" from your World View Chart. 4:10
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/REL/212/1152/Week%204/Lecture%202/lecture.html
View of "Salvation"
Talk on Taoist Salvation, 2:15
First :25 is in English.
A talk and demonstration on the Taoist Salvation at the Kreta Ayer Square in Chinatown, Singapore
https://youtu.be/h7ElZA03cFo
Video Clip on Taoist Salvation Ritual (中國道教超度短片) 5:11
The Taoist Doctrine of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Daoism
Practices
Vegetarian diet
Taoist diet encourages fasting and vegetarianism.Rituals
A hall of worship of the Erwang Temple, a Taoist temple in Dujiangyan, Sichuan. There are elements of the jingxiang religious practice (incense and candle offerings).
An ancestral worship ceremony led by Taoist priests at the pyramidal shaped Great Temple of Zhang Hui (张挥公大殿 Zhāng Huī gōng dàdiàn), the main ancestral shrine dedicated to the progenitor of the Zhang lineage, located at Zhangs' ancestral home in Qinghe, Hebei.
Also on particular holidays, street parades take place. These are lively affairs which invariably involve firecrackers and flower-covered floats broadcasting traditional music. They also variously include lion dances and dragon dances; human-occupied puppets (often of the "Seventh Lord" and "Eighth Lord"); tongji (童乩 "spirit-medium; shaman") who cut their skin with knives; Bajiajiang, which are Kungfu-practicing honor guards in demonic makeup; and palanquins carrying god-images. The various participants are not considered performers, but rather possessed by the gods and spirits in question.[110]
Fortune-telling—including astrology, I Ching, and other forms of divination—has long been considered a traditional Taoist pursuit. Mediumship is also widely encountered in some sects. There is an academic and social distinction between martial forms of mediumship (such as tongji) and the spirit-writing that is typically practiced through planchette writing.[111]
Physical cultivation
Main article: Neidan
A recurrent and important element of Taoism are rituals, exercises and substances aiming at aligning oneself spiritually with cosmic forces, at undertaking ecstatic spiritual journeys, or at improving physical health and thereby extending one's life, ideally to the point of immortality.[112][113] Enlightened and immortal beings are referred to as xian.A characteristic method aiming for longevity is Taoist alchemy. Already in very early Taoist scriptures - like the Taiping Jing and the Baopuzi - alchemical formulas for achieving immortality were outlined.[114][115]
A number of martial arts traditions, particularly the ones falling under the category of Neijia (like T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Bagua Zhang and Xing Yi Quan) embody Taoist principles to a significant extent, and some practitioners consider their art a means of practicing Taoism.[116]
Celebrations and Festivals
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Lao Tzu, 5:29
https://youtu.be/dFb7Hxva5rg
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Confucius, 5:35
https://youtu.be/tUhGRh4vdb8
2000 Years of Chinese History! The Mandate of Heaven and Confucius, 11:41
In which John introduces you to quite a lot of Chinese history by discussing the complicated relationship between the Confucian scholars who wrote Chinese history and the emperors (and empress) who made it. Included is a brief introduction to all the dynasties in Chinese history and an introduction to Confucius and the Confucian emphasis on filial piety, the role the mandate of heaven played in organizing China, and how China became the first modern state.
https://youtu.be/W74G5sNJMuA
Confucianism, also known as Ruism,[1][2] is a system of philosophical and "ethical-sociopolitical teachings" sometimes described as a religion.[note 1] Confucianism developed during the Spring and Autumn Period from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BCE), who considered himself a retransmitter of Zhou values.[5] Its metaphysical and cosmological elements developed in the Han Dynasty following the replacement of its contemporary, the more Taoistic Huang-Lao, as the official ideology.[6] More privately, Chinese emperors would still make use of the historical Realpolitik of the Chinese, termed Legalism. The disintegration of the Han in the second century CE opened the way for the soteriological doctrines of Buddhism and Taoism to dominate intellectual life at that time.
A Confucian revival began during the Tang dynasty. In the late Tang, Confucianism developed in response to Buddhism and Taoism and was reformulated as Neo-Confucianism. This reinvigorated form was adopted as the basis of the imperial exams and the core philosophy of the scholar official class in the Song dynasty. The abolition of the examination system in 1905 marked the end of official Confucianism. The New Culture intellectuals of the early twentieth century blamed Confucianism for China's weaknesses. They searched for new doctrines to replace Confucian teachings; some of these new ideologies include the "Three Principles of the People" with the establishment of the Republic of China, and then Maoism under the People's Republic of China. In the late twentieth century, some people credited Confucianism with the rise of the East Asian economy and it enjoyed a rise in popularity both in China and abroad.
With particular emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony, rather than on an otherworldly soteriology,[7] the core of Confucianism is humanistic.[8] According to the Herbert Fingarette's concept of "the secular as sacred", Confucianism regards the ordinary activities of human life — and especially in human relationships as a manifestation of the sacred,[9] because they are the expression of our moral nature (xing 性), which has a transcendent anchorage in Heaven (tian 天) and a proper respect of the gods (shen).[10] While Heaven (tian) has some characteristics that overlap the category of deity, it is primarily an impersonal absolute, like dao and Brahman.[11][12][13] Confucian liturgy (that is called 儒 rú, or sometimes 正统 zhèngtǒng, meaning "orthoprax" ritual style) led by Confucian priests or ritual masters (礼生 lǐshēng) to worship the gods in public and ancestral Chinese temples, is preferred in special occasions over Taoist or popular ritual.[14]
The this-worldly concern of Confucianism rests on the belief that human beings are fundamentally good, and teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of ethics. Some of the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include rén, yì, and lǐ, and zhì. Ren ("humaneness") is the essence of the human being which manifests as compassion, it is the virtue-form of Heaven.[15] Yi is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. Li is a system of ritual norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life according to the law of Heaven. Zhi is the ability to see what is right and fair, or the converse, in the behaviors exhibited by others. Confucianism holds one in contempt, either passively or actively, for failure to uphold the cardinal moral values of ren and yi.
Historically, cultures and countries strongly influenced by Confucianism include mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, as well as various territories settled predominantly by Chinese people, such as Singapore. In the 20th century, Confucianism’s influence was greatly reduced. More recently, there have been talks of a "Confucian Revival" in the academia and the scholarly community[16][17] and there has been a grassroots proliferation of various types of Confucian churches.[18]
Working jade, 3:48
https://youtu.be/d1oO1kbtt4s
Many scholars believe Taoism arose as a countermovement to Confucianism.[128] The philosophical terms Tao and De are indeed shared by both Taoism and Confucianism,[129] and Laozi is traditionally held to have been a teacher of Confucius.[130] Zhuangzi explicitly criticized Confucianist and Mohist tenets in his work. In general, Taoism rejects the Confucianist emphasis on rituals, hierarchical social order, and conventional morality, and favors naturalness, spontaneity, and individualism instead.[131]
The entry of Buddhism into China was marked by significant interaction and syncretism with Taoism.[132] Originally seen as a kind of "foreign Taoism", Buddhism's scriptures were translated into Chinese using the Taoist vocabulary.[133] Representatives of early Chinese Buddhism, like Sengzhao and Tao Sheng, knew and were deeply influenced by the Taoist keystone texts.[134]
Taoism especially shaped the development of Chan (Zen) Buddhism,[135] introducing elements like the concept of naturalness, distrust of scripture and text, and emphasis on embracing "this life" and living in the "every-moment".[136]
Taoism on the other hand also incorporated Buddhist elements during the Tang period, such as monasteries, vegetarianism, prohibition of alcohol, the doctrine of emptiness, and collecting scripture in tripartite organisation.
Ideological and political rivals for centuries, Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism deeply influenced one another.[137] For example, Wang Bi, one of the most influential philosophical commentators on Laozi (and Yijing), was a Confucian.[138] The three rivals also share some similar values, with all three embracing a humanist philosophy emphasizing moral behavior and human perfection. In time, most Chinese people identified to some extent with all three traditions simultaneously.[139] This became institutionalised when aspects of the three schools were synthesised in the Neo-Confucian school.[140]
Some authors have dealt with comparative studies between Taoism and Christianity. This has been of interest for students of history of religion such as J.J.M. de Groot,[141] among others. The comparison of the teachings of Laozi and Jesus of Nazareth has been done by several authors such as Martin Aronson,[142] and Toropov & Hansen (2002), who believe that they have pararells that should not to be ignored.[143] In the opinion of J. Isamu Yamamoto [144] the main difference is that Christianity preaches a personal God while Theist Taoism does not. Yet, a number of authors, including Lin Yutang,[145] have argued that some moral and ethical tenets of these religions are similar.[146][147] The work "Christ the Eternal Tao"[148] by Hieromonk Damascene provides a study of "The Tao Te Ching" of Lao Tzu, in the light of Christian revelation.
Taoism (also called Daoism) is a philosophical, ethical or religious tradition of Chinese origin that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao (also romanized as Dao). The term Tao means "way", "path", or "principle", and can also be found in Chinese philosophies and religions other than Taoism. In Taoism, however, Tao denotes something that is both the source of, and the force behind, everything that exists. Taoism is practiced as a religion in various Asian communities. Its theology is not theist (even though some communities do worship Laozi as the attributed founder of the religious doctrine), and has more affinities with pantheistic traditions given its philosophical emphasis on the formlessness of the Tao.
Taoism drew its cosmological notions from the tenets of the School of Yin Yang, and is heavily influenced and informed by the acknowledged oldest text of ancient Chinese classics, the I Ching, which prescribes a system of philosophical thought on the ethics of human behaviours based on articulating cycles of change in the natural and social worlds by means of hexagrams, and includes instructions for divination practice still adhered to by modern-day religious Taoists.[1] Daoism, as Taoism is sometimes referred, diverged sharply from Confucian thoughts by scorning rigid rituals and social classes.[2] The Tao Te Ching, a compact and ambiguous book containing teachings attributed to Laozi (Chinese: 老子; pinyin: Lǎozǐ; Wade–Giles: Lao Tzu), is widely considered the keystone work of this philosophy. Together with the writings of Zhuangzi, which interprets and adds to the teaching of Laozi, these classic texts provide the philosophical foundation of Taoism deriving from the 8 trigrams (bagua) of Fu Xi in the 2700s BCE in China, the various combinations of which creates the 64 hexagrams as documented in the I Ching.
Taoist propriety and ethics may vary depending on the particular school, but in general they tend to emphasize wu-wei (action through non-action), "naturalness", simplicity, spontaneity, and the Three Treasures: jing (sperm/ovary energy, or the essence of the physical body), qi (energy, including the thoughts and emotions), and shen (spirit or spiritual power).
Taoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture in the course of the centuries, and clerics of institutionalised Taoism (Chinese: 道士; pinyin: dàoshi) usually take care to note distinction between their ritual tradition and the customs and practices found in Chinese folk religion as these distinctions sometimes appear blurred. Chinese alchemy (especially neidan), Chinese astrology, Chan (Zen) Buddhism, several martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui, and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history. Beyond China, Taoism also had influence on surrounding societies in Asia.
After Laozi and Zhuangzi, the literature of Taoism grew steadily and was compiled in form of a canon—the Daozang—which was published at the behest of the emperor. Throughout Chinese history, Taoism was several times nominated as a state religion. After the 17th century, however, it fell from favor.
Today, Taoism is one of five religions officially recognized in China, and although it does not travel readily from its Asian roots, claims adherents in a number of societies.[3] Taoism also has sizable communities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and in Southeast Asia.
Masterpiece: Ritual Vessel in the Shape of a Rhinoceros, 3:03
Few Chinese vessels made during the Bronze Age (approx. 1500–221 B.C.E.) were in the form of animals, and most of those featured surface decorations of other animals, like tigers or dragons. Listen to Jay Xu, Director of the Asian Art Museum, discuss one of the museum's masterpieces, a ritual vessel in the shape of a rhinoceros, as you view the object in 3D. Learn more about this ritual vessel on the Asian Art Museum's education website. Created by Asian Art Museum.
https://youtu.be/rdaxI6ekLLQ
Religion of China by Max Weber, Free Press (1968).
https://www.librarything.com/catalog/gmicksmith&collection=-1&deepsearch=Confucianism
The Analects of Confucius (A Vintage Book) by Arthur Waley, Vintage Books, Random House (1938).
Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India, China, Tibet, Japan (Revised) (National Foreign Language Center Technical Re by Hajime Nakamura, University of Hawaii Press (1964).
Chinese Religion: An Introduction (Religious Life in History) by Laurence G. Thompson, Wadsworth Publishing (1995).
Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China by Arthur Waley, Stanford University Press (1939).
Science in Traditional China by Joseph Needham, Harvard University Press (1982).
Religions of China: The World As a Living System by Daniel L. Overmyer, Waveland Press (1998).
Legacy of China by Raymond Dawson, Oxford University Press
View the lectures contained in the course shell
Participate in the Discussion titled "Actionless Action (Daosim) and the Practice of Virtue (Confucianism)"
Complete and submit the World View Chart Assignment
Daoism and Confucianism PP
Religion Profile
Confucianism and Taoism developed as relative historical proximity with both having their historical founding in the sixth century BCE.
In more recent years, vestiges of Chinese religions, such as temples and pilgrimage sites, have been promoted by the government as cultural heritage sites; however, active dissemination of ancient religious knowledge in institutional format still meets with formal state resistance.
Acupuncture, feng shui (the systematic organization of objects in space), and T’ai Chi have all introduced Taoist concepts to the West, though often forms somewhat divorced from their cultural origins.
In recent centuries, Taoism flourished in Taiwan and Hong Kong and did not suffer active suppression as it did in mainland China.
With the introduction of Buddhism into China during the Han Dynasty, Taoism adopted many features of Buddhism.
Rather than having to be a strict adherent of a single worldview, many Chinese accept the idea of a holistic social and religious existence that blends religions in ways that are personally and socially useful.
Confucianism identifies five great relationships: father and son, elder brother and younger brother, husband and wife, elder and younger, ruler and subject.
The two most significant texts in Taoism are the Tao Te Ching and the Zhuangzi. The Tao Te Ching, the “Classic of the Way,” is said to have been the composition of the sixth century BCE sage, Lao-Tzu.
Confucius was himself an editor of a famous Chinese divination text called the I Ching, and he saw himself as a transmitter of ancient wisdom.
This video presents "Confucianism," 5:06
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/religion/MRK/videos/myreligionkit/Confucianism_MyLab.html
Classical China
Historic Sites
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/shared_hss_assets/religion/images/06_historic_sites.jpg
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/WW/interactiveMaps/Classical_China/Classical_China.htm
Yin Yang and Immortality, :29
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/religion/MRK/videos/myreligionkit/TaoistImmortality_MyLab.html
Flashcards
http://flashcards.pearsoncmg.com/?bookID=4677
Check
Pre-test
http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_fisher_livingrel_BRIEF_3e/206/52790/13514333.cw/index.html
Post-test
http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_fisher_livingrel_BRIEF_3e/206/52790/13514333.cw/index.html
Chapter 6 Exam
http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_fisher_livingrel_BRIEF_3e/206/52790/13514333.cw/index.html
Taoism and the Text, 1:25
Consider:
a) Language; b) Culture; and c) Time
http://voice.adobe.com/v/NYY7sErgUhE
Assignments and Activities
Two additional translations can be reviewed.
1. Have students read one of the modern translations of the Daodejing and discuss what the poems suggest about some of the following: the meaning of life, death and life beyond death, leadership, education, politics, religion, and money.
2. Ask students to think of situations in which, from the perspective of the traditional Chinese worldview, their (or someone else’s) actions clearly manifested the yin force and others in which their actions that manifest the yang force.
3. In small groups have students discuss which of the two complementary forces (yin and yang) are dominant at this point in this class, in themselves, in their families, in the nation, and in the world.
4. After they have read the poems of the Daodejing, have students write a letter to the President of the United States, giving him/her advice on how she/he might be a more effective leader by drawing on the insights to be found in these poems.
1. Ask students to critique the governing of the nation, the school, and this class from a Confucian perspective.
2. Ask students which approach to morality they prefer and why: the Daoist or Confucian. Then ask them which they think creates the most social harmony and why.
Origin of All Things
Taoism
Cosmology
Taoist cosmology is cyclic; relativity, evolution and 'extremes meet' are main characters. [60] It shares similar views with the School of Yin Yang[26] which was headed by Zou Yan (305 – 240 BCE). The school's tenets harmonized the concepts of the Wu Xing (Five Phases) and yin and yang. In this spirit, the universe is seen as being in a constant process of re-creating itself, as everything that exists is a mere aspect of qi, which, "condensed, becomes life; diluted, it is indefinite potential".[69] Qi is in a perpetual transformation between its condensed and diluted state.[70] These two different states of qi, on the other hand, are embodiments of the abstract entities of yin and yang,[70] two complementary extremes that constantly play against and with each other and cannot exist without the other.[71]Human beings are seen as a microcosm of the universe,[16] and for example comprise the Wu Xing in form of the zang-fu organs.[72] As a consequence, it is believed that deeper understanding of the universe can be achieved by understanding oneself.[73]
Nature of God/Creator
Confucian
Tian and the gods
Zhou period oracle bone script for Tian.
Tian (天), commonly translated as "Heaven" or "Sky", but philologically meaning the "Great One", "Great Whole", is a key concept in Confucianism.[25][26] It denotes the source of reality, the cosmos, and nature in Chinese religions and philosophies.[26] The Confucians mean by Tian and li (order) what the Taoists mean by Tao.[27] The Tian can also be compared to the Brahman of Hindu and Vedic traditions.[23]Zigong, a disciple of Confucius, said that Tian had set the master on the path to become a wise man (Analects 9.6).[26] In Analects 7.23 Confucius says that he has no doubt left that the Tian gave him life, and from it he had developed the virtue (de).[26] In Analects 8.19 he says that the lives of the sages and their communion with Tian are interwoven.[26]
Regarding personal gods (shen, energies who emanate from and reproduce the Tian) enliving nature, in Analects 6.22 Confucius says that it is appropriate (yi) for people to worship (jing) them,[28]
though through proper rites (li), implying respect of positions and discretion.[28] Confucius himself was a ritual and sacrificial master.[29] In Analects 3.12 he explains that religious rituals produce meaningful experiences.[30] Rites and sacrifices to the gods have an ethical importance: they generate good life, because taking part in them leads to the overcoming of the self.[note 3] Analects 10.11 tells that Confucius always took a small part of his food and placed it on the sacrificial bowls as an offering to his ancestors.[29]
In original Confucianism the concept of Tian expresses a form of pantheism. Other philosophical currents, like Mohism, developed a more theistic idea of the Tian.[32]
View of Human Nature
View of Good and Evil
Tao Te Ching Chapter 20-2 Good = Evil, 1:15
http://taotechingdecoded.blogspot.com/2009/12/tao-te-ching-chapter-20-2-good-evil.html
http://taotechingdecoded.blogspot.com... «Tao by Matsumoto» to read the text!
http://taotechingdecoded.com/chapter2... Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. Chapter 20 in English.
Between good and evil how great is the distance? (Ch.20-2)
http://youtu.be/K9_3Xzy0t14
https://youtu.be/K9_3Xzy0t14
Please watch this video describing Yin and Yang. This is a good example of the "View of Good and Evil" from your World View Chart. 4:10
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/REL/212/1152/Week%204/Lecture%202/lecture.html
View of "Salvation"
Talk on Taoist Salvation, 2:15
First :25 is in English.
A talk and demonstration on the Taoist Salvation at the Kreta Ayer Square in Chinatown, Singapore
https://youtu.be/h7ElZA03cFo
Video Clip on Taoist Salvation Ritual (中國道教超度短片) 5:11
The Taoist Doctrine of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Daoism
Practices
Vegetarian diet
Taoist diet encourages fasting and vegetarianism.Rituals
A hall of worship of the Erwang Temple, a Taoist temple in Dujiangyan, Sichuan. There are elements of the jingxiang religious practice (incense and candle offerings).
An ancestral worship ceremony led by Taoist priests at the pyramidal shaped Great Temple of Zhang Hui (张挥公大殿 Zhāng Huī gōng dàdiàn), the main ancestral shrine dedicated to the progenitor of the Zhang lineage, located at Zhangs' ancestral home in Qinghe, Hebei.
Also on particular holidays, street parades take place. These are lively affairs which invariably involve firecrackers and flower-covered floats broadcasting traditional music. They also variously include lion dances and dragon dances; human-occupied puppets (often of the "Seventh Lord" and "Eighth Lord"); tongji (童乩 "spirit-medium; shaman") who cut their skin with knives; Bajiajiang, which are Kungfu-practicing honor guards in demonic makeup; and palanquins carrying god-images. The various participants are not considered performers, but rather possessed by the gods and spirits in question.[110]
Fortune-telling—including astrology, I Ching, and other forms of divination—has long been considered a traditional Taoist pursuit. Mediumship is also widely encountered in some sects. There is an academic and social distinction between martial forms of mediumship (such as tongji) and the spirit-writing that is typically practiced through planchette writing.[111]
Physical cultivation
A recurrent and important element of Taoism are rituals, exercises and substances aiming at aligning oneself spiritually with cosmic forces, at undertaking ecstatic spiritual journeys, or at improving physical health and thereby extending one's life, ideally to the point of immortality.[112][113]Enlightened and immortal beings are referred to as xian.
A characteristic method aiming for longevity is Taoist alchemy. Already in very early Taoist scriptures - like the Taiping Jing and the Baopuzi - alchemical formulas for achieving immortality were outlined.[114][115]
A number of martial arts traditions, particularly the ones falling under the category of Neijia (like T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Bagua Zhang and Xing Yi Quan) embody Taoist principles to a significant extent, and some practitioners consider their art a means of practicing Taoism.[116]
Celebrations and Festivals
“Daoism and Confucianism are both ancient Chinese styles of living. Confucianism believes in setting examples for others to follow primarily in key relationships for example in: ruler and subject; wife and husband; older and younger sibling; friend and friend; and father and son. Taoism (a k a Daoism) focuses on living harmoniously, this is where the concept of yin and yang originates.”
- 1. ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
Daoism
“According to Taoism, the entire universe and everything in it flows with a mysterious, unknowable force called the Tao. Translated literally as “The Way” the Tao has many different meanings. It is the name that describes ultimate reality. The Tao also explains the powers that drive the universe and the wonder of human nature. Taoists believe that everything is one despite all appearances.”
Confucianism
“Chinese naturalism as a primary ingredient of Confucianism in its broadest sense is characterized by an organic holism and a dynamic vitalism. The organic holism of Confucianism refers to the fact that the universe is viewed as a vast integrated unit, not as discrete mechanistic parts. The sense of naturalism and holism is distinguished by the view that there is no Creator God; rather the universe is considered to be a self-generating, organismic process. Confucians are traditionally concerned less with theories of origin or with concepts of origin or with concepts of a personal God than with what they perceive to be the ongoing reality of this self-generating, interrelated universe.”
- 2. NATURE OF GOD/CREATOR
Daoism
“There is no God in Taoism. Instead the core of Taoism is the Tao, which is often seen as beyond description. It is referred to as the origin of the universe and the basis of all by believers”
Confucianism
“There is no God in Confucianism. Confucius has never been considered a god by his adherents. Confucianism is a socio-philosophical movement aimed at bettering society. Confucius did believe in the Great Ultimate (Tao), which manifests itself in the I, or change. Tao is the cause of I, and generates Yang (energy) and Yin (a passive form). Together Yin and Yang are seen as complementary symbols of the energy and tension in a system of counter forces. Tao or the Great Ultimate, is the first cause of the universe, a force that flows through all life, but is not a personal being.”
- 3. VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
Daoism
“If humans are in tune with the Tao, their sufferings will cease. Taoism teaches that humans are capable of experiencing immortality. To maintain or recover a natural alignment between humanity and the world, many perform self-cultivation techniques. These are believed to improve one’s health, and eventually even lead to immortality.”
Confucianism
“Confucian scholars have long debated essential human nature. Without reaching agreement as to its fundamental characteristics. Most agree that the purpose of existence is to reach one’s highest potential as a human being. Through a rigorous process of self-cultivation that lasts a lifetime, one may eventually become a ‘perfect person’”.
- 4. VIEW OF GOOD AND EVIL
Daoism
“The reality of good and evil is that all actions contain some aspect of each. This is represented in the yin-yang symbol. Any action would have some negative (yin) and some positive (yang) aspect to it. Taoists believe that nature is a continual balance between yin and yang, and that any attempt to go toward one extreme or the other will be ineffective, self-defeating, and short lived. When people interfere with the natural balance by trying to impose their egoistic plans, they will not succeed; rather the non-egoistic person allows nature to unfold, watching it flow from good to bad and back again.”
Confucianism
“According to some interpretations of Confucianism, suffering and evil are inevitable in human life, and can promote learning and growth. A mistake is not a ‘sin’ but an opportunity to learn and do better next time. Empathy for the suffering of others also provides motivation to grow morally, but not all humans are capable of empathy.”
- 5. VIEW OF SALVATION
Daoism
“Taoism is not a salvific practice. There is nothing that one needs to be saved from, and belief in salvation would lead to damnation in the same manner as belief in good leads to belief in evil. Although they do not accept the false duality of salvation vs. damnation, living simply in harmony with Te and Tao, and not excessively pursuing material wealth, stature, or prestige, will lead to a joyful life.”
Confucianism
“Confucius stated that the afterlife was beyond human comprehension. Humans should live and behave in such a way as to promote ideal social relations, rather than to act based on the experience of rewards or punishments after death”
- 6. VIEW OF AFTER LIFE
Daoism
“In Taoism death is neither feared nor desired instead a person enjoys living. Afterlife doesn’t exist in terms of a Taoist belief system. It’s in life that they are eternal in Taoism. The afterlife is with life itself. They are of the Tao when living and upon death are the Tao again. Death is the point where your essence is not you non being. But expression of your life is within life. If immortality isn’t attained during life, the Tao will continue to evolve and manifest in different forms, in accordance with the entity’s general conduct during a state of existence. This applies to all sentient and insentient beings”
Confucianism
“Confucius did not focus on life after death as though it were the ultimate standard against which to measure the success of a life on Earth. Thus the teacher shared the conviction that biological death did not signal a definitive end to life. Death did not mean annihilation and loss in some great void beyond the grave. Confucius clearly believed in some form of spiritual survival, and the ongoing presence of those who have departed this life. Confucius and his disciples chose not to speculate about possible celestial or infernal postmortem scenarios. Heaven is merely a name for the highest spiritual presence of which human beings are aware.”
- 7. PRACTICES AND RITUALS
Daosim
“Practice philosophical maturity, virtuous conduct internal alchemy, and some sexual practices.”
Confusianism
“Confucianism visits temples to pay homage to Ti’en (God or Heaven), Confucius and ancestors, also to practice ‘quiet sitting’”
- 8. CELEBRATIONS AND FESTIVALS
Daoism
“Major festivals last for days, two or three up to seven or more. Typically, each of the rites consists of these stages: purification, invocation of the deities, prayers, consecration and offerings, hymns, dances and perambulations. There are two main types of rituals – 1) funeral rites or periodic rites on behalf of ancestors, and 2) rites on behalf of local communities. Both included rites to install the ritual space, rites of fasting, rites of communion or offering and rites to disperse the ritual space.”
Confucianism
“In Confucianism rituals take on a different meaning than that of most religions. Acts of everyday life are considered rituals. Confucians do no celebrate specific Holy Days for Confucianism and they practice days from other religions.”
The David Vases, 4:46
https://youtu.be/lfIHzumEghQ
REFERENCES
Tao Te Ching (English subtitles), 6:12
Tao is nameless, it's invisible. Despite its power, the world doesn't know it
Beyond word and thought is the Tao, origin without name and form, the greatness, the eternal cycle of being and existing.
The Tao is like a sound of infinite vibration no one can hear, an infinitely large image no one can see. However, although it is not knowable or nameable, It is everything and accomplishes everything.
Three words are sacred: The first is goodness. The second, sufficiency. The third, modesty.
Goodness gives strength, sufficiency extends the narrowness Modesty makes a man a vehicle for the action of eternal forces.
To serve men and the Tao, nothing better than serenity. Serenity is to act without action, it is silent superiority, dynamic passivity that operates from within without acting out.
Tao does not act, and through this nonaction everything is done. Who joins the One has no desires. Where there are no desires there is peace. And where there is peace, all is harmony and happiness.
Who knows does not speak who speaks does not know. The wise live quiet, Softens what is violent, Flattens with what is simple. Becomes one with the big Unity, Remains distant from sympathy and antipathy, Indifferent to profit and loss This is what he sees as true nobility.
Whoever awakens itself to the creative forces of life fulfills his deepest essence. And within it remains intangible, creating peace and quiet maturity.
Who always keeps the stillness is also Lord of restlessness. The wise man calmly bears the burden of his earthly journey.
The wise man is never deluded by dazzling perspectives. He walks with quiet dignity his lonely way.
True life is like water: Silently adapts to the lower level which men despise.
The water does not oppose to anything, but serves all. It does not require anything because its origin is the immortal Source.
Who says little fits silently to all events. Who harmonize their actions with the Tao of reality becomes one with it.
The accomplished man has no desires within, nor have requirements outside. It is helpful in give and sincere in talking, smooth in leading, powerful in action. Acts calmly. That is why he is undefiled.
Tao is the source of profound silence, whose use never wears. It's like an emptiness, origin of all the fullness of the world.
The Tao defies sharp intelligence. Undoes the tangled things, melts into one all colors, unifies all diversities.
Who is based on Tao heaven offers to others his fullness. Thus acts the wise man: He does not wish anything for himself, he does not wish to be anything, he does not wish to have anything
Who is based on Tao heaven offers to others his fullness. Thus acts the wise man: He does not wish anything for himself, he does not wish to be anything, he does not wish to have anything
The ultimate rule for leading is being led by the Supreme Power.
Confucian-Taoist Rap Song, with Professor Flame! 3:53
https://youtu.be/dPCgaBlHsQI
{With deep appreciation and love toward my Summer B-2014 Introduction to World Religions class, at the University of South Florida, and all my students who came before them, who formed the foundation this evolved into; they were all my inspiration, each and every one!....Click Show More for Credits and Lyrics below}
{Special thanks to Obmarie Rodriguez (teleprompter and costume); Ryan Scott (video); Joe Tison (lighting), Zack Weinstein (doorman); Bella Junejo (makeup); my Hype-Man (Michael Hoffman); and original Hype-Man (Naim Naif, who was there in spirit and was a hard act to follow, as Michael asserted!)
The Confucian-Taoist Rap
Well we know the word Tao means the Way. Born in 551 Kong Fuzi’s ok. In the state of Lu his mom gave birth. From the class of Ru he was unearthed.
Now in the “6 arts” he’d go to school, in classical tradition he was no fool. Confucius was a man both gentle & kind, trying to reshape the Chinese mind.
Confucian Classics this man would write, for a moral order he would fight. Symbol of authority he would be, a moral culture is the key.
Virtue and Ren is good for you, molds the heart pure and true, Principle, love, & harmony-too, this is the way of the Junzi (oo),
Superior man steeped in courtesy, master of Confucian philosophy, He said this is a noble ideal, opinions of men have great appeal.
The Confucian term for what we call Li, ceremonies, and courtesy, Doing things with the right form, in the ‘world,’ should be the norm.
Confucians had a male-centered view, but Taoism preached something new, An Old Man left China we know, went to Tibet on a water buffalo.
Too much ritual hides the Tao, over-regulation we can’t allow. All is not just black and white, in the non-rational’ we should delight.
This is what Taoism would teach, many pupils he would reach. Through the legend we call Lao-Tzu, a great feat this Sage would do.
He wrote by hand, the Tao Te Ching, which made Lao-Tzu, the Taoist king. Seeing in, the maternal way, and big government was not ok.
Zhang Ling blended Tao & healing, this cat had a lot of feeling. He was called the heavenly teacher, you may call him a Taoist preacher.
The main focus of immortality, is what all Taoists should come to see. Alchemy, yoga, and merit too, should ensure eternal life for you.
The 2 would merge in the Han Dynasty, the Han Synthesis this would be. Dong Zhongshu coined the idea, the Yin and Yang combining here.
Female & male, not bad nor good, when we live together as we should. All in sync the world will be, united with Tao, in perfect harmony.
[Lyrics: Written and Copyrighted by Dr. Catherine Alvarez, Ph.D. (a.k.a. Professor Flame) - only to be used for non-profit, educational purposes; otherwise, contact Dr. Alvarez, at CAlvarez@Mail.USF.Edu]
[Rap Melody in the background: Compliments of the "Art of Rap" Smartphone Application - B-Bop & Rock, by Red Skull Beats]
[This is all in the spirit of making learning fun and incorporating "The Arts" into the educational process.]
ENO Taking Tiger Mountain side 1, 24:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNAvsMdGeOU
Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson, China 1981 with lyrics, 4:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb0RRaQAV1I&feature=youtu.be
DISCUSSION
"Actionless Action (Daosim) and the Practice of Virtue (Confucianism)" Please respond to the following:
http://plato.stanford.edu/http://www.bbc.co.uk/relientries/daoism/#Origins gion/religions/taoism/beliefs/gods.shtml http://www.religionfacts.com/confucianism http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/god-http://www.bbc.co.uk/reliconfucianism-4082.html gion/religions/taoism/riteshttp://10cpconfucianism./rites.shtml weebly.com/holidays-and-festivals.html
- Identify and explain at least three aspects of wu wei (non-doing) that would be practical in the busy lives of city dwellers, especially those living in the West. Provide a rationale for your response.
WORLD RELIGIONS – REL 212 World Religions
Daoism and
Confucianism
Confucianism
WEEK 4
Cosmogony - Origin of the Universe | In Daosim “It was from the Nameless that heaven and earth sprang; The two traditions share many of the same ideas about man, society, the ruler, heaven, and the universe |
Source | https://www.britannica.com/topic/Daoism paragraph 6 |
Nature of God/Creator | In religious Daoism the interior of the body is inhabited by the same gods as those of the macrocosm. Adepts often search for their divine teacher in all the holy mountains of China until they finally discover him in one of the “palaces” inside their heads. This is also the same with Confucianism. |
Source | https://www.britannica.com/topic/Daoism CONCEPTS OF THE UNIVERSE AND NATURAL ORDER paragraph 7 last two sentences |
View of Human Nature | In Daosim The most important of these concepts are (1) the continuity between nature and human beings, or the interaction between the world and human society; (2) the rhythm of constant flux and transformation in the universe and the return or reversion of all things to the Dao from which they emerged; and (3) the worship of ancestors, the cult of heaven, and the divine nature of the sovereign. As a teacher of humanity, Confucius stated his ambition in terms of concern for human beings: “To bring comfort to the old, to have trust in friends, and to cherish the young” (5:25). |
Source | https://www.britannica.com/topic/Daoism Basic concepts of Daoism https://www.britannica.com/topic/Confucianism The Analects as the embodiment of Confucian ideas paragraph 10 |
View of Good & Evil | Because, in the Daoist view, all beings and everything are fundamentally one, opposing opinions can arise only when people lose sight of the Whole and regard their partial truths as absolute. Thus, Zhuangzi’s authentic persons fully recognize the relativity of notions such as “good and evil” and “true and false.” They are neutral and open to the extent that they offer no active resistance to any would-be opponent, whether it be a person or an idea. In Confucianism Xunzi stressed that human nature is evil. Because he saw human beings as prone by nature to pursue the gratification of their passions, he firmly believed in the need for clearly articulated social constraints. |
Source | https://www.britannica.com/topic/Daoism IDEAS OF KNOWLEDGE AND LANGUAGE paragraph 3 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Confucianism Xunzi: The transmitter of Confucian scholarship paragraph 2 |
View of Salvation | In Daoism they believe salvation to be an inferior practice because it means that there is damnation. This is also true with Confucianism |
Source | https://www.britannica.com/topic/Daoism/History THE MAOSHAN REVELATIONS paragraph 2 http://www.patheos.com/Library/Confucianism/Beliefs/Afterlife-and-Salvation paragraph 2 |
View of After Life | Doaism seem to believe in a purgatory. Confucianism is almost the same way. Kongzi stated that the afterlife was beyond human comprehension. Humans should live and behave in such a way as to promote ideal social relations, rather than to act based on the expectations of rewards or punishments after death. What happens to human beings after they die is less important to Confucian thinkers than how the living fulfill their obligations to the dead. |
Source | https://www.britannica.com/topic/Daoism/Influence Daoism and other religions paragraph 3 http://www.patheos.com/Library/Confucianism/Beliefs/Afterlife-and-Salvation paragraph 1 and 2 |
Practices and Rituals | Some Daoism practices include their ecstasies, for example, were closely related to the trances and spirit journeys of the early magicians and shamans. Confucianism is also very similar they do reading, sitting quietly, ritual practice, physical exercise, calligraphy, arithmetic, and empirical observation. |
Source | https://www.britannica.com/topic/Daoism paragraph 5 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Confucianism/The-Confucian-revival The Song masters paragraph 8 |
Celebrations & Festivals | In Daoism among the most important ceremonial occasions were the communal feasts (chu) offered at certain specific times throughout the year (during the first, seventh, and 10th months) as well as on other important occasions, such as initiation into the hierarchy, advancement in rank or function, or the consecration of an oratory. In Confucianism they celebrate the birth date of "Master Kong," or Kong Qui better known as Confucius. On Confucius birthday fairly typical ceremonies are held throughout the island of Qufu (Shandong), the birthplace of Confucius. |
Source | Development of the Daoist religion from the 2nd to the 6th century paragraph 7 http://www.china.org.cn/english/olympic/211894.htm |
DAOISM AND CONFUCIANISM
COSMOLOGY ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE | The Shang periods are not definitely known, but it seems clear that kings played a very significant religious role as chief priest for their kingdoms. They sought the help of the aristocratic ancestors and deities by process of divination through the medium or oracle of bones. Living Religions, Mary Pat Fisher, Pg. 190 |
NATURE OF GOD | Prehistorical evidence of worship of ancestors. Their graves where lined up in rows near villages and provided with funeral offerings such as ornaments, pottery, and tools suggesting belief in an afterlife which they could use them, as now, the spirits of the deceased are thought to remain closely bonded to their living descendants for some time. Living Religions, Mary Pat Fisher, Pg. 189 |
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE | Human nature should be in order with the rest of nature. When this happens order and harmony result. Self-cultivation is to return to a mode of existence that is natural, but has been tampered by social conditioning. By repeating a movement or exercise you are retraining the body to react in its natural way. Also Promoting good health. www.patheos.com/library |
VIEW OF GOOD AND EVIL | It is said to be thought by a teacher Mencius in c371-c.289 B.C. First he says man’s original nature is good then he states man’s original nature becomes evil when his wishes are not fulfilled. Action that are out of good nature are good but action that are done out of reward are evil. You will be rewarded or punished in another life or afterlife. www.philosopher.com |
VIEW OF “SALVATION” | Confusians do not hold belief that there is individual salvation or damnation of person beyond this life. They do strongly believe in worshiping of the ancestors. Ancestor worship approvingly and commend it as a means of cultivating the virtue of filial piety (Xiao). Also installing harmonious relations in society. www.patheos.com/library |
VIEW OF AFTER LIFE | To gain immortality. In order to gain immortality. After death. One must prepare for life after death by finding the way. Laozi referred enigmatically to immortality or long life realized through spiritual death of the individual self, the body and mind transferred into selfless vehicles for the eternal. Living Religions, Mary Pat Fisher, Pg. 200 |
PRACTICES AND RITUALS | Inner Alchemy. In contrast to other practices, an elite thread of ancient traditions, that have become intertwined with Daoism involve Inner Alchemy. Individual spiritual practices for the sake of inner transformation, to separate the immortal fetus from the body so that the former can operate independently, both before and after death. Living Religions, Mary Pat Fisher, Pg. 199 |
CELEBRATIONS AND FESTIVALS | One of the favorite festivals is the lantern festival. The end of Chinese New Year. Celebration begins on the twenty-third or twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month of the lunar year. Which is thought to be the day the gods go to heaven to offer their respect to the supreme deity. The Jade Emperor. The kitchen god will determine their fortunes in the year to come. Temples are filled with worshipers lighting incents to pay homage. Living Religions, Mary Pat Fisher, Pg. 202 |
Religion | Cosmogony - Origin of the Universe | Nature of God | View of Human Nature | View of Good and Evil | View of “Salvation” | View of After Life | Practices and Rituals | Celebrations and Festivals |
Week 4 Daoism and Confucianism | They both originated for the same culture which is China. They believe that the cosmos is a manifestation of an impersonal self-generating physical-spirit substance called qi (chi). Which is the “stuff” of which all things that exist are composed. Fisher p.191 | They only believe in the Dao (Tao), which is the way. Fisher p.191 | They believe that humans can deviate from the creative rhythm of the universe, Tao. That as soon as one aspect reaches its fullest point, it begins to diminish, while at the same time its polar opposite increases. Nothing is process outside. Fisher p. 191-193 | They believe in Yin and yang. That is all actions contain some aspect of the other. Wisdom lies in recognizing their ever-shifting, but regular and balanced, patterns and moving with them. They believe that one happens because of the other and that either one that happen helps to make one stronger. Fisher p. 191 | They focus on the present life of living which is the physical immortality. They believe that death is neither feared nor desired instead a person enjoys living and that they will live forever. They have great interest in realms of the immortals that were believed to be located on earth- on mountains, islands, or other locations that are usually invisible to the eyes. Fisher p. 193 | They believe that afterlife is within the real-life. They don’t have fear of death as long as they meet the mother of the source for everything, Dao. They believe that when they die, they will be immoral because they will continue their existence but in a different way. That there’s life going on after death. Fisher p.195 | Daoism and Confucianism have two types of rituals: funeral rites or periodic rites on behalf of ancestors, which are performed only by some sects, sometimes is tandem with Buddist priests. Major festivals last for days, from two or three up to seven or more, each of these rites consist of three stages: purification, meditation and offering to deities. Fisher p.199-205 | Because they both originated in the same culture which was the China area, they both have similarities. Their favorite festival is the Lantern Festival. It takes place at the end of the Chinese New Year. This is supposed to be the day that the gods go to heaven to offer their respects to the jade Emperor. On the night of this festival, people roam the streets looking at paper lanterns, enjoying dragon and lion dances, parades, fireworks and sticky sweet rice balls. Fisher p.202 |
http://www.ancient.eu/Confucianism/ http://www.patheos.com/Library/Taoism
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/beliefs/gods.shtml http://www.faithresource.com/showcase/confucianism/confucianismoverview.htm
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Confucianism/Beliefs/Afterlife-and-Salvation http://www.patheos.com/Library/Taoism/Beliefs/Afterlife-and-Salvationhttp://plato.stanford.edu/http://www.bbc.co.uk/relientries/daoism/#Origins gion/religions/taoism/beliefs/gods.shtml http://www.religionfacts.com/confucianism http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/god-http://www.bbc.co.uk/reliconfucianism-4082.html gion/religions/taoism/riteshttp://10cpconfucianism./rites.shtml weebly.com/holidays-and-festivals.html
Week 4 - Sources
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Confucianism/Beliefs/Human-Nature-and-the-Purpose-of-Existence http://www.patheos.com/Library/Taoism/Beliefs/Human-Nature-and-the-Purpose-of-Existence
http://www.comparativereligion.com/evil.html http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/major-beliefs-symbols-confucianism-3070.html
http://www.comparativereligion.com/evil.html http://worldreligions-taoism-ab.blogspot.com/2011/01/salvationultimate-goal_15.html
http://www.religionfacts.com/taoism/beliefs http://brockbaker.pbworks.com/w/page/8687830/Confucianism%3A%20Practices%20Rituals%20and%20Festivals
