Download Influence of Confucianism, Taoism, & Buddhism on Chinese & Japanese Culture: An Overview - and more Study notes World Religions in PDF only on Docsity! Three doctrines: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism “together have had a profound influence on Chinese culture and history” (189) o Buddhism – Indian roots o Other two – traditional china Shang Di = “the omnipotent power that was believed to rule the world” (189) Tian = “usually translated as “Heaven”… It appears that Tian was envisioned as both an impersonal divine force that controls events on earth and as a cosmic moral principle that determines right and wrong” (189) Yang and yin = “the universe expressed itself in opposite but complementary principles” o Yang – male, yin – female o Yang – Confucianism, yin - taoism Laozi ( Lau Tzu) o Name means old master o Legend says he was born to a virgin and that he was born old o Wrote the Tao Te Ching Tao Te Ching o classical book about the way and its power o refers to the Tao Tao o The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao o Can only be experienced, not a god o Experienced through intuition o The way that nature expresses itself – the natural way Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) o The name of an Author and his book of writings o Book was full of whimsical stories o Elaborates the potential results of being one with the Tao Wu wei o The ideal of effortlessness o Mentioned in the Tao Te Ching Taoists want to live a long time Taoism became an organized religion after they saw how organized Buddhism was Some of the important images of Taoism are flowing water, the valley, and the uncarved block of stone Tao in Confucianism o “the Tao of primary interest is the Tao within the human world, manifested in ‘right’ relationships and in a harmonious society” (206) o Training in virtue is necessary to enable the Tao to manifest itself clearly in the human being Confucius o Name: Kong Qiu, changed to Kong Fuzi (means ‘master kong’) o Born 551 B.C.E (teacher says he was born ____), died 479 B.C.E o Wanted to produce “excellent” individuals who could be social leaders, and he wanted to create a harmonious society (208) o Believed that social harmony is established when people play their roles properly (codified in five great relationships) Five Great Relationships o Father-son o Elder brother – younger brother o Husband – wife o Friend – friend o Ruler – subject Ren (jen) o To think of the other o “One must be considerate of the other person through one’s actions and words” Li o Doing what is appropriate o Knowing and using the proper words and actions for social life o Li means good manners. It is putting ren into practice Shu o Reciprocity o Golden and Silver rule Golden rule o Do unto others as you would have them do unto you Silver rule o Do not do unto others what you would not wish done to yourself o Confucian version Xiao (Hsiao) o Filial piety o Devotion of a son or daughter to a parent, or devotion to family’s welfare o Doing what would please one’s parents and bring them respect Wen o Culture o Includes all the arts that are associated with civilization Five (six) classics o Book of History o Book of Poetry o Book of Changes o Book of Rites o The Spring and Autumn Annals o Book of music (burned)
