Compare and Contrast Kami and Shen, the Japanese and Chinese Words for God
The words kami in Japanese and shen in Chinese both are translated into English as the word god. Although they both refer to somewhat similar supernatural elements, they are by no means identical to each other. Chinese shen is an abstract term referring to spirits and relating to abstract thoughts such as the heavens and the afterlife. In contrast, kami are very often related directly to a person or actual object and are worshiped in a hope for more day-to-day help or this worldly benefits. In order to help explain the relationship between kami and shen, I will first explore the similarities between the two terms, then discuss the unique characteristics which define both shen and kami.
Motori Norinaga, an eighteenth century Japanese intellectual, said that the meanings of shen and kami "coincide seventy or eight per cent of cases… Ever since ancient times, their meanings have both been expressed in a single character… with no difference being paid to the difference between the two" (qtd. in Xiaolin 1). When the Japanese first borrowed the Chinese writing system to use as their own, they used the Chinese character for shen to express both kami and shin (another Japanese word for spirits, more closely associated with shen.) In all of the Chinese texts that the Japanese imported, shen was translated as either kami or shin, using kami when the spirit was well defined and shin when it was more of an abstract thought. It was not until the Japanese later differentiated their writing from Chinese that the characters for shen and kami became different. The non-differentiation between the two words helps to show their close similarity to each other.
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We are always told to never judge a book by its cover because we never know what is truthfully inside those pages and what excitement is held within. Whether the rising action be slow or quick, the climax must always be the same; exciting, heartwrenching, or suspenseful. There were many climaxes in Alexandre Dumas’s book The Count of Monte Cristo that could cause the reader to feel intimately with the characters and feed our hunger of anticipation for more and it is these things that make the book appealing to the reader. Such as the time Mercedes recognized Dantes, when Valentine and Maximilien dramatically plan an escape for the sake of their marriage, and when a secret witness comes to stand at Fernand’s informal trial, all made the story more appealing in the eyes of the reader.
Compare And Analysis The Japanese Buddhism And Indo Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy founded by Siddhartha Gautama in northeast India during the period from the late 6th century to the early 4th century BC. Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism has played an influential role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of much of the Eastern world. It is the prevailing religious force in most of Asia (India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet). ‘Buddhism’ is reformulated and re-expressed in different cultures and at different times, adopting and redefining aspects of the cultures in which it has taken root. Today, there are about 300 million followers. (Yamplosky) The Indian religion Buddhism, founded in the sixth century BC, is one of the common features of Asian civilization, and Buddhist institutions and believers are found all over East, South, and Southeast Asia. While Buddhism is now just a minority belief in the country of it’s founding, it remains a significant religious and cultural force in Japan today. Buddhism started in India and made its way to China and Korea. From there, it ended up in Japan. Buddhism went through several different periods before it became Japan's national religion. In indo Buddhism, the temple is the main sanctuary, in which services, both public and private, are performed but Japanese Buddhism is mainly hub of individual activities and services. Similarly to Japanese Buddhism, in Indo Buddhism the monastery is a complex of buildings, located usually in a spot chosen for its beauty and seclusion. Its function is to house the activities of the monks. Images are important features of temples, monasteries, and shrines in both Indo a...
The lifetime risk of someone suffering from schizophrenia is about 1%, and most people first experience symptoms between the ages of 15 and 35 years.
Life can change in a split second by making one decision, that’s what happened to Cady and the Lairs, Mirren, Johnny, and Gat. It was summer on beechwood island and in the dark of night Cady is found washed up on the beach half naked with no memory of how she got there, what happened and even what had happened that whole summer. After that nothing was the same, the whole family started acting different, the aunts, grandad, even the children. Now Cady has to try to piece together what happened that summer.
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Shinto defined the Japanese’ lifestyle, however, there is no authoritative text of what or why exactly Shinto is around. Until Buddhism, and Confucianism showed up, Shintoism was not a concrete unified religion. In 8AD, it was ordered to compile a history of Japan’s origins, and creation stories were thus born, called the Kojiki. The creation story starts with the formation of Heaven, called Takamagahara, which would give rise to the first three gods, Amenominakanushi, Takagi no kami, and kamimusubi, all of whom were invisible. Reed shoots sprouted, and just like the previous three deities, two more came into existence, and soon after, even more, who would be Izanagi and Izanami who would give birth to Japan, both figuratively and literally. The creation myth would even go on to explain how the male is to initiate procreation, the death-to-birth ratio, and how the Japanese, at one point, believed that their emperor was a direct descendant of the kami.
Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Atheism, just to name a few, are a collection of major world religions that are practiced in various regions around the globe. Each one, has their own history of origins, belief systems, and influence on society in the past to the present. Among these popular world religions is Shintoism, the indigenous religion of Japan. The roots of the word Shinto means “way of the kami” (WRP, 1) and is also defined as “kannagara no michi”, literally meaning “the way of the deities” (Yale, 1). No matter how it is defined, Shintoism is essentially a religion that focuses on the relationship between humans and the beauty of the natural world. Today, Shinto beliefs, folklore and myths, and religious practices continue to influence
Energy is the basic necessity of daily life. Nowadays, dependence on fossil fuels for energy needs becoming lower in numerous countries due to the potential of renewable energy to supply sustainable energy to the huge populations in many developing countries who are short of clean and continues energy. Generally, renewable energy can be defined as energy that is derived from natural resources which are constantly replenished and theoretically inexhaustible. Fossil fuels on the other hand can be described as energy that cannot be renewed and will eventually diminish. Thus, in many developing countries renewable energy is the alternative energy to replace non-renewable energy or commonly known as fossil fuels. In addition, according to Sorensen (2004), there is a greater demand for renewable energy sources nowadays due to the uncertainty of fuel price rise in living expenses. Commonly, there are many types of renewable energy available in our world such as wind power, biomass energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. However, the main three example of renewable energy are hydroelectric power, solar and biomass energy (Refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).