Confucianism and Taoism
The Chinese people have three main traditions in their history- Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. I am going to be talking about Confucianism and Taoism. Both of these date back to the Sixth Century B.C. The traditional founder of Taoism is Confucius and Laozi. On top of many other things Confucius was a very influential speaker. Throughout time, his teachings, and preaching developed into a religion. He spoke to a wide variety of people.
Daoist tend to look back to Laozi as their founder. Over centuries, Taoism was transformed from a small religion, very conservative, into a loosely organized religion.
During the Second Century B.C., a ruler named Han had the most part in it. A large number of religious groups rose from this because of the social and political disorder.
One of these groups named the Yellow Turbans in eastern China., fought Han in 184 B.C. This led to a civil war. Han lost authority and power, and his generals became warlords. Then, in Western China, a group known as the Way of the Celestial Masters came into power.
From the Second Century B.C., Taoists and others believed it was possible to find an elixir which would make them immortal. An elixir is a sweetened alcoholic medicinal preparation, but back in ancient philosophy it was thought to be for changing base metals into gold, or for prolonging life. Research flourished because of this belief. But the chief ingredient, cinnabar, was found to be poisonous. Many imperial deaths ensued from this.
But this was not the only way to achieve immortality back in ancient times. Another belief said that a man would have to acquire 108 women to get granted 10,000 years of life.
For more than 2,000 years ,Chinese, Japananese, and Korean people have lived in cultures that were greatly influenced by the thoughts of Confucius. Confucius saw himself as an ordinary man doing a good deed for a diverse group of cultures. He taught his fellow human beings moral behavior and good family relationships. He thought that they are the key to a well ordered society. People valued his opinions and teachings very much and followed them in every day life. Confucius himself avoided talking about religion, but at the same time recognized the importance of worshipping his ancestors. He believed that he was not guided by religion, but by a higher power called heaven.
Confucius lived at a time when China was changing.
In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the main character, goes through a major personal transformation. At the beginning of the story, his opinions of others are filled with stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice. Through interaction with his wife's blind friend Robert, his attitude and outlook on life changes. Although at first he seemed afraid to associate with a blind man, Robert's outgoing personality left him with virtually no choice. During Robert's visit, he proved to be a normal man, and showed the speaker that by closing his eyes, he could open his mind.
On November 21, 2010 thousands of ebony- skinned women, young and old, tuned in to VH1 to support Fantasia Barrino. These women are proud to learn that she has not only written a sitcom but actively seeks a producer; the viewers finally see Fantasia finding a constructive use of her time. Fantasia has a devoted fan base willing to forgive even the most prominent blunders presented on her show, such as failing to get her G.E.D., being reckless with her money, and dating a married man. Despite all these mistakes, Fantasia still identifies with an audience that accepts her and believes in her ability to grow and to give hope. This belief, however optimistic, is shattered the minute Fantasia expresses her reasoning for not playing the leading role in her new sitcom; “She’s beautiful…I know I’m hot and all but I’m not light-skinned.” These words spoken by Fantasia Barrino are only one example of a stereotype maintained by the show. Fantasia does not believe that she is attractive enough to play the leading role, simply because she is dark-skinned. Fantasia for Real is a VH1 unscripted show that depicts the everyday life of the season three American Idol winner. The program aims to portray Fantasia regaining control of her career and personal life. Sadly, the show has done just the opposite; Fantasia for Real disgraces Black women and men, single mothers, high school drop outs, and the state of North Carolina. The show substantiates stereotypes of both the ignorant “ baby mama” and the lazy young Black man by Portraying Fantasia as egregiously uneducated, while simultaneously depicting her brother as being shiftless and unmotivated .
The short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is about a woman who has a blind friend who comes to visit her and her husband. Although the husband has, technically, normal vision he is in the beginning of this story the one who is "blind." Through the husband’s words and actions when he is dealing with Robert, the blind man, we can see that the husband does not "see" or understand what Robert’s blindness means or how it changes or does not change him as a human being. At first Robert makes the husband very uncomfortable, for the husband does not know what to say or do around the blind visitor. As the story progresses, we can see a change in the husband; he seems to be able to see Robert as a person and not just as a blind man.
The husband in Raymond Carvers “Cathedral” wasn’t enthusiastic about his wife’s old friend, whom was a blind man coming over to spend the night with them. His wife had kept in touch with the blind man since she worked for him in Seattle years ago. He didn’t know the blind man; he only heard tapes and stories about him. The man being blind bothered him, “My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to. (Carver 137)” The husband doesn’t suspect his ideas of blind people to be anything else. The husband is already judging what the blind man will be like without even getting to actually know him. It seems he has judged too soon as his ideas of the blind man change and he gets a better understanding of not only the blind man, but his self as well.
Regarding religion, Chinese culture saw the emergence of Confucianism and Buddhism as the major influence. Confucianism stressed filial piety which meant respecting elders and superiors, ruling righteously, and obeying commands and orders. Confucianism was introduced by the Chinese thinker Confucius. Buddhism was brought to China, but originated in India and was founded by Siddhartha Gautama. Followers of Buddhism worshipped Buddh...
education in high regards believing that through it, one could reach the high standard of a gentleman..
The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were two grand empires that rose out of preexisting territories and provided relative peace over wide areas. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), which was the first great land-based empire in East Asia, came after a period of war, confusion, and tyrannical rule. Due to the political disorder that stemmed from the early dynastic activity, the emergence of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE- 228 CE) sprung to focus on restoring order. On the other hand, the rise of the Roman Empire (44 BCE- 476 CE) originated from consolidating authority over aristocratic landlords and overriding the democratic elements of the earlier Republic. Instead, the Roman Empire redefined the concept of “citizen” as subjects to the Roman emperor. Both empires shared similar agendas to exploit their vast territories and resources, which helped them expand their political dominance; however, despite having similar political goals and foundations, their government system, cultural ideologies and imperial expansionist natures diverged.
Taoism and Buddhism were born in the same century. Siddhartha reached enlightenment in approximately 535 B.C. and Lao Tzu’s teachings were recorded around 500 B.C. There are many similarities in the basics of these two religions. Some of the similarities can be seen clearly when examining the three meaning of Tao.
...ther religions since they never really comitted to one main religion. Han China spread Confucianism by leading Confucius lives, they used Confucius ideas for their law codes and taught Confucius ideas to their children. The Confucian ideas spread by the Han helped rulers like Wudi have long reigns of power by embracing rule by morals and ethics. It also helped spread written exams as ways to determine peoples places and jobs in society based off of merit as opposed to putting anyone anywhere just to give people jobs. China also had a growing population of Daoists who believed in the power of nature. As time progressed both of their societies changed their religions. Rome slowly progressed from a basic Hellenistic polytheism to the once persecuted Christianity. Meanwhile China, which was mainly a Confucian and Daoist led society began to accept and embrace Buddhism.
In the first paragraph, the narrator also reveals his ignorance. He believes that all blind people are based on only what he has seen in movies, "My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they are led by seeing-eye dogs “(104). The narrator was surprised when he noticed Robert was not like this. The narrator is also surprised when Robert lights a cigarette. He believes blind people don’t smoke because “they couldn’t see the smoke they exhaled” (108). The husband starts to feel more comfortable after this. The three of them sit down for dinner and the husbands is impressed with the how Robert is able to locate his food, cut with a knife, and eat properly. This is where the narrator’s outlook starts to undergo change.
Athletes today need to be able to cope with the anxiety and pressure that is placed on them in the competitive world of sports. A large deal of research has been done on examining the relationship between anxiety and performance within the field of athletics. This paper is going to show that the mind in an athlete has a lot to do with the result of the particular event. In order to show that anxiety in athletes is a significant problem this paper is going to be set up in three different areas in order to explain exactly how anxiety affects the athlete. The first section of the paper is going to explain the history and terminology on the study of anxiety in athletes. Next, this paper will show the results of numerous testing that has gone on in order to see the effects of anxiety in athletes. And the third and final section of this paper is going to explain what treatments that can help the athlete cope with the anxiety issues.
Confucianism is a moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects, the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient writings, including that of Mencius. Confucius was born a mandarin under the name Kongzi. It was developed around 550 B.C. In its earliest form Confucianism was primarily a system of ethical concepts for the control of society. It saw man as a social creature that is bound to his fellow men by jen, or “humanity.” Jen is expressed through the five relationships—sovereign and subject, parent and child, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, and friend and friend. Of these, the filial relation is most important.
Playing a sport whether its basketball, soccer, football or any other of your interest can be thrilling, and accelerating. Not only can it be fun yet physical exercise is good for the mind, body, and spirit. Therefore, as an athlete one must keep in mind that playing any sport, injury is part of life and inevitable. Research has proven from time to time that severe injuries in sports can trigger psychological mental health issues, affecting them in their athletic performance.
Anxiety being the complex thing it is has been given many definitions over the years but the most well known was by Weinberg and Gould (1999) the stated that anxiety was a state of negative emotions and characteristics such as a sensation of apprehension, worry and nervousness; which could be connected with arousal of the human body. Weinberg and Gould (1999) also stated that there was two different types of anxiety. The first type of anxiety effect the mind or mental aspects of an athlete; this type is known as cognitive anxiety, which causes negative feeling and sensation as well as loss of concentration and sometimes motivation which have a negative impact on an athlete’s performance. The other type of anxiety effect the body physically; this is known as somatic anxiety. Somatic anxiety is commonly confused with arousal as the effects are very similar. Somatic anxiety causes sweaty palms and such sensations as ‘butterflies’ in an athlete’s stomach, which can have a negative effect on performance.
What is Confucianism? Confucianism was the single most important thing in Chinese life. It affected everything in China; education, government, and attitudes toward behavior in public and private life. Confucianism is not a religion, but it is more a philosophy and a guide to morality and good government. The Laozian and Mohist critiques of the Confucianism are both in an accurate fashion.