The belief and worshipping of the Big Dipper has been around for ages and it has appeared many different cultures due to the influence of the Han culture. This is because of the popularity of Taoism as a religion. Due to the flourish of Taoism, the worshipping of Big Dipper star group bloomed among the people. However, with the fall of Taoism due to modernization and the impact of foreign religions such as Buddhism, Christianity and other religions, there has been a significant decandancy in the worshipping of stars. In this essay, I am intending to find out how the worshipping of the Big Dipper came about and the influence that it created among the different cultures in China.
The Big Dipper is a group of 7 stars in the close to the North Star (Polaris). It is made up of Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar and the Alkaid. It has a special shape which resembles the Plough, or the butcher’s Cleaver which is what the English called it. When we look up a clear sky, the Big Dipper will be shown as in this picture.
The Big Dipper
This group of stars is symbolic in the many cultures. In the Mongolia culture, they are called the Seven gods . In Taoism, the Big Dipper is extremely important and many myths and legends have been derived from this group of stars. If one has read Jin Yong’s Condor Heroes, the QuanZhen Sect has a special sets of martial arts where seven taoists form the shape of the Big dipper and fight using this formation. It’s called the 北斗七星阵 which is the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper Formation.
Origins
These seven stars were also noticed by ancient astronomers in China. They gave them names such as 天枢 Tian Shu 天璇 Tian Xuan 天玑 Tian Ji 天权 Tian Quan 玉衡 Yu Heng 开阳 Kai Yang 摇光 Yao Guang . This is first see...
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...ot solely built on the philosophy of the Lao Zi philosophical Taoism. Thus, it failed, in its struggle with Buddhism or other Chinese philosophies such as Confucianism and Mencius. Buddhism in turned cooperated with Confucianism and absorbed a lot of its theory to gain an upper hand among the people. Thus, Taoism lost in its battle. Therefore as time goes by, the worshipping of stars or Big Dipper is only retained in some rituals such as funeral rituals.
The Belief of Big Dipper in Cultures not within the influence of the Han Culture
During my lesson on 民间文学 (Chinese Folklore Literature), my teacher once told me the origins of the Mongolian belief of Big Dipper. It was once said that there were six brothers in Mongolia. They were of age and had to leave the family for further pursue of their careers or to have future endeavours. Before they parted, they
Another group of stars, which are rather small, is found near the bottom left of the H-R Diagram.
“The whole character of Chinese popular religion flows in the direction of plethora of rituals and obligations without much discernable doctrinal underpinning” (Corduan, 2012, p.410). The Chinese popular religion has gravitated away the gods of Buddha and Daoism and captured the philosophy of luck and materialism (Corduan, 2012), while it “is less concerned with philosophical issues and
The first part of the journey begins; five thousand years ago with the tribal people who established residence along the shores of the Yellow River in China. (Wong 404). The tribal people believed that their chieftains had extraordinary powers, such as the powers: to control the elements, move the rivers, communicate with plants and animals, travel across the sky, and beneath the earth. (Ibid, 409) Initially, it was due in part to the tribal people’s belief, in the ability of particular individuals to possess inconceivable abilities, that shamanism came into practice in Ancient China. In fact, according to Eva Wong, “In ancient Chinese society, there was a class of people, called the wu.” (Wong 436). As a result, over the centuries, the importance of the wu or shaman continued to develop and by the twelfth century, the rulers of the land employed shamans as an integral part of their advisors. Thus, the shaman held political positions and were able to influence the governing of the nation. An equally important aspect of the ancient religion in China was the reverence of their ancestors’.
Over the course of history, individuals have questioned the universe in which we live in and searched for a purpose of our existence. The belief in a higher presence, other than our own, has existed since man can remember. From this belief, religion was established and can survive and flourish. Buddhism and Taoism are two great religious and philosophical traditions in Chinese history. For hundreds of years, these two have shaped Chinese lifestyle and thought. Readings from the Tao Te Ching, Buddhists scriptures, and Herman Hesse’s Siddharta explain the various aspects of Buddhism and Taoism, but in the end there is only one common belief, and that is the existence of a Supreme Being.
Though no one is completely certain, The Urantia Book Fellowship(Sprunger) many scholars believe Taoism’s foundation goes back to 604 BC, by Lao Tzu. Taoism is one of the more influential religious practices of the Eastern culture and many view it as a way of life rather than a religion. It emphasizes various themes centered on naturalness, vitality, peace, non-interference/non-resistance, refinement, detachment, flexibility, receptiveness, spontaneity, and the ways of life, speaking, and guiding behavior. Taoism represents the road, path followed in life, the flow of the universe, or the force behind the natural order of life that keeps the universe balanced and ordered. There are several variations of Taoism practiced around the world.
Ancient Chinese philosophy has since it beginnings relied on the theory of a natural order to things. They believed that nature determined human intelligence and ability. This is what provided the basis for China’s political and social order. Ancient Chinese developed a system of deities and spirits they associated with the natural elements such as rivers and mountains and so on. They believed in a “unity” between the Heaven and Earth, which these spirits only guided humans along not inter-fearing in their affairs. The an...
Taoism follows a much different idea of the "chain of being," than that of the other major religions (i.e. Hinduism, Judeo-Christian, Islam), which is very important in consideration of the ecological sensibility which stems from it. As opposed to a God-over-man-over-nature view of the world, Taoism states:
At Beltane the Pleiades star cluster rises just before sunrise on the morning horizon. The Pleiades is a cluster of seven closely placed stars, the seven sisters, in the constellation of Taurus, near his shoulder. When looking for the Pleiades with the naked eye, remember it looks like a tiny dipper-shaped pattern of six moderately bright star in the constellation of Taurus. It stands very low in the east-northeast sky for just a few minutes before sunrise.
Boorstin’s bias against the Chinese is initially difficult to detect because, early on, he is constantly singing their praises; they are lauded for the organization of their government, their astronomical endeavors, their cartography, and other technological advances such as Su Sung’s astronomical clock. Later, however, they are portrayed as increasingly oblivious, naïve, and literally self-centered. On their otherwise-excellent maps, China was the central and largest figure, which accurately depicts what the Chinese thought other countries and their discoveries to be – insignificant. Regarding the invention of the clock, Boorstin stated that “Tradition, custom, institutions, language, a thousand little habits . . . became barriers,” which was why the “drama of the clock in the West was not reenacted in the East.” (Boorstin, 56) He believed that China’s barriers of the mind – their zealous nationalism and insistence that theirs was the best way – caused them to lag behind in discovery. One example of the degree that their egomania extended can be seen in their reaction to a giraffe being brought from Mozambique to the Imperial Court. Believing it to be a mythical animal signifying that all was perfect under heaven, it brought “an orgy of self-congratulation,” (Boorstin, 196) showing that “’the world’s curiosities had become mere symptoms of China’s virtue. So was revealed a Chinese Wall of the Mind
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...
Walker, Richard L. Ancient China and Its Influence In Modern Times. New York: Franklin Watts Inc., 1969.
Daoism, also known as Taoism, is one of the major religions of China. The main belief is the learning and practice of "The Way" (Dao), which is the ultimate truth of the universe.The Dao has several meanings. It is the basis of all living things, it governs nature, and is a method that people want to live by. The Dao is everlasting, without beginning or end. Since it has no beginning, it is therefore the oldest thing in the universe. The Dao is neither good nor bad, and is the source of all things.The Dao has no desires, and creates the universe, but does not dominate or regulate it. This idea of no manipulation by the Dao is an example of wu-wei. Wu-wei is one of the central tenets of Taoism and literally means the act of non-being / not action.This does not mean that people are lazy and passive as people might think. This means acting on instinct, and to go with your gut and to not over-think someone's actions and words, basically it means to just go with the flow. To act through wu-wei you shouldn’t think about what actions you are going to take and the consequences and outcome of those actions, you just let your actions control you, you don’t control your actions. The most useful action is one that is not conscious. De is the Taoist concept of virtue. It can be described as a way to live in unity with the Dao and it emerges from one's own inner nature. All things acquire De and it is De that guide the productions of the Dao. Our De appears as we follow the path of the Dao. Daoists see no greatness in violence because of their high respect for peace and their value of all human beings, even those who are their adversaries. Daoists believe that we need to fight only when absolutely necessary, and even then with a heavy heart. ...
De Bary, Wm. Theodore, Wing-Tsit Chan, and Burton Watson, eds. Sources of Chinese Tradition. NewYork: Columbia UP, 1960.
For instance, Chinese folk religion is deeply rooted in their culture. It is the tradition that acquired from the ancient past. Without realising, the influence of these religious values is so firm and powerful that it has been integrated into everyday lifestyles. Though commonly practice, Chinese folk religion is perceived as one of the most mysterious religions in the world by many scholars. Generally, it has been portrayed by a series of worship towards different spiritual entities including Chinese divinities of Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian, nature spirits, ancestors and even local deified heroes (Heinze,
One thing us as humans have never been able to fully understand is astronomy. Always having an unexplained mystery, astronomy also has served as a way to keep time and predict the future. The word “astronomy” is defined as the study of heavenly bodies, meaning anything in the sky such as stars, galaxies, comets, planets, nebulae, and so on. Many people, if not everyone, is amazed by the night sky on a clear, moonless night.