Religion has remained the root of a good amount of structure in China. Not just China, but the whole world. Chinese Religion in particular produce great readings that people today still read and find truly interesting. Some of the greatest leaders believed in religion and some type of a deity.
However you can also say some horrible leaders believed in religion, which the leaders in turn took religion for granted and used it for their selfish own use. Some people often believe religion is the cause of wars in china, others believe it to be corruption and greed for power, though both may be true, Chinese religion has influenced China so much that while they have evolved technologically, their principles have stayed mostly the same. Traditions people use today dates back to beginning of China itself, whether it’s Buddhism or Taoism that started the tradition, people still look for guidance in those religions.
However, having religion last this long throughout the years of China and all of its
Dynasties was not an easy task. Till this day Buddhism is just now starting to revitalize. China, one of the longest lasting countries, dates back thousands of years. It could also be argued that religion in China is also some of the longest lasting around the world. Though it is important to point out China was not the origins of a few religions; One of them being Buddhism.
Nevertheless, it was adopted by the Chinese and became an important factor in the progression of China. Taoism unintentionally created an item that was used throughout all of the Middle East and could have turned the tide in the battles they were facing. Religious beliefs have often changed throughout China, but it has always stayed consistent t...
... middle of paper ...
... history, never to leave it spot. China has shape itself to what it is today because of religion, whether people tend to believe it or not. When it comes to very roots of Chinese tradition, Religion is what started a majority of them .
.
Works Cited
Wilkinson, Philip. Religions. First ed. New York: DK PUBLISHING, 1999. Print
Bowker, John. World Religions. Firth ed. New York: DK PUBLISHING, 1997 Print
Concise History Of World Religions. First ed. Washington: National Geographic Society, 2011. Print.
Narayanan, Vasudha, Malcolm D. Eckel, Jennifer O. Moore, and C, Scott
Littleton. Easter Religions. New York: Oxford University Press, n.d, 2005. Print.
Pollock, Robert. The Everything World's Religions Book. Avon: Adams Media, 2002. Print
Religious rites, rituals, and festivals. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print
People’s well beings were affected by the Chinese philosophies Taoism, Legalism, and Confucianism. In legalism, for example, people aren’t trusted and there was a very strict government. On the other hand, in Taoism, they saw themselves as a part of nature, there were no laws, and leaders were good. This greatly affected different philosophies, making a big difference. In Ancient India, there was Hinduism and Buddhism. People worshipped and worked differently in these two religions. Therefore, both Ancient India and Ancient China were affected by the religion and
of power. This was the case with Buddhism to start as it came into China by way of the
In China, the citizens' inclination of Buddhism varied from that of other states. There was a plethora of mental outlooks on how Buddhism was changing the Chinese society as it expanded from India, where it was founded in the sixth century BCE. The responses are organized depending on their acceptance, rejection, or encouragement of a combination of Buddhism with other religions. These categories are illustrated by the following documents; the acceptance by documents two and five, the rejection by documents four, six, and three, and last, the encouragement by documents two, five, and three. Additional documentations that would be helpful in classifying the reactions of the Chinese people would be a testimony or statement of a Chinese woman, or group of women, and of peasants. These would be helpful as we'd be able to examine exactly how the Chinese were affected by Buddhism's grasp. We would be able to see how Buddhism affected their daily lives and what they thought about the sudden religion.
Buddhist popularity towards the Chinese grew following the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220 C.E. It’s influence continued to expand for several centuries. Between 220 C.E. and 570 C.E., China experienced a period of political instability and disunity. During this time, many of the Chinese, specifically scholars, sought for peace in Buddhism and approved of Buddhism. On the other hand, the strict confucianists and the government fought to end Buddhism and make people go against it.
Chinese people might find naming their religion challenging as it is a mixture of “traditional religion, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism” (Corduan, 2012, p.388). The Chinese Popular Religion continues to evolve and change as the world around it changes and outside influences enter the Chinese culture (Corduan, 2012). Investigation of the Chinese Popular Religion includes its key features, practices, and influences, along with tis role in contemporary China, and how Christians can enhance their interactions.
The assigned readings about Asian history lead a unified conclusion that the past (history) of Asia was characterized with chaos and internal divisions. “China, once again entered an era of divisiveness and chaos. Competing warlords dominated China for the next 350 years” (The Golden Age of China: 79). China is a perfect symbol of Asia’s history because if studied from the past, the history of China demonstrates how divisions took place in the country’s political and economic spheres. China’s history reveals how the religion led to emergence of chaos in the country. This shows that religion, in the history of Asia, was more divisive than uniting when individual countries considered their religions as different. Religious harmonization of Buddhism and Daoism was important to ending the wars that emerged from the struggle for influence between kingdoms (The Golden Age of China: 80). The main reason for religion causing division in Asia’s history was because of competition between two main religions, Buddhism and Daoism. Asia’s history did not have divisions that lasted forever. Certain historical events, especially the emergence of the Sui dynasty in China was crucial in unifying Asians. Leadership approach, especially Yang Jian’s, was critical in the unification of China. Art and philosophy were important aspects in the history of China according to the findings of this paper’s analysis. These aspects were used as part of the historic leadership styles in the continent. Asia’s history also has an aspect of patriarchal leadership, with only one woman becoming an emperor in China.
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...
Taoism is one of the oldest religions in the world, the origins of Taoism points to one person by the name of Lao Tzu, a philosopher and poet of ancient China. Taoism was founded on China in the c. 550 BCE. The writings of Lao Tzu are considered to be the core of Taoism.
At first, Buddhism was transmitted to the different East Asian countries via the Silk Road, but as its domination grew, many people began to interpret their own meaning of the Buddhist doctrines that had been translated from Indian to Chinese. “By the fourth century AD a much greater number of sutras were available in both north and south China, and the Chinese were beginning to realize the immensity of Buddhist literature.” Buddhism did not reach Japan, however, until October 13th, 538, from the Korean kingdom of Paekche.
As we can know, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islamism are the three largest religions all over the world. They all play a very significant role in our life. Nonetheless, Christianity and Buddhism are the largest population around the world. Through our religious distribution map around the world, there are seven billion followers who believe in Buddhism while twenty billion followers who believe in Christianity around the world. Moreover, Christian population are the 31.5% of the world population, in the meantime, Buddhists are the 7.1% of the world population around the world. In China, there are lots of people who believe in Buddhism because they think that Buddhism which can bring their fortune and safety. That is a only one reason Buddhism which plays a large population in China's population. Historically, Buddhism are largely distributed to some Asian areas like China, Thailand, and Japanese.
Most of the people around the world exercise religion. In fact, it plays a significant role in shaping and influencing people's everyday life. It is not surprising why it receives such a major focus in a way that religion has manifested itself in various forms across the history of mankind. Flood (2012) says that religion exists within particular social systems, kinship structures, styles of speaking and acting, cultural memories and kinds of art. For this reason, understanding religion has then becoming crucial and fundamental for the basic understanding for the particular community. Still, it is notoriously a difficult term to define. The meaning of religion is rarely questioned and is often overlooked owing to its nature of ambiguity. As
Chinese Buddhism entered China a few centuries after the passing away of the Buddha, at a time when Confucianism and Taoism were the predominant religions in a country that was as a big as a continent and rivaled India in historical antiquity and cultural pluralism. In the early phases of its entry, Buddhism did not find many adherents in China.
In the Chinese culture there are several major religions, two of these include Confucianism and Taoism, which have dated back for thousands of years. According to. Experiencing the World 's Religions and The World’s Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World’s Religions, both Confucianism and Taoism originated in ancient China through the religions’ teachers: Confucius and Lao Tzu. “Taoism and Confucianism grew up together, entering Chinese history around the sixth century B.C.E.; Taoism’s beginnings are linked to the legendary figure of Lao Tzu, senior to Confucius by about fifty years. Even though Taoism and many other folk religions have shaped the Chinese mind, Confucianism remains, by any historical measure, its chief mentor” (Novak 113).
China is officially an atheist country, a variety of religions and beliefs can be found. Confucianism and Taoism, plus Buddhism, constitute the so-called “three teachings”, philosophical frameworks which historically have had a significant role in shaping Chinese culture. The basics of this three beliefs are commonly incorporated into traditional folk religions. Chinese religions are family-oriented and practice of several beliefs at the same time is allowed.
China has the oldest surviving civilization in the world, lasting over 4,000 years. Its uniqueness was its stability. Ancient dynasties absorbed culture, economy and governmental structure from each other. It was the foundation of their civilization. History has revealed China’s enduring heritage and perseverance to preserve its society. Chinese technological advancements not only helped its nation and people, but also, influenced the development of other countries as well. Many of the systems from thousands of years ago are still a part of Chinese culture today.