History of Chinese Religious Tradition & Confucianism PDF

HISTORY OF THE CHINESE RELIGIOUS and Confucianism TRADITION  ANCIENT CHINESE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS  The Chinese religious tradition is a combination of the ancient Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.  For over thousand years, Chinese people h...

HISTORY OF THE CHINESE RELIGIOUS and Confucianism TRADITION  ANCIENT CHINESE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS  The Chinese religious tradition is a combination of the ancient Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.  For over thousand years, Chinese people have combined these traditions together to form a unique religious approach that has manifested itself in many forms.  We are going to start our discussion by looking at the ancient Chinese folk religion.  There are two important aspects to this ancient folk religion:  Ancestor worship (they refer to it as filial piety), and  Divination (predicting the future using oracle bone reading). DIVINATION A Chinese oracle bone made of to r to i s e s h e l l.  ANCIENT CHINESE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS  Interestingly, the Chinese have no creation myth unlike almost every other culture that we know of.  The folk religion instead had a loose view of the beginning and nature of all things.  The beginning of everything was an undifferentiated chaos.  In this chaos existed the energy of the universe called Qi (chi). ▪ The yang and yin are aspects of Qi. ▪ There was a first initial movement of yang followed by a responsive movement of yin. ▪ This led to an equilibrium  The continuing interaction of yang and yin led to all things.  ANCIENT CHINESE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS Among the birth of myriad things are the following:  Human Body and Soul ▪ Hun (light, pure, rising stuff) ▪ Po (heavy, turgid, sinking stuff)  Gods and Ghosts ▪ Shen (benevolent spirits) ▪ Gui (malevolent spirits)  Shangdi (Lord on High) Older view before 1000 BCE. ▪ Supreme deity of the Shang ▪ Giver of blessings ▪ Receiver of sacrifice  Tian (Heaven) Newer view found after 1000 BCE. ▪ Replaced Shangdi. It is found all around us. It is not a separate far off realm. ▪ Source of all things ▪ Source of political power ▪ Impartial judge of moral behavior TIAN T h e Te m p l e o f Tian (Tiantan), where the Chinese e m p e r o r p r aye d to T i a n o n behalf of his subjects and in his capacity as “Son of Tian,” is now a p o p ul a r p a r k i n Beijing.  CULTURAL HEROES AND SAGE KINGS  From the folk religion came a belief in three cultural heroes and three sage (wise) kings.  They are foundations of Chinese culture and civilization.  They are considered to be mythical rulers and leaders as we have no proof of their existence and many of the claims made about them are super-human.  However, most Chinese people believe they truly existed and give dates for their lives.  We will look at all six of these mythical leaders.  CULTURAL HEROES  Fuxi born in 2852 BCE. ▪ He said to have tamed the ox (domesticated animals). ▪ He brought the divination practice. ▪ He also began the institution of marriage.  Shennong born in 2737 BCE. ▪ He is said to have invented plow and hoe (created agriculture). ▪ He also started the practice of medicine.  Huangdi born in 2697 BCE. ▪ He is often called the Yellow Emperor. ▪ He said to have invented warfare and defeated the barbarians. ▪ This defeat of the enemies led to a unification of China. ▪ Which makes him the first (mythical) emperor and creator of Chinese civilization.  SAGE KINGS  Yao began reign in 2357 BCE. ▪ He famously passed over his ten sons because he found none of them worthy to take the throne after him. ▪ He instead found a man worthy of the throne who was not related.  Shun began his reign in 2255 BCE. ▪ Also demonstrated great piety by turning kingship over to someone worthy who was not related to him. ▪ He also showed great piety by creating many sacrificial alters. ▪ He showed great respect to Tian.  Yu began his reign in 2205 BCE. ▪ He founded the first Chinese dynasty (Mythical Xia dynasty). ▪ He is also considered a great controller of floods as he implemented many flood control measures during his reign.  ANCIENT CHINESE HISTORY  The cultural heroes and sage kings laid the foundation for Chinese culture and civilization.  Notice the mention of key parts of early ancient culture: ▪ Farming, domestication of animals, warfare, marriage, religious practices, and a way to orderly lead from one ruler to the next ruler.  The last sage king, Yu, founds the first dynasty in China.  The Xia dynasty is entirely mythical as we have no proof of any kind of their existence. ▪ The Chinese believe the Xia dynasty last from 2200 –1600 BCE.  The second dynasty that we also used to believe was mythical is the Shang dynasty that last from 1600 –1046 BCE. ▪ The Chinese invented writing during this time period. ▪ We recently found an inscription from this period that mentions the Shang. So, may be they are not so mythical after all!  ANCIENT CHINESE HISTORY  The next dynasty is the Zhou that lasted from 1046 –256 BCE.  This period is split into two parts:  Western Zhou that lasted from 1046 –771 BCE, and  Eastern Zhou that lasted from 771 –256 BCE. ▪ The Eastern Zhou overlapped with two major periods in Chinese history.  The Spring and Autumn Period that last from 722 –479 BCE.  The Warring States Period that lasted from 479 –221 BCE.  It is during the Eastern Zhou and these two periods that the two major Chinese religions develop. ▪ Confucianism ▪ Daoism MAP Important C o n f uc ia n a n d D a o i s t s i te s i n China.  CONFUCIUS  Confucius (551–479 BCE) is one of the most pivotal figures in Chinese history.  He is the equivalent to Plato in terms of influence in China.  Confucius is his Latinized name.  Kong fuzi is his Chinese name. ▪ Fuzi mean “grand master.” ▪ So, his name is grand master Kong.  Confucius was a mid-level civil servant during his adult life.  He likely worked as a bookkeeper in a local government of fice. ▪ The Chinese invented civil service and were good record keepers.  Notice how his death is the same year as the end of the Spring and Autumn period.  CONFUCIUS  He was troubled by the times he lived in. ▪ The emperor was weak and really only a figure head. ▪ The governors of the states the emperor controlled were all seeking more power and became rivals with each other. ▪ It was a time of increasing warfare, corruption, and moral decay. ▪ After Confucius death, this would lead to the all out war for power called the “Warring States” period.  Confucius constructed a new political/ethical theory that he thought would restore order and peace to society. ▪ He tried to offer this theory and his services in implementing it to several local governors. ▪ However, all refused but this did gain him many followers. ▪ He died rather unknown but after his death when some rulers did implement his theory it worked well. ▪ He only became famous after his death. ▪ We will discuss the details of this theory in a moment. CONFUCIUS S t a t ue o f C o n f uc ius a t t h e e n t r a n c e to t h e C o n f uci a n A c a d e my i n Beijing, China.  CONFUCIUS  Later in life, Confucius is given credit for editing some of the most famous and important of ancient books in China.  They are called the Six Classics  1) The Classic of Poetry, ▪ Contains many examples of early Chinese poetry.  2) The Book of Documents ▪ Records the early history of the Zhou dynasty and even before.  3) The Book of Rites ▪ Offers procedures for many religious rites and ceremonies.  4) The Book of Changes ▪ Offers a full divination system.  5) Spring and Fall Annals ▪ Records the history of the Western Zhou and where the period gets its name.  6) The Classic of Music ▪ This book was lost in the ancient world during the upheaval (256 -221).  CONFUCIANISM  Confucianism has Four Great Books that act as the foundation for the religion.  The book of Great Learning ▪ Comes from a chapter in the Book of Rites that Confucius and his chief disciple Zengzi comment on.  The Doctrine of the Mean ▪ Also a chapter from the Book of Rites that has a commentary by Confucius’s grandson.  The Analects ▪ This is a book of the speeches and sayings of Confucius written down after his death. ▪ This is one of the most famous books in all of China.  The Mencius ▪ This books records conversations between various kings and the Mencius, who is the second most important Confucian scholar.  CONFUCIUS’S ETHICAL THEORY  Confucius forms a political/ethical theory that is still used today as the foundation of the religious tradition.  Confucius was the ultimate conservative. ▪ He looked back at the time of the Sage Kings with wonder and he looked at his own time with despair. ▪ He tried to create a theory that would allow the Zhou Dynasty China of his time to recapture the good of the time of the Sage Kings. (I guess he wanted to make China great again!)  The goal of Confucius’s theory is to make a harmonious society.  Confucius argued that all of society was built on relationships and you had to know your role in those relationships for things to work out correctly.  His theory is often called: Role Ethics.  CONFUCIUS’S ETHICAL THEORY  Confucius claimed that if you wanted to build a harmonious society, then you had to adhere to a hierarchy of relationships.  This hierarchy had five key relationships: ▪ 1) Father and Son ▪ 2) Emperor and Servant ▪ 3) Elder Brother and Younger Brother ▪ 4) Husband and Wife ▪ 5) Friend and Friend  The higher on the list, the more fundamental the relationship.  Confucius believes the father and son relationship is more fundamental and crucial for society than the relationship between a king and his subjects.  CONFUCIUS’S ETHICAL THEORY  The reason Confucius believes the father and son relationship is so important is the lesson he learned from the first sage king.  Recall that king thought his sons were all unworthy so he sought out a more worthy man to lead after him.  Confucius argues that the reason all ten of this king’s sons were unworthy is because the relationship between father son broke down. He was a bad father. So, his sons were bad people.  Since every emperor was once a son, he can only become a good ruler if he had a good father.  Without the more fundamental relationship working out, then the later relationship will also fail. ▪ A poor father and son relationship, then a poor emperor and servant relationship.  CONFUCIUS’S ETHICAL THEORY  Confucius argues that each person has a special role in a relationship (look back at the list now).  This applies to the first four relationships but not the last.  People on the right (son, servant, younger brother, wife) are all in the subservient position.  There role is to listen to and follow the commands of the person with power. ▪ So, if the older brother says that he wants to sleep with the wife of the younger brother, then the younger brother should not refuse (and the wife should not refuse her husband’s command). ▪ You might think this is insane! How could this lead to a harmonious society?  Confucius is actually trying to relieve these powerless people of much responsibility for wrong doing.  CONFUCIUS’S ETHICAL THEORY  It might make more sense if we look at the people on the left (father, emperor, older brother, husband), they are in the dominant or power position.  They also have a role to fulfil.  They must follow the Golden Rule (here written in the negative): One should never treat a person in a way he/she would not want to be treated themselves. ▪ Notice in the prior example. The older brother has broken his relationship with the younger brother by asking for something that he would never want to be asked of him.  Confucius is trying to lay blame when things go wrong on the people in the power position. ▪ There immoral commands are what caused the problem.  Too often in human history (including in our own society), blame goes toward the powerless when things are bad. ▪ Example: It is the immigrants fault that I don’t have a good job! ▪ Example: It is the teachers fault our state has a budget deficit.  CONFUCIUS’S ETHICAL THEORY  There are obviously many more relationships than the five he has listed here.  He thinks the other relationships will parallel these, but these must go right first for everything else to work out. ▪ Mother and son, older sister and younger sister, uncle and nephew, etc.  There doesn’t appear to be many women in his hierarchy. ▪ This is mainly due to the patriarchal society of the time. ▪ Women were little more than property at this time in Chinese history. ▪ It was actually a radical move on Confucius’s part to include women and their relationships as a key part to a harmonious society.  The last relationship of friend and friend is one of equals. ▪ They both must follow the Golden Rule. ▪ Confucius thinks you can only have a friend that is a complete equal otherwise the more powerful person will take advantage. ▪ I guess it is lonely to be the emperor! CONFUCIUS TOMB C o n f uc ius ’ s to m b s to n e b o l d ly d e c l a r e s that he is the “ U l t i ma te S a g e o f G r e a te s t A c c o mp l i s h m e n t, King of Manifest C u l t ur e.”  HISTORY OF CONFUCIANISM  Ru tradition ▪ This is the spiritual movement that grows out Confucius’s teachings. ▪ If we follow our proper roles in all relationships, then we can build a harmonious society. ▪ Be careful! Your role can change from one side of the room to the other.  Mencius (372–289 BCE) was the second most important Confucian scholar. ▪ Mencius helps to fill in the details of Confucian philosophy by offering careful explanations of how it works to many kings of the time.  After a surge of popularity during the Warring States period, Confucianism falls out of favor and is even banned for a while during the upheaval that lasted from (256 – 206 BCE).  The most anti-Confucian emperor is the one who built the terracotta army around his tomb (Qin ShiHuang). ▪ He even had most of the Confucian books burned. ▪ Thankfully, some had memorized the whole text and rewrote after his short reign of terror.  HISTORY OF CONFUCIANISM  Confucianism saw a major resurgence during the Han dynasty that lasted from (206 BCE – 220 CE)  It is during this period that Confucianism becomes a religion as many elements are added to it that expand on Confucius’s original views. ▪ We will look more at these teachings in the next slides.  Confucianism as official ideology ▪ During the western Middle Ages (600 – 1500 CE), Confucianism became so important that you had to take a several days long test in it in order to work for the government. ▪ This is the origin of the civil service test. ▪ Confucianism remained the primary political view of China until the 1900’s.  Rejection of Confucianism in modern China ▪ With the end of the last dynasty after WWI, Confucianism fell out of favor and was suppressed during the communist uprising led by Chairman Mao (1949 –1976).  Revival since 1970s ▪ After Mao’s death, Chinese society opened up a bit and there has been a revival in interest in Confucianism that continues to grow today. MAP C o n f uc ia n i n f l ue nc e i n East Asia.  ESSENTIAL TEACHINGS OF CONFUCIUS  Here are some of the most important teachings of Confucianism.  Primacy of Tian and intimacy with human elect ▪ Heaven (Tian) is the ultimate reality of everything. ▪ This comes from the folk religion that Confucius deeply respected. ▪ Tian allows emperors and kings to come into power, we should respect their wishes. If the emperor falls out of favor with Tian, he will quickly lose power. ▪ This view is called the Manifest Destiny.  The dao of Tian ▪ Dao means “way.” We should always follow the way of Tian (heaven).  The moral imperative of Tian ▪ Confucius believed that humans need to practice moral self-cultivation. ▪ They had to actively try to make themselves better people. ▪ They could do this by respecting their elders and ancestors. ▪ Ancestor worship is still an important aspect in Confucianism. ▪ They could also do this by better understanding their roles in relationships.  ESSENTIAL TEACHINGS OF MATURE CONFUCIANISM  The main virtues of Confucianism ▪ Ren –altruistic (i.e. selfless) action ▪ Li –proper custom, proper ritual, and proper form ▪ Junzi –a wise ideal person (A person who has properly self-cultivated).  Human nature is neither good nor bad, yet humans are capable of both.  Moral cultivation is the main goal of modern Confucianism.  You can only achieve proper moral cultivation through scholastic learning and social and political activism.  Confucianism believes that humans are capable of perfectibility. ▪ It is hard but we can with hard work and proper reverence attain a state of moral perfection.  ESSENTIAL TEACHINGS OF MATURE CONFUCIANISM  Confucianism believes that humans have co -equality with Tian and Di.  Humans exist in both the earthly realm (Di) and eventually in Tian (heavenly realm). ▪ Tian is where are our ancestors are and where they can watch over us. ▪ Tian exists right next to us and is not some far off or distant place. ▪ This is why many ancient Chinese buried their relatives under the floor of their houses. So, their ancestors could always be near by both spiritually (Tian) and physically (Di).  The ultimate goal of modern Confucianism is to attain sagehood.  They call it Neisheng waiwang. ▪ This term means “inner sagely moral perfection and outer political skills.” ▪ To be a sage means you not only have self-cultivated into a good moral person, but you are also able to use these skills to help politically make a harmonious society, which after all is what Confucius originally wanted.  WHAT IS ULTIMATE REALITY FOR CONFUCIANISM?  The following few slides offer a brief overview of the key views of Confucianism (the religion) in order to compare them to other religions which we have studied.  No almighty creator  No demonic power to undermine God  No original sin ▪ Humans are born neither good or bad, but they are capable of both.  Tian is the ultimate reality. ▪ Tian includes both the spiritual realm and the earthly realm.  WHAT IS OUR ULTIMATE PURPOSE, ACCORDING TO CONFUCIANISM? Learn to be authentically human. Enact the will of Tian. Improve the human condition. Be involved with the community. Know your proper role in relationships. Pursue learning and education.  HOW SHOULD WE LIVE IN THIS WORLD, ACCORDING TO CONFUCIANISM? Behave ethically in accordance with the dictates of Tian. Be socially active. Be intent on learning. Do not do unto others what you do not want done to you.  CONFUCIANISM AS A WAY OF LIFE Confucian Rituals ▪ Sacrifice to Tian and Di ▪ Sacrifice to heaven and to earth. ▪ Sacrifice to Confucius ▪ Family rituals ▪ Recall that relationships and ancestor worship are key parts of Confucianism. RITUALS C o n f uc ius s e r v e s a s a n o b j ec t o f veneration and c o m m em o r a t i o n. He is the “Utmost Sage a n d L a te Te a c h er, ” a s t h e t a b l et i n f r o n t o f his statue declares.