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Chinese Religion: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism
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China has a 4,000 year recorded history and is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. We will take a look at three main religious themes in China’s history. Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism have played major roles in the development of Chinese civilization. Each has held a predominant position at some point in Chinese history and each has had its followers. Taoism and Confucianism were the primary religions in China’s early history. Buddhism later spread to China and established a large following. While Taoism and Confucianism are largely philosophical, ethics based codes of living, Buddhism has a deeper spiritual aspect. Buddhism’s spiritual ties along with its relative simplicity of approach and practice and similarities to Taoism and Confucianism allowed the religion to gain a strong foothold in China. Confucianism has been mainstream Chinese philosophy for over two thousand years. It was a primary religion for the Chinese people. Many hold that Confucianism is an ethical system that is grounded in humanism. The teachings of Confucius form the basis of Confucianism. The heart of the teaching is found in the “Four Books”. These works are the Analects of Confucius, Mencius, and two extracts from the ritual collections: “The Doctrine of the Mean” and “The Great Learning”.1 They mainly focus on individual morality and ethics, and the proper exercise of political power by the rulers. It is not like many other deeply spiritual religions such as Islam or Christianity. Confucianism has more philosophical roots. It concentrated on the moral and political conformity. It is primarily an ethical system to which rituals added at important times in one’s life. Li is considered the central aspect of Confucianism. “..Li consists of a pattern of behavior which, when performed correctly, of itself effects and expresses harmony among the various hierarchy ordered elements of family, society, and the cosmos”.2 Li includes things such as ritual, propriety, etiquette, etc. Another important virtue of Confucianism is Jen. Jen emphasizes humanism.
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