Priests in ancient China were more than just religious leaders -- they were the doctors, lawyers and intellects of the times as well as the individuals who could deal with evil spirits and the occult. Some things that have come from this function are ideas like Feng Shui where the church helped communities become in sync with nature or the absolute.
Confucianism
Confucianism can be considered to be nothing more than a type of humanism. In other words, it is a philosophy that focuses on just that, human beings. By dictating human achievements, interests and social conduct rather than with abstract ideas like god or heaven, Confucius made life simple.
Confucianism entails that man is the center of the universe but he must also share the universe with his fellow man in a sound and peaceful manner. Basically, no man is an island even though each man may have the objective of reaching his own ultimate happiness. Thus, happiness can only be achieved through the concept of peace and harmony. This harmony would be achieved by abolishing war and all appreciating the idea of love for fellow men.
Confucianism is also based on the basis of the Dao. The Dao in fact is the way of Confucianism because the Dao represents the principles of all of life meaning that wisdom and harmony must be achieved by first being in sync with the universe or the absolute. Confucian believes provide a way of doing this in clear ideals. By being good social citizens, one can and will be in sync with the Dao.
Shintoism
Shinto is Japan's version of Taoism and at one time was the entire nation's state run religion. Shintoism involves worshipping nature and/or the absolute. In Japan the absolute is known as kami which are localized...
Zhuangzi and the Dao The period between 480 and 221 BCE was technically a part of the Zhou Dynasty. But in reality, the disintegrating power of the dynasty's kings had led to a period of relative governmental disarray for China. According to DeBary & Bloom (1999), the impotence of the Zhou throne had caused China to descend into an array of conflicting feudal states. It is thus that the period became
Tran discovered her vocation for writing during her college years, and now, after having read at Gabriel's recommendation the American novel Gone with the Wind, she decides to write something similar and place in the context of the Vietnam War. Placing its events during the war between North and South, Gone with the Wind is just another story of the way in which the racist and cultural confrontations affect
Oral History: My Taiwanese Family Through the Generations In my Taiwanese family, one strong, connecting thread has always been the need to respect one's elders and to honor the family traditions. While in other cultures, individualism is stressed as an important value, in the Taiwanese tradition the individual is only as great as the generosity and respect he or she shows to relatives and loved ones. This is reflective of the
An excellent example of this principle is the art of cooking. When one cooks, they may follow a recipe. However, if they find in the middle of the recipe that the dish is cooking too quickly, they may have to exercise flexibility and make adjustments to avoid ruining the dish. They cannot follow the recipe without thought, but must make adjustments as they go along. Flexibility must occur spontaneously and
Religious Daoism has reconciled itself with philosophical Daoism by claiming its purpose as "cultivating this special epistemic ability, obediently following teachers and traditions. The philosophical strain's emphasis on natural spontaneity, freedom and egalitarianism, leads them to favor political anarchy." (Hansen, 3) as a result, while Religious Dao tends to views itself as a complement to the philosophical doctrine, philosophical Dao rejects such a relationship. Instead, there is a perception in
Chinese Cultural Revolution in Literature There are a number of stark images found in the works of literature reviewed by Dao, Cheng, and Hua in this assignment. Specifically, this paper details the imagery evinced in Bei Dao's "Resume," Gu Cheng's "Curriculum Vitae," and Yu Hua's "On the Road at Eighteen." That imagery and those works in general are thinly veiled allusions to the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which took places in the
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