Religion In China This article covers religion in China. The government of China officially espouses state atheism, though Chinese civilization has historically long been a cradle and host to a variety of the most enduring religio-philosophical traditions of the world. Confucianism and Taoism (Daoism), later joined by Buddhism, constitute the...
De (Chinese) De (Chinese: 德), also written as Te, is a key concept in Chinese philosophy, usually translated “inherent character; inner power; integrity” in Taoism, “moral character; virtue; morality” in Confucianism and other contexts, and “quality; virtue” (guna) or “merit; virtuous deeds” (punya) in Chinese Buddhism. The word Chinese de 德 is an ancient and linguistically complex word. The...
East Asian Religions The East Asian religions or Taoic religions form a subset of the Eastern religions. This group includes Chinese religion overall, which further includes ancestral worship, Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, Taoism and so-called popular salvationist organisations (such as Yiguandao and Weixinism) as well as elements drawn from Mahayana Buddhism that form the core...
Tao Tao or Dao (Chinese: 道; pinyin: Dào) is a Chinese word signifying “way”, “path”, “route”, “road” or sometimes more loosely “doctrine”, “principle” or “holistic beliefs”. In the context of East Asian philosophy and East Asian religions, Tao is the natural order of the universe whose character one’s human intuition must discern in order to realize the potential...
Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, medicine and material culture. The translation of a large body of Indian Buddhist scriptures into Chinese and the inclusion of these translations together with works composed in China into a...
Tian Tian (天; Tiān) is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty (17–11th centuries BCE), the Chinese referred to their supreme god as Shàngdì (上帝, “Lord on High”) or Dì (帝,”Lord”). During the following Zhou dynasty, Tiān became synonymous with this...
Legalism In Chinese Philosophy This article is about Legalism In Chinese Philosophy. Legalism or Fajia (法家; Fǎjiā) is one of Sima Tan‘s six classical schools of thought in Chinese philosophy. Literally meaning “house of administrative methods” or “standards” (fa), the “school” represents several branches of realist statesmen, or “men of methods” (法術之士; fǎshù zhī shì),...
Taoist Philosophy Taoist philosophy (道家; dàojiā; lit. “school or family of the Tao”) also known as Taology (道學; dàoxué; lit. “learning of the Tao“) refers to the various philosophical currents of Taoism, a tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao (道; Dào; literally: ‘the Way’, also romanized as Dao). The Tao is a...
What Spiritual Naturalism? Spiritual naturalism, or naturalistic spirituality combines mundane and spiritual ways of looking at the world. Spiritual naturalism may have first been proposed by Joris-Karl Huysmans in 1895 in his book En Route – “In ‘En Route’ Huysmans started upon the creation of what he called ‘Spiritual Naturalism,’ that is, realism applied to...
Lao Tzu (Laozi) Laozi (老子; literally “Old Master”), also rendered as Lao Tzu and Lao-Tze, was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He is the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching, the founder of philosophical Taoism, and a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions. A semi-legendary figure, Laozi was usually portrayed as a...
Taoism And Death There is significant scholarly debate about the Taoist understanding of death. The process of death itself is described as shijie or “release from the corpse”, but what happens after is described variously as transformation, immortality or ascension to heaven. For example, the Yellow Emperor was said to have...
What Is Diyu? Diyu ( 地獄) is the realm of the dead or “hell” in Chinese mythology. It is loosely based on a combination of the concept of Naraka, traditional Chinese beliefs about the afterlife and a variety of popular expansions and reinterpretations of these two traditions. Diyu is typically depicted as a subterranean...
What Is Meditation? Meditation describes a large body of psychophysical techniques whose primary aim is the achievement of non-ordinary states of consciousness, typically through the concentration of attention on some object of thought or awareness. Though virtually all religious traditions contain a contemplative element, meditation practice is more often associated with...
Taoist Meditation Taoist meditation also spelled “Daoist” refers to the traditional meditative practices associated with the Chinese philosophy and religion of Taoism, including concentration, mindfulness, contemplation, and visualization. The earliest Chinese references to meditation date from the Warring States period (475–221 BCE). Techniques of Daoist meditation are historically interrelated with Buddhist meditation, for instance,...
What Is Zen? Zen (禪; Chán, 선) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty as Chan Buddhism. It was strongly influenced by Taoism and developed as a distinct school of Chinese Buddhism. From China, Chan Buddhism spread south to Vietnam which became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea and east to Japan, where it became...
Religious Texts Religious texts or sacred texts (also known as scripture, or scriptures, from the Latin scriptura, meaning “writing”) are texts that religious traditions consider to be central to their practice or beliefs. Religious texts may be used to provide meaning and purpose, evoke a deeper connection with the divine, convey religious...
Bigu (grain avoidance) Bigu (辟谷; 辟穀; bìgǔ; pi-ku; ‘avoiding grains’) is a Daoist fasting technique associated with achieving xian “transcendence; immortality”. Grain avoidance is related to multifaceted Chinese cultural beliefs. For instance, bigu fasting was the common medical cure for expelling the sanshi 三尸 “Three Corpses“, the malevolent, grain-eating spirits that live in the...
Ancient Chinese Wisdom I have divided the Ancient Chinese Wisdom into four main parts at the present. The first is I-Ching, which is the classic of all the Chinese Classics. The second part is the teaching of Lao Zi. The third is Sun Zi Art of War. The fourth is...
List Of Japanese Deities This is a list of Japanese deities native to Japanese beliefs and religious traditions. Many of these are from Shinto, while others were imported via Buddhism or Taoism and “integrated” into Japanese mythology and folklore. Kami, shin, or, archaically, jin (神) is defined in English as “god“, “spirit“, or “spiritual essence”, all these terms...
Taoism Taoism or Daoism is a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao (道; Dào; literally: “the Way”, also romanized as Dao). The Tao is a fundamental idea in most Chinese philosophical schools; in Taoism, however, it denotes the principle that is the source, pattern, and substance...