China Religious Terms Flashcards
Shamanism
Shamans acted as intermediaries between people and the spirit world.
Oracle Bone
Used for divination in Shang Dynasty
Di
The chief sky god of the Shang via the royal ancestors and divination to inquire about future events. (上帝）
Mandate of Heaven
The theory that heaven granted authority and legitimacy to a ruler as long as he looked out for the welfare of his subjects
Book of Changes
A new form of divination attributed to King Wen during the Western Zhou dynasty. (易经）
Daoism
A religion that focuses on withdrawal from empty formalities, rigid hierarchy, and distractions of Chinese society.
Internal Alchemy
the art and science of gathering, storing, and circulating energy within the human body.
External Alchemy
The practice of dealing with metal and other goods to produce elixir for immortality. (化学的雏形）
Literati Daoism
The type of Daoism that primarily focuses on the literature aspects. (mainly writings)
Confucianism
an ancient Chinese belief system, which focuses on the importance of personal ethics and morality.
Legalism
based on the viewpoint that in order for a ruler to maintain order in society, people must obey a set of strict laws and those in authority
Yin/Yang
The symbol represents the complementary nature of male and female roles in the natural order.
Divination
The practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means. (占卜）
Devotional Daoism
Another form of Daoism that praised Master Lao instead of his works.
Buddha
An enlightened person
Karma
The sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of evidence.
Reincarnation
The rebirth of a soul in a new body.
Monasticism
A religious practice that forms rules for the monks to attain higher goals.
Ascetic
Someone who gives up pleasures to achieve higher purposes.
Vinaya
Doctrine and dicipline.
Sangha
A monastic community
Theravada
Traditional Buddhism (shave head and become monk) ( 主要遍布在东南亚）
Mahayana
Easier for people to attain enlightenment compared to Theravada. (主要遍布在中国，韩国，日本）
Chan Buddhism
Adopted elements from Daoism and possible for an instant enlightenment.
Eightfold Path
The path to Nirvana; consists of eight aspects right views, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.
Pure Land Buddhism
Focus on an individual called Amitabha and students are achieving the spiritual real estate called the Pure Land.
Vedas
A large body of religious texts originating in ancient India
Verna system
A system based on the social stratification of four basic categories of Brahmins (priests, teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors, kings), Vaishyas (Farmers, traders), and Shudras (workers).
Jati
a form of existence determined by birth
Moksha
Liberation that is achieved by distancing oneself from the desire for the things of this world.
Hinduism
The religion that is evolved from the Vedic religion, making it the world’s oldest living religion.
Li (ritual)
When men and women respect their elders and superiors, and the proper rituals and ceremonies are performed. Everything and everyone is in its proper place.
Ren (humanness)
Benevolence and altruism.
5 fundamental relationships
- Ruler and subject
- Parent-child
- Spouse-spouse
- younger sibling-older sibling
- older friend-younger friend.
Nirvana
the extinction of craving, or the extinction of the fires of attachment, aversion and ignorance. (end goal of buddhism)
4 Noble Truths
- The truth of suffering
- The truth of the cause of suffering
- The truth of the end of suffering
- The truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.
Bodhisattva
anyone who has dedicated their own awakening to the benefit of all others.
Amitabha
the Buddha of Eternal Life and is the principal Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. Buddhists say Amitabha in order to express gratitude, apologies, praise, anger, or sadness.
Buddhism
human life is one of suffering, and meditation, spiritual and physical labor, and good behavior are the ways to achieve enlightenment or nirvana.
