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World Religions Part II > Chinese Religions - Origin and History > Flashcards

Chinese Religions - Origin and History Flashcards

1
Q

The Chinese religious tradition is a combination of…

A

the ancient Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism

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2
Q

What are the two most important aspects of Chinese ancient folk religion?

A

Ancestor worship (they refer to it as filial piety), and divination (predicting the future using oracle bone reading).

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3
Q

What is divination?

A

predicting the future using oracle bone reading… aka Chinese fortune-telling

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4
Q

In the Chinese folk religion, they believe that the beginning of everything was…

A

an undifferentiated chaos. In this chaos existed the energy of the universe called Qi (chi).

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5
Q

What is Qi (chi)?

A

A chaotic force that existed as the beginning of everything. The yang and yin are part of Qi. The yang existed first and then the yin came along, creating an equilibrium.

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6
Q

What is Hun?

A

light, pure, rising stuff. The yang, the soul that rises.

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7
Q

What is Po?

A

heavy, turgid, sinking stuff. The yin, the soul that stays on Earth.

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8
Q

What is Shen?

A

benevolent spirits (good)

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9
Q

What is Gui?

A

malevolent spirits (bad)

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10
Q

Who is Shangdi?

A

He was believed before 1000 BCE. He was the supreme God of the Shang. He is the giver of blessings, the receiver of sacrifice.

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11
Q

What is Tian?

A

This wasn’t believed until after 1000 BCE. Tian is Heaven. It replaced Shangdi as the main belief in China. It is found all around us, not a separate realm. It is also the…

▪ Source of all things
▪ Source of political power
▪ Impartial judge of moral behavior

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12
Q

Who were the cultural heroes of Chinese folk religion? Name them.

A

They came BEFORE the Sage Kings. Fuxi (2852 BCE), Shennong (2737 BCE), and Huangdi (2697 BCE)

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13
Q

Who was Fuxi?

A

The first cultural hero of Chinese folk religion. He was born in 2852 BCE. He tamed the ox and domesticated animals. He brought the divination practice (fortune telling). He started the institution of marriage.

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14
Q

Who was Shennong?

A

The second cultural hero of Chinese folk religion. He was born in 2737 BCE. He invented the plow and hoe (invented agriculture). He started the practice of medicine.

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15
Q

Who was Haungdi?

A

The third cultural hero of Chinese folk religion. He was born in 2697 BCE. He is also known as the Yellow Emporer. He invented warfare and defeated the barbarians. This unified China.

He is the first (mythical) emperor and creator of Chinese civilization!

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16
Q

Who were the Sage kings? Name them.

A

They came AFTER the cultural heroes. Yao (2357 BCE), Shun (2255 BCE), and Yu (2205 BCE).

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17
Q

Who was Yao?

A

The first Sage king of Chinese folk religion. He began his reign in 2357 BCE. He is known for passing over his ten sons because none of them were worthy of taking the throne after him. He instead found an unrelated man to be King after him.

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18
Q

Who was Shun?

A

The second Sage king of Chinese folk religion. He began his reign in 2255 BCE. He also passed the throne onto someone not related to him. He created many sacrificial alters. He showed great respect to Tian.

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19
Q

Who was Yu?

A

The third Sage king of Chinese folk religion. He began his reign in 2205 BCE. He founded the first Chinese dynasty: the Mythical Xia dynasty. He is also considered a great controller of floods (he implemented flood control).

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20
Q

Was the Xia dynasty real?

A

It 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

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21
Q

What was the second mythical dynasty?

A

The Shang dynasty from 1600-1046. This was when writing was invented.

Some inscription suggests that the Shang dynasty was real.

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22
Q

What was the third dynasty? How long did it last? What parts did it have?

A

The third dynasty was the Zhou which lasted from 1046 to 256 BCE. It is split into the Western Zhou (1046-771 BCE) and Eastern Zhou (771-256 BCE).

The Eastern Zhou overlapped with the Spring & Autumn Period and the Warring States period. This is also when Confucianism and Daoism developed.

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23
Q

What periods did the Eastern Zhou overlap with?

A

The Eastern Zhou overlapped with…

  • The Spring and Autumn Period (722–479 BCE)
  • The Warring States Period (79–221 BCE)
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24
Q

What developed during the Eastern Zhou dynasty?

A

▪ Confucianism
▪ Daoism

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25
Q

Who was Confucius? When did he live? What was his real name? What did he do?

A

He lived 551–479 BCE and was a pivotal figure in Chinese history. His real name was Kong Fuzi (grand master Kong). He was a civil servant and bookkeeper.

26
Q

What was Confucius’ philosophical motive?

A

He was troubled by the times he lived in. The emperor was weak and really only a figure head. It was a time of increasing warfare, corruption, and moral decay.

27
Q

When Confucius constructed a new political/ethical theory, what happened?

A

He tried to offer this theory to local governors, but they refused. After his death, some rulers implemented his theory.

28
Q

What books did Confucius edit?

A

The Six Classics: The Classic of Poetry, The Book of Documents, The Book of Rites, The Book of Changes, Spring and Fall Annals, The Classic of Music.

29
Q

What was the Book of Documents?

A

One of the books Confucius edited. It records the early history of the Zhou dynasty and even before.

30
Q

What was the Book of Rites?

A

One of the books Confucius edited. It included religious rites and ceremonies.

31
Q

What was the Book of Changes?

A

One of the books Confucius edited. It offers a full divination system.

32
Q

What was the Classic of Music?

A

One of the books Confucius edited. This book was lost in the ancient world during the upheaval (256-221 BCE).

33
Q

What were the Four Great Books?

A

Confucianism had four great books: The Book of Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects, and the Mencius.

34
Q

What was the Book of Great Learning?

A

One of the four great books. It comes from a chapter in the Book of Rites that Confucius and his chief
disciple Zengzi commented on.

35
Q

What was the Doctrine of the Mean?

A

One of the four great books. It was a chapter from the Book of Rites that has a commentary by Confucius’s grandson.

36
Q

What were the Analects?

A

One of the four great books. 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.

37
Q

What was the Mencius?

A

One of the four great books. This book records conversations between various kings and the Mencius, who is the second most important Confucian scholar.

38
Q

What was Confucius’ goal with his theory?

A

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.

The goal of Confucius’s theory was to make a harmonious society.

39
Q

Confucius argued that…

A

all of society was built on relationships and you had to know your role in those relationships for things to work out correctly.

This is often called role ethics.

40
Q

Confucius had a hierarchy of relationships, which were…

A

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

41
Q

Why did Confucius emphasize the relationship between father and son?

A

Confucius blamed Yao, the first sage king, for being a bad father. That is why the son ended up being unworthy.

42
Q

Why did Confucius put some people in power (like the father) and strip others of their power (like the son)?

A

Confucius is actually trying to relieve these powerless people of much responsibility for wrongdoing. Confucius is trying to lay blame when things go wrong on the people in the power position.

43
Q

What rule did Confucius emphasize?

A

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.

44
Q

What is significant about the friend/friend relationship in Confucius’ hierarchy?

A

They are equals, so they must follow the golden rule. People could only be friends with those of equal power.

45
Q

What is Ru?

A

This is the spiritual movement that grows out of Confucius’s teachings. If we follow our proper roles in all relationships, then we can build a harmonious society.

46
Q

Who was the second most important Confucius scholar?

A

Mencius (372–289 BCE): He helps to fill in the details of Confucian philosophy by offering careful explanations of how it works to many kings of the time.

47
Q

What was the upheaval?

A

Qin ShiHuang, an anti-Confucius emperor, banned the practice and burned the books.

48
Q

When did Confucianism become a religion?

A

During the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE).

49
Q

When was Confucianism an official idealogy?

A

During the western Middle Ages (600 – 1500 CE), Confucianism became so important that you had to take a several-day long test on it in order to work for the government.

50
Q

When did Confucianism fall out of favor in China?

A

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). But it has been slightly revived since then.

51
Q

How was Tian interpreted in Confucianism?

A

Heaven (Tian) is the ultimate reality of everything. 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.

52
Q

What is the moral goal of Tian in Confucianism?

A

Humans had to actively try to make themselves better people. They could do this by respecting their elders and ancestors. They could also do this by better understanding their roles in relationships.

53
Q

What are the main virtues of Confucianism?

A
  • Ren: altruistic (i.e. selfless) action
  • Li: proper custom, proper ritual, and proper form
  • Junzi: wise ideal person (A person who has properly self-cultivated).
54
Q

What is the main goal of religious Confucianism?

A

Moral cultivation… becoming the Junzi / attaining sagehood. You can only achieve proper moral cultivation through scholastic learning and social and political activism. Confucianism believes that humans are capable of perfectibility.

55
Q

What is sagehood?

A

The main goal of modern religious Confucianism. They call it Neisheng waiwang.

56
Q

What makes Confucianism different from many Western religions?

A

No God, no demonic powers, no original sin, and emphasis on Tian being the ultimate reality.

57
Q

Tian includes…

A

both the earthly realm and spiritual realm.

58
Q

What is our ultimate purpose as humans, according to Confucianism?

A
  • 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.
59
Q

How should we live in this world, according to Confucianism?

A
  • 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.
60
Q

What are some Confucian rituals?

A
  • Sacrifice to Tian and Di (heaven and earth).
  • Sacrifice to Confucius
  • Family rituals: Relationships and ancestor worship are key parts of Confucianism

World Religions Part II (7 decks)

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