Tang Emperor Wu, the ruler of the most influential empire, is calling for Confucius followers to strengthen their devotion to their values and beliefs linking Confucianism with their identity; Chinese culture. Because of this, conservative Chinese see Buddhism as a threat to social order in their country by reflecting many ideals that oppose to Confucian values which commanded the political and social life in the country for more than a century which had grown China into one of the most powerful empires worldwide, where people believed in understanding their role in life and following the Five Relationships under all circumstances to satisfy Heaven. Therefore, the spread of Buddhism represented a dishonor to the spirits by encouraging social disobedience. Additionally, Buddhism illustrated defiance to the Gods and ancient traditional spirits, seeing Buddhism as an unfavorable
“Describe and rate the Strengths & Weaknesses of Daoism” Ordinarily, to begin to answer this question, one must understand the meaning of Daoism. In fact, Daoism or (Taoism) in China is the path, course, or way of the universe. Although its influence is in nature, the eternal Dao is believed to be hidden from empirical experience (Matthews 414). According to further research, “Daoism or Taoism, is indigenous religio-philosophical tradition that has shaped Chinese life for more 2,000 years. In the broadest sense, a Daoist attitude toward life can be seen in the accepting and yielding, the joyful and carefree sides of the Chinese character (www.brittannica.com).” Moreover, Laozi (lao Tzu), the sage of China believed to have been the author of “Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) and is regard as the founder of Daoism.
Three “schools of thought” were born to figure out this balance. Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism. Although, each are different in their beliefs, they each had the common goal of wanting to achieve harmony in their society and the universe.
Classical China Influences: Confucianism and Daoism The Confucius Analects and Daodejing contain underlying beliefs of how to live an effective lifestyle. The sayings of Confucius focus on achieving a strong ethical code from upholding classical traditions. He views an appropriate lifestyle as the attainment of benevolence, sense of propriety, and filial piety through the following concepts: Ren, li, and Xiao. Rather, The Daodejing conveys a vision of Dao, “the way”, as the source of all thing. Primarily it associates with refinement and emptiness of being.
Comparison and Contrast First of all, Daoism and Buddhism have different explanations and perspectives on reincarnation. In Daoism, the word ‘Dao’ means the path or the way. It aims to achieve Tao which means to attain the right path in life and thus become immortal. Moreover, soul or spirit of a person will never die and it will shift to the other body. After that, it will reborn as another person and this will be repeated until it attain the Dao.
When discussing the influence of Confucianism in the Han empire it is clear to say that other than the concept of education, relationship also played role in the contribution of order in society. One of the most well known systems in grouping this idea were the Five Relationships or in what used to be called wu-lun. These include relationships between father and son, elder brother and younger brother, husband and wife, emperor and subject, and friend and friend. The most essential relationship during the Han dynasty would be the association between emperor and subject, in which, it is the job of a subject to serve the emperor but, it is also the job of the emperor to care for the subject. According to Taylor, “ The Five Relations are
The Three Philosophies Did you know that China had three philosophies? Their names are Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. These all have a big part in history. Confucianism was made by Confucius. He lived from 551 to 479 B.C.E.
Taoism Taoism is an indigenous chinese religion and a philosophy which has roots from ancient shamanism. It has lived through centuries in China as a religion aside Confucianism and Buddhism and as a philosophy aside Confucianism. As a philosophy it is mainly the opposite of Confucianism, because Confucianism praised laws and order but Taoism is more about people having minimal restrictions in order to live happily. The Taoist religion was created from the Taoist philosophy and as a philosophy and religion it has had a huge influence in China and in eastern Asia. Although, as a religion it would outline all the seven dimensions it is debatable if it is more of a philosophy.
Buddhism’s ideal practitioners focus on wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental discipline. Buddhists seek knowledge, act properly, and mediate to obtain liberation. These traits contrast Taoism by Taoists believing knowledge is not something to strive for because it leads to desire, which leads to forceful action. Although, The Analects by Confucius has a theme of wisdom and learning, which parallels Buddhist’s values for wisdom. Confucianism is also similar to Buddhism in the importance of proper behavior.
They are not as strongly distinguished as people once thought they were, but the philosophical Taoism tends to focus particularly on the philosophical writings of Lao-Tzu who wrote the book on Taoism. They also focus on Chuang-Tzu and other early mystic books, while religious Taoism strongly emphasizes religious rituals that are said to be aimed at becoming immortal. There are about 20 million Taoists worldwide, but most of them live in China, Taiwan or Southeast Asia. Taoism is also constantly influencing in the West, especially about alternative medicine and also martial arts like Tai