Tao Te Ching Influence On Buddhism And Confucianism

Failure of the school of thought would be defined as the discontinuity of the idea due evident historical ineffectiveness in using the idea for governance and social conduct or merely the irrelevance of it to society today. Confucianism Confucianism was a philosophical ideology centralised about social conduct, through the emphasis on humanness within an individual. At the foundation of his beliefs, is the idea of benevolence (仁), a quality that one should aim to achieve. His teachings are primarily about fostering relationships at all levels of society, how one should behave in front of others, towards their elders and to their ancestors. Under the Han and Tang dynasty, Confucianism was adopted as the imperial philosophy and was also promoted amongst its citizens through by establishing the Confucian classics as the basis of the government examination system and the core of the educational curriculum.

Zoroastrianism was pushed from Persia to the east (TravelChinaGuide). Manichaeism is a mixture of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Greek ideas and Christianity and was popular among Chinese people (TravelChinaGuide). Last one is Nestorianism which was a school of Syrian Christianity (TravelChinaGuide). There was a lot of spread and birth of religions on the Silk Road. There were also cultural influences on both sides of the World.

Buddhism had an impact in both empires. However, Confucianism was the official ideology upon the entire Han Dynasty. Their values focused on a system of philosophical and “ethical-sociopolitical teachings”. Han China accented political control around the education of bureaucrats to make more logical decisions. Maurya India, on the other hand, was essentially a Hindu state.

This religion believes that every living thing should have a force going through them. People who believe in the Taoism religion don’t really believe in a bunch of rules. The Taoism religion came up with the idea of yin and yang. They believed everything in nature dealt with yin and yang. The forces of yin and yang could be thought of as good or bad.

Shan Hai Jin is an important Chinese mythology classical classics, often called as one of the treasures of Chinese mythology, even seen as an ancient Chinese encyclopedia by some experts. This book includes eighteen chapters, which can be divided into two parts: the mountain and the sea. We can find a lot of famous mythology from the Shan Hai Jing, such as Nu Wa, West Queen Mother, Gun and Yu, the Yellow Emperor and Chi You, Tong Ladder, Optimus Prime and many other myths. Songs of the South is a poetry collection, from late Warring States period to the early Western Han Dynasty, edited by Han Dynasty scholars. Its main author is Qu Yuan.

Chinese mythology has shaped the way that china is today. Although some may say that since Chinese culture is so old, Myths are useless, fake, stories; but it is clear that Chinese mythology did influence the cultures belief and was the base of many religions. Chinese Mythology has altered china’s culture and beliefs throughout the years because of the religions, lifestyle, and political view from mythology. The importance of religion in China is what keeps the ancient countries culture unforgotten, but the mythology in China is what shaped those cultures. According to Living Myths, about Chinese Mythology “Much Chinese mythology is based on animism, which sees the land itself as alive.

In his eyes, the lack of nationalism was a result of the conflicting ideas of the old and the new. In an excerpt from “The Final Awakening,” when he describes “the intense combat between the old and modern current thought,” (Chen, 1), Chen describes the struggle between the old and the new. China’s traditional ideas and customs have been lost due to an overhaul of Western influence. If nationalism were to present itself again, citizens would have to fall back on their traditions. “Why should I reject the desires and influential elders, who are all a part of the people, to build a constitutional republic” (Chen, 1).

How Buddhism Influenced Chinese Culture As one of the four great ancient civilizations, China has a very long history and a gorgeous culture. We can not ignore the fact that not only religions and cultures are inseparable, but also can influence each other profoundly, Just like Buddhism and Chinese culture. “The Chinese traditional culture includes three systems of thought: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The first two are Chinese culture, and Buddhism is a foreign religion from India. For over 2,000 years, Buddhism has interacted with all levels of Chinese culture such as literature, philosophy, morality, arts, architecture and religions.

For a good part of human history (especially the medieval times), people counted on authority and tradition to decide their beliefs, views, and morals; Religion being a hugely-focused on truth in society. Pascal and Descartes were two early philosophers to question this. Pascal fully understood the uncertainty of God in reality; how science cannot prove or disprove a God, therefore

The composition of Tao Te Ching is itself an example of dualism, as the book is divided into two sections, “Tao” meaning the way, and “Te”, meaning virtue, hence the name Tao Te Ching. The Tao section is focused on one’s spirit and its harmony with the Tao, while the latter section is focused on tangible virtues applicable to the actions of people, such as rulers or soldiers. In chapter 2 of Tao Te Ching, Laozi emphasizes the importance of dualism in the human mind, stating in line 2, “All can know good as good only because there is evil,”meaning that one cannot understand something without comparing to its opposite. These lines are then followed by the paradoxical statement, “Therefore the wise goes about doing nothing, teaching no-talking.” Although the idea of one doing and teaching nothing can seem nonsensical, the statement actually emphasizes the importance of dualism. For example, if one strives for success while ignoring the possibility of failure, they become disillusioned and will be unable to achieve their goal.