Lecture 13 Religion

Lecture 13 Religion Four Major Religions in China

? Buddhism ? Daoism ? Islam

? Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism)

Government?s Policy Regarding Religion in China

? The policy regarding religion in the first constitution(1954) and the version (1982) states:

? “Citizens enjoy freedom to believe in religion and freedom not to believe in religion and to propagate atheism.”

Buddhism

? Siddhartha Gautama乔达摩?悉达多, known by the titles Sakyamuni释迦牟尼 (the sage of the Sakya family) and Tathagata 如来佛(the follower of truth), founded Buddhism in India in the sixth century B.C.

About the Founder of Buddhism

? Buddhism is said to be founded in India in the 6th century B.C by Siddhatha Gautams, the son of a nobleman and member of the Kshatriya caste 刹帝利种姓near the present borders of India and Nepal.

? At age 29 he was confronted with the sights of a senile old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a wandering ascetic. With eyes opened to aspects of life newly revealed to him, he broke from the material world and became an ascetic. But six years later, he gave up mortifying the body as futile and plunged into deep meditation and mystic

concentration that at last brought him enlightenment under a botree (pipal)菩提树.

Four Noble Truth

? 1. The noble truth of suffering: sorrow is the universal experience of mankind, and everyone is subjected to the trauma of birth, of sickness, decrepitude and death; ? 2.The noble truth of the origin of suffering: desire;

? 3. The noble truth of the cessation of that craving: removal of desire

? 4. The noble truth of the way that leads to the cessation of suffering: that desire can be systematically abandoned if one follows The Noble Eight-Fold Path

The Noble Eight-Fold Path

? 四圣谛：苦谛，因谛（集谛），灭谛，道谛

? 八正道： 正见，正思维，正语，正业，正命，正精进，正念，正定

? Right Knowledge, Right Aspiration, Right Speech, Right Behavior, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Absorption.

Aim of Buddhist

? By following the Noble Eight-Fold Path, the Buddhist aims to attain

“nirvana涅槃”, a condition beyond the limits of mind, thoughts, feelings, desire, the will, and a state of bliss and ecstasy.

Introduction Into China

? Around 67 AD, it was formally introduced into China, and later localized.

? The earliest Buddhist temple is the White Horse Temple in Luoyang during the reign of Emperor Ming Di of the Eastern Han Dynasty in 68 AD with the help of the two Indian monks.

洛阳白马寺

? 洛阳白马寺为中国第一古刹，世界著名伽蓝，乃佛教传入我国后官办的第一座寺院，被中外佛教界誉为\释源\、\祖庭\。

白马寺创建于东汉永平十一年（公元68年）。史载：东汉永平七年，汉明帝刘庄因夜梦金人，遣使西域拜求佛法。公元六十七年，汉使及印度二高僧摄摩腾、竺法兰以白马驮载佛经、佛像抵洛，汉明帝躬亲迎奉。公元六十八年，汉明帝敕令在洛阳雍门外建僧院，为铭记白马驮经之功，故名该僧院为白马寺。

白马寺座北面南，总面积二百余亩，其主体建筑有：天王殿、大佛殿、大雄殿、接引殿、毗卢阁五层殿堂及中国第一释迦舍利塔。白马寺是一处保存完整、古色古香的古建筑群。1961年被国务院公布为第一批重点文物保护单位。1983年，被国务院确定为汉族地区佛教全国重点寺院。2001年1月，被国家旅游局评为首批4A景区（点）。

Apex of Popularity and Splendor of Buddhism

? By Sui and Tang Dynasties (581---907), Xuan Zang (602-664) left Chang?an for India in 627. Jian Zhen managed to reach Kyushu九州 in 754 after five unsuccessful attempts.

Two Major Schools

? Mahayana (Big Raft) Buddhism大乘教 (1st century, Han People) holds that since all life, all existence is one, the fate of the individual is linked to the fate of all others; the Buddha did not just point the way and float off into his own nirvana, he also continues to exude spiritual help to those also seeking nirvana.

? The Hinayana (Little Raft) School 小乘教(13th century, Dai, Blangs, Benglongs, and Vas in Yunnan Province) holds that the path to nirvana is an individual pursuit. It centers on the monks, on individuals who make the search for nirvana a full time profession on his own.

Lamaism

? A form of Buddhism intermingled with indigenous Tibetan religion, has been the religion of Tibet for many centuries.Its believers live mostly in areas inhabited by Tibetans, Mongolians, Tus, Qiangs and Uygurs.

Daoism

? Daoism is the mere major religion that came exclusively from Chinese roots and grew to maturity in Chinese soil.

? The religion, based on ancient witchcraft and formulas of immortality originated around 125-144 AD.

Lao Zi and Dao De Jing

? Lao Zi was regarded as the ? founder and supreme god ? of Daoism, and Dao De Jing ? ( The Book of Reason and ? Virtue)as the believers? ? canon.

Dao

? Dao means the way of ultimate reality, which exists beyond the physical sense of men. Dao is also the way of the universe. It moves in endless cycles and never changes. All life comes from it, but nothing produced by dao lasts forever. Dao also refers to the way man should order his life to keep it in line with the natural order of the universe.

The Ideas of Daoists

? According to Daoism, the cosmos is a magnitude of harmony

and order. The harmony between man and nature, and the simple living by man are emphasized by Daoism, which asks its believers to be benevolent, pure, and not to act in advance of other people.

? Daoists rejects self-assertiveness, competition, and ambition. They are indifferent to things like rank, profuse luxury and vulgar show. They would make friends with nature rather than conquer or dominate it. The head gods of Daoism are Lao Zi and the Jade Emperor. Daoists expect to gain longevity or even immortality through ascetic practices, such as meditation and self-cultivation.

Lao Zhuang Philosophy

? Leaving things well alone ? Doing through not doing ? 无为而治

Two Major Sects of Daoism

? The True Unity Sect正一教

? The Complete Unity Sect全真教

Confucianism

? Chinese religion is notably down-to-earth. The spiritual roots of Chinese religion are traditionally found in the systems of thought embodied in Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, but Confucianism is more an ethical system than a religion. It consists chiefly of a system of social and political values.

? The ethical thought of Confucius can be summed up as the following five cardinal virtues: ? Ren-benevolence ? Yi-righteousness

? Li-moral ways to conduct ? Zhi-wisdom ? Xin-faithfulness

Islam

? The name of Islam is derived from the word “salam” with the connotation of “the peace which comes by surrendering to God” and the corresponding adjective is Moslem.

? Islam was founded by the Arab prophet, Mohammed. For Moslems, there is only one God Allah. The name derives from joining “al” which means “the” with ?Illah” which means “God”.

Introduction Into China

? It was officially introduced into China in 651 AD during the reign of Emperor Gao Zong of the Tang Dynasty by two routes.

? One is Arab and Persian sea traders who landed on the southern coast of China and established their mosques.

? The other is Moslem merchants who traveled the “Silk Road” through Persia and Afghanistan to China.

? The believers pray five times daily: at dawn, at noon, in the afternoon, in the evening and at nightfall. The worshipers ceremonially wash their faces, hands, and feet in the bath area immediately before the prayer.

? The Prayers generally consist of reciting passages from the Koran古兰经, the Islamic Scripture, and other phrases of praise to God.

Moslems

? Chinese Moslems live mostly in Northwest China, and their meat diet is principally confined to beef and lamb. ? Lesser Bairam 开斋节

? Korban Bairam古尔邦节，宰牲节 ? Mohammed Birthday圣纪

Mosque Christianity

? Christianity was introduced from the West into China very early but planted more firmly in the country as late as the late 16th century during the Ming Dynasty. It is centered in Jesus Christ as the supreme revelation of God and as Lord of His followers

and based upon His teachings.

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