Religion And Aesthetics Of Buddhism

Classical China was a breeding ground for new ideas, inventions, and most importantly, religions. Although Classical China was littered with different religions and beliefs, Confucianism was the most prominent. Confucianism is based on the teachings of a philosophical

China has been the home to various religions. At different times different dynasties endorsed certain religions while repressing others. While Buddhism flourished during the Sui and Tang dynasty, it faced opposition from the government during the Song dynasty. Confucianism lost government endorsement during the Sui and Tang but gained momentum during the Song as Neo-Confucianism. Yuan dynasty promoted Islam and Tibet Buddhism but ignored Confucianism. Different rulers sponsored and protected different religions but Confucianism and some form of Buddhism have always been alive in Chinese society from 600 to 1450.

Chinese culture is also greatly embedded in religious and philosophical beliefs. The way a relationship is developed between and individual and the society differs according to various beliefs. In China, two common philosophical and religious ideas are Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism

The main Chinese religions have many key features. The main religions include shamanism/ancestor reverence, Confucianism, Daoism, Mahayana Buddhism, and idol worship. These 5 religions share some features in common. For example, Chinese popular religion focuses on the human being’s pursuit of health, wealth, and happiness in their lives (quote the textbook). Chinese popular religions want the human to be doing well and succeeding in their day-to-day activities of their lives. Another key component of the main Chinese religions is respecting one’s elders. The religions teach the importance of obeying the commands of the elders and honoring the family name. The Chinese allow place a strong emphasis on the temple. The temple is a place where the people could communicate, understand, and learn about their gods (quote the textbook). The next subsections will be describing the key religious practices of each of the 5 Chinese religions.

Buddhism for centuries, has long been influencing the population all over the world, specifically in China . Buddhism first came to China as a result of merchant traders from India. From there it spread within the merchant community. It mainly expanded because it gave people a sense of hope and faith with the chaos they were experiencing from the collapse of the Han Dynasty. It also spread because it covered what Confucianism lacked; a more spiritual and emotional approach that appealed to many people of different classes. It is because of this that Buddhism spread and was able to influence and greatly affect China during the period of 300-900 CE. Buddhism influenced philosophy and moral teachings, kept the Chinese society peaceful and orderly, as well as affecting the overall economy. Buddhism had strong religious teachings that appealed to the lower class with the idea of afterlife and nirvana as well as an emphasis on following your own path that transformed Chinese beliefs causing a large portion of the population to convert (doc’s 1,4). Buddhism kept the Chinese society orderly by reminding all of Buddha’s life and teachings with statues and the influence it had on monks to spread charity and missionary work (doc’s 2,3,6). Buddhism also had an effect on the economy of China. As it spread from other regions, it caused more farmers and silk producers to convert and spread the religion as monks and nuns. (doc 7,5).

Religion organizes society; it controls our daily life and can be the breaking or making point of a society. The three Philosophies of China consist of Legalism, Daoism, and Confucianism, but only one Philosophy surpasses all others, Confucianism.

At the core of any nation’s culture are its religious beliefs. In China there are the “Three Jewels” Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, as described in Lopez (1996). There are small numbers of people practicing other religions such as Christianity and Islam, but these are the three dominant beliefs of the region. While they are separate in content, they have coexisted for several thousand years. Lopez (1996) goes on to say, “Historical precedent and popular parlance attest to the importance of this threefold division for understanding Chinese culture…Buddhism is the sun, Daoism the moon, and Confucianism the five planets…suggesting that although they remain separate, they also coexist as equally indispensable phenomena of the natural world.” Each belief system stands alone, and at the same time needs the other(s).

There are many different religions in both China and India. The most popular religions in China are ancient Confucianism and Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Protestant, Catholic, and a new form of religion Falun Gong. India has many religions that are different or the same as the Chinese. Indian religions include: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. There are also many people from China that do not follow a religion because of its communist background.

In Asian countries there were 3 beliefs that were invented during times of struggle. Confucianism, Buddhism,and Taoism were all created to keep the peace for the most part. Confucianism was created to unite warring states, and make people respect each other. Taoism was created in a time of starvation, and depression by someone named Laozi. Buddhism was created by an Indian prince, who was sheltered as a child, and saw none of the tragedies of life. All these different beliefs Helped to unite ancient China.

China, the world 's second largest economic power, one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and the only Communist Party-led authoritarian state in the G-20 grouping of major economies (Susan V. Lawrence, 2012). Over the last three decades, the value of Chinese trade has approximately doubled every four years. This rapid growth has transformed the country from a negligible player in world trade to the world 's second largest exporter, as well as a substantial importer of raw materials, intermediate inputs, and other goods. What businesses must focus on is how a country’s political system impacts the economy and the particular industry. Firms need to assess how local policies, rules, and regulations

Although Confucianism is often grouped with the major historical religions, Confucianism differs from them in that it is not an organized religion. Regardless of this fact, Confucianism has spread to other East Asian countries under the influence of Chinese literate culture and has exerted a huge influence on their spiritual, cultural, and political life. Both the theory and practice of

It has dominated China for more than 2000 years and even though, the country has gone through a rapid socioeconomic development in recent decades, cultural values and customs from Confucianism are still prevalent and influence Chinese people today (Ji, 2015). In order to understand the Chinese cultural mind-set, it is important to understand the ideology of Confucianism.

When considering the vast multitude of religions or schools of thought with dedicated followings, it would be hard to ignore Confucianism. It has single handedly made the greatest impact on Chinese society overall, an impact that persists to this day. It is as a whole, a political ideology, a moral and ethical guide but most importantly a religion. The sentiment argued by many is that it does not share enough characteristics of other Western religions to be considered one as well. Although Confucianism as a whole is rooted in ethical and moral teachings, it also speaks of rituals and ancestor worship, thus allowing it to be considered, by Western standards, a religion.

Often puzzled themselves, Chinese society finds it difficult to put a religious label on their belief system, whether it be within the multiple sects of Buddhism, Confucianism, or Taoism. Throughout the different beliefs and practices that each individual undertakes, one factor remains the same for all and it is their base factor of belief in ancient wisdom. Although, it may seem like their strong tie to ancient wisdom would equal them all believing in the same thing, this becomes contradictory from one religion to the other due to the various sources of their ancient wisdom. Although, there are different labels which entail different beliefs and practices, this essay will help shed light on how Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism each bring key features that fuse together to form Chinese popular religion and presents other factors that also influence this religion.

China is the most populous country in this world with more than 1.35 billion residents. People’s Republic of China is established in 1949 and its economy started to develop from 1978 onwards. Mr.Deng XiaoPing was the president at that time. He and China government implemented the ‘Reform and Opening-up’ or ‘Chinese Economic Reform’ policy to make the trade freedom with foreign countries. This policy ensures the opening of the country to foreign investments and allows entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. The successful of the policy resulted in the immense changes in China’s society and economy. This ensured the reduction of poverty and balance the income among residents. Nowadays, China is a powerful and the fastest developing country in this competitive world. There are large amount of well-build industries and factories. The low price of the workforces and trade freedom also attract many foreign investors. China is an ideal country to develop a business and there are more opportunities for entrepreneurs. The largest population also prove that there are many customers. In addition, their high affordability and purchasing power give more foreign investors confidents to operate businesses in