The Big Picture: Major Influences - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 10

elders, and males hold superior positions in a properly
ordered society . Confucian ideals have been most influ-
ential in East Asia as well as in Vietnam.
Although Confucianism may not be defined as a re-
ligion by some, there are many Confucian temples. These
are particularly popular with students who make offer-
ings and pray for success in their education.
Initially , Chinese communists castigated Confucian-
ism as a negative and demeaning holdover from the
archaic past. However, in recent years the government has
recognized the belief system as having similarities with
socialist ideals. Both emphasize education as a remould-
ing process to encourage group responsibility , social har-
mony , and service to the government of the people.
T Today, , South Korea is regarded as Asia' is most Confu-
cian country . There is a great respect for elders, and fam-
ily responsibility is a very serious requirement. Even
today , young people consider open defiance of their fa-
ther as tantamount to a sin. We will learn more about
Confucianism in Chapter 10.

Figure 1-8
It was sunrise in the mountain town of Mamyo, Myanmar
(Burma), where I watched Buddhist monks walk past devotees
who put rice and other food into their “begging bowls.” This scene
is ubiquitous throughout Theravada Buddhist communities. Photo-
graph courtesy of B. A. Weightman.

responsibility on the individual for salvationthrough
the accumulation of merit by good behavior and religious
activity . Monastic orders, or sangha, are very impor-
tant, and monks and nuns are highly respected. It is
Theravada Buddhism that diffused to Southeast Asia,
where it is very much a part of the cultural landscapes of
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand (Figure 1-8).
What happened to Buddhism in India? It rose to its
zenith under Emperor Asoka in the third century BC .But
Hinduism eventually reasserted itself, and Buddhist
adherents became a rarity . Aside from a few practitioners
and scattered temple relics, Buddhism has faded from
the Indian landscape. However, in its Himalayan refuge
situation, Bhutan remains a Buddhist kingdom. Buddhism
is also important in Nepal, even though the Nepalese peo-
ple are predominantly Hindu.
Buddhist temples and other landscape elements are
increasingly common in Europe, North America, and
Australia. This is a result of relocation diffusion as Chinese,
Laotians, Vietnamese, and others continue to migrate to
other parts of the world.

DAOISM
Daoism is based on the teaching of the Chinese T ao T e
Ching written in the sixth century BC. Its philosophical
aspect ( Dao-chia ) is drawn from the writings of Lao-Tzu
and Chuang-tzu and other early mystics. Daoism rejects
competition, rank, and luxury . Lao-Tzu said that every-
one wants to be at the top of the tree but if this actually
happened, the tree would collapse. Thus he stresses
non-action, non-control, and non-interference as means
to achieve the unknowable Dao—the W ay . The best way
to survive is as a simple-thinking farmer, close to the
earth—at one with nature.
Religious Daoism ( Dao-chiao ) emphasizes religious
rituals aimed at achieving immortality In Daoism, there
are many deities and spirits that are manifestations of the
Dao. People seek happiness and prosperity by appeasing
these forces often at Daoist temples.
Under communism in China, Daoism was renounced
as superstitious and fatalistic. Practices were forbidden
and temples destroyed However, with a more liberal gov-
ernment in the past two decades, Daoist temples are reap-
pearing on the landscape and people once again are
exhibiting Daoist pictures and objects in their homes.
Even now in the twenty-first century , Daoist philos-
ophy remains an underpinning of thought and action for
many Asians. It is also very important in the practice of
traditional medicine. We will revisit Daoism in greater
depth in Chapter 10.

CONFUCIANISM
According to most scholars, Confucianism is more of a
philosophy or a code of behavior than a religion.
Founded in China by Kung fu-tzu (Confucius) around
500 BC, it stresses that humans are social beings obli-
gated to others in a hierarchical order. In general, rulers,