Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Field Note
“Built about 800
CE
when Buddhism was diffusing throughout Southeast Asia, Borobudur was abandoned and neglected after
the arrivals of Islam and Christianity and lay overgrown until uncovered and restored under Dutch colonial rule from 1907 to
1911. The monument consists of a set of intricately carved, walled terraces; the upper terraces are open. In the upper terraces
stand six dozen stupas, each containing a sculpture of the Buddha in meditation, visible when you peer through the openings.”
Figure 7.9
Borobudur, Indonesia
.
© H. J. de Blij.
Shintoism
Buddhism is mixed with a local religion in Japan, where
Shintoism
is found. This ethnic religion, which is related
to Buddhism, focuses particularly on nature and ances-
tor worship (Fig. 7.10). The Japanese emperor made
Shintoism the state religion of Japan in the nineteenth
century, according himself the status of divine-right
monarch. At the end of World War II, Japan separated
Shintoism from the emperor, taking away the state sanc-
tioning of the religion. At the same time, the role of the
emperor in Japan was diminished and given a ceremonial
status. The number of adherents in Japan is somewhere
between 105 and 118 million, depending on the source.
The majority of Japanese observe both Buddhism and
Shintoism.
Taoism and Confucianism, were forming. The beginnings
of
Taoism
are unclear, but scholars trace the religion to an
older contemporary of Confucius, Lao-Tsu, who published
a volume titled
Tao-te-ching
, or “Book of the Way.” In his
teachings, Lao-Tsu focused on the proper form of political
rule and on the oneness of humanity and nature: people,
he said, should learn to live in harmony with nature. This
gave rise to the concept of
Feng Shui
—the art and sci-
ence of organizing living spaces in order to channel the life
forces that exist in nature in favorable ways. According to
tradition, nothing should be done to nature without con-
sulting the
geomancers
, people who know the desires of the
powerful spirits of ancestors, dragons, tigers, and other
beings occupying the natural world and can give advice on
how to order things according to Feng Shui.
Among the Taoist virtues are simplicity and sponta-
neity, tenderness, and tranquility. Competition, possession,
and even the pursuit of knowledge are to be avoided. War,
punishment, taxation, and ceremonial ostentation are
viewed as evils. The best government, according to Lao-
Tsu, is the least government.
Thousands of people began to follow Taoism.
Followers worshipped Lao-Tsu as a god, something of
From the Hearth of the Huang He River Valley
Taoism
While the Buddha's teachings were gaining converts in
India, a religious revolution of another kind was taking
place in China. Two major schools of Chinese philosophy,
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