Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 7.10
Kyoto, Japan.
In Japan, both
Buddhism and Shintoism make
their marks on the cultural land-
scape. This Shinto shrine, with its
orange trim and olive-green glazed
tiles, is visible after passing under a
torii—a gateway usually formed by
two wooden posts topped by two
horizontal beams turned up at their
ends—which signals that you have
left the secular and entered the
sacred world.
© H. J. de Blij.
which Lao-Tsu would have disapproved. People, animals,
even dragons became objects of worship.
ideals over time. For example, one emperor made worship
of and obedience to the emperor part of Confucianism. In
government, law, literature, religion, morality, and many
other ways, the Confucian Classics were the guide for
Chinese civilization.
Confucianism
Confucius lived from 551 to 479
, and his followers
constructed a blueprint for Chinese civilization in almost
every fi eld, including philosophy, government, and edu-
cation. In religion, Confucius addressed the traditional
Chinese tenets that included belief in heaven and the
existence of the soul, ancestor worship, sacrifi cial rites,
and shamanism. He held that the real meaning of life lay
in the present, not in some future abstract existence, and
that service to one's fellow humans should supersede ser-
vice to spirits.
Confucianism
is mainly a philosophy of life, and like
Taoism, Confucianism had great and lasting impacts on
Chinese life. Appalled at the suffering of ordinary people
at the hands of feudal lords, Confucius urged the poor to
assert themselves. He was not a prophet who dealt in prom-
ises of heaven and threats of hell. He denied the divine
ancestry of China's aristocratic rulers, educated the landless
and the weak, disliked supernatural mysticism, and argued
that human virtues and abilities, not heritage, should deter-
mine a person's position and responsibilities in society.
Confucius came to be revered as a spiritual leader
after his death in 479
bce
Diffusion of Chinese Religions
Confucianism diffused early into the Korean Peninsula,
Japan, and Southeast Asia, where it has long infl uenced the
practice of Buddhism. More recently, Chinese immigrants
expanded the infl uence of the Chinese religions in parts
of Southeast Asia and helped to introduce their principles
into societies ranging from Europe to North America.
The diffusion of Chinese religions even within
China has been tempered by the Chinese government's
efforts to suppress religion in the country. Like the Soviet
government, the communist government that took con-
trol of China in 1949 attempted to ban religion, in this
case Confucianism, from public practice. But after guid-
ing all aspects of Chinese education, culture, and society
for 2000 years, Confucianism did not fade easily from the
Chinese consciousness. Confucianism and Taoism are
so entrenched in Chinese culture that the government's
antireligion initiatives have not had their desired effect.
For example, a Chinese government policy in the 1950s
that ran counter to the teachings of Feng Shui met much
resistance by tradition-bound villagers. Feng Shui geo-
mancers in China have the responsibility of identifying
suitable gravesites for the deceased so that gravesites leave
the dead in perfect harmony with their natural surround-
ings. The Chinese created burial mounds for their dead
at these chosen gravesites. The pragmatic communist
Chinese government saw the burial mounds as a barrier
, and his teachings diffused
widely throughout East and Southeast Asia. Followers
built temples in his honor all over China. From his writ-
ings and sayings emerged the Confucian Classics, a set
of 13 texts that became the focus of education in China
for 2000 years. Over the centuries, Confucianism (with
its Taoist and Buddhist ingredients) became China's state
ethic, although the Chinese emperor modifi ed Confucian
bce
