Download Dao De Jing

World Religions, Sixth Edition
Warren Matthews
Chapter Six:
China and Japan
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
• any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;
• preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images;
• any rental, lease, or lending of the program.
Early Chinese Dynasties
 Xia Dynasty
~ 2000 BCE - 1500 BCE
 Shang Dynasty
1500 BCE - 1027 BCE
 Zhou Dynasty
1027 BCE - 256 BCE
 Han Dynasty
206 BCE - 220 BCE
 Sui Dynasty
589 - 618
 Tang Dynasty
618 - 907
 Sung (Song) Dynasty
960 - 279
 Yuan Dynasty
1279 - 1369
 Ming Dynasty
1369 - 1644
Affect of Confucianism and Daoism
(China and Korea) on Shinto (Japan)
Two Sages Historically Honored by
China
 Laozi
 Reflected in the lines of the cryptic classic the Dao De Jing (Tao
Te Ching)
 Wrote at the time of the gurus of the Upanishads
 Probably preceded Siddhartha’s enlightenment
 Confucius
 The more widely known sage
 Thought to have been a contemporary of the Buddha
Yin-Yang
 Everything can be described as both Yin and Yang
 Yin and Yang
 Are not mutually exclusive
 Are interdependent
 Can both be further subdivided into Yin and Yang
 Consume and support each other, transform into one another
 Are intertwined (part of Yin is in Yang, part of Yang is in Yin)
 Involve forces that regain balance with yin-yang curves
Early Chinese Thought
 Yin and Yang are fundamental, complementary principles evidenced
throughout the cosmos
 The I Ching relies on notions of yin and yang
 The I Ching is a practice that indicates ways of living and acting in
accordance with the cosmos
 The Dao is the way of the universe
I Ching
 The idea behind this system of divination is that the oracle will select
the appropriate answer regardless of the probabilities
 The text of the ancient book, Yijing, or I Ching, is a set of predictions
represented by a set of sixty-four abstract line arrangements called
hexagrams
Laozi (Lao Tzu)
 Lived 570-490 BCE in the capital of China
 His life was mostly legendary, but tradition attributes the authorship
of the Dao De Jing to him
 The story says he perceived that the kingdom's affairs were
disintegrating, was tired of living in society
 He was about to travel West on a buffalo, when a gatekeeper
encouraged him to write to preserve his wisdom
 He climbed down from his buffalo and wrote Dao De Jing
 He was never heard from again
Dao De Jing
 The Dao is “everything”
 Laozi sometimes referred to the Dao as the “Mother” of all things
 Underneath the visible, the universe is constantly changing
 There is a constant flow of change
 Interrupting this flow brings trouble
 The natural flow of things is best
 The Object in life is to live in harmony with the changing universe
Daoism (Taoism)
 Societies must adapt to the Dao for survival
 Most societies’ customs exist contrary to the universe
 Trying to live as society leads most into trouble
 People must learn to “go with the flow”
 Wisdom comes with experience, age
 Contemplation, meditation to learn nature of the universe
Wuwei
 Lifestyle emphasizes quietism, avoids aggression
 Compared to water
 No shape, but wears out shapes
 A sage acts without acting
 Influencing without seeming to exert oneself
 Ideal society is small village
 Believes that government is best which governs least
Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)
 Zhuangzi (369-286 BCE)
 Influential interpreter of the Dao De Jing
 Reflected on the experience of dreaming
 The uncertainty of knowing what is real or not
 Do I dream the butterfly, or does the butterfly dream me?
 Stressed the role of perspective in formulating one’s
understanding of the world
Sectarian Daoism
 In the first century CE, Zhang Daoling founded a secret society
dedicated to faith healing and longevity: the “Celestial Masters” sect
 In the fourth century CE, Ge Hong compiled the Baopuzi (Pao P´utzu), a collection of alchemical formulas intended to impart
immortality
 During the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE), Laozi became revered
as a deity in what became an increasingly elaborate pantheon of
celestial beings
Daoist Worldview
 Ancestors could be transformed, becoming immortal or deified
 Impersonal universe invisible but in harmony
 Cannot be influenced though humans seek to discern it
 What is natural to a person should be valued over social conventions
or proprieties
 Acting without regard to the naturalness of the cosmos results in
suffering
 Inaction is the secret of a good life
Daoist Worldview
 Strategies for attaining immortality include:
 Meditative practices
 Alchemy
 Sexual practices
 Daoist priests trained to interact with:
 Spirits
 Ancestors
 Deities
Confucius
 Born around 551 BCE in Shantung Province
 Early career as a teacher
 Later served under the Duke of Lu as a government official
 Became a traveling scholar in search of rulers who would heed
his advice on statesmanship
 Attracted disciples who traveled with him
Seventeenth Century Chinese Scroll
Painting of Confucius
Confucianism
 Human beings are fundamentally good in nature
 People learn best through example
 The ideal male, refined in virtues, is the junzi, or “gentleman”
 Li, the principle of harmony, should rule social life
 Li should dictate ritual and formal ways of behavior
 Yi is internalized li, the self becomes orderly
Confucianism
 The Five Relationships:
 Ruler vs. subject
 Husband vs. wife
 Elder brother vs. younger brother
 Elder friend vs. younger friend
 Father vs. son
Confucianism
 Li – the principle of harmony in formal relationships
 Should rule home, society, government
 Can be learned by studying music and poetry
 Junzi – the superior man
 Ren – kindness, compassion
 The state of being genuinely human
 Learned by studying music and poetry
Junzi
 Five virtues of the junzi:
 Upright without regard to outward circumstances
 Forgiving
 Sincere in word and deed
 Earnest
 Generous
 Jen, humanness, is not prescribed but internally directed
 Confucianism is predominantly an ethical, rather than
metaphysical, philosophy
Other Teachings in the Time of
Confucius – the Mohists
 Mozi (Mo Tzu) lived between 479 and 381 BCE in Song or Lu
 Taught jainai, or universal love
 The Mohists believed that life should be lived on the basis of “share
and share alike”
 This varied from the teachings of Confucius, who believed that doing
good was reserved for friends and not enemies
Other Teachings in the Time of
Confucius – the Fajia (Legalists)
 School of philosophy dating from the third century BCE
 People are only responsive to harsh laws, therefore rulers should
instill fear
 Han Feizi, a representative of the school, wrote that people were
untrustworthy
 The Fajia thought all people are evil, unlike Confucius who thought
all people are good
Confucians and Daoists
 Both appeal to a principle called the Dao, or Way
 Daoists
 Believe that human fulfillment means living in accordance with
nature
 Are individualistic, without regard to social convention
 Confucians
 Believe that human fulfillment means acting out one’s social role
 Keep a place appropriate to social life
Followers of Confucius
 Mengzi
 Believe that humanity’s natural inclination is toward good
 Feel that virtue is the basis of good governance
 Xunzi
 Believe that humans are fundamentally evil
 Hold that people can only become good through training
Later History of Confucianism
 206-220 BCE – Confucian thinking adopted by Han dynasty rulers
as the norm for the Chinese empire
 Confucius upheld as a deified teacher
 1130-1200 CE – during the Song dynasty, Confucian thinker Zhuxi
creates neo-Confucianism
 Revives centuries of Confucian thought
 Stresses understanding of the Great Ultimate, or Taiji (Tai Chi)
 Central teaching was the Doctrine of the Mean
Later History of Confucianism
 618-907 CE – during the Tang dynasty, Confucianism was brought
from China to Korea
 Neo-Confucian thought was also later established in Korea
 Twentieth century – Confucianism in China was weakened
 This began to occur with the rise of Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925)
 Also later with the leadership of Mao Tsetung (1893–1976)
The Confucian “Four Books”
 The details of Confucius’ teaching, as remembered by his disciples,
are contained in the Four Books:
 The Analects (Lun Yu)
 The Great Learning, Daxue (Ta Hsueh)
 The Doctrine of the Mean, Zhongyong (Chung Yung)
 The Book of Mencius, Mengzi (Meng- tze)
Temple of Heaven, Bejing
Chinese Folk Religion
 A widespread, popular practice
 Involved a wide panoply of deities, ghosts, and ancestors
 Held that communication practices like divination were important
 Believed that ancestors deserved attention
 Warned that “hungry ghosts” could be a persistent problem if their
needs were not met
Confucian Worldview
 Tianming, or mandate of heaven, is the sign of a legitimate ruler
 World is fundamentally good
 Although there is disagreement on human nature, all Confucians
believe that humans require education to become good
 The problem for humans is disharmony that arises when humans act
at the expense of others
Shintoism
 To be grateful for blessings of kami and the benefits of ancestors
 To be diligent in the observance of the Shinto rites, applying oneself
to them with sincerity, brightness, and purity of heart
 To be helpful to others and in the world at large, through deeds of
service without thought of reward
 To seek the advancement of the world as one whose life mediates
the will of kami
 To bind oneself with others in harmonious acknowledgement of the
will of the emperor, praying that the country may flourish and that
people may live in peace and prosperity
Shintoism
 Shinto is the worship of kami
 Kami are the spirits alive in particular sacred places
 Places were marked with a rope, gateway (torii), or structure
 People become kami and kami become people
 Kami are to be respected and acknowledged
 As with all spirits, kami may do good or bad for you
 Most important kami is Amaterasu, the sun goddess
 She is the physical ancestor of the royal family
 She is the protector/guardian angel for the Japanese
Torii Gate, Marking a Sacred Place
Shinto, the Way of the Kami
 Worship of the kami, or deities found in nature, is the earliest form of
Japanese religion
 Spirits of sacred persons and places were honored
 Places were marked as sacred by a rope, a gateway (torii), or a
small structure
 With the arrival of Buddhism from Korea, worship of the kami
became more institutionalized
 According to some Shinto accounts, Japan formed by two kami:
Izanami and Izanagi
Shinto Priest at a Wedding
Ceremony in Japan
Shintoism
 Kami and ancestors merged in a kami-dana in family house
 Must cleans hands first
 Use prayers, rice, and flowers
 Kami honored in local shrines
 Places to come for local help
 Prosperity, healing, guidance
 The Kami Amaterasu honored
 State shrines and war memorials
 The Emperor has specific Shinto duties as head of nation
A Kami-dana in a Home
Samurai
 Developed during the Kamakura period (twelfth through fourteenth
centuries)
 Roots in extreme patriotism, Daoism, and Zen Buddhism
 Bushido code of honor included gratitude, courage, justice, and fierce
determination to succeed
 Failure requires ritualized suicide, called hari-kari
 Concern for purification
Shintoism in Japanese History
 Prince Shotoku (574-622 CE) attempted to establish harmony in
Japan among Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shintoism
 In later periods of Japanese history, such as the Tokugawa regime,
Shintoism was suppressed
 This came at the expense of Confucianism and Buddhism
 Then Emperor Meiji ascended in the nineteenth century
 A purified form of Shinto was established as the state religion,
abolishing other religious practices
 State Shinto declined with the defeat of Japan in World War II
Shinto in Japanese History
 Sectarian forms of Shinto survived from the nineteenth century
 Healing groups
 Tenrikyo
 P. L. (Perfect Liberty) Kyodan
 Miki Tokuchika
 Seicho-no-le (House of Growth)
Shinto Worldview
 Natural world revered as divine
 Kami identified with or reside in natural phenomenon
 Worship of the sun goddess Amaterasu-Omikami, who is partial to
the peoples of Japan
 Concern not worldly but focused on the Japanese people
 Ritual pollution and purification are very important
 Integration into family and national life is central to ethics