Philosophy

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Philosophy Religion in China

• Chinese Folk Religion
• Taoism
• Confucianism

By Laura Ellen Shulman
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Chinese Folk Religion

• Belief in spirits
• Reverence for ancestors
• Priests perform blessing rituals
• purifying space
• Exorcising evil spirits (hungry ghosts)
• Astrology
• Divination

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Chinese metaphysics is about

• Energy
• Change
• Balance
• Harmony
• Inter-relationships

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Chinese Metaphysics
Movement of cosmic energies Rising Falling
Expanding Contracting Rotating
Represented by and expressed in the five
elements of nature
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The Five Elements
Productive cycle
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The Five Elements
X
Destructive cycle
X
X
X
X
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Chinese MetaphysicsConcepts

• Chi life force, life energy (ultimate)
• Yin-Yang harmony of opposites
• Yin passive state of energy
• Yang active state of energy

• Tao the way of the cosmos, of nature
• Heaven (tien) and Earth
• Mandate of Heaven
• Practical applications I-Ching and Feng Shui

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The I-ChingBook of Changes

• Ancient divination technique (at least 3000 years
  old)
• Intended to guide humans in decision making
• Based on combinations of lines representing the
  ever changing relationship between passive (yin)
  and active (yang) energy flow of heaven, human,
  and earth

yin
yang
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The Tri-gramsEight combinations of three lines
each
heaven
wind / wood
lake
Fire
water
mountain
thunder
earth
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Using the I-Ching Tool

• Symbolism of the lines
• Upper line energy state of heaven
• Middle line energy state of human
• Lower line energy state of earth
• Two sets of trigrams are divined to create a
  hexagram
• Use coins or sticks to divine one of 64 hexagrams
• Use I-Ching text to discern meaning of the
  hexagram and any additional meaning for changing
  lines (energies on the verge of changing)
• A skilled interpreter is needed to apply the
  generic meaning of the hexagram

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Feng Shui

• The Chinese art of placement (geomancy)
• Means wind water symbolically, the constant
  flow of wind and water that creates constant
  change in the world also affects us
• Uses the five elements and the eight directions
  of the I-Ching as the Bagua tool
• Seeks to maintain constant and balanced flow of
  energies (chi) in a space for improved flow of
  energy in the people who use the space

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Learn more on the Web

• Learn more about Yin-Yang and the Five Elements
  http//www.wisdommedia.com/data/library/html/feng_
  shui_yinyang.asp
• I-ching sites
• I-Ching Resources includes history of the I-Ching
  and details about the trigrams
  http//www.onlineclarity.co.uk/I_Ching_resources
• How to use the I-ching http//littlestcat.com/ich
  ing/
• Feng Shui sites
• Series of pages on Feng Shui theory and
  application http//www.wisdommedia.com/data/libra
  ry/html/feng_shui_what_is.asp
• Feng Shui products and tips from MJG Designs
  http//shop.store.yahoo.com/mjgdesigns/designtips.
  html

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TaoismThe Way of Harmony with Nature

• A philosophy
• Profound and paradoxical
• A way of life
• Playful and practical
• A religion
• Originating in 6th century BCE China
• Nature knows best

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TaoismOrigins and Texts

• Legendary founder Lao Tzu (6th century BCE)
• Primary text Tao Te Ching (the Book of the Way
  and the Power)
• 81 short chapters containing the basic
  philosophy of living in harmony and balance
• Chuang Tzu (4th century BCE)
• Author of companion text The Chuang Tzu
• Collection of stories exemplifying the wisdom and
  nature of the Taoist sage

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Philosophical Taoism

• The Tao (path or way)
• The nameless
• The Mother of tenthousand things
• The uncarved block
• All pervading within and beyond nature
• Te (power or virtue)
• Ones natural ability brought to peak potential
  through following the way
• The Taoist Sage learns from observing the way of
  nature (flowing water, wind) and letting nature
  guide his way through life

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More Taoist Concepts

• Wei-wu-wei (active non-action)
• Passive non-resistance to the natural forces of
  life
• Natural way to get things done with least effort
  and greatest success
• Go with the flow, yield to the natural way of
  things
• Applied in all walks of life
• Relativity good and bad as a matter of
  perspective
• The Taoist sage is non-judgmental

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Taoism as a Way of Living

• Seeking Health and Longevity through diet,
  meditation, exercise, and a stress-free life
• Alchemy seeking the chemical elixir of lifeto
  achieve immortality
• Meditation Inner Alchemy Meditation seeking
  spiritual rather than chemical transformation
• Natural/holistic healing herbal medicine,
  acupressure, acupuncture, exercise
• Tai-Chi-Chuan (grand ultimate boxing)
• A slow, graceful martial art stressing movement
  in balance

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Religious Taoism

• Deification of Lao Tzu
• The Jade Emperor and the eight Immortals
• Taoist temples with images of Lao Tzu and other
  immortals
• Taoist Priests combine Taoist meditation with
  purification rites of folk religion exorcism
  practices
• Taoist sects develop beginning in 1st century,
  additional teachers and texts

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Confucianism

• A political and social philosophy seeking social
  harmony on all levels
• Within the self
• the family
• the community
• ...the state
• the nation
• the world
• the cosmos
• Learning from the past to improve the future

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Confucianism - Origins

• Kung-Fu-tzu (Confucius) Master Kung
• 551 - 479 BCE
• Embraces the values of the past
• Political aspirations unfulfilled
• The greatest teacher who ever lived
• Rejected in his own day, but the model for
  Chinese culture for over 2000 years
• Meng-Tzu (Mencius) (4th century) continues to
  develop teachings of Confucius

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Confucianism - Texts

• The Five Classics (of the past)
• I-Ching
• The Book of History (Shu Ching)
• The Book of Poems (Shih Ching)
• The Spring and Autumn Annals (Chun Chiu)
• The Book of Rituals (Li Chi)
• The Four Books (Confucian)
• Analects (Lun Yu)
• Doctrine of the Mean
• The Great Learning
• The Book of Mencius (Meng-Tzu)

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Goal of Confucianism

• To develop ones Jen Human Heartedness - the
  innate goodness of humanity
• Thus becoming a Chun Tzu the Great Man or
  Gentle Man
• Jen is developed through intentional living by
  Confucian virtues

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Confucian Virtues

• Filial Piety (Hsiao) - respect for the five
  constant relationships
• Parent and child
• Husband wife
• Older younger sibling
• Older younger friend
• Ruler subject
• Human-heartedness is developed only within the
  context of human relationships

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More Confucian Virtues

• Rectification of names a person or thing should
  be true to its name
• Recipricity (shu) the Golden Rule
• Do not do to others what you would not want
  others to do to you
• Li (rites, ritual) the inherent pattern in
  things
• For Confucius, Li is especially significant in a
  social context propriety or etiquette, the
  pattern of humane behavior

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Neo-Confucianism

• Develops 11th 16th century by Various Confucian
  philosophers
• A metaphysical foundation for Confucian social
  ethics
• Two main schools
• School of Reason (more scientific) through the
  investigation of things one can discover the
  underlying pattern (li) principle behind all
  reality (patterns and principles are manifest
  only within the material world)
• School of Mind (more mystical)
  microcosmic-macrocosmic parallel between the
  human mind and the universe, reflecting an
  essential unity of all that is

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Confucianism as a Religion

• Deification of Confucius - statues
• Confucian Temples honoring Confucius
• Veneration of the ancestors
• Rituals within
• the household
• the village
• the state
• the nation

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Explore more on the Web

• Taoist sites
• The True Tao Homepage a pleasant place to visit
  and learn more http//www.taoism.net/html.html
• Taoism and the Philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan
  informative on both origins and religious Taoism
  http//www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/taoism
  .html
• About the Tao http//www.thetao.info/tao/index.ht
  m
• Confucian sites
• http//www.friesian.com/confuci.htm an academic
  review of basic Confucian teachings
• The Lun Yu (Analects), an English translation
  online http//www.confucius.org/lunyu/lange.htm