The unified philosophy can be characterized by its long history of religious tolerance and blatant agnosticism. This fact alone, does not conform to various forms of monotheism that succeeded greatly in the western culture. Also, in its outset, Chinese religion does not have the high social status that these monotheisms enjoyed for centuries in the west. Certainly, it has rather close ties to state and local affairs and family life; but it does not exhibit overtly independent representation in the society. Though Daoist and Buddhist monks exist, they are mostly integrated into the culture – they exist to serve a more technical function in the society, rather than to become an integral spiritual force to drive people's lives, as in the west.
Upon examining the history closely, one will find that signs of blatant religious infatuation in Chinese culture – giant busts of Buddha and paintings that evidently flaunt the religiosity – are meant for vocational, rather than devotional, purposes. The function of the scriptures in Chinese religions confirm this also: the scriptures did not teach sacred doctrines that dictated every area of a believer's life, but what they could reveal about the laws of the universe and the ideal society. In Confucianism, this is clearly reinforced by Confucius' own reluctance to engage in religion. During Han Dynasty when Confucianism flourished – the texts are mainly concerned with the technicalities of rituals. Confucians believed that the religion's sole purpose is social stability, and the concept of li, “propriety,” was to encourage acceptable courtesy, not religiosity. Texts concerning religious themes were gradually put out of circulation.
In this time, a religion for non-elites entered the scene – Daoism. As the Han Dynasty met its demise, the Yellow Turbans' messianic movement acquired a number of converts. The Yellow Turban model displayed a religious fervor gone awry, and triggered the urge to sweep away corrupt religious practices. Subsequently, Yellow Turbans failed to appeal to the intellectual groups, and classical heritage remained the main subject of study in these circles.
When Buddhism became popular during Northern Wei Dynasty, it possessed no developed creed. However, with its simple assertions, Buddhism won the approval of the masses. These four truths were: (1) Life means suffering; (2) The origin of suffering is attachment; (3) The cessation of suffering is attainable; and (4) The path to the cessation of suffering. These tenets soon became universally accepted.
However, Buddhism too had its setbacks: the life of celibacy was a foreign concept to Chinese culture that held close family values as the most noble. Also, no emperor would ever bow down to a monk, however holy (Barrett, 147). These concepts eventually diminished in their importance of doctrine. Some doctrines, however, such as that of sangha – which sought to improve the fate of the dead family members – won the approval of many. This success lies in sangha's appeal to Chinese ancestral worship.
As emergence of new religions came early, instances of fusing rival beliefs are evident from the earlier ages. Daoism during Six Dynasties Period incorporated Buddhist ideas into their scriptures, keeping similar beliefs despite its less institutionalized clergy. Though a weaker hierarchy, Daoist clergy was open to people of all social strata, adopting a rank system to identify one's maturity. Also, it retained its distinctive “Chineseness,” particularly by complying with Chinese socio-political values. Because it advocated employing metaphysical means – alchemy, dietary requirements, meditation, etc – to obtain immortality, Daoism had advantage over Buddhism, for the emphasis on the physical appealed to the Chinese thought.
Here we see a transformation of Buddhism as well – for it too had to adopt to Chinese thought. It could not go on being criticized as an idle religious force, and Buddhists had to discover a way to alter the original Indian doctrine to make it suitable for the present life that the Chinese were primarily concerned with. One of the main players in this Buddhist transformation, was Hui-ssu, who emphasized the personal experience to fit the Chinese picture. This is an attempt to attune Buddhist perspectives on spiritual realism with “Chinese faith in the interrelationship of all phenomena” (Barrett, 152).
Another compromise that Buddhism made concerns a slowly developed indifference to the canon. Neglecting the complex religious practices, the popular Buddhism resorted to simple activities. From this sprouted two schools of Buddhism, Pure Land and Chan. In Pure Land Buddhism, to assure one's rebirth in paradise, reciting the prayer formula “namo-Amitabha” (reverence be to Amitabha) was all that was required. Also, the followers of the Chan Buddhism further lessened the emphasis on the scriptures. There was no more need to be confined to verbose descriptions of the truth – the truth was evident in everyday life, transmitted to the laity from the higher masters.
When the Tang Dynasty collapsed, Daoism lost their imperial patronage. This benefited those Daoists and Chan Buddhists who did not believe in highly organized religious organizations, and aided their stress on salvation through individual pursuits of the truth. As the Song Dynasty began and the civil service examination became an integral means to gain public honor, Confucianism thrived (Schirokauer, 140). Daoism, however, managed to accommodate itself to new social system, and even after the Song Dynasty collapsed, it continued to influence people's lives. For instance, post-Song Daoist group Ching-ming, appealed to the elite classes by accentuating Confucian values such as loyalty and filial piety (Barrett, 156).
During the Ming Dynasty, came a revolution. Books that infused the elemental Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist moral values were published, and this appearance of new “religion” that embodied all three teachings may be the first historical indicator that the fusion and modifications of these three religions finally came to adopt one unified popular form. Although the dogmas and their written forms continue to endure, one sees a trend of the scriptures becoming poorer in their authority, especially in the Daoist and the Buddhist traditions. Indeed, most contemporary Chinese people would not give the absolute might to these Daoist and Buddhist canons. In actuality, the sacred writings serve secular purposes in the studies of ancient traditions. This contrasts the three great monotheisms of the West – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – all of which give the highest respect to their canonized writings.
When one examines this new religion that is the admixture of three teachings of China, one will find that in its core, the Chinese religion retains a comparatively positive outlook on human condition to its western competitors. Western monotheisms advocate so-called “total depravity of man,” and seek to obtain goodness through being informed about a supreme being and designating that supreme power as the centre of people's lives. This differs vastly from Chinese religions that is closely related to people's ethics (Berthrong, 1). The divine connections to humanity were never a part of significant creeds of Chinese religions, and they take a distinctively humanistic approach to attain the ultimate goal – whether it be Confucius' li, Lao Tzu's Dao, or Buddha's nirvana. Indeed, there are records of bloody struggles among these three traditions, but ultimately, the ancient and contemporary Chinese intellectual tradition can be described in the syncretism of these three teachings. Chinese religion is “much more interested in practice than belief” (Barrett, 163), and the line between the religious and the secular, remains rather grey.
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Sources
- Berthrong, John. “Sages and Immortals: Chinese Religions.” Beaver, R. Pierce and et al., ed. Eerdman’s Handbook to the World’s Religions. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1982.
- Barrett, T.H. “Religious Traditions in Chinese Civilization: Buddhism and Taoism.” Heritage of China. Ed. Paul S. Ropp. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1990. 138-163.
- Schirokauer, Conrad & Brown, Miranda. A Brief History of Chinese Civilization. Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.
Mmm, very interesting, especially in light of our talk about Korean churches v. American ones tonight.
ReplyDeleteI find it very cool that you learn so much about other religions and yet are at the same time a very strong Christian.