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You cannot download interactives. Ancient China is responsible for a rich culture, still evident in modern China. From small farming communities rose dynasties such as the Zhou B. E , Qin B. E , and Ming C. Each had its own contribution to the region.
During the Zhou Dynasty, for example, writing was standardized, iron working refined, and famous thinkers like Confucius and Sun-Tzu lived and shared their philosophies. Learn more about the history and rich culture of Ancient China with this curated resource collection. Confucianism is one of the most influential religious philosophies in the history of China, and it has existed for over 2, years. It is concerned with inner virtue, morality, and respect for the community and its values.
Though older than either Confucianism or Taoism, the validity and value of the I ching were accepted by most Confucians and Taoists throughout history, though few ever regarded it as central to their tradition. Certain trends continued throughout those periods:. The institutions of medieval Taoists e. Government domination forced Taoists to abandon all traditions that the rulers would not tolerate, and to develop in new ways. T'ung-ch'u "Youthful Incipience" Taoism: An obscure tradition of therapeutic rituals founded by a young man in , claiming continuity with the Shang-ch'ing tradition.
This sect, centered at Mt. Like T'ai-i Taoism, the Chen-ta Taoists left few writings. Ming Taoists maintained their traditions as best they could, given the rigid strictures imposed by the government. So if Taoists wished to survive, they had to 1 accept a role as puppets of the throne, doing nothing but what they were told, or 2 camouflage their teachings and practices in innocuous garb, practicing and teaching in ways that seemed to have no socio-political significance.
Thus, a tradition that had been central to imperial power structures for a millennium was forced either to confess irrelevancy or to cater obsequiously to imperial whims. The local cult survived into the 20th-century, alongside teachings that appealed to literati and coincided with government interests in maintaining Confucian values among the populace.
Ching-ming teachings were absorbed into the modern Lung-men tradition. The Manchus, who took over China in , maintained Ming policies of strict government control of religion, exacerbated by their need to suppress their much-more-numerous Chinese subjects in order to maintain control.
He thus gave Inner Alchemy practices an institutional basis that passed government muster, and gave both men and women a structured system in which to practice Taoist self-cultivation. By that time, most Taoist temples in north and south China alike claimed Lung-men affiliation, and the White Cloud Abbey remains the center of Taoism in China today.
History: Since T'ang times, emperors had commissioned the compilation of a definitive library of Taoist sacred works. The current edition the Cheng-t'ung Tao-tsang was completed in Little published before has much value. During the reign of Wen-di, considerable effort was expended on such shrines. But apart from these activities, the first Han emperors did not emulate the Qin example of designating a specific school of thought to represent state orthodoxy.
Empress Dou was devoted to the texts of Daoism. The empress sponsored Daoism strongly at court, and insisted that her eldest son, the future emperor, study it. Others of the texts spun doctrines around the figure of the Yellow Emperor, and we now presume that the full corpus of texts such as these comprised the basis of Huang-Lao ideology. We will discuss further the rise of Confucianism during the early Han in a separate section. This was to be the case with Daoism and Confucianism at the Han court.
Threatened by competition from Buddhism, beginning around the A. Moral conduct was pushed as the primary means of obtaining immortality; people who practiced esoteric rituals and diets were encouraged to do so in secret; and Buddha was declared a Taoist saint. Crude ritual and esoteric beliefs persisted however despite the best efforts to reduce their importance. At times, some of these schools were also politically active.
Along with Buddhism, Daoism today is one of the two dominant religions in the Chinese-speaking world. Although the attainment of immortality appears to be a rather esoteric and challenging objective, Daoism, with its popular and cultic elements, continues to provide practical guidance through codes of behavior and physical regimens, as well as talismans and ritual services that help regulate the everyday life of its many followers. Indeed, from that time forward, the pantheons of these doctrines often overlapped and their rituals, architecture, and art appeared similar, often as a consequence of commissioning the same artisans to create images and edifices.
Few Chinese emperors embraced Taoism. There were few Taoists in the imperial court other than fortunetellers and astrologers who chose auspicious days. According to Taoist political theory the Emperor was to abstain from all governmental affair and devote his time to meditation and purification in order to bring about unification with Tao while the country was governed by a wise old Prime Minister well versed in the ways of Tao.
Among its features were free hostelries, where travelers could eat for free, and mild punishments for crimes in some cases a crime could be repeated three times before any action was taken, and often then the only punishment was to repair a meter-long section of road.
After the state collapsed a tradition of hereditary leaders carried on and founded a refuge in A. Within Taoism a number of cults arose. Some of these were linked to political insurrections such as the Yellow Turban rebellion of the A. The fall of the first Sung dynasty was precipitated by a rebellion of Taoists responding to a crackdown on some of their esoteric rituals.
The Yellow Turban rebellion occurred at time when there was a great deal of discontent and economic hardship. Yellow Turban followers were given a kind of baptism in which they confessed their sins and consumed a drink of water blessed with ashes from a charm, after which they were told they were protected from any kind of harm. Provided with information from a traitor, the movement was brutally put down by the government in A.
In the 20th century many of the influential secret societies that were active in the period of warlordism were Taoist in origin. Some were quite corrupt and were linked with brutal warlords and gangsters.
Chiang Ka shek was associated with some of them. One of the first things that Mao did when he came to power was exterminate these groups the best he could.
The remnants of some of them made their way to Taiwan. Taoism was banned by the Communists in Under Communist rule, Taoist temples were viciously ransacked and persecution reduced the number of practicing Taoists to virtually zero. Temples were used as government offices, schools and dormitories. It is hard to gauge the number of practicing Taoist today because Taoism is a personalized religion and philosophy that does not require attendance at formalized meetings or temples.
At Taoist temples, tourists and seekers of fortunes and good luck often outnumber true Taoists by a large margin. But it's been making a limited comeback. Although still dwarfed by Buddhism, as well as newer religions, like Christianity, the number of Daoist temples has at least tripled over the past fifteen years, according to official figures.
Priests and nuns who run the temples provide services to pilgrims and go out into the community to consecrate homes or businesses, and perform funerals. Others spread Daoist ideas through martial arts, such as Tai Chi, or medicinetwo disciplines rooted in Daoism. That's true of Buddhism as well, which was founded in today's India but took root in China 2, years ago. But Buddhism has long had a cadre of devoted, missionizing monks and nuns who try to spread the word, whereas Daoism is sometimes hard to crackyou often have to earn a Daoist master's trust and respect before he or she will take you on as a disciple.
And then, of course, Daoism can be seen as the original tune-in-turn-on-drop-out religion; many Daoist luminaries have preferred a life of contemplation to pursuit of earthly power. On how Taoism is treated today the Chinese government, Terry F. The Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief but not religious practice.
Much of what a traditional Taoist priest did is now illegal. They are allowed to do rituals but cannot claim to have actually accomplished anything with the ritual, or else it is called superstition. If you claim your ritual will actually heal someone or save their relatives, you can be thrown in jail for fraud. It leaves Taoism in a very different position in society, a representative of the culture without any rights to control their own public image, which is controlled by the government.
Four months ago, for example, a very different international conference on Daoism had been held at exactly the same locationa conference that the government was far from excited about. Organized by Chinese and international scholars and practitioners, the conference did not have as much high-level support but it reflects something potentially more powerful: an explosion of popular interest into Daoism and Chinese religion.
The authorities not only shunned it but put up roadblocks. It was almost canceled at the last moment and was eventually curtailed from five to three days, with many panels cut or abbreviated. Despite the rebuilding of temples, religious life is still tightly limited.
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