Philosophical and Religious Foundations of China Exploring Alternative Views of Religion and Culture

Jian Li

Table of Contents

Introduction 2

Chapter 1 An Overview of Religion in China – A Personal Experience 4

Chapter 2 Chinese Religion and Philosophy – A Historical Perspective 15

Chapter 3 Divinity and Transcendence: Religion and Metaphysics 32

Chapter 4 Human Nature: Good, evil or neutral? 53

Chapter 5 Perspectives of an Ideal Life and Ideal Society 63

Chapter 6 The impact of Daoism on Chinese Medicine 76

Chapter 7 The Impact of Daoism on Chinese Art 83

Chapter 8 How Do You Say Unitarian Universalism in Chinese? 91

Chapter 9 Your Thoughts and Comments 106

Recommended Book and Web Resources 107

2

Introduction

Jian Li

Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism are classified as the three major Chinese

religions in the West. However, Chinese scholars usually consider them as three

great teachings instead of religions. Specifically, Confucianism is often regarded

as an ethical system, Buddhism as a religion from India, and Daoism as the

indigenous belief system that has both philosophical and religious implications.

It is problematic to classify “Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism” as religions.

The word, religion in Chinese, is “zong jiao 宗教”: zong 宗 means “ancestor, clan,

sect, faction, school”; jiao 教 means “teach, instruct, and religion by extension”.

The concept of “zong jiao 宗教” as religion was not introduced/used in Chinese

until by late 19th century via Japanese translation of the concept1. The traditional

Chinese folk religion is centered around the “ancestor worship”. Some households

in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong still keep shrines where the pictures and ashes of

their diseased parents, grandparents, great grandparents, are kept in reverence

regardless of their religious affiliations. They would pay special homage and

offerings to their diseased ancestors during special Chinese holidays based on the

Chinese lunar calendar. This is the kind of cultural custom/folk religion based on

ancestor worship practiced in China for more than 3,000 years.

Confucianism and Daoism started to emerge during the Axial Age (about 500

BCE). Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty, (206BCE to

220 AD). The introduction of Buddhism from India sparked a sense of urgency in

formalizing a state sanctioned ideology/philosophy/religion. As a result, the Three

Teachings, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism started to take shape as state

sanctioned belief systems in Han Dynasty. From the start, the Three Teachings

were not mutually exclusive but complementary to one another despite some

skirmishes about the supremacy of one over another at the different junctures of

the Chinese history. In Chinese, the Three Teachings, “san jiao he yi三教合一” ,

literally means the trinity of the Chinese belief system. Confucianism provides

1ChineseReligion:AnOverview,

http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Writings/Chinese%20Religions%20-

%20Overview.htm

3

guidance to ethical behavior, Daoism provides guidance to health and how to live

in harmony with the nature and the society, and Buddhism provides a

transcendent view of life and death.

This booklet is an introduction to the “Three Teachings ” with an emphasis on

Daoism. This is because Daoism not only provides a philosophical and religious

foundation of the Chinese civilization, it also speaks a universal language that

transcends time and space. Philosophical Daoism can still inspire us to live a life

that is in harmony with the nature. The first chapter starts from my recent journey

to a holy mountain, Kongtong Mountain, in northwest China. It gives the readers a

glimpse of religious landscape of China today. After a short introduction of the

history of Chinese philosophy and religion, five topics are covered: divinity and

transcendence; human nature; perspectives of an ideal life and ideal society; the

impact of Daoism on traditional Chinese medicine; the impact of Daoism on

Chinese art. The last chapter, How Do You Say Unitarian Universalism in Chinese,

was from an article I wrote in 2009. It highlights both the potential and ambiguity

inherent in Unitarian Universalism and the difficulty in translation. Apart from the

first and last chapters, most of the materials of this booklet come from different

sources: books, articles, and online databases. The source of each work is

identified in the footnote. In addition, some recommended books/articles are listed

at the end of the booklet.

There are several different ways of translating Chinese names into English. The

two main Romanization systems are Wade-Giles system (developed by British

linguists) and Pinyin system (developed by the Chinese linguists in the 1960s). For

example, Tao De Ching and Lao Tze are transliterations based on the Wade-Giles

system, and Dao De Jing/Lao Zi are transliterations based on the Pinyin system. In

academic publications, the Chinese names are mostly translated in the Wade-

Giles system before the 1980s, and it is becoming more and more popular to use

the Pinyin system after the 1980s. Both Wade-Giles and Pinyin systems are used

here to transcribe the proper Chinese names depending largely on the

conventions in translating names from Chinese into English.

4

Chapter 1 An Overview of Religion in China

-- A Personal Experience

Traditionally Chinese religious temples, especially Daoist temples, are nestled

in big mountains. This is because Chinese people traditionally believe humans are

closer to gods when they are in nature than in man made environment. Most

Chinese know about at least a few sacred mountains associated with either

Buddhism or Daoism even if they are not religious. There are hundreds of sacred

mountains in China. Those who love to travel know about Four Great Sacred

Mountains of Buddhism and the Four Great Sacred Mountains of Taoism in

China .2 However, most Chinese who go to those sacred mountains are not for

religious reasons but to enjoy the beautiful sceneries, unique architecture and art

of the temples dotted in the sacred mountains.

In July 2015, I visited Kongtong Mountain (Chinese: 崆峒山; pinyin: Kōngtóng

Shān). It is an important yet lesser- known sacred mountain in the Northwest

China. In addition to numerous Daoist temples, it also has temples dedicated to

Confucianism and Buddhism. I chose Mount Kongtong because it was cool in the

summer and it was less commercialized than those well known scenic and sacred

mountains full of tourists.

Here is a short description of Kongtong Mountain3:

Lying 7.5 miles to the west of Pingliang City in Gansu Province, Kongtong Mountain is

noted for its marvelous natural scenery and exquisite manmade landscapes. It enjoys the

reputation as "The Holy Land of Taoism", "The Remarkable Spectacle of Western China"

and "The First Mountain in Western China".

2.Formoredetails,pleasereadhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Mountains_of_China3FromTravelChinaGuide,http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/gansu/pingliang/Kongtong-

mountain.htm

5

Beautiful Natural Scenery

Kongtong Mountain is a branch of Liupan Mountain. Though located in the western

plateau area, the mountain is endowed with the characteristics both of the magnificence of

China's northern mountains and the beauty of southern mountains. Huge mountains stand

one after another with vast patches of green forests as their clothes and ethereal mist as

their white belt. This mountain is abundant in stone caves and houses, many of which are

located in the cliffs or dense forest where nobody sets foot. The famous ones include

Guangcheng Cave, Zhaoyang Cave, Xuanhe Cave and Kongtong Cave. In addition, it is a

rich water resource. The Yanzhi River flows from the north. Every spring, peach blossoms

fall into the water and float on the current: a lovely sight. At the foot of the mountain,

Tanzheng Lake flows calmly like a mirror, and its murmuring water sounds like a Chinese

zither, giving the lake its name, Tanzheng Lake (Playing Zither Lake).

Long History and Profound Religious Culture

The father of Chinese culture, the Emperor Xuan Yuan, once visited Kongtong

Mountain to consult the wise man Guang Chengzi on how to manage the country and

maintain good health. From then on, Kongtong Mountain rapidly gained prestige. Later on,

the King of Mu in the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-771 BC), the Emperor Qin

Shi Huang and the Emperor Wu in Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD), all followed

him to visit Kongtong Mountain, which made the mountain more and more famous.

Kongtong Mountain is the holy mountain of three religions: Taoism, Buddhism and

Confucianism. It is said that Taoism temples were being built on the mountain as early as

in the Wei (220-265) and Jin (265-420) Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644),

construction began on Taihe Palace and other attached Taoist buildings. Since then,

Taoism has been handed down from one generation to another. Buddhism also flourished

in Kongtong Mountain, as evidence of Buddhist rituals can be found in it from the Tang

Dynasty (618-907). There are 19 Buddhist temples from the early Qing Dynasty (1644-

1911). Today Buddhism and Taoism grow together in a harmonious atmosphere on the

mountain, a situation which is unique to Kongtong Mountain. In addition, Kongtong

Mountain has cultivated many Confucianism scholars such as Huang Fumi, the talented

founder of Chinese Acupuncture.

6

My journey into the Kongtong Mountain, July 23 to 25, 2015

Initially, I planned to spend at least a week to experience the life as the Taoists

do in the mountain. My plan was changed after I learned that I had to carry

everything I needed on my back and climb to the top of the mountain (three hours

of climbing). In addition, the Daoist living quarters have neither shower nor

restroom (there are public restrooms outside the room). My cousin thought it would

be too tough for me to stay there by myself and volunteered to go with me, but

only for 2-3 days.

In addition to visiting the beautiful scenery spots and various temples, we ate

the same vegetarian food as the Taoists and tried to experience and understand

Taoism as much as we could in this very short time. One of the questions I asked

was “why did you decide to become a Daoist and become a member of this

temple?” One of them told me he “came here for food”; another one told me he

was always interested in Daoism, and he decided to come here after he retired

from his job. It turned out that some came to be Daoists because of a calling, and

some others came here because of some traumatic life experiences - they came to

seek solace. Consistent with the Taoist lassie faire philosophy, the Kongtong

Daoist monastery was very loosely structured. Each Taoist on the mountain has a

day job: each member is given a temple to take care of from 8:30am to 5:30pm.

Their duties include cleaning, keeping incents burning, answering questions when

tourists/pilgrims come. Although there are regular morning and evening changings,

it’s not mandatory for the members to attend. The life for Daoists on the mountain

seems to be very simple and relaxed. The second question I asked was if they

could feel Qi/energy of the mountain. Several long time Daoists on the mountain

can feel Qi of the mountain - not only can they feel the Qi of the mountain, they

can also tell the subtle energy emitting from different parts of the mountain, and

whether the energy was compatible with the Qi in their bodies. ...

7

I carried everything I needed

for three days on my back

and started to climb to the top of the Mount Kongtong.

The Chinese characters on

the stone tablet says: “Up To

the Heaven’s Ladder”. The

journey took my cousin and I

three hours with stops to

enjoy the view. It’s probably

about three miles, more than

3,000 steps to climb, from the

foot to the top of the

mountain. It was tough but I was happy that I did it!

Yellow Emperor Seeking the Way (Dao)

It is said that an immortal

named Guangchengzi once

lived in a stone cave in the

mountain, and the Yellow

Emperor once came here to

hear his preaching. So it is

one of the birthplaces of

Taoism in China. The first

Emperor of the Qin Dynasty

and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

8

It is quite common to see

tourists who are most likely

not officially “Taoists” and

“Buddhists” kneel down and

pray in front of Taoist

god/gods or Buddhist god/gods.

This is the Chinese character

of “Heart”, carved on the wall

leading up to some temples.

Most Chinese agree that our

mind is the seat of the

divinity. It doesn’t matter

which god you believe as long as your heart is sincere.

The couplet on the left says

“Confucianism, Buddhism,

and Daoism are Trinity In

One”. On the right it says

“Spirit, Chi/Energy, and

Divinity all originate from the

same source”. The four

character sign on the top right

corner says “Sincerity is the key to the divine”.

9

Although pictures are allowed

when touring the Taoist

temples from outside the

temples, it is forbidden to take

any pictures of deities inside the temples.

My cousin recorded a brief

moment of the service without

permission. She was alarmed

to learn later in the evening

that nothing was recorded and

there was a big hand chopping

down at the end of her brief

recording. A miracle? An

omen? Her face turned white

and quickly deleted the

recording saying, “I would not

dare to do this kind of things in the future anymore”.