Ancient China Research Paper

In this essay I will describe the three main religions of Ancient China. Although they are not that much alike they do have some similarities. There were three major religions in ancient china, Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The religion Taoism began in China in the 300's BC. "Taoism was Chinas own indigenous higher religion, characterized by the fourth century by a literate and self-perpetuating priesthood, a pantheon of celestial deities, complex rituals, and revealed scriptures in classical Chinese"(The Encyclopedia of Religion – volume 3 – 1993 Macmillan Publishing Company – New York, NY – pg. 272). Taoism as a philosophy appears in two books, the Lao-tzu which was later renamed Too Te Ching, and there was Chuang-tzu. The
ideas of this philosophy were partly a chain reaction against Confucianism. The Taoists ideal person is someone who avoids conventional social obligations and leads a simple, spontaneous, and meditative life close to nature. This philosophy also had a great influence on china in literature and art. As a religion, Taoism was influenced by Chinese folk religion. Most gods were human beings who display exceptional powers during there life time. Priests conduct public rituals. There were even some members of Taoist groups that have sought out to find immortality from magic, meditation, special diets, breath control or recitation. All branches of Taoism eventually traced their origin to a new revelation from the Most High Lord Lao to Chang Tao-ling, the grandfather of Chang Lu, in 142 CE (common era), establishing him as "Celestial Master" (The Encyclopedia of Religion – volume 3 – 1993 Macmillan Publishing Company – New York, NY – pg. 272). Next there was Confucianism, a philosophy based on the ideas of the Chinese philosopher, Confucius.
He thought of many rules and even a version of the golden rule saying, "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others." (The World Book Encyclopedia – 2004 – World book, Inc. – Chicago IL. – Volume 4) Many consider Confucianism as a religion, but it has no clergy and doesn't involve any type of worship. It is more of a guide to mortality and good government. Confucianism originated about 500 BC, and from 100's BC to the 1900's AD Confucianism was the most important single force in Chinese life. This religion influenced education, government, personal behavior, and the individuals' duty to society. Confucianism started because of a philosopher named Confucius, born about 551BC. He believed his society could be saved if it emphasized sincerity in personal and public conduct. The Confucian's believed the key to orderly social life was gentlemen. Confucius believed they were rulers. He wasn't very well known when he came to his death. It was his followers that spread his ideas, Mencius, (390?-305? BC) and there was Xunzi (mid 200s BC). Mencius believed that you were to be born good and he stressed the need to preserve "the natural compassion of the heart" that makes people human. He also emphasized the past as an ideal age and a model for examining present problems. And Xunzi believed "people could be good and live together peacefully only if their minds were shaped by education and clear rules of conduct". (The World Book Encyclopedia – 2004 – World book, Inc. – Chicago IL. – Volume
4) Finally there was Buddhism, one of the major religions of the world. It was founded in India about 500BC or shortly after that time. The religion was founded by a teacher named Buddha. This religion was a dominant force at various times, and today has about 350 million followers. Most of these followers are from Sri Lanka, the mainland nations of South East Asia, and Japan. Buddhism believes that life is suffering and the goal is to end the suffering. A life free of desire is also called enlightenment. They also believe that there are four facts of life or four noble truths, first is everyone will know suffering, pain and sorrow, second is suffering is caused by desire and desire keeps you in the cycle of rebirth, third is you can end the suffering by eliminating desire, and finally you can eliminate desire by following the 8 fold path. The goal of everything is to achieve nirvana. Buddhism also rejects social hierarchy. The beliefs in Buddhism are for one to have faith in 1 Buddha, in his teachings (The Dharma), and the religious community he founded (Sangha). Buddhists call Buddha the dharma, and Sangha the Three Refuges or Three jewels. They believe that Buddha was born sometime during the 500s or 400s BC in southwestern Nepal. His real name was Siddhartha Guatama. At the age of 29 he became overwhelmed with the conviction that life was filled with suffering and unhappiness. As you can see there are differences and similarities between these three religions. However ancient China definitely had three very different and important religions.