Taoism, Confucianism & Shinto
Terms
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- Shang dynasty
- (1600-1122 BCE) – first identifiable Chinese state. Believed in Shang Ti.
- Chou dynasty
- (3rd c. BCE) – period of major political and social chaos. States fought with one another.
- Dao
- "the Way" source of gods and order. makes no command or judgement. source of order.
- Date of emergence of Daoism
- Chou dynasty, 3rd c. BCE
- Where is Taoism practiced?
- Taiwan and Chinese communities.
- Qi (definition)
- the belief that the cosmos is a manifestation of an impersonal self-generating force made of yin and yang
- Yin
- Dark, heavy, obscure, passive, earth, death, and feminine. The yin energy sank to form the Earth.
- Yang
- Light, warm, airy, active, life heaven, and masculine. The yang energy arose to form the heavens.
- Taiji diagram
- "the yin-yang symbol," represents yin and yang.
- Purpose of Daoist practice
- Control of qi
- T’ai-chi ch’uan
- Martial art to harness flow of qi.
- Shang Ti
- the Lord-on-High, ruler of the universe This deity was the guarantor of the moral order. He could determine whether human projects would be successful. He was conceived as being masculine. All deities were subordinate to him. The king consulted Shang Ti. The king is the chief priest and diviner of the realm. He performed rites on behalf of all the people to secure Shang Ti’s blessings.
- mandate of heaven (t’ien ming)
- The Mandate of Heaven was the self-existing moral law of virtue, the supreme reality. The concept is that a virtuous family may be charged or obligated by heaven to rule. It is a special relationship based on merit, not birth. Heaven is conceived as a deity or as the divine ordering of the universe. If rulers become corrupt, Heaven gives the mandate to another family. So Heaven, earth, and the emperor are linked together.
- Until (date) the Emperor was known as the Son of Heaven
- 1906
- I Ching (Book of Changes)
- Interpreted patterns like hexagram.
- oracle bones
- They were read to communicate with spirits.
- De or te
- (inherent power of virtue)
- Laozi
- the philosophical tradition or Dao jia (“the Philosophy of the Daoâ€) traced to the legendary sage Laozi and first expressed in a collection of poems
- Daodejing
- ( The Classic of the Way and its Power) – 4th-3rd c. BCE poem written by laozi
- wu-wei
- (non-action, inaction, non-purposiveness)
- What does wu-wei mean in government?
- non interference
- Zhuang Zi
- 4th c. BCE Master Chuang He is the legendary author of a work that goes by the same name. According to tradition, he, too, was a minor government official before he became a hermit.
- The Way of the Celestial Masters
- A reputed healer Zhang Daoling organized this group in the first-second c. CE) in Western China This secret society aimed to attain longevity through faith healing, meditative trance, and alchemy. The movement accepted minorities and women in the ranks of parish leadership. Had hierarchy
- Zhang Daoling
- Founder of Celestial Masters. Said to have discovered elixer of life.
- The Yellow Turbans
- headed by Zhang Jue (2nd c. CE). They conquered the Yellow River in eastern China
- The Celestial Worthies
- The Three Purities - the Primordial Celestial Worthy; the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure; and the Celestial Worthy of the Way and Its Power (the deified Laozi).
- The Three Officials
- (Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water) were ancient deities who were believed to keep records of human deeds on earth and to control each person’s life span and fate after death.
- The Eight Immortals
- They consists of human beings who—through learning, self-discipline, alchemy —have purified themselves of mortal imperfections and become gods, a transformation often described as "ascending to the heavens in broad daylight."
- Shen
- taoist god of the stove thought to sit in the kitchen corner in every home and watch over the family.