CONFUCIANISM

 emphasizes the ethical dimension of the world

 gives primary attention to human relationship, thus advocating social values and ideals which should serve as the
foundation of Chinese society.
 Believers/adherents are called Confucians or Confucianists
 Love of learning is one of the highest virtues in confucian ethics
 Chinese philosophy of Dao (or ‘The Way”) - which refers to the moral order that permeates the universe or the force
behind the natural order.

AS A PHILOSOPHY AS A RELIGION

 assert that when Kung Fuzi founded Confucianism,  Confucianism is considered a religion because its
he never meant to establish a new religion; he merely ideals were inspirational, not in the supernatural
wanted to interpret and revive the ancient religion of sense but in the sense of aiming for excellence in
Zhou dynasty. one’s relationships with others.
 argues that Kung Fuzi seldom touched on religious  Confucianism has often been categorized together
matters with Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam,
Judaism, and Daoism as a major religion

Confucius

 “do not do unto others what you do not want others do unto you”
 Born on September 28, 551 B.C.E
 Died in 479 B.C.E at the age of 73
 Got married at 19, became a father at 20
 First person to devote their whole life to learning and teaching for the purpose of social transformation and
improvement
 As stated in the Analects, Confucius believed that social harmony would naturally follow from the proper ordering of
individuals in relation to one another, with the family unit as the basic building block of society.
 His name is the latinized version of “Kongzi” “Kong Fuzi” = Master Kong
 According to him, relationships are easiest to perfect, but hardest to attain
SACRED SCRIPTURES
1. Analects or Lunyu (“conversations” or “sayings”) – also knows as the analects of Confucius. It is a collection of
sayings and ideas attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius
2. Book of Changes – also knows as the I-Ching. believed to have existed at the time of Confucius and is the oldest of the
Classics. focuses on short predictions following a type of divination called cleromancy
3. Book of History – also knows as the book of Documents or Shangshu. conventionally attributed to Confucius by early
scholars. composed of speeches (or prose) of royalty and ministers mainly from the Shang and Zhou dynasties
4. Book of Poetry - also known as the Book of Songs/Odes/Shijing, is a collection of three hundred and five songs
compiled about love, courtship, abandonment and dances.
5. Classic of Rites - a compilation of ceremonial rituals, administration, and social forms of the Zhou Dynasty.
 Ceremonials (I-li/Yili) - an early manual of protocol for the nobility.
 Book of Rites (Li-chi/Liji) - which is composed of forty-nine sections of ritual and government guidelines.
DOCTRINES/BELIEFS:
1. BELIEF IN TIAN - Tian or “heaven,” is an all-encompassing god. Tian may also refer to that which is beyond human
control.
2. HUMAN NATURE AS ORIGINALLY GOOD OR EVIL - Mengzi (or Mencius) believed that all human beings are
born with innate goodness that can be cultivated through proper education and self- discipline (li). While Xunzi
believed that human nature is basically evil but can be improved through self-cultivation.
 3. FILIAL PIETY AS AN IMPORTANT VIRTUE – for Confucius, family relations provide a model for social behavior.
4. THE FIVE CONSTANTS – also known as the Five Classical Virtues, or Wuchang, these are the five most important
Confucian ethics mentioned in the Analects.
 Ren – benevolence
 Yi – righteousness
 Li – propriety
 Zhi – knowledge/wisdom
 Xin – fidelity
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES
1. Coming of Age Rites - ceremonies held to signify that a young person has reached the marriageable age.
 Male teenagers (15-20) – (CAPPING) receive their formal hat and ceremonial gown, formal name with wine
libation
 Female Teenagers (16) – (HAIR PINNING) their hair is tied into a knot and securing it with a hairpin or
hairclip
2. Mourning Rites - a public announcing of grief through weeping, the wearing of white funeral clothes by the family of
the deceased, preparing and setting up of a spirit tablet
3. Marriage Ceremonies - considered as a central feature of society. Traditionally, this is decided by the parents of the
couple. Monogamy is preferred. Dowry is sent to the groom’s house by the bride. couple leading the festivity at the
bridal chamber.
4. Sacrificial Rituals - performed regularly by the descendants of the deceased ancestors. visiting the ancestor’s grave to
clean and repair it, and through offertories, such as food, fruit, wine, incense, or candles. Descendants normally bury
their ancestors with belongings. The oldest and most enduring Confucian ritual still observed today.
THE FIVE RELATIONSHIPS
1. Father to Son; (Filial Piety) - the core of the five relationships. the son must be completely obedient and respectful to
his father.
2. Elder Brother to Younger Brother (Fraternal Piety) - The younger brother is to be obedient and respectful to his
older brother. The younger brother must do nothing to bring shame to his family.
3. Husband to wife (Matrimonial Piety) - wife has the responsibility of not bringing shame to the family similarly to
the role of the younger brother. The husband has the duty to honor his wife as he instructs her.
4. Emperor to subject (Civic Piety) - The Emperor gains his power through heredity and military victory, but can only
maintain that power as long as he is fulfilling the Will of Heaven,
5. Friend to Friend (Mutual Piety) - a mutual respect, one which one becomes worthy of by being worthy of learning the
Classics and showing the incorporation of Confucian ideals
TAOISM/DAOISM
 a Chinese philosophy and folk religion of people primarily in the rural areas of China.
 Taoism's primary idea and focus is the Tao (way, path), which must be followed, not taking any action contrary to nature
and finding a place in the natural order of things.

THE VINEGAR TASTERS

1. Confucius (Confucianism) - saw life as sour, in need of rules to correct the degeneration of people
2. Buddha (Buddhism) - saw life as bitter, dominated by pain and suffering due to the attachment to possessions and
material desires
3. Laozi (Taoism) - saw life as sweet due to it being fundamentally perfect in its natural state.

LAO-TZU
 Founder of Taoisim/Daoism
 The roots of Taoism can be traced to Lao-tzu and his text Tao Te Ching (the Classic of the Way and its’ Power)
 He believed in the harmony of all things and that people could live easily together if they only considered each other’s
feelings and recognized that their self-interest was not always in the best interests of others
 Lao-Tzu became irritated by the corrupt government. He realized that he can’t change people’s behavior and decided to
go into exile.

SACRED SCRIPTURES
1. TAO TE CHING (“BOOK OF THE WAY AND ITS POWER, OR MANIFESTATION”) - A work of seminal
importance to Taoism and influential on Zen Buddhism, this work is elliptical and often mystifying, perhaps the
inevitable result of trying to describe in words what the author insists is ineffable, unnameable, and unknowable.

CONCEPTS/BELIEFS
 WU WEI - The method of following the Tao is called Wu Wei. Wu Wei
means living by or going along with the true nature of the world - or at
least without obstructing the Tao - letting things take their natural course.

 YIN YANG - the principle of natural and complementary forces,

patterns and things that depend on one another and do not make sense on
their own.

 CHI - Chi is the force/ primal substance that animates the universe in Taoism. It’s a mysterious
force introduced to us by ancient Chinese myths and legends that have also told us about Tai Chi
and about Tao. Chi is the force that sets the world and everything in it into motion.
 The Eight (8) Important Taoist Symbol
The "Eight Symbols" or "Eight Trigrams"
Here, we see the eight trigrams of the Ba
Gua arranged around a Yin-Yang Symbol.

SHINTOISM
 The term “Shinto” came from “Shentao/Shendao”, shen means divine beings or kami and dao means the way, hence
Shintoism means “the way of the kami.” The term first appeared in the Nihongi and Kojiki (or probably much earlier).
It was used in order to help distinguish kami-no-Michi (the Japanese Way of the Gods).
 During the prehistoric period in Japan, animism was evident in the agricultural affairs of the people. Agricultural rites
were celebrated seasonally and all communal religious activities were focused on objects or places believed to be
inhabited by kami or spirits.

STORY OF CREATION
 narrates that in the beginning there were two kami, Izanagi-no-Mikoto (male) and Izanami-no-Mikoto (female). It
was said that after Izanagi’s creative work on earth, he went up to heaven while Izanami was left permanently on earth
as the queen of the lower world.

Children of Izanagai and Izanami:

a. Amaterasu-o-mi-kami – the goddess of the sun, the ancestor of the Japanese imperial family, came from Izanagi’s
left eye
 Jimmu Tenno – Amaterasu’s grandson, the first emperor of Japan
b. Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto – came from Izanagi’s right eye
c. Susa-no-Wo-no-Mikoto - came from Izanagi’s nostrils.
TORRI GATE
 the most common symbol of Shintoism.
 marks the entrance to a sacred space which is the Shinto shrine.
 represents the transition between the worlds of humans and the worlds of the
gods and goddesses
 It is believed to prepare the visitor for their interaction with the spirits by
signifying the sacredness of the location. It is traditionally made of wood or
stone, but now most toriis are made of concrete and steel.

SACRED SCRIPTURES
1. KOJIKI - one of the most important texts on Shintoism, Kojiki is composed of three books:
a) Age of Kami – narrates the mythology
b) About Imperial Lineage narrating the events concerning the imperial family up to the death of
the thirty-third ruler, Empress Suiko.
c) About Impreial Lineage
2. NIHON SHOKI/NIHONGI - records the descent of the Yamato rulers of Japan from the gods. It represents a
combination of a political purpose with folklores and myths.

WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

1. Hatsumiyamairi (First Shrine Visit) - newborn children are taken to the shrine to seek protection from the kami.
2. Shichi-go-san (Seven-Five-Three) - the festival is observed every 15th of November by boys of five years and girls
of three and seven years of age, who visit the shrine to give thanks for the protection provided by the kami and to ask
for their healthy growth
3. Funeral rites - since death is considered impure, most Japanese funerals are Buddhist in nature; Shintoism’s funeral
practices are called sosai.

MAGICAL CHARMS AND AMULETS

- Aside from worshiping the kami at the shrines, one of the main attractions at the shrines is the sale and distribution of
charms or amulets.
- Shintoist believe that these amulets provide protection and can even be a source of magic.
- They often carry personal amulets and their homes are guarded by magical charms in the form of lintel placards or
different talismanic symbols placed on the altars for their deities.