A
Brief Introduction to Chinese Culture
China is
wondrous and awe-inspiring. It has a history of five thousand
years. It is the only continuous ancient civilization in the
world. Other
ancient civilizations have changed, discontinued, withered or
perished. Why is it so enduring? Why is it so coherent, often
sticking to itself, remaining undivided? Why is it so dynamic,
always able to revive, regenerate and revitalize itself? Why is it
an immortal phoenix able to rise again on its ashes? These are
enduring questions. Nobody can give a complete answer. They will stimulate intellect, provoke interest, engage
investigation.
 Chinese culture
is rich and profound. It has the richest historical records.
Chinese have been most historically-minded. Perhaps, China has
more historical records than the whole world put together. This
guess will not be far from truth. She has a great deal of
historical records from the pre-Christian era, not to mention the
matchless twenty-six history books of the imperial dynasties. She
is not the home of Buddhism,
but she boasts of the richest Buddhist scriptures.
Another area of
the profundity of Chinese culture is her pre-industrial revolution
science and technology. Before this revolution China had been the
pace-setter not only in history and literature but also in science
and technology. Unfortunately, this area had been all along
neglected by the world, including China herself. Fortunately, this
has been discovered and proved by the world-famous British scholar
Joseph Needham. Thanks to his efforts, this has been universally
accepted by the world's people as a matter of fact.
The richness of
Chinese culture also finds expression in its diversity and pluralism.
China has always been a country of many ethnic groups. No matter
which ethnic group was dominant, be it Hans, Mongols, or Manchus, her various peoples
always could live
under the same roof, worshipped the same emperor. It is true that
there were times of division,
but division was transient.
There seem to be cycles of division and unification, but
unification has outlived division. All these peoples have their
own legacies,
but they share the same legacy as well. The diversity
and pluralism of Chinese culture is a tremendous asset. This is
very keenly felt now. Increasing value is attached to this
national treasure.
Chinese
culture is a complete system, including its own philosophy,
literature and arts, medicine, technology and science as well as
language and festivals. All of these are quite different from
other civilizations, especially from the Christian culture.
Chinese culture is originated from its agriculture, and as a
result of its developed agriculture and imperial system, which
lasted about 5,000 years, scholars, as a new class, was born. They
had contributed a lot to what Chinese culture is.
 Many giant
western intellectuals have looked up to Chinese culture.
Enlightenment fathers drew inspiration from Confucianism.
Some contemporary philosophers and psychiatrists have found cures
for western ills in Chinese mysticism, Confucian ethics and Daoist
non-government.
Outwardly, the
Chinese have no any idea about the religion. For so many years ,the
Chinese intellectuals are atheists. It is one problem that the
Buddhism influence on the philosophy of China, but so little trace
has been left during the common education of the Buddhism to the
common people in China.
Study deeply, we found that we all have the common background of the
religion. The difference between the intellectuals and the ignorant
people is :the intellectuals believe but not admit, the ignorant
people admit but not believe. This obscure psychological setting is
caused mostly because of the combination of the Buddhism and the Daoism.
The Buddhism, Christian religion, and Islamism are all religions
from other countries. The Daoism is the only local religion that
was born and developed in China. In China history, there is no any
religion that ever be in a dominating position like the
"national religion" in Western countries. The Han
nationality, which constitute the majority of the population of
China worship the Heaven and the ancestors, hence it becomes the main tradition of the national
religion sense.
In addition, there goes the saying "Famous mountains are mostly
occupied by monks and nuns, "which points to the fact that
Buddhist monasteries and Daoist temples are found in almost all
well-known scenic spots, making up another notable feature of
Chinese landscape. Hence we get another culture about the Chinese
Religion and Scenic Spots. 
Daoism
Lao
Zi's Life Story Literally the
"name" means "The Old Boy," so it's not really
a name at all -- just an epithet. It derives from the legend that
he was, from his birth (following a miraculous conception by a
falling star and his mother's extended pregnancy), an old man. He
was, of course, Chinese, and amusing stories abound of his
encounters with Confucius although no one has any idea if they
could have been contemporaries.
Very little is
known about Lao Zi, the founder of Daoism.  According to some
historical works, his original name was Li Er, and was born in the
state of Chu, but the date of his birth was unknown, could be a
lttle earlier than Confucius. For some time he
was a keeper of archives in the Zhou court, Zhou being the name of
the dynasty which nominally ruled all the states during the Spring
and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that followed.
When he saw the decline of the Zhou, he left his post
to live the life of a hermit. On his way he had to pass a gate.
The
gate keeper, who had heard of his learning, begged him to write a
book. He agreed, and wrote a small book of 5,000 words, discussing
" Dao and De", or the Way and its functions. The book is
generally called Dao De
Jing, or the Lao
Zi. After he finished the
book, he went away, and nobody knew where he went or when he died.
As
there was a record of his meeting with Confucius and their
discussion of the rites, we know he was a contemporary of, and
perhaps older than Confucius.
This small book "Lao Zi "written in verse, contains great
wisdom. It has been studied by Chinese scholars of all ages after
him, and copious notes and commentaries have been written to
explain the meaning of every line in the book. It discusses many
philosophical and practical questions, such as the origin and
working of the universe, the laws that govern the change and
movement of things, the correct way to live and behave, and the way
to govern a state.
According to Lao Zi, Dao,
or Tao, which is invisible, intangible, and
indescribable, gave birth to the universe, and made all the things
in the universe what they are. This shows that Lao Zi did not
believe that the universe was created by a God; instead, it was
created by a mysterious force which he called Dao, but he said the
name itself was inadequate.
Lao Zi held that all things and concepts are relative. The long and
the short, the high and the low,what is in front and what is
behind, what is beautiful and what is ugly, must exist in pairs.
In
each pair one side produces the other. The two sides are opposite
to but dependent on each other.
From this Lao Zi drew a very important conclusion: "turning
back is how the way moves". In other words, things always go
from one extreme to the other. What is strong may become weak, and
what is weak may become strong. Good fortune may become
misfortune, and misfortune may become good fortune. It is not
difficult for one to name facts that show this theory is true.
There have been innumerable stories of the collapse of
conquerors and emperors, the failures of men who had suffered defeats and
losses. Lao Zi praised weakness and softness, which, he said, will eventually overcome the strong and
hard.
About the way to live and behave, Lao Zi advised people to be
peaceful, modest, humble, passive, reserved, not to show off, and not
to contend with others. He said," He who does not show himself
off is conspicuous; he who does not consider himself right is
famous; he who does not boast is successful; he who is not proud of
his work endures; he who does not contend makes it impossible for
anyone to contend with him."
His principle of government may be summarized in one word,
non-action. He
said that the ruler should let the people look after themselves,
and should not teach them to be humane or righteous, or
encourage them to make clever things or become rich. He said that
the people should be kept ignorant, free from desires and satisfied with a simple life in a
small state without any contact with people of other states.
Lao
Zi, a sage, was born
in the Spring and Autumn Period. According to tradition he was an adult
from birth, from which circumstances he derived his name of Lao Zi, or
"old boy". He taught contemplation and retirement as means of
spiritual purification and the attainment of the Dao, or "correct
road", a word which he used to signify the highest spiritual ideals
of mankind.
What
is "Dao" Dao, in
Dao De
Jing,
means the way of ultimate reality, which exists beyond the physical sense
of men. Dao (Tao) is also the way of the universe. It moves in endless cycles
and never changes. All life comes from it, but nothing produced by Dao lasts forever.
Dao also refers to the way man should order his life to
keep it in line with the natural order of the universe. Daoists reject self-assertiveness, competition,
and ambition. They are indifferent to things like rank, profuse luxury,
and vulgar show. They would make friends with nature rather than conquer
or dominate it.
Daoism
in Brief Daoism was indigenous to
the Han nationality. It originated around the 2nd century A.D.. Zhang
Daoling is credited as its founder, Lao Zi is regarded as its master and
his work, Dao de jing (Classic of the Way of Power) is its main doctrine.
By the 14th century, Daoism had been divided into many sects. From the
14th century it developed into two main philosophies: Quanzhen Dao,
emphasizing self-cultivation to attain immortality and Zhengyi Dao,
involving belief in charms and spells. It began to decline in the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and, in 1949, there were about 20,000 Daoist
temples with 40,000 believers.
Daoism
and Chinese Culture Daoism has gods of the
Town, Land , Kitchen, Door, and Wealth. At the head of these gods are the
Supreme Patriarch Lao Zi and the Jade Emperor. These gods are enshrined in
Daoist monasteries and temples. The God of Wealth, called Marshal Zhao, is
believed to bring people a big fortune. The God of the Door, on the other
hand, is supposed to keep away demons, while the God of the Kitchen is in
charge of every household's good fortune and misfortune. Daoists expect to
gain longevity or even immortality through ascetic practices, such as
meditation and self-cultivation. The popular fairy tale "The Eight
Immortals Crossing the Sea" has its origin in Daoism.
Many of the Han nationality
used to worship both the Buddha and the Daoist gods. Therefore, among the
ordinary Han people, it was very difficult to distinguish the Daoists from
the Buddhists. In ancient China, both Buddhism and Daoism had a deep
effect on the development of ideas, culture and popular customs. Many
famous Buddhist buildings are now protected by the People's Government as
treasures of China's culture and art. Examples of these are the White
Horse Monastery in Luoyang (built in 68 AD), Henan Province and the
Dunhuang Grottoes (carved in 4th century) in Gansu Province, the White Cloud
Daoist Temple in Beijing, the one in the
Qingcheng Mountains of Sichuan Province and the one in the Wudang
Mountains of Hubei Province.
Buddhism
Around
same time as Confucius lived, Buddhism was founded by Sakyamuni, who was
originally a prince of a small state in North India, on the border
of present-day Nepal. At that time India was divided into many
states with different traditions and languages. After seeing other people's sufferings and sorrows, he left his
father's palace and began roaming alone, leading a very hard life,
and thinking of the causes of man's sorrows, and the way to free
man of all trouble. Finally, at 35, he attained enlightenment.
After that he preached the truth he had found and gradually it was
accepted by many people. He was regarded by his followers as the
Buddha, meaning the awakened one.
Among his main teachings were the Four Noble
Truths: (1)that
sorrow is the universal experience of mankind; (2)that the cause
of sorrow is desire; (3)that the removal of sorrow can only come
from the removal of desire; and (4)that desire can be
systematically abandoned by following the Noble Eightfold Path
(eight steps that should be taken: right view, right thought,
right words, right behaviors, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness and right concentration).
Buddhism was first introduced into China at the beginning of
the Eastern Han. This had something to do with the opening of the
Western Regions, which made travel between China and India easier
than before. In AD 67, two Indian monks came to Luoyang. Emperor
Ming Di ordered the building of the
White Horse Temple
and asked them to translate Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. They
were followed by other monks from India and West Asia. At first,
Buddhism was known only to members of the ruling class. It was
during the period of the Southern and Northern dynasties that it
was spread among the ordinary people.
Confucianism
Confucius' Life
Story During the Spring and
Autumn and the Warring States period (770-221 BC), private education
developed rapidly. It was very popular for scholars to give private
lessons to groups of selected disciples. Confucius (551-479 BC), who is
regarded as a great thinker and educator of ancient China, was a pioneer
in running private schools. He was from a declining aristocratic family of
the State of Lu, a center  of culture and private education at the time.
His father died when he was only three years old. Though poor and humble
in his childhood, Confucius was determined to become a learned person. He
spent 15 years to study classics and formed his own conclusions
and views on the most important problems of history, society,
philosophy, government and human being. Thus, after working as a low-ranking official for several years, he
resigned his position and began his
career as a teacher around the age of thirty. He set up his own study
halls and gave private lessons, wishing to practice and spread his own
ideas so as to bring light to the people. As what he taught met the needs of the
time and his teaching methods were quite different from others (lecture
plus discussion), he gradually gained fame. From his 30 to 73
years old, Confucius had
altogether three thousand disciples, of whom 72 became proficient in the
"six arts".
Confucius made great contributions to education in
ancient China. He invented the elicitation method nearly one hundred years
earlier than the Socratic dialogue and was the first to challenge the
spoon-feeding method of teaching. He advocated equality between teacher
and student and encouraged students to form opinions of their own. Before
him, only the children of nobles had the opportunity to education,
but Confucius took the lead in Chinese history to bring education
to all the people. His
idea of teaching according to the student's aptitude is still regarded as
an important educational principle in China today.
Confucius' Great
Works
Confucius
did not write any books because in his time nobody wrote for
publication purpose.
But he edited a lot of academically valuable classics in his life in philosophy,
poem, historical records, government documents, literature, and
even folk songs. His students, however, compiled some books
according to his teaching, dialogue and daily conversation, such as the
Twelve Classics, the Book of Changes, the Book of Songs, the
Book of History and the Book of Rites. These books and his thought
has influenced Chinese people, China's history for over two thousands of
years, even till now. The study right now on Confucius's thought are
mostly based on these books. Humanity
is one of the most important ideas of Confucius. Humanity, seemed
to Confucius, means to love other people, to help others establish
themselves whenever they want to stand up, to help others to
understand things when one desires to know, and not to impose
anything on others when one does not want to do to himself. For
the stability of a society, morality is very important, even
more than position, wealth and life, because everyone has a moral
nature. Confucius believed moral and humane rules were more
effective than harsh laws and severe punishment. The ruler himself
should be a upright man, and should govern people with virtue, and
regulate their behaviors with the rite. Mean
and harmony is another important concept of Confucius. He
insisted that all people and governments should do all things in a
mean and harmony way, have quiet mind and peaceful
spirit. Don't go extreme and try avoid violence. This concept has
dramatically influenced Chinese politics and people's thought that
even now it is quite easy to find it out from Chinese people's
daily life and the policies of Chinese government. In
140 BC Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty decided to take
Confucianism as the official philosophy, and from then on,
Confucianism had been the mainstream of Chinese philosophy for
about 2,000 years.
(Next
Page...)
|
