Features of the religion of Ancient China.

The religion of ancient China never succumbed to strict centralization by the state. There has never been a rigidly centralized church as such in China.
The population of ancient China believed not in one, but in as many as three main philosophical schools, prevailing in a particular territory to varying degrees. They believed in them, as did the people of the upper class and the poorest peasants.

Three philosophical schools of ancient China

- Confucianism;
- Taoism;
- Buddhism;
And now it is necessary to analyze each of the schools of thought in more detail.

Confucianism

Confucianism is a philosophical teaching and ethical instruction compiled by the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius, and then developed by his students and followers. The founding of Confucianism can be traced back to the end of the sixth century. From China, this philosophical doctrine spread to the territory of Japan and Korea.
First of all, Confucianism is a way of life and ethical instruction, and only then a philosophical school, some consider this teaching to be a real religion.
During the time of imperial China, Confucianism was considered the dominant religion. It laid down the principles of the organization of the state, as well as the entire Chinese society. People have lived with such a teaching for two thousand years. If officially this philosophical doctrine was never a religion, then formally it penetrated so much into the consciousness of the entire people that it influenced the behavior of people, so that it successfully fulfilled all the tasks of the official religion.
In the center of the doctrine, the problems of the imperial power and subjects are revealed, their attitudes and behavior are prescribed here, in addition, moral qualities are described that must be followed, both by the emperor and the ordinary peasant.

Taoism

Taoism is a Chinese teaching that includes both elements of religion and elements of philosophy. Historians believe that, the foundation of Taoism, even rather, the origin of the foundations began in the third century BC. e., however, this philosophical doctrine was fully formed only in the second century of our era, because it was at this time that the first philosophical school appeared.
Interestingly, Taoism began to exist by studying and, in a sense, altering and improving the teachings of Buddhism. Many features of Buddhism can be traced back to Taoism, sometimes with minor changes.
Taoism has never been the official religion of China. This doctrine was followed mainly by hermits and hermits, sometimes it was followed by the movement of the popular masses. It was Taoism that pushed the masses towards uprisings, it was thanks to Taoism that new ideas were born among scientists, they drew their inspiration and strength from it.
At the center of Taoism is the so-called Tao - the law of being and the entire cosmos. As this teaching of Tao says, to be everywhere and everywhere at once. It was this Tao that gave rise to everything that now exists. Nobody created Tao itself, it arose independently, it is impossible to see or hear it, it has no form.
For a person to become happy, he must understand the Tao and merge with it as one whole. The main task of a person who believes in Taoism is to do everything in life that will help his soul after death to merge with the macrocosm (Universe). To know what needs to be done for this, it is necessary to cognize the teachings of Tao.
Ideally, every person who believes in Taoism should become a hermit. Only in this way can he achieve a high spiritual state, which will then help him to merge with Tao.
Taoism has always been an opponent or rather opposition to Confucianism, because it preached service to the emperor, and indeed to the whole society. Missionaries of these two schools of thought have very often denied the existence of one of these schools.

Buddhism

Buddhism is a philosophical and religious teaching about spiritual awakening. This teaching arose in the sixth century BC, and its founder is a famous philosopher named Siddhartha Gautama or Buddha. A doctrine arises on the territory of India, and only then begins to penetrate the territory of Ancient China.
The doctrine began to penetrate into China only in the first century of our era.
As with Taoism, there is a situation where Buddhism is called differently. Someone thinks that this is a religion, others think that this is a philosophical school, cultural tradition or ethical teaching.
Buddhism can rightfully be considered one of the most ancient world religions. Not only China and India, but also the entire East is fully saturated with this teaching.
Buddha said that the cause of human suffering is the person himself. Believing in life, getting attached to life, believing in an unchanging soul, a person creates an illusion. The main goal of a follower of the Buddha's teachings is to achieve nirvana, as a result of which awakening begins, after which you can look at the world for real. To achieve this, you need to limit yourself in many ways, do good deeds, and also constantly meditate.
Meditation in Buddhism occupies a special place, as it is a means of self-improvement (spiritual and physical).
As we can see in the above, the religion of Ancient China was never a centralized church, as we can see in Christianity. This is a set of three dominant philosophical and religious schools that differ from each other. In different parts of China, people believed in the existence of one of these three schools, and often denied the existence of all the others.

Compass, gunpowder, dumplings, paper (including toilet paper and paper money), silk and many other things from our life, what do they have in common? As you might guess, they all came to us from ancient China. Chinese culture and civilization has brought to mankind a great variety of the most useful inventions and discoveries. Moreover, not only in the material sphere, but also in the spiritual sphere, because the teachings of the great Chinese philosophers and sages such as Kun-Tzu (better known as Confucius) and Lao-Tzu remain relevant at all times and eras. What was the history of ancient China, its culture and religion, read about all this in our article.

History of ancient China

The emergence of the civilization of ancient China falls on the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. In those distant times, China was an ancient feudal state called Zhou (after the ruling dynasty). Then the state of Zhou as a result disintegrated into several small kingdoms and principalities, which continuously fought with each other for power, territory and influence. The Chinese themselves call this ancient period of their history Zhanguo - the era of the Fighting Kingdoms. Gradually, seven main kingdoms emerged, which swallowed up all the others: Qin, Chu, Wei, Zhao, Han, Qi and Yan.

Despite political fragmentation, Chinese culture and civilization developed rapidly, new cities appeared, crafts and agriculture flourished, and iron replaced bronze. It was this period that can be safely called the golden age of Chinese philosophy, since it was at that time that the famous Chinese sages Lao Tzu and Confucius lived, on which we will dwell in more detail a little later, as well as their numerous students and followers (for example, Chuang Tzu) who also enriched the world's treasury of wisdom with their thoughts and works.

Again, despite the fact that the Chinese civilization at that time consisted of seven fragmented kingdoms, they had a common essence, one language, one tradition, history, religion. And soon one of the strongest kingdoms - Qin, under the rule of the harsh and warlike emperor Qin Shi Huang, managed to conquer all the other kingdoms, re-unite ancient China under the banner of a single state.

True, the Qin dynasty ruled a united China for only 11 years, but this decade was one of the greatest in Chinese history. The reforms carried out by the emperor affected all aspects of Chinese life. What were these reforms of ancient China that influenced the life of the Chinese?

The first was land reform, which dealt a devastating blow to communal land tenure; for the first time, land began to be freely bought and sold. The second was an administrative reform, which divided the entire Chinese territory into administrative centers, they are also counties (xiang), at the head of each such county was a state official who, with his own head, was responsible to the emperor for order on his territory. The third important reform was the tax reform, if earlier the Chinese paid a land tax - a tithe from the harvest, now the fee was charged depending on the cultivated land, which gave the state an annual constant income, regardless of crop failure, drought, etc. All risks associated with crop failures now fell on the shoulders of the farmers.

And without a doubt, the most important in those turbulent times was the military reform, which, however, preceded the unification of China: first the Qin, and then the general Chinese army was rearmed and reorganized, it included cavalry, bronze weapons were replaced with iron ones, the long riding clothes of the soldiers were replaced shorter and more comfortable (like the nomads). The soldiers were divided into fives and tens, linked to each other by a system of mutual guarantee, those who did not show the proper courage were subjected to severe punishment.

This is how the ancient Chinese warriors, the terracotta army of Qin Shi Huang looked like.

Actually, these measures of the reformer Qin Shihawandi helped make the Qin army one of the most combat-ready in ancient China, defeat other kingdoms, unite China and turn it into the strongest state in the East.

The Qin dynasty was replaced by a new Han dynasty, which strengthened the cause of its predecessors, expanded Chinese territories, extended Chinese influence to neighboring peoples, from the Gobi Desert in the north to the Pamir Mountains in the west.

Map of ancient China during the Qin and Han times.

The time of the reign of the Qin and Han dynasties is the period of the greatest flourishing of ancient Chinese civilization and culture. The Han dynasty itself lasted until the 2nd century BC. That is, and also disintegrated as a result of the next troubles, the era of Chinese power was again replaced by an era of decline, which was again replaced by periods of take-off. After the fall of Han, the era of three kingdoms began in China, then the Jin dynasty came to power, then the Sui dynasty, and so many times, some imperial Chinese dynasties replaced others, but they all failed to reach the level of greatness that was during the ancient Qin dynasties and Han. Nevertheless, China has always experienced the most terrible crises and troubles in history, like a Phoenix, rising from the ashes. Yes, and in our time we are witnessing the next rise of the Chinese civilization, because even this article you probably read on a computer or phone or tablet, many of the details of which (if not all) are made, of course, in China.

Ancient China culture

Chinese culture is unusually rich and multifaceted; it has enriched the global culture in many ways. And the greatest contribution here, in our opinion, is the invention of paper by the Chinese, which in turn actively influenced the development of writing. In those days, when the ancestors of many European peoples still lived in semi-dugouts and could not even think of writing, the Chinese were already creating vast libraries with the works of their learned men.

The writing technology of ancient China also underwent considerable evolution and appeared even before the invention of paper, at first the Chinese wrote on bamboo, for this, bamboo trunks were split into thin plates and hieroglyphs were applied on them with black ink from top to bottom. Then they were fastened with leather straps along the upper and lower edges, and a bamboo panel was obtained, which could be easily rolled up. This was the ancient Chinese book. The advent of paper made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of book production, and make the books themselves available to many. Although, of course, ordinary Chinese peasants at that time remained illiterate, but for government officials and even more so for aristocrats, literacy, as well as mastery of the art of writing, calligraphy was a mandatory requirement.

Money in ancient China, as well as in other civilizations, was first in the form of metal coins, however, in different kingdoms, these coins could have different shapes. Nevertheless, over time, it was the Chinese who were the first, however, already in a later era, to use paper money.

We know about the high level of development of crafts in ancient China from the works of Chinese writers of those times, as they tell us about ancient Chinese artisans of various specialties: foundry workers, carpenters, jewelry craftsmen, gunsmiths, weavers, ceramics specialists, builders of dams and dams. Moreover, each Chinese region was famous for its skilled craftsmen.

Shipbuilding was actively developing in ancient China, as evidenced by the well-preserved model 16 of a rowing boat, a junky, which was discovered by archaeologists.

This is what an ancient Chinese junk looks like.

And yes, the ancient Chinese were good navigators and in this business they could even compete with the European Vikings. Sometimes the Chinese, as well as the Europeans, undertook real sea expeditions, the most ambitious of which was the voyage of the Chinese admiral Zheng He, who was the first Chinese to swim to the shores of East Africa and visited the Arabian Peninsula. For orientation in sea travel, the Chinese were helped by a compass invented by them.

Philosophy of ancient China

The philosophy of ancient China stands on two pillars: Taoism and Confucianism, based on two great Teachers: Lao Tzu and Confucius. These two areas of Chinese philosophy complement each other harmoniously. If Confucianism determines the moral, ethical side of the social life of the Chinese (relationship with other people, respect for parents, service to society, proper upbringing of children, nobility of spirit), then Taoism is rather a religious and philosophical teaching on how to achieve inner perfection and harmony with the outside world and at the same time with oneself.

Do not do to other people what you do not want them to do to you... - Confucius.

Admitting great malice - you gain an excess of malice. You calm down - doing good. Lao Tzu.

These lines of two great Chinese sages, in our opinion, perfectly convey the essence of the philosophy of ancient China, its wisdom for those who have ears (in other words, this is briefly the most important of it).

Religion of ancient China

Ancient Chinese religion is largely associated with Chinese philosophy, its moral component comes from Confucianism, mystical from Taoism, and also much borrowed from Buddhism, the world religion, which in the 5th century BC. That is, it appeared in the neighboring one.

According to legend, the Buddhist missionary and monk Bodhidharma (who is also the founder of the legendary Shao-Lin monastery) was the first to bring Buddhist teachings to China, where it fell on fertile soil and flourished, in many ways acquiring a Chinese flavor from the synthesis with Taoism and Confucianism. Since then, Buddhism has become the third integral part of China's religion.

Buddhism also very well influenced the development of education in ancient China (a commoner could become a Buddhist monk, and as a monk it was already necessary to learn literacy and writing). Many Buddhist monasteries simultaneously became real scientific and cultural centers of that time, where scholarly monks were engaged in rewriting Buddhist sutras (while creating extensive libraries), taught people to read and write, shared their knowledge with them, and even opened Buddhist universities.

Shao-Lin Buddhist monastery, and it is from here that oriental martial arts originate.

Many Chinese emperors patronized Buddhism by making generous donations to monasteries. At some point, ancient China became a real stronghold of the Buddhist religion, and from there the Buddhist missionaries carried the beacon of Buddha's teachings to neighboring countries: Korea, Mongolia, Japan.

Ancient Chinese art

The religion of ancient China, especially Buddhism, largely influenced its art, since many works of art, frescoes, sculptures were created by Buddhist monks. But in addition to this, a special and peculiar style of painting has formed in China, in which great attention is paid to landscapes, the description of the beauty of nature.

For example, this painting by the Chinese artist Liao Songtang, painted in the original Chinese style.

Ancient China architecture

Many ancient Chinese buildings, created by talented architects of the past, still cause our admiration to this day. The magnificent palaces of the Chinese emperors, which, above all, were supposed to focus on the high position of the emperor, are especially striking. In their style, grandeur and splendor are necessarily present.

Palace of the Chinese Emperor, Forbidden City, Beijing.

The palaces of the Chinese emperors consisted of two sections: ceremonial or official, and everyday or residential, where the private life of the emperor and his family took place.

Buddhist architecture in China is represented by numerous beautiful pagodas and temples built with Chinese splendor and grandeur.

Chinese pagoda.

Buddhist temple.

• Ancient China is the birthplace of football, as Chinese historians believe, since this ball game was mentioned in ancient Chinese chronicles dating back to 1000 BC. e.
• It was the Chinese who were among the first inventors of the calendar, so around 2000 BC. That is, they began to use the lunar calendar, mainly for agricultural work.
• Since ancient times, the Chinese have revered birds, and the most respected are the phoenix, crane and duck. Phoenix personifies imperial power and strength. The crane symbolizes longevity, and the duck symbolizes family happiness.
• The ancient Chinese had legal polygamy, provided that the husband was wealthy enough to support several wives, of course. As for the Chinese emperors, sometimes there were thousands of concubines in their harems.
• The Chinese believed that during the practice of calligraphy, a person's soul is improved.
• The Great Wall of China, a grandiose monument of Chinese construction, is included in the Guinness Book of Records for many parameters: it is the only structure on earth that can be seen from space, it was built 2000 years - from 300 BC. That is, until 1644, and more people died during its construction than anywhere else.

Ancient China, video

And in conclusion, an interesting documentary about ancient China.

When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and high-quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments to the article. Also, you can write your wish / question / suggestion to my mail [email protected] or Facebook, sincerely the author.

Introduction

In religious faith and activity, the innermost hopes and fears find expression. Therefore, studying the religions of China will reveal a lot about the basic views and values ​​of the Chinese people. Studying them, it becomes possible to get acquainted with a different view of the world, which makes us more clearly define our own values.

The religions of China have never existed in the form of a rigidly centralized “church”. The traditional religion of Ancient China was a mixture of local beliefs and peculiar ceremonies, united into a single whole by the universal theoretical constructions of pundits. During the "Cultural Revolution" of the 1960s, the traditional religions of China were persecuted. Religious buildings were destroyed, the practice of religious rites was prohibited, clergymen and believers were subjected to moral and physical abuse. After the death of Mao Zedong, the more moderate leadership that came to power took a course towards a more tolerant attitude towards religion. The constitutional right to freedom of religion was restored, and Chinese religious leaders were given the opportunity to resume interrupted contacts with their counterparts outside of China.

To understand the Chinese religion, it is necessary to trace its development over time. During centuries of sedentary agricultural life, Chinese culture and religion have developed largely in isolation from the rest of the world. A historical approach will allow you to see both regional and temporal differences, but in the main, all the Chinese adhered to the same worldview, everyone respected their ancestors, turned to the services of geomancers, buried the dead and celebrated the same annual holidays. It is the presence of these common traditions that will help find common ground between the religions of China.

1. History of Chinese Religious Beliefs

The history of religions in China is very long and extremely diverse, it covers the period from prehistoric times to the present day and includes both local trends and traditions brought from outside. Chinese religious beliefs can be imagined as a gradual transition from simple forms to more complex ones, which then came into contact with foreign traditions, which in turn then led to the formation of Chinese traditions. The single principle of the religious life of China, which guided this process, is the perception of the world as a living system, which was latently present in the early period, but openly formulated in texts from the second century BC.

Religious traditions in China include ancestor worship, the cult of fertility and fortune-telling, which formed the basis of later forms of Chinese religion. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of prehistoric religious cults that predate the Shang era. Most of the burials contained tools, pottery vessels, and jade ornaments, suggesting that there was a belief that the dead might need these items in the afterlife. The graves were often arranged in groups and lined up near settlements, suggesting a special relationship between the living and the dead. The prehistoric Chinese already worshiped their ancestors, tried to find out their will through fortune-telling and made sacrifices to the forces of nature.

About the Shang era (about 1500-1040 BC) there is information about the religion of the ruler and the nobility, but not the people. The ruler was the high priest and diviner of the kingdom, and the results of his divination were often written on the bones at the conclusion of the process. Usually, questions were asked to the ancestors, but sometimes to the gods of rivers or mountains, and in some cases to Shang-di, the "Supreme Lord", the main deity of the Shan state.

There are more detailed sources about the religion of the early Zhou kingdom, such as Shijing, the Book of Songs and Hymns, which was completed by the 6th century BC. From these materials it is known that the Zhou nobility honored their ancestors by arranging lavish treats in their honor; the ancestor at these feasts was officially represented by the owner's nephew or grandson. The Zhou people continued the practice of sacrifice and fortune telling inherited from the Shang, but they had a more developed concept of the supreme deity, which they called Tian - Heaven. This new theory was called the "heavenly mandate": any ruler received power from the hands of Heaven, but only as long as he retained compassion and justice.

In the early Zhou period, each feudal possession had its own priests and rituals centered around the ancestors of the owner, as well as mountains and rivers - powerful natural objects that were considered the lords of the rains. During a long period of civil wars, which began from the 8th century BC, many of these possessions and states were destroyed, and with them their temples, dedicated to the ancestors and deities of rivers and mountains, disappeared. Thus, devastating civil wars have caused some thinkers to question the omnipotence of gods and spirits. The search for answers to the questions that appeared contributed to the transition to a new system of thinking, the center of which was not the world of spirits, but man. The first widely known representative of this trend was Confucius (551-479 BC).

Confucius desired the restoration of peace and order and studied ancient books, rituals and traditions in search of guidance to his contemporaries. Over time, he realized that they needed moral principles that apply to everyone and in all situations - principles such as justice, honesty, and love. He believed that Heaven commanded all people to follow these principles, especially the ruler and his officials, who were supposed to rule the country for the good of the people.

In his native kingdom, Confucius did not manage to achieve an appointment to a high post, which would allow him to put his ideas into practice, but he soon gathered around him a small group of students, whom he taught to be "noble people" - educated and highly moral, future exemplary officials. In his students, he valued intelligence and dedication, not an inherited aristocratic title. Confucius stated that he only revives the principles of the ancients, in fact, he was a reformer - the creator of new ethical concepts and a new type of education, which contributed to the appointment of worthy people to government positions, regardless of their origin.

In the 4th and 3rd centuries. BC. thinkers appear who adhere to a different approach - "non-action", leaving everything to itself. This approach was first formulated in two books - Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, written by disaffected philosophers who believed that all theories about correcting the world only made it worse, since they all instruct other people as it should act. The same books teach that everything in the Universe is generated by the cosmic path (Tao), which is also a source of harmony and balance. The eternal path of the Universe is incomparably wiser than any person, so we always make a mistake trying to change the world around us. In fact, by this we affirm our own "I" and try to replace the wisdom of the Universe with limited knowledge.

By the 4th century BC philosophers also appeared who taught that the universe developed from the interaction of natural forces of yin, yang and the five elements. They were the first to formulate a distinctive Chinese view of the world. One of them, Xun-tzu (d. 215 BC), believed that Heaven is not a deity at all, it is ordered, but has no will or purpose and has nothing to do with human morality. In Xun-tzu's eyes, gods and spirits are simply creations of the human imagination. In his religious skepticism, Xun Tzu was much more consistent than Confucius and contributed to the establishment of a skeptical tradition in Chinese philosophy that has survived to this day.

By the 4th century BC representations that have passed a long path of development are formed, according to which a person can avoid death either through an extremely long life, or by reincarnating again after death. Methods for achieving immortality were developed by fan-shi - "technicians" who, like philosophers, sought influential posts in the state. So, one of the methods was deep breathing, which stimulated the qi currents in the body; other techniques included movement exercises that mimic the behavior of long-lived animals such as the crane and turtle.

In the 3rd century BC, a popular religious movement arose in China, the basis of which was the belief in the mother goddess Si-wan-mu, the "Mother-ruler of the West." Many people believed that worshiping her and wearing talismans with her name would save one from death.

People gathered for gatherings in the capital, counties and principalities. In the villages and on the field borders, they held services and put up playing boards for a happy throw, sang and danced, glorifying Mother - the mistress of the West. This movement dwindled a few months later. It was the first popular religious movement in China known to us. It paved the way for Taoism, the earliest organized religion in China, with its own clergy, rituals, and canon books.

In the 1st century A.D. the first Buddhist traders from India and Central Asia reached China, which controlled trade routes far to the west of its territory. By the beginning of the next century, Buddhist monks appeared in several Chinese cities, preaching the doctrine and translating sacred texts from Sanskrit into Chinese. By the end of the second century A.D. there were several centers of Buddhism in China, and since that time the number of its adherents has rapidly increased.

Buddhism has had a very large impact on Chinese culture. In contrast, Islam has always remained the religion of a large group of Central Asian settlers and has not become an integral part of Chinese culture; early attempts by Christians to leave a mark on the religious life of China failed, and even later missionary activities failed to convert more than a few million Chinese to Christianity. The relative unpopularity of these foreign religions among the Chinese indicates the continued strength and independence of Chinese culture. Let's take a look at some of them.

2. Taoism and its impact on Chinese culture

Taoism is based on the principle of Tao, which literally translates as "way", "road" (its second meaning is "method" and "higher principle"). Another principle of Taoism is wu wei, which is often defined by the word "passivity" or the concept of "go with the flow." The principle de is closely linked with it, i.e. virtue, but not in the sense of high moral purity, but in the sense of the qualities manifested in everyday life, when the principle of Tao is put into practice. The nature of events in the world is determined by the forces of yang and yin. The masculine principle - clarity of thought, activity and sublimity - is considered inherent in the yang forces, while the feminine principle - everything weak, dark and passive in life - is attributed to the action of the yin forces.

The founder of the teachings of Taoism was Lao Tzu (translated as "venerable teacher"). He lived in an era of crises and upheavals. The starting point of his main philosophical treatise is the idea that man is a part of nature and therefore must live a natural life. It is believed that Lao Tzu was born in 604 BC. in Henan province and was the son of noble parents. At first he served as an archivist in Luoyang, which at that time was the capital city, but later Lao Tzu retired and died in his village in 517 BC. The classic work of Taoism is the Tao Te Ching. The earliest followers of Lao Tzu were Li-Tzu and Chuang Tzu. Li-tzu (5th century BC) paid special attention to the topic of relativity of experience and strove to realize the deep meaning of Tao by the method of contemplation. Chuang Tzu (4th century BC) is known mainly as a master of poetic allegories.

The main goal and central concept of religious Taoism is the achievement of immortality. The doctrine of immortality assumes that a follower of Taoism, through a certain practice, including gymnastic and breathing exercises, the rules of sexual hygiene, meditation and alchemy, can achieve not only spiritual, but also physical immortality, as well as develop supernatural strength and abilities.

Since Taoism denies the immortality of the soul, separated from the body, and considers a person as an integral psychophysical being, this doctrine assumed two aspects of religious practice: improving the body (gymnastic and breathing exercises) and improving the spirit (contemplation, meditation).

In the 2-3 centuries. under the influence of Buddhism, monasticism and monasteries appeared in Taoism, which was alien to the attitudes of the original Taoism. At the same time, the trend towards dominance in Taoist religious practice of psychedelic methods of contemplative meditation is growing. The main attention begins to be paid to the methods of internal self-improvement. This trend leads to the emergence in the 12th century. in North China, new Taoist schools, the most important of which, the school of the "Path of the Perfect Truth", becomes the leading Taoist trend and remains so up to the present time. The main focus of this school is on moral improvement and the Taoist practice of contemplation.

Religious Taoism developed in many directions and had several schools. Hermits-ascetics retired to the mountains, where they spent time in reflection (meditation), or lived in monasteries. Taoist priests acted as spellcasters, physicians and interpreters of predictions. They were engaged in the expulsion of evil spirits, performed funeral rituals, read prayers for the dead, or blessed sacrificial gifts. By the 10th-12th centuries. in China there were already many Taoist sects, constantly emerging and disintegrating. The ruling class generally ignored Taoism, although in some periods there were attempts to proclaim it the state religion, build Taoist temples and make it mandatory to study the Tao Te Ching.

By the 13th century. Religious Taoism already had an established institution of priests who were preparing a change for themselves, a detailed system of rituals, canonical books and a pantheon of numerous deities with varying degrees of power. At the same time, a single centralized structure that could exercise the supreme leadership of all communities did not arise in Taoism.

The Taoist cult of nature and the doctrine of immortality had a strong influence on various spheres of the material and spiritual culture of China: science (medicine and chemistry, the level of which made it possible to make such outstanding inventions as paper and gunpowder), art and literature. The cult of nature also played a huge role in the development of Chinese landscape painting.

Followers of various directions and sects of Taoism put forward dissimilar principles of piety and way of life, but agreed on the recognition of the five commandments and ten virtues. The Five Commandments are very reminiscent of an excerpt from the Christian "Ten Commandments", which demonstrates their universal human content: do not kill, do not lie, do not drink wine, do not steal, do not commit adultery.

The ten virtues reflect the customs and traditions of the communal patriarchal order of China and the cult of nature, harmony and order characteristic of Taoism. This is filial duty, loyalty to elders, love, patience, exhortation against evil deeds, self-sacrifice, breeding animals and planting trees, building roads and wells, enlightening the unreasonable, reading holy books and observing ceremonies.

Along with this moral code, Taoism included many all kinds of superstitions and prejudices, which is typical for countries with a traditional way of life (fortune-telling, spells, witchcraft, invoking "good spirits" and "casting out evil", witchcraft and alchemy). Starting in the late Middle Ages, the influence of Taoism began to weaken, and it gradually began to be supplanted by other religions. Currently, his influence in China is small.

China belief Confucianism Taoism

3. Confucianism is the moral basis of the life of society and the state

Confucianism is one of the national religions that arose in feudal China on the basis of the philosophical and ethical teachings of Confucius through the sacralization of his teachings, including the veneration and cult of his creator, which became widespread there and is still the main religion in China.

From its very birth, Confucianism was distinguished by a conscious socio-ethical orientation and a desire to merge with the activities of the state apparatus. The state was identified with society, social ties - with interpersonal, the basis of which was seen in the clan and family structure. Patriarchal, hierarchical relations were laid at the foundation of the entire Confucian worldview, and the duties of a person were derived from the relationship between father and son, elder and younger. Therefore, the principle of "filial piety" ("xiao") was elevated to the rank of the common basis of all virtues.

The main content of the teachings of Confucius is the doctrine of the rules of behavior and its norms. This is the teaching about good government, about the conscientious administration of public service, as well as about the correct order in family life. At the same time, it is entirely focused on the preservation and consolidation of the traditional family rituals and ancestor cult that have developed in China since antiquity.

Confucius did not teach anything new; he himself persistently repeated that he did not set forth any new teaching, but only required strict observance of ancient laws and regulations. The most important of them was the preservation of the ancestor cult, which, along with the deification of the emperor and his power, became the main content of the Confucian religious cult. According to the religious beliefs of the Chinese, the main duty of a person is filial piety ("xiao") and reverence for ancestors.

All of his teachings expresses the desire for stability, immutability inherent in traditionalist societies, which turns into the consolidation of a permanent place in the social hierarchy for each person. This place is determined in accordance with his social belonging and status, as well as his own efforts to master the correct teaching.

Confucius puts forward his doctrine of correcting names (“zhen min”) against the “mixing of commoners with the nobility,” according to which all things must have definitively established names that correspond to their essence.

In general, the task of man is to preserve and maintain the order established by Heaven, which is based on the traditional for the ancient Chinese ideas that the emperor is the son of Heaven, carrying out his will, he is the father of all who inhabit the Celestial Empire. This order is strictly hierarchical, it is formed by four classes of people, differing in the degree of possession of wisdom.

The concept of "noble husband" has two interrelated meanings in Confucius - belonging by birthright to the upper strata of society, to the nobility, and an example of human perfection. Belonging to the nobility in itself does not guarantee perfection, although it presupposes it, for it gives a person the opportunity for self-development.

To achieve perfection, however, a lot of spiritual work on oneself is necessary, which is difficult to expect from poor commoners who are not capable of assimilating wisdom. It turns out that human perfection, in principle, is available to everyone, but it is the responsibility of the upper strata of society, on which the life of the state depends.

A noble husband seeks to cognize the will of Heaven, the correct path ("Tao"), to be always humane, sincere and truthful in words and thoughts, honest and magnanimous in actions. He always behaves with dignity, serving elders with due respect, caring for the younger and respecting his people. He cares about the peace and prosperity of the people.

His philanthropy is manifested in the fact that he respects and cares for the common people, strives to be fair with them, and not cruel. He does not feel sad or fear, for he has nothing to be ashamed of and fear, since he is doing the right thing.

With this nature of the relationship between the "higher" and "lower", the people respond to the ruler with confidence, and this is the most important thing for the strength of the state. For it is possible to sacrifice, if absolutely necessary, weapons, food, but not trust.

A noble husband knows the value of knowledge and learns all his life, for the most important vice is not to love to learn.

Thus, a noble husband is an ideal normative model of a person who combines spiritual, moral greatness with his inherent right to a high social status. He is opposed by a low person ("xiao ren"), who is not able to listen to Heaven, because he always looks not up, but down, thinks only about his own benefit, cannot adequately endure adversity, and is inclined to blame others for them, and therefore it turns out, prone to strife.

The support of the state is precisely the noble men, who are involved in the knowledge of the basic principles of the structure of life and the world - the principle of humanity, humanity ("jen"), who have comprehended the need for strict observance of the established order, rituals, rules, ceremonies ("li"). Their duty is to instruct the people on the path of order and virtue through instruction and example, and, if necessary, using force.

The first of these principles - humanity, humanity - assumed that relationships between people should be determined by wisdom, benevolence, loyalty to duty, respect, love and reverence for elders in age and social status, as well as care for the younger.

Confucius formulated the moral requirements arising from this principle: pay with good for good and justice for evil, respect and love your elders, honor your ancestors, strictly follow the established order. In their totality, the requirements of the "ren" principle expressed the inner spiritual task of a person, the external expression of which was the requirements contained in the "li" principle.

"Li" acts as an external embodiment of humanity and can be interpreted as ceremonies, rituals, rules of decency, ritual. Adherence to these ceremonies and ritualized forms of behavior that strictly regulate all aspects of a person's life expresses the person's respect and devotion to the established order.

Where the principles of organizing public life in the state formulated by Confucius prevail, he believes, everyone can live well and happily, it is a shame to be unhappy there.

Thus, in the 4-5 centuries. BC. in China, Confucius created a philosophical and ethical system of views, at the center of which were the problems of human behavior, its relationship with other people and society.

The meaning of human existence, according to the teachings of Confucius, is the assertion in the world of the highest form of social order - a certain predetermined path, the most important manifestations of which are humanity, justice, mutual equality of action and retribution, rationality, courage, piety, loyalty, etc. The concrete embodiment of these virtues in each separately taken human being forms in its totality a kind of universal Tao.

The doctrine that the source of order, power, morality is the "will of Heaven", that the ruler is the "son of Heaven", and humanity is an innate quality of those who govern, that the common people are alien to virtues and only through harsh ceremonies are they brought up in a spirit of devotion and humility, such a teaching has proven to be a very effective means of spiritually influencing the masses and strengthening the existing order.

Therefore, starting from the 2nd century. BC, when the teachings of Confucius became dominant, his personality began to gradually deify, they began to worship him and make sacrifices. Already in the 2nd century. BC. the first temple in his homeland was erected for him. This was facilitated by the internal kinship of Confucius's teachings with the ancient Chinese cult of worshiping Heaven, the spirits of ancestors, and heroes.

Already in the 3rd century. AD Confucianism was turned into the dominant religion in China with certain characteristics. First of all, this is the absence of the priesthood as a social stratum and the church as a social institution with a centralized hierarchy, the organization of temple life on the basis of self-government, the minimum amount of mysticism and miracles and the reduction of religious life to the cult of ancestors and the deification of state power and the Teacher himself.

It was in the guise of religion that Confucianism introduced into the consciousness of the peoples of China stable moral norms, equal to the biblical Ten Commandments in terms of their impact on the mass consciousness. These are, first of all, the "five constancies", or five virtues: philanthropy, a sense of duty, decency, rationality and truthfulness. To these should be added the so-called "five links":

Sovereign and subject, master and servant. Unconditional devotion and loyalty to the master was the basis of the character of the "noble husband" and the entire system of relations between people in the Confucian understanding;

Parents and children. In these relations, the indisputable rights of the parents, first of all the father, and the sacred duty of children to follow the will of the parents were emphasized;

Senior and junior. It was considered obligatory not only to respect the elder in age, but also to the elder in position, rank, rank, skill;

Between friends. Relationships between friends were supposed to be of the character of sincere and disinterested mutual assistance.

Confucianism made severe demands on the individual in moral and ethical terms, insisting on continuous spiritual and moral improvement: "A noble man strives upward, a low man moves downward." The Confucian rules of loyalty and obedience to elders ordered the disciples to sacredly follow the instructions of the Teacher, and the successors to zealously guard the experience of previous generations.

The inviolability of the existing system and its sacralization are the main pivot of the Confucian religion, which has become a solid foundation of the patriarchal ideology of Chinese feudalism. Confucianism has not lost its significance to this day, being the dominant religion in China, always guarding the existing order.

Conclusion

Today, there is much to learn from the religions of China, and above all - loyalty and cooperation within the family and a strong sense of responsibility for order in society. This attention to society is in China the basis for a special type of immortality - the immortality of deeds, which manifests itself in practice in the performance of actions. The Chinese are convinced that the most important thing in a person's life is to help his family and society with education, hard work and preservation of moral purity. Society continues to exist even after the death of a person; he contributed to its strengthening, which means that his life made sense.

This focus on social life is tied to another Chinese belief that being born human is a rare success. Therefore, while we are here, we must use life in the best possible way, try to be worthy of our lucky lot and live a moral life in order to be reborn as a human being.

Another interesting feature of the Chinese worldview is religious egalitarianism - the belief that the possibility of enlightenment is the same for everyone, that "a person on the street can become a wise man." Confucian philosophers have long taught that the seeds of kindness are in all of us and we should only encourage their growth. They also teach that the true value of a person lies in his high morality, the development of which through self-denial and hard work is available to everyone. Representatives of Taoism believe that the energy and rhythm of the cosmos is present in each of us as the basis of our life, even if we have forgotten about it. All we have to do is return to the Tao (Path) within us in order to find a new sense of peace and harmony with all that exists.

What does the future hold for China's religion? Of course, no one can say for sure, but it is likely that with the success of modernization, some forms of Chinese religiosity will continue to exist, while others will lose popularity, which will in part be determined by which of them affect the personal sphere and play a useful role. Death, family and the change of seasons will always be with us, therefore, the cult of ancestors and funeral rites, as well as the New Year and other holidays, will retain their significance. There will always be people who want a stronger and more personal sense of religious satisfaction through community or congregation, so popular religious sects are likely to continue to exist for a long time to come.

List of used literature

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2.Garadzha V.I., Rutkevich E.D. Religion and Society. - M .: Nauka, 2005 .-- 202s.

3.A.A. Gorelov religious studies in questions and answers. -M .: Eksmo, 2007 .-- 272s.

4.Grigorenko A.Yu. religious studies for students of pedagogical universities. - SPb .: Peter, 2004 .-- 512 p.

5.Gurevich P.S. Religious studies. - M .: MPSI, 2007 .-- 696 p.

6.Zelenkov M.Yu. World religions. History and reality. - SPb .: KARO, 2008 .-- 368 p.

7.Lobazova O.F. Religious studies. - M .: Dashkov and Co, 2008 .-- 488 p.

8.Pavlovsky V.P. Religious studies. - M .: Unity-Dana, 2007 .-- 320 p.

9.Pomerants G.S. , Mirkina Z.P. Great religions of the world. - M .: Bustard, 2006 .-- 280 p.

10.Samygin S.I., Nechiporenko V.N., Polonskaya I.N. Religious Studies: Sociology and Psychology of Religion. - Rostov n / a: Phoenix, 2006 .-- 342s.

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15.Yakovlev A.I. Religious consciousness. - Rostov-n-D: Phoenix, 2004 .-- 292 p.

Religions of Ancient China

The religious structure of China, the ideological orientations of the Chinese differ significantly from the Indian, despite the geographical proximity of these countries.

The religious Chinese are characterized by the following features:

• in the first place among the Chinese - not mystical abstractions and the search for salvation, but social ethics and administrative practice;
• the Chinese were more eager to imitate standards of the highest virtue than to comprehend the secrets of being;
• most of all Chinese appreciated not its immortal soul, but its material shell, i.e. my life;
• the highest deity in China is Heaven, the highest supreme universality, abstract and cold, indifferent to;
• the role of the clergy was negligible and socially irrelevant; very often the role of priests was performed by officials.

The era of Shang-Yin

These features of the Chinese have been formed since the era Shang-Yin. The Yin urban-type civilization appeared in the Yellow River basin in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. Uintsev had a considerable pantheon of gods, but gradually Shandi - the ancestor of the Ying people, their ancestor is a totem. On the basis of this cult, a hypertrophied ancestor cult is formed, which has become the basis of the religious system of China. To receive the help of ancestors in China, mantle- the practice of fortune-telling. First, they used to guess using a lamb's shoulder blade or a turtle shell. Subsequently, on the basis of this fortune-telling practice, "Book of Changes"- one of the sacred books of Taoism.

The Zhou era

The Shang-Yin era was relatively short-lived. In 1027 BC. the Zhui tribe defeated the Yins and established the dynasty's rule Zhou. The Zhous borrowed the Shandi cult, ancestor cult and the practice of fortune-telling, but they also had their own cult. Heaven, which gradually supplanted Shandi as the main deity. The emperor was revered as the son of Heaven, and the country began to be called Celestial. The sky was revered not so much as the supreme deity, but as the personification of the highest reason, justice and virtue. The worship of Heaven became the prerogative of the emperor.

Since ancient times, various symbols have appeared in China, which have retained their meaning to this day. The symbol of the Earth was considered square, the symbol of Heaven - circle. The combination of these symbols was perceived as the interaction of masculine and feminine principles. The division into masculine and feminine principles was the most ancient stage of philosophical reflection in China. It was expressed in various ways: iridescent droplets - yin and yang, continuous and discontinuous lines in divination, etc. Since ancient times, the concept of Tao has appeared, which later took an important place in the religions of China.

In the VIII century. BC. the Zhou state disintegrated into a series of small isolated kingdoms, which vied with each other in the struggle for power, influence and wealth. This period of wars and fragmentation was called zhan-go(fighting kingdoms) and lasted until the II century. BC. Many sages tried to find a way out of this state of chaos. Searches were especially active in the 6th-5th centuries. BC. This time was the most democratic in the history of China and was called " Time of 100 schools"(Philosophical). It was then that the most influential ideological trends arose, which have retained their influence in China to the present day -

Religion in ancient China

If India is the kingdom of religions, and the religious thinking of an Indian is saturated with metaphysical speculations, then China is a civilization of a different type. Social ethics and administrative practice have always played a much greater role here than mystical abstractions and individualistic search for salvation. A sober and rationalistically thinking Chinese never thought too much about the mysteries of being and the problems of life and death, but he always saw in front of him the standard of the highest virtue and considered it his sacred duty to imitate it. If the characteristic ethnopsychological feature of an Indian is his introversion, leading in its extreme expression to asceticism, yoga, monasticism of a strict style, to the desire of the individual to dissolve in the Absolute and thereby save his immortal soul from the material shell that fetters it, then the true Chinese most highly valued the material shell, that is, your life. The greatest and generally recognized prophets here were considered primarily those who taught to live with dignity and in accordance with the accepted norm, to live for the sake of life, and not in the name of bliss in the next world or salvation from suffering. At the same time, ethically determined rationalism was the dominant that determined the norms of the social and family life of the Chinese.

The specificity of the religious structure and psychological characteristics of thinking, of the entire spiritual orientation in China is visible in many ways.

China also has the highest divine principle - Heaven. But the Chinese Heaven is not Yahweh, not Jesus, not Allah, not Brahman and not Buddha. This is the highest supreme universality, abstract and cold, strict and indifferent to man. You cannot love her, you cannot merge with her, it is impossible to imitate her, just as there is no point in admiring her. True, in the system of Chinese religious and philosophical thought, apart from Heaven, there existed both Buddha (the idea of ​​it penetrated into China along with Buddhism from India at the beginning of our era), and Tao "(the main category of religious and philosophical Taoism), and Tao in its Taoist interpretation (there was also another interpretation, Confucian, which perceived Tao in the form of the Great Path of Truth and Virtue) is close to the Indian Brahman. However, not Buddha or Tao, but Heaven has always been the central category of the supreme universality in China.

The most important feature of ancient Chinese religion was the very insignificant role of mythology. Unlike all other early societies and the corresponding religious systems, in which it was mythological legends and legends that determined the entire appearance of spiritual culture, in China, from ancient times, the place of myths was taken by the historicized legends about wise and just rulers. Legendary sages Yao, Shun and Yu, and then cultural heroes such as Huangdi and Shennong, who became their ancestors and first rulers in the minds of the ancient Chinese, replaced numerous revered gods. The cult of ethical norms (justice, wisdom, virtue, striving for social harmony, etc.), closely associated with all these figures, pushed into the background the purely religious ideas of sacred power, supernatural power and mystical incomprehensibility of higher powers. In other words, in ancient China, from a very early time, there was a noticeable process of demythologization and desacralization of the religious perception of the world. The deities, as it were, descended to earth and turned into wise and just figures, whose cult in China has been growing over the centuries. And although from the Han era (III century BC - III century AD), the situation in this regard began to change (many new deities and associated mythological legends appeared, and this was partially caused by the emergence of and the recording of popular beliefs and numerous superstitions, which until then remained as if in the shadows or existed among the national minorities included in the empire), this had little effect on the character of Chinese religions. Ethically determined rationalism, framed by a desacralized ritual, has become the basis of the foundations of the Chinese way of life since ancient times. It was not religion as such, but above all ritualized ethics that shaped the face of Chinese traditional culture. All this affected the character of the Chinese religions, beginning with the ancient Chinese.

For example, noteworthy is the fact that the religious structure of China has always been characterized by an insignificant and socially insignificant role of the clergy and priesthood. The Chinese have never known anything like the ulema class or the influential brahmana castes. They usually treated Buddhist and especially Taoist monks with poorly concealed disdain, without due respect and reverence. As for the Confucian scholars, who most often performed the most important functions of priests (during religious services in honor of Heaven, the most important deities, spirits and ancestors), they were the respected and privileged class in China; however, they were not so much priests as officials, so that their actual religious functions always remained in the background.

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