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Religious Confucianism
Religious Confucianism is an interpretation of Confucianism as a religion. It originated in the time of Confucius with his defense of traditional religious institutions of his time such as the Jongmyo rites, and the ritual and music system. The Chinese name for religious Confucianism is , in contrast with non-religious Confucianism which is called . The differences can be roughly translated with meaning religion, and meaning school, although the term is ancient and predates this modern usage of . ("Erudites") were a "small group of cultural specialists" who preserved older Zhou dynasty Ritual, rituals and did Scholar, scholarly work to pass down traditional Zhou "written classics" through the generations. Religious Confucianism includes Ancestor veneration in China, traditional Chinese patriarchal religion in its practice, leading some scholars to call it Tianzuism () instead to avoid confusion with non-religious Confucianism. It includes such practices as Sacrifice to Hea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wufang Shangdi
The Wǔfāng Shàngdì ( "Five Regions' Highest Deities" or "Highest Deities of the Five Regions"), or simply or are, in Chinese classics, Chinese canonical texts and common Chinese folk religion, Chinese religion, the fivefold manifestation of the Chinese theology, supreme God of Heaven (, or equivalently ). This theology dates back at least to the Shang dynasty. Described as the "five changeable faces of Heaven", they represent Heaven's cosmic activity which shapes worlds as , "altars", imitating its order which is visible in the starry vault, the north celestial pole and its spinning constellations. The Five Deities themselves represent these constellations. In accordance with the Three Powers () they have a celestial, a terrestrial and a chthonic form. The Han Chinese identify themselves as the Yan Huang Zisun, descendants of the Red and Yellow Deities. They are associated with the Color in Chinese culture, five colors, the Wuxing (Chinese philosophy), five phases of the con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shangdi
Shangdi (), also called simply Di (), is the name of the Chinese Highest Deity or "Lord Above" in the Chinese theology, theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang dynasty, Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later ''Tian, Tiān'' ("Heaven" or "Great Whole") of Zhou dynasty, Zhou theology. Although the use of "Tian" to refer to the Absolute (philosophy), absolute God of the universe is predominant in Chinese religion today, "Shangdi" continues to be used in a variety of traditions, including certain Chinese philosophy, philosophical schools, certain strains of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, some Chinese salvationist religions (notably Yiguandao) and Protestantism in China, Chinese Protestant Christianity. In addition, it is commonly used by contemporary Chinese (both mainland and overseas) and by religious and secular groups in East Asia, as a name of a singular universal deity and as a non-religious translation for God in Abrahamic relig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tian
Tian () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and cosmology. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their highest god as '' Shangdi'' or ''Di'' (, 'Lord'). During the following Zhou dynasty, Tian became synonymous with this figure. Before the 20th century, worship of Tian was an orthodox cosmic principle of China. In Taoism and Confucianism, Tian (the celestial aspect of the cosmos, often translated as "Heaven") is mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of '' Dì'' (, often translated as "Earth"). They are thought to maintain the two poles of the Three Realms of reality, with the middle realm occupied by Humanity (, ), and the lower world occupied by demons (, ) and "ghosts", the damned, (, ). Tian was variously thought of as a "supreme power reigning over lesser gods and human beings" that brought "order and calm... or catastrophe and punishment", a deity, destiny, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shang Dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the '' Book of Documents'', '' Bamboo Annals'' and '' Shiji''. Modern scholarship dates the dynasty between the 16th and 11th centuries BC, with more agreement surrounding the end date than beginning date. The Shang dynasty is the earliest dynasty within traditional Chinese history that is firmly supported by archaeological evidence. The archaeological site of Yinxu, near modern-day Anyang, corresponds to the final Shang capital of Yin. Excavations at Yinxu have revealed eleven major royal tombs, the foundations of former palace buildings, and the remains of both animals and humans that were sacrificed in official state rituals. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
He Guanghu
He Guanghu (born 1950; ) is a Chinese scholar of philosophy of religion and Christian theology. He is considered one of the leading "cultural Christians" in China, intellectuals who see Christian culture as a key to rebuilding Chinese civilization. Biography Born in Guiyang, he was sent to the countryside to work during the Cultural Revolution. After the resumption of tertiary education in China in the late 1970s, he pursued studies in religion, completing a PhD in 1989 from the Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He was a researcher at the Institute of World Religions from 1989 to 2001, and was a Professor of Religious Studies in the School of Philosophy at Renmin University of China from 2001 until his retirement. He is considered one of the leading "cultural Christians" in China. He has argued for Christianity's significance in the religious pluralism of China, and for the importance of Christian theology articulated in one's mother tongue. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falun Gong
Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near the residence of Li Hongzhi. Led by Li Hongzhi, who is viewed by adherents as a god-like figure, Falun Gong practitioners operate a variety of organizations in the United States and elsewhere, including the dance troupe Shen Yun. They are known for their opposition to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), espousing anti-evolutionary views, opposition to homosexuality and feminism, and rejection of modern medicine, among other views described as " ultra-conservative". The Falun Gong also operates the Epoch Media Group, which is known for its subsidiaries, New Tang Dynasty Television and '' The Epoch Times'' newspaper. The latter has been broadly noted as a politically far-right media entity, and it has received significant attention in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Salvationist Religions
Chinese salvationist religions or Chinese folk religious sects are a Chinese religious tradition characterised by a concern for salvation (moral fulfillment) of the person and the society.; ''passim'' They are distinguished by egalitarianism, a founding charismatic person often informed by a divine revelation, a specific theology written in holy texts, a millenarian eschatology and a voluntary path of salvation, an embodied experience of the numinous through healing and self-cultivation, and an expansive orientation through evangelism and philanthropy. Some scholars consider these religions a single phenomenon, and others consider them the fourth great Chinese religious category alongside the well-established Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Generally these religions focus on the worship of the universal God (Shangdi) and regard their holy patriarchs as embodiments of God. Terminology and definition "Chinese salvationist religions" () is a contemporary neologism coined as a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese people are Chinese people, people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 million people living outside mainland China who were born in mainland China. Overall, China has a low percent of population List of sovereign states by immigrant and emigrant population, living overseas. Terminology () refers to people of Chinese citizenship residing outside of either the China, PRC or Republic of China, ROC (Taiwan). The government of China realized that the overseas Chinese could be an asset, a source of foreign investment and a bridge to overseas knowledge; thus, it began to recognize the use of the term Huaqiao. Ching-Sue Kuik renders in English as "the Chinese wikt:sojourner, sojourner" and writes that the term is "used to disseminate, reinforce, and perpetuate a monolithic and essentialist Chinese identity" by both t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China. At its height of power, the empire stretched from the Sea of Japan in the east to the Pamir Mountains in the west, and from the Mongolian Plateau in the north to the South China Sea in the south. Originally emerging from the Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin dynasty founded in 1616 and proclaimed in Shenyang in 1636, the dynasty seized control of the Ming capital Beijing and North China in 1644, traditionally considered the start of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty lasted until the Xinhai Revolution of October 1911 led to the abdication of the last emperor in February 1912. The multi-ethnic Qing dynasty Legacy of the Qing dynasty, assembled the territoria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confucian Church
The Confucian church ( or ) is a Confucian religious and social institution of the congregational type. It was first proposed by Kang Youwei (1858–1927) near the end of the 19th century, as a state religion of Qing China following a European model. The "Confucian church" model was later replicated by overseas Chinese communities,Yong Chen, 2012. p. 174 who established independent Confucian churches active at the local level, especially in Indonesia and the United States. There has been a revival of Confucianism in contemporary China since around 2000, which has triggered the proliferation of Confucian academies (); the opening and reopening of temples of Confucius; the new phenomenon of grassroots Confucian communities or congregations (); and renewed talks about a national "Confucian church". Kang Youwei's national Confucian Church The idea of a "Confucian Church" as the state religion of China was proposed in detail by Kang Youwei as part of an early New Confucian e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spring And Autumn Courts
Spring and Autumn Courts (春秋决狱) were an ancient Chinese judicial system, in which judges judge how to convict a case based on the ideas of righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Spring and Autumn Courts began in the reign of Emperor Wu of Han and continued until the Tang dynasty when Confucianism and Jurisprudence merged to create the "unity of ritual and law". History In the early years of the Western Han, most of the government's laws came from the Qin dynasty. However, as history developed the overly harsh could not adapt to social development. As Confucianism gradually gained the attention of the central government, especially after the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, he "dismissed the hundred schools and implemented ", making Confucian thought orthodox. Dong Zhongshu was involved in important court positions, and even after he retired, the court would still seek his advice on cases. Dong Zhongshu and others organized and edited the Spring and Autumn Decisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Law
Chinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. The core of modern Chinese law is based on Germanic-style civil law, socialist law, and traditional Chinese approaches. For most of the history of China, its legal system has been based on the Confucian philosophy of social control through moral education, as well as the Legalist emphasis on codified law and criminal sanction. Following the Xinhai Revolution, the Republic of China adopted a largely Western-style legal code in the civil law tradition (specifically German and Swiss based). The establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 brought with it a more Soviet-influenced system of socialist law. However, earlier traditions from Chinese history have retained their influence. Chinese legal tradition The word for law in classical Chinese was ''fǎ'' (法). The Chinese character for ''fǎ'' denotes a meaning of "fair", "straight" and "just", derived from its water radical (氵). It also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
