Abstract
Confucianism, Daoism (or Taoism), and Buddhism, abbreviated as the “Three Religions” or “Three Teachings” (sanjiao), have been commonly accepted as the mainstay of Chinese culture and their religious and philosophical essentials constitute the main focus of Chinese style scholarship. Similar to other leading spiritual traditions of the axial age, they originated and acquired their forms in China around the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers about 2,000 years ago, gradually solidifying into the main body of the Chinese faith system. Dissimilar to the spiritual traditions of ancient Egypt, Israel, Athens, Rome, and India, the Chinese faith system, consisting of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, has religion and philosophy in their specific dimensions coinciding with each other, exhibiting a unity between being inner saint and outer king in human endeavors. Specialized in its sustained heritage and creative adaption to alien cultures, such a faith system has been identifying its adherents all around the world as Chinese people toward a common spiritual DNA and conceptual base for her national renaissance.
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Notes
- 1.
Herbert Fingarette, Confucius: The Secular as Sacred (New York: Harper & Row, 1977).
- 2.
‘Buddha Nature Theory’ declares every sentient being has an independent and perceptional quality witnessing universal wisdom and compassion. Confucian ‘Heart-Nature Theory’ tells the universal faculty of human heart to speculate and feel morally, with nature in essence for all natural beings equally subject to human intelligent reflections. Daoist ‘Metaphysics’ believes in the distinction between Transcendent Dao (changdao) and Physical Dao (kedao), the former being universally holy law and the latter being particularly empirical.
- 3.
See Fang Litian, Chinese Buddhist Philosophy (fojiao zhxue) (Beijing: The Renmin University Press, 1991), pp. 53–54. The Spring and Autumn Annals (chunqiu) is thought to be the authentic work of Confucius instead of the Analects of Confucius (lunyu), which was the compilation posthumously based on his conversations with his students.
- 4.
Teng Wen Gong Xia, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, tengwengong xia).
- 5.
Xi Ci Xia, The Book of Changes ( zhouyi, xicizhuan xia).
- 6.
Fang Xuanling, “Biography of Ruan Ji in The History of the Jin Dynasty (jinshu, ruanji zhuan),” in The Twenty - Four Histories (Version of Simplified Chinese) (Beijing: Zhong Hua Shu Ju Press, 2000), Vol. 49, p. 899.
- 7.
Feng Youlan, “On Metaphysical Romance,” in The Complete Works of Three Pines Hall (sansongtang quanji) (Zhengzhou: Henan People’s Press, 2000), Vol. 5, pp. 309–317.
- 8.
According to this Daoist sect, the burned ashes from the mysterious writing by Daoist to fight against ghosts and spirits mixed in water for drinking would have healing powers for the sick. A Daoist preacher distributed this water among people during the outbreak of an epidemic disease and succeeded in attracting many followers who later joined his rebellion.
- 9.
Zhang Qizhi, A History of Chinese Thoughts (Lanzhou: Northwestern University Press, 1993), p. 214.
- 10.
Zhang Dainian, The Complete Works of Zhang Dainian (Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Press, 1996), Vol. 7, p. 67.
- 11.
“World Emperor” (tian kehan), a dignified title given by ethnic tribes who used to attack Chinese central authority for many centuries, meaning they will respect the Tang Emperor as the chieftain governing all under the heaven.
- 12.
Sense in Travel of Immensity, The Works of Zhuang Zi (zhi bei you, zhuangzi).
- 13.
Zhang Zai, “Divine Evolution, Cosmological Enlightenment (zheng meng, qian cheng)”, in The Works of Zhang Zai (zhangzai ji) (Beijing: Zhong Hua Shu Ju Press, 1978), p. 63.
- 14.
Song Lian, “The Category of Daoist and Buddhist Biographies in The History of the Yuan Dynasty (yuanshi, shi lao zhuan),” in The Twenty - Four Histories (Version of Simplified Chinese) (Beijing: Zhong Hua Shu Ju Press, 2000) Vol. 202, p. 3026.
- 15.
Huang Zongxi, “Part II, Biographies of Dong Lin (dong lin xue an yi),” in Biographies of Confucian Scholars in the Ming Dynasty ( mingru xue an ) reversed edition, (Beijing: Zhong Hua Shu Ju Press, 1985), Vol. 2, chapt. 58, p. 1375.
- 16.
Wang Kangju, “Against Invited Hermit (fan zhao yinshi),” in The Complete Translation to Selected Essays (wenxuan quanyi), edit. by Xiao Tong in the Jin, trans. by Zhang Qicheng, Xu Da (Guiyang: Guizhou People’s Press, 1994), Vol. 2, p. 1298.
- 17.
See Feng Youlan, The Complete Works of Three Pines Hall (sansongtang quanji) (Zhengzhou: Henan People’s Press, 2000), Vol. 5, p. 234.
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Chun, S. (2012). Chinese Faith Triangle: Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism . In: Major Aspects of Chinese Religion and Philosophy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29317-7_1
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