1. What Is The Chinese Religion? (PDF Print Version)
2. The Influence of Buddhism and Daoism (PDF Print Version)
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Study 1: What Is The Chinese Religion (Acts 17:22-34)
I. Introduction
1. Why we are doing the present series:
– (i) So that we may know the Chinese Religion better. Evangelism among the Chinese is often hindered by a lack of understanding of the Chinese mind and the Chinese Religion. (cf. Acts 17:28; 1 Cor. 9:19-23).
– (ii) So that those of us who are Chinese may know how to live the Christian life at home. Help from Christian quarters concerning this is lacking, and often comes from Christians who have not experienced first-hand living in a non-Christian Chinese home.
– (iii) So that those of us who are not Chinese may learn the principles and apply them to their own cultural background.
2. What it would entail:
– An honest attempt to examine the Chinese Religion for what it is;
– Negative statements have to be made, in order to be positive!
II. What is the Chinese Religion?
1. When asked what is his religion, the average Chinese answers — Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, or Ancestral Worship. Even the Chinese are not sure what constitute their religion.
2. The Chinese Religion is actually a mixture of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism.
– Confucianism has contributed to the moral-intellectual aspect of the Chinese Religion.
– Daoism has given to it its mystical content.
– Buddhism has contributed to the philosophical-metaphysical content. Buddhism came from India to China in the first century A.D.
3. The Chinese Religion has diffused into nearly all areas of the Chinese life. Examples:
(i) At birth, year of animal (twelve all together) noted;
(ii) At wedding, couple pray to family altar;
(iii) At funeral, monks perform ceremony;
(iv) Learning Gongfu (martial arts), Chinese gods prayed to apart from founding father;
(v) Buying a house or siting a grave, the location (‘fengsui’) determined;
(vi) Sending son or daughter overseas to study, charms given;
(vii) Buying four-digit lotteries, family altar prayed to and medium consulted;
(viii) Initiation ceremonies of secret societies, religious rites involved.
4. Note that ‘culture’ is all embracing, while religion is just one aspect of culture. However, there is hardly any area of Chinese culture that is not touched by Chinese Religion.
III. The Influence of Confucianism
1. Ancestral worship is only one aspect of the Chinese Religion. It is an act of filial piety taught by Confucius. To honour one’s parents means obedience to them when they are living and worshipping them when they are dead.
2. Confucius (551-479 BC) was a philosopher, moral teacher, and political theorist. The family unit is the key to a successful and united nation. The Five Cardinal Virtues of Confucius are:
(i) to live a principled life;
(ii) to be faithful to one’s friends;
(iii) to be loyal to the state;
(iv) to be honest in official duties;
(v) to be courageous in the battle field.
Failure in any one of these will disgrace one’s parents.
3. The ideal of Chinese parents was to train up their children to be good with the pen and the sword. Hence, the picture of Guan Yu (or Guan Gong), a famous Chinese general, would depict him reading a book. A picture of Confucius (or Kong Zi), the scholar, would depict him wearing a sword.
4. The exploits of Guan Gong and his two companions Zhang Fei and Liu Bei are described in the Chinese classic “San Guo Yuan Yu” (or Romance of the Three Kingdoms), written by Luo Guanzhong some time between the Yuan and Ming dynasties (~ 1368 AD). These three characters have been raised to the position of deities and are worshipped in many Chinese homes today.
5. Many such deities were only men of the past. Veneration of the deceased is the outcome of the teaching of Confucius (551-479 B.C.) who was only a man, clever though he may have been.
Questions
1. Confucius taught people to honour their parents. How does this teaching compare with, and differ from the Bible’s teaching? (see Exodus 20:12, Eph. 6:1-2).
2. What would you say to a couple who desire to train up their children Confucian-style — so that they are good with “the pen and the sword” (i.e. to be good at studies and in the martial arts)?
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2019/3-2: The Influence of Buddhism & Daoism (Eph. 6:10-20)
The Chinese Religion was carried out of China by the Chinese of the diaspora — the ‘huaqiao’ Chinese — before the rise of communism. China went into self-imposed isolation for 300 years from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), was exploited by western powers for the next 100 years, before the founding of the Republic of China under Dr. Sun Yat Sen on 1 January 1912. The communists took the ascendancy under Mao Zedong, leading to the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China on 1 October 1949. The Chinese Religion was largely suppressed in the cities but lingered on in rural areas. With the opening up of China to the world in 1978 a spiritual void was left in the people. A state-sponsored revival of Confucian values is underway, accompanied by a revival of Buddhism, while Christianity and Islam are suppressed as foreign religions. The Chinese Religion, however, thrives among the overseas Chinese and those in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
We have seen that the Chinese Religion is actually a mixture of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. Confucianism has contributed to the moral-intellectual aspect of the Chinese Religion. Daoism has given to it its mystical content. Buddhism has contributed to the philosophical-metaphysical content.
I. The Influence of Buddhism
1. Buddhism came from India to China in the first century A.D. It is complementary to Confucianism. Confucianism has not much to say about life after death nor about the spiritual realm. Buddhism teaches about reincarnation — the cycles of rebirth of the soul into animals or men. Reincarnation continues according to the Law of Karma, and ends only when enlightenment or ‘nirvana’ is reached through meditation and abstention from worldly desires.
2. The average Chinese is pragmatic and does not concern himself with the details of the Law of Karma. ‘Nirvana’ is vaguely associated with the heaven of Daoism, and failure to attain ‘nirvana’ with hell. While living, he tries to live a virtuous life. When there is a death, he mourns and obediently carries out the necessary rituals. Paper models of money, a house, a car and servants are burnt so that the soul of the deceased may have access to these items.
3. Buddhism as a philosophy exerted a great scholastic influence on the Chinese mind and inspired many Chinese writings.
– The Chinese classic “Journey To The West” (Xi You Ji) written by Wu Cheng’en during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) contains stories of the Goddess of Mercy Guan Yin, the monk Tang Sanzang, the Monkey King Sun Wukong, the Pig Man Zhu Bajie and Sandy (Sha Wujing).
– Another classic is “Investiture of the Gods” (Fengshen Bang) written by Xu Zhonglin written during the Ming Dynasty. This is a romanticised story of the fall of King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC). It contains stories of Nezha, Ji Gong and the Dragon-god-of-the-sea. Nezha renounced his family by cutting out the flesh from his own body to return it to his parents. His gongfu (martial arts) master remade a physical body for him using lotus leaves. Ji Gong is a smiling monk who flies on his fan and uses his magic hat against his enemies. Included in his many exploits is his travel to hell, from where he returned to be the expert teacher on what hell is like. The Dragon-god-of-the-sea has a human body and a dragon head. The dragon was probably a sea-serpent originally. It became the symbol of the male principle, while the phoenix represents the female principle. These characters are worshipped by the Chinese.
4. Note that many deities worshipped by the Chinese are really legendary or mythical figures created by Chinese scholars who were only human beings. Also, many religious rituals arose from Buddhism, the religion founded by Buddha (563-483 BC) who was only a man, pious though he may have been.
II. The Influence of Daoism
1. Laozi (604-531 BC) is often claimed to be the founder of Daoism and author of the “Dao De Jing” (“Classic of the Way of Integrity”). However, a philosophical cosmology already existed in an elementary form long before his time. Fuxi who was supposed to have lived in the 29th century BC is said to have invented the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) for divination. Fuxi is regarded as a mythical and divine ruler with the body of a snake who gave humanity the skills of animal husbandry, fishing with nets, and hunting with iron weapons. The Dao De Jing must not be confused with another book called the Yi Jing, another ancient classic of Daoism. The Yi Jing is a book of divination which applies the Yin-Yang principle and the Bagua concept to life.
2. Daoism, like Confucianism, aimed at the attainment of peace and contentment in an ordered society. Confucius approached the objective from the upper ruling class of scholars while Laozi approached it from below. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism merged into a common philosophy that continues as the Chinese Religion that exerts a considerable influence upon the overseas Chinese and the Chinese in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
3. Daoism as a religion developed occultism, which includes mediumship astrology, fortune-telling and communication with the dead. It lends to the Chinese Religion a mystical aura in which superstitious beliefs develop and thrive, e.g. the existence of ghosts and fairies, the casting of spells, rituals for warding of evil, etc.
4. In the occult practices of the Chinese, mediums are seen to be capable of doing unusual things — including revealing secrets, curing diseases, walking on burning embers, etc. Spirits are classified into good and bad ones.
5. Again note that Laozi, the founder of Daosim, was only a man, however great a philosopher he may have been. Note also that the superstitious beliefs of the Chinese flow from the imagination of man, and that the devil easily takes advantage of an atmosphere of mysticism to hold captive the minds of the people.
III. Unmasking the Chinese Religion
1. The Chinese Religion is nothing more than theistic humanism. Humanism is a system of thought or teaching that concerns itself, not with divine, but with human interests. Man is the centre of greatest interest. In theistic humanism, the gods are given attributes conjured up by the human mind.
2. The two main motives that make the Chinese pray to the various gods are for the gods: (i) to grant him material prosperity, and (ii) to protect him and his family from calamities. He will worship other gods as well if only they can fulfil these two desires. All religions are the same to him in that they lead to the same end, which is the good of mankind.
3. The art of Bian Lian (变脸) or “Face-Changing”, which was a part of Sichuan opera, is today widely performed during Chinese cultural shows. It is entertaining, and shocking, to see the one performer changing his face in an instant, a number of times, to convey different moods. In the more serious issues of life and eternity, we must realise that the devil can appear in different guises to deceive people (cf. 2 Cor. 11:14). His primary aim is to capture the mind and win the allegiance of the person to himself. He deceives and manipulates to achieve his own ends. He has a host of fallen angels working for him. We are engaged in a spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:12).
Questions
1. Are the Chinese the only people who are humanists? Can we consider the modern-day liberal Christian theologians as humanists? Why?
2. Would you object to Christian children reading stories from the Chinese classics like ‘Sanguo Yanyi’ (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), ‘Xi You Ji’ (Journey to the West), and ‘Fengshen Bang’ (Investiture of the Gods)? Why?
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