The ancient religions in China didn't know there was a heaven or a hell to execute the final judgment. The rich imagination, beautiful rituals and metaphysics of Buddhism overwhelmed and conquered the inherent local religion. The concept of reincarnation, an iron law, quickly replaced the old simple concept of good and evil. Buddhism has given China not a layer of heaven, but dozens of layers of heaven, not a layer of hell, but many layers of hell, with layers of strict terror. The world is unreal, life is painful and empty, and sex is unclean. Family is an obstacle to self-cultivation. The only child is an indispensable condition for Buddhist life. You should be vegetarian, strictly abstinent, and you can speak and recite scriptures with magical powers. There are other beliefs and fashions imported from India, which have become a part of China people's cultural life.
This is a real revolution. For example, the Confucian "filial piety" tells people that the body is subject to parents and cannot be damaged. Ancient thinkers in China said that life is the most precious. However, Buddhists say that life is a dream and life is suffering. This dogma has led to all kinds of ethos that are absolutely contrary to China's tradition. Burning off the thumb, burning one or several fingers or even burning the whole arm with fire has become a kind of "merit" for Buddhist disciples. Sometimes, a monk will announce his death in advance. On that day, he will light a pile of firewood with a fire in his hand and set himself on fire. He will keep chanting the Buddha's name until it is burned. China has been assimilated by a strange religious fanaticism.
There are all kinds of resistance to Buddhism in China. A * * * in Buddhism is characterized by throwing away things that China people can't accept and digest. As early as the 4th century, Buddhists in China have gradually realized that the essence of Buddhism is only "gradual progress" and "epiphany", which together are Zen (pronounced dhvana or ch'an in Japanese). Zen is meditation, but it also depends on philosophical consciousness.
The so-called "Southern Sect" of Zen Buddhism-Zen Buddhism became the proper name of Southern Sect after the eighth century-further declared that as long as epiphany is enough, gradual practice can be omitted. It was a monk who said this (from 670 to 762 AD, according to Hu Shi's textual research, he was the real founder of Nanzong).
The whole so-called "Southern Sect" movement relies on a series of successful lies and fabrications. The story of Dharma they told is a lie, the story of their twenty-eight ancestors in the Western Heaven is a fabrication, the story of their robes is a lie, and most of their "six ancestors" are completely false. But their biggest fabrication is the story of the origin of Zen: Tathagata will speak in Lingshan. He just picked a flower in front of the crowd without saying a word. No one understood what he meant. Only the wise Lord Gaya understands that he only smiles at the Buddha. It is said that this is the source of Zen and the beginning of Zen.
The historical role of Taoism: the "pioneer" who resisted political oppression, objectively awed rulers, improved people's livelihood and had scientific spirit.
China has a series of resistance to Buddhism. One form is the beginning and popularization of Taoism in the Middle Ages. All kinds of beliefs and systems in various places are unified and stimulated by a little new national desire, trying to imitate every feature of the foreign Buddhism, overwhelming it and destroying it. This is Taoism. Taoism adopted Buddhist heaven and hell, gave them Chinese names, and made some gods in China their masters. Daozang is based on Buddhist classics. Many Buddhist concepts, such as past lives, afterlife reincarnation and karma, have been borrowed for their own. The rules of male and female Taoist priests are modeled after the precepts of Buddhist monks and nuns. Taoism is a nationalist anti-Buddhist movement. The only way it uses is to make an imitation to occupy the market. The real purpose of this movement is to eliminate foreign religions. Therefore, the government persecuted Buddhism several times, the most famous being 446 (the seventh year of Taiping Zhenjun in the Northern Wei Dynasty) and 84 (the fifth year of Huichang in Tang Wuzong), both of which were manipulated by Taoist forces.
Since ancient times, Taoism has never lacked insurgents. It can be said that peasant uprisings in China since ancient times have a lot to do with Taoism, such as the Yellow Scarf Uprising in Zhang Lu. Taoism is also associated with politics, encouraging the emperor to be superstitious about Dan medicine. Taoism has never advocated sitting tight as they advocated.
However, the Taoist thought that "my life depends on my not going to heaven" is scientific, which is for sure. Peasant uprisings also make rulers fear and improve people's livelihood.
The historical role of Confucianism: separation of church and state, humanism.
Confucianism is actually not a religion, but a "human study". Confucius' humanism, the concept of attaching importance to human dignity and value, the honest lesson of loving and attaching importance to knowledge, and the educational philosophy of "teaching without distinction" are the essence of China culture.
In the book Mozi, it is said that "Confucians" at that time called their clothes "ancient costumes". "Ancient" of course refers to the conquered Yin Dynasty. In the heyday of Shang Dynasty, Zhu Zongbu had his own experts. After the national subjugation, these people with specialized knowledge dispersed among the people, and later became a special class "Confucian". After the subjugation of the Shang Dynasty, it is expected that an invincible "King of Martial Arts" will rise up and "create the world". Later, this hope gradually formed a prosperous king. Sure enough, a great sage Confucius appeared. He broke the barrier of Yin Zhou culture, opened up the exclusive territory of the Yin and Zhou nationalities, raised and enlarged the "Confucianism" with tribal nature, and re-established it on the new basis of the 600-year life of the Yin and Zhou nationalities: he became the exclusive patriarch of ZTE's "Confucianism"; He also became "the light of foreigners". "His reputation is all over China, and he is handsome, has a boat and a car, and has human resources ... all flesh and blood are respected."
Confucius was able to revive Confucianism, which had been despised for 500 to 600 years, because he realized the trend of mixed nationalities and mixed cultures in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, and he also knew that the "Confucianism" environment of the tribe's Yin adherents could not refuse the Zhou culture that ruled China for 600 years, so he boldly broke through the boundaries of that nation and boldly declared: "I want to follow Zhou!"
"... cultivate your respect, ... cultivate yourself to protect people, ... cultivate yourself to protect people. "Knowing what not to do is a new ideal realm, which is by no means a realm where cowardly Confucianism treats funerals with courtesy, but a new spirit of Confucianism.
Confucius and Lao Yuben belong to the same family. Laozi represents the orthodoxy of Confucianism, and Confucius has already surpassed that orthodoxy. Laozi's philosophy of life is the crystallization of thousands of years of sophistication, which contains great religious confidence-"there are always killers" and "there is a long way to go, but it is not completely acceptable to ordinary people with flesh and blood." Confucius also came out of this theory. His temperament and personality did not allow him to take this extreme road, so he returned to the "golden mean" road and shaped a personality who could bear the burden of all mankind from the aspect of fortitude and enterprising.
Confucianism recognizes that everything in heaven and earth has a certain trajectory, such as Laozi's natural inaction, as Confucius said, "What is heaven?" Nature is the result of the accumulation and progress of social common sense. To believe in a paradise of "doing nothing without doing anything" is to believe in a destiny of "doing nothing without doing anything". This progressive concept of "heaven" is too abstract for ordinary people to understand, and inevitably conflicts with the old religious habits of folk ghosts and gods. Since I believe in a paradise that is "independent and unchanging, but not dangerous", of course I can't believe that sacrificing to God can change the direction of things.
Confucius' skeptical attitude is "knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing, but knowing." Decided the historical mission of this Confucian movement. The mission of Confucianism is to be a leader of the "literati" class in China, not a religious leader. The greatest contribution of Confucianism to China is that it finally created an environment of separation of church and state.
The relationship between Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism;
The cultural invasion of Indian Buddhism caused local resistance and established Taoism. According to Feng Youlan's History of China Philosophy, Buddhism and Taoism copied classics from each other. Confucianism has always hated Buddhism and admired Taoism. Later, the reform of Buddhism removed the ignorance that was not suitable for China, and added new elements that were suitable for the tastes of literati. Therefore, after the Ming dynasty, scholars took Zen as a fashion, but it was actually just a condiment.