East Asian Hum. Daoism, Buddhism etc

Daoism

The important place of Daoism in Chinese culture: If Confucianism provides

the belief system and moral philosophy for China’s intelligentsia, then Daoism

does the same for China’s ordinary people.

 Daoism did not start as a religion but rather as a school of thought during the

Waring States period.

Founders of Daoist school

Laozi and Zhuangzi

Their works laid the philosophical foundation for the belief that holds

the Dao as the supreme force of creation.

 During the Pre-Qin time, what we now call Daoist thoughts were referred to as

“the teachings of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi” (Huang Lao zhi xue 黄老之学)

and, later, as “the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi” (Lao Zhuang zhi xue 老庄之

学).

Post Qin Development of Daoism into organized religion

was not until the Han dynasty, especially the 2nd century

CE, that Daoism developed into an organized religion. Two

persons played an important role in this development.

2 people the led to development of Daoism as religion

Zhāng Jué张角 (2nd cent. CE)

 A rebel leader who mobilized his followers by utilizing the

Daoist work Taiping jing 太平经 (Scripture of Grand

Tranquility).

 The key doctrines of Taipingjing:

 The essence of Dao is Grand Tranquility, which serves as

the guiding principle of human society.

 Heaven will send a "Celestial Master" or "Heavenly

Teacher" (天师 tiānshī) to rectify the human world.

Zhāng Dàolíng张道陵 (2nd cent. CE)

 Leader of a group of Daoist believers who claimed to be

the "Celestial Master.”

 Established Daoism as an organized religion, especially by

building the earliest Daoist monastery in Mount

Qingcheng in Sichuan

when did daoism flourish

Daoism developed rapidly

in the post-Han period,

particularly in the

formation of its canonical

texts, doctrines,

commandments, ritual

practices, and institutional

organization.



Daoism flourished as a

state-endorsed religion

during the Tang Dynasty

(618-907) and continued to

thrive during the Song

Dynasty (960-1279

2 major sects of daoism

Quanzhen Dao 全真道 (Complete Reality Dao)

 It primarily focuses on the cultivation of internal

energy such as Jing 精 (vitality), Qi 气 (energy)

and Shen 神 (spirit).



Its Four Commandments for practitioners:

1. Cannot marry, hence mostly living in monasteries

2. Should not eat meat

3. Always wear Daoist clothing, such as Daoist robes.

4. Tie their hairs and wear beard



Zhengyi Dao 正义道 (Orthodox Unity Dao)

 Its members mostly practice demon exorcism and fortune telling

 Allowed to marry and eat meat

 Could wear secular-style clothing except on occasions of worship and services

 Do not have to wear beard and can have normal hair style

 Today, Daoism remains one of the most influential belief systems among ordinary

Chinese, especially those in the rural areas.

Laozi ( real name Li Er)

Laozi, real name Li Er 李耳 (ca 571-471

BCE).

 Born in the state of Chu, in a place in

today’s Henan Province, China.

 Worked as a petty official in the imperial

library of the Zhou court.

 Said to have taught Confucius briefly.

 Author of Daodejing, or the Laozi (81

chapters: 1-37 about Dao or Way, 38-81

about De or Virtue)

Daodejing (the Laozi)

How does Laozi describe the Way?

Laozi describes the Way (Dao) as:

• Ineffable: “The Dao that can be spoken is not the constant Dao.”

• Nameless and formless.

• Invisible, inaudible, intangible.

• The source of all things.

It cannot be fully captured in language or concepts

What is the relevance of the Way to the cosmos?

The Dao:

• Generates the One, the One generates Two (yin and yang), Two generate Three, and Three generate the ten thousand things.

• Sustains and nourishes all beings.

• Operates through balance, reversal, and cyclical movement.

Thus, the cosmos unfolds according to the Way’s spontaneous patterns.

Daodejing (the Laozi)

What is the relationship between the Way and human beings?

• To live well, humans must align themselves with the Dao.

Harmony comes from simplicity and naturalness.

-humans rely on it for life, past ,present, future

Daodejing (the Laozi)

What does Laozi mean by Virtue?

-comes naturally, those w ulterior motives have low virtue (water flows like dao flows in humans)

-The manifestation of the Dao within a particular being.

What constitutes virtue

• doing things without seeking a return and going unnoticed

Daodejing (the Laozi)

Is the world knowable?

-not all knowable, if you believe it is knowable= belief in human rationality

-mother= beginning of world

What’s the purpose of knowing?

The purpose is not control or domination.

Instead, knowing should:

• Reduce desire

• Encourage simplicity

• Guide one back to harmony with the Dao

What is Laozi's ideal of a good government?

-more depressive gov is more honest and agreeable w the people

-active gov = deformed people, limit gov power

act via nonaction

Zhuangzi

real name: Zhuang Zhou 庄周 (ca 369-286

BCE).

 Born in Meng ( in today’ Henan) in the state of Song.

 He worked for a while as a petty official in his home

state.

 He was well acquainted with the teachings of major

intellectual traditions, including Confucianism, but his

primary commitment lay in Daoist doctrine.

 The Zhuangzi, traditionally attributed to him, is a

classic Daoist text composed of stories, parables, and

short essays that celebrate freedom, spontaneity, and

skepticism toward fixed values. Organized into Inner,

Outer, and Miscellaneous chapters, it uses humor and

imagination to question common sense and has

exerted a lasting influence on Chinese philosophy and

literature.

The Zhuangzi (daoist text)

-narrative, abstract, rhetorical strat

-Minnow and Breeze — “Little Knowledge” vs “Big Knowledge”

the story of the giant Peng bird contrasts with small creatures (like cicadas and little birds) who mock it because they cannot comprehend its vast flight.

“Little knowledge does not measure up to big knowledge” means:

• Limited perspectives cannot grasp larger realities.

• Narrow, everyday understanding mistakes its limits for universality.

• What seems absurd or impossible may simply exceed our scale of understanding.

Zhuangzi challenges intellectual arrogance and encourages openness to vast, unfamiliar possibilities

-perspective impacts views and actions to achieve high must put effort

The Zhuangzi (daoist text)

Zhuangzi’s View on Truth

Zhuangzi is skeptical about fixed, objective truth.

He argues:

• Judgments of “right” and “wrong” depend on perspective.

-no definitive right or wrong, this and that, relativity to everything

The Zhuangzi (daoist text)

The Monkey Trainer Story (Three in the Morning)

The monkey trainer offers the monkeys three chestnuts in the morning and four in the evening. They are upset. He changes it to four in the morning and three in the evening, and they are satisfied — though the total remains the same.

Moral:

• Reactions depend on framing.

Zhuangzi’s View of Language

Zhuangzi views language as:

• Artificial and divisive.

• A tool that creates distinctions (this/that, right/wrong).

How does Zhangzi understand the way/dao

-cannot be announced ha no form, similar to lao, source of creation

The Zhuangzi (daoist text)

(Dream vs Reality)

In the butterfly dream story, Zhuangzi dreams he is a butterfly and later wonders whether he is a man who dreamed of being a butterfly or vice versa.

Implications:

• The boundary between dream and reality is uncertain.

• Perspective shapes what we call “real.”

The Proper Way for Emperors and Kings (Chapter 7)

Zhuangzi favors:

Non-interference.

• Letting people follow their natural tendencies.

• Avoiding excessive laws and moral preaching.

The Zhuangzi (daoist text) Butcher Story

Butcher Ding is cutting up an ox for a ruler. His movements are:

• Effortless

• Graceful

• Rhythmic — almost like a dance

The ruler is amazed and asks how his skill can be so perfect.

Butcher Ding replies that at first he saw the whole ox. After years of practice, he no longer sees it as a solid object.

• The story illustrates what it means to live in harmony with the Dao:

  • Do not force things.

  • Follow natural patterns.

  • Move with the structure of reality rather than against it

  • he story teaches that:

    • Life becomes difficult when we force it.

    • Harmony comes from understanding patterns.

    • Mastery is effortless when aligned with reality.

    • Wisdom is embodied, not abstract.

Founding of Buddhism

Buddhism originated in northern

India in the 5th cent. BCE, founded

by Siddhārtha Gautama, later

known as the Buddha (“the

Awakened One”).

 After attaining enlightenment, the

Buddha taught a path to liberation

from suffering based on the Four

Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

 Early Buddhism emphasized ethical

conduct, meditation, and wisdom,

and spread through monastic

communities and oral teachings.

Historical Expansion in Asia

Buddhism did not remain confined to

India for long. Around the third

century BCE, it spread beyond

Indian borders through trade routes,

itinerant monks, and the patronage

of powerful rulers.

 By the first millennium CE, Buddhism

had spread from India to South

Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia.

 As it moved, Buddhism adapted to

local cultures, developing new

doctrines, rituals, and schools while

retaining its core teachings.

The Three Major Traditions of Buddhism

Theravada (“School of the Elders”):

Predominant in Sri Lanka and Southeast

Asia (Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and

Cambodia). Emphasizes early Buddhist

teachings, monastic discipline, and the ideal

of the arhat, who seeks personal liberation.

 Mahayana (“the Great Vehicle”):

Spread to China, and from there to Korea,

Japan, and Vietnam. Introduces the

bodhisattva ideal, emphasizing compassion

and the liberation of all beings.

 Vajrayana (“the Diamond Vehicle”):

Developed later within Mahayana Buddhism

and took root in Tibet, Mongolia, and the

Himalayan regions. Characterized by

esoteric rituals, mantras, and tantric

practices aimed at accelerating

enlightenment.

Budd. DQ,

What is Dharma?

-similar to the way, way of life/living

-essence of things

aim= liberation from suffering

How did Buddha tradition in India pass onto later generations?

-apprenticeship and oral recitation

3 Principle Canons of Buddhist scripture

Tripiṭaka (Sanskrit) or Tipiṭaka (Pāli), meaning “Three Baskets.” Different Buddhist traditions preserve their own versions of the canon.

The three major canons are:

• The Pali Canon (Theravāda tradition)

• The Chinese Buddhist Canon (East Asian Mahāyāna tradition)

• The Tibetan Buddhist Canon (Tibetan/Vajrayāna tradition)

Although they differ in language and content, they all preserve the core threefold structure of Buddhist scripture.

The “Three Baskets” are:

1. Vinaya – discipline

2. Sūtra/Sutta – discourses

3. Abhidharma/Abhidhamma – philosophical analysis (further dharma)

Together, they preserve Buddhist teachings in ethical, practical, and philosophical forms.

What actions count as violations of Vinaya?

And what are their disciplinary consequences?

(50)

How Did Mahāyāna Arise?

-sex, intentional killing, falsely claiming spiritual attainments, taking whats not given

-came from ideals should apply to everyone rather than just monks, came after buddhas death, reform movement

4 noble truths

origin of suffering?

1. Nature of Suffering

2. Truth of Nature of Cessation

3. Truth of Nature of Cause

4. Truth of the Nature of Path Leading to Cessation

everything is repeated existence, thirst for objects of sense desire

How do you interpret story of buddha

What is Nirvana

-story of raft, avoid holding onto attachment, attachment= desire

• Born into luxury.

• Encounters sickness, old age, and death.

• Realizes suffering is universal.

• Renounces worldly life.

• Attains enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.

Interpretation:

• Privilege does not protect one from suffering.

• Awareness of mortality motivates spiritual inquiry.

• Extreme asceticism and indulgence are both rejected.

• The “Middle Way” is the path to liberation.

His life symbolizes the possibility of awakening for all beings

Nirvāṇa literally means “blowing out” or “extinguishing” — like extinguishing a flame.

It is:

• The cessation of craving

• The end of ignorance

• Freedom from rebirth (samsara)

• Complete liberation from suffering

The Way to the Cessation of Suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path

Wisdom (Prajñā)

1. Right View

2. Right Intention

Ethical Conduct (Śīla)

3. Right Speech

4. Right Action

5. Right Livelihood

Mental Discipline (Samādhi)

6. Right Effort

7. Right Mindfulness

8. Right Concentration

Buddhism in China

Buddhism entered China during the mid-Han period. The first

Buddhist temple in China—the White Horse Temple in Luoyang,

Henan Province—was built in 68 CE, marking the beginning of

Buddhism’s institutional presence in China.

Buddhism Flourishing in China

during the Wei–Jin and Northern–

Southern Dynasties period (220–581 CE), benefiting from political

fragmentation and elite patronage. Its expansion was especially

notable under Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei (r. 467–499 CE),

whose policies of Sinicization strongly promoted Buddhist institutions,

translation activities, and monastic culture.

 By the Tang dynasty, Buddhism had firmly established itself as one of

China’s “Three Teachings” (三教), alongside Confucianism and

Daoism. Rather than replacing indigenous traditions, Buddhism

entered into sustained dialogue and competition with them,

becoming an integral part of Chinese intellectual, religious, and social

life.

 During the Tang dynasty (618–907), Buddhism reached the height of

its development in China, marked by imperial support, widespread

popular devotion, and sophisticated doctrinal debates. In this period,

Buddhism evolved into distinct Chinese sects, such as Tiantai, Huayan,

Pure Land, and Chan, each exhibiting theological innovation and

strong native characteristics.

Four Major Schools of Chinese Buddhism:

Formation before and Flourishing during the Tang

Tiantai School (Heavenly Terrace School)

The Tiantai School was systematized by Zhiyi (531–597) at Tiantai Mountain. His goal was to organize the many different and sometimes conflicting Buddhist teachings in China into a clear and unified system that Chinese practitioners could understand.

based on the Lotus Sutra, which it considers the Buddha’s highest and most complete teaching. The Lotus Sutra teaches:

• Universal salvation

• Zhiyi’s most important philosophical contribution is the doctrine of the Three Truths, which explains reality in three interrelated ways:

  1. Truth of Emptiness (空谛)
     All things lack fixed, independent essence.

  2. Truth of Provisional Existence (假谛)
     Things exist in a conditional, dependent way in everyday experience.

  3. Truth of the Mean (中谛)
     Emptiness and provisional existence are not separate — reality is both empty and conditionally real at the same time.

Huayan School (Flower Garland School)

The Huayan School was traditionally founded by Dushun (557–640), and its philosophy was fully developed by later thinkers such as Fazang (643–712).

Core Scripture

Huayan teachings are based on the Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Garland Sutra), which presents a vast, cosmic vision of reality as infinitely interconnected.

Central Doctrine: Interpenetration and Totality

The core idea of Huayan philosophy is that all things are perfectly interconnected.

Four Major Schools of Chinese Buddhism:

Formation before and Flourishing during the Tang pt 2

Pure Land School (Jingtu Zong)

The Pure Land tradition was first organized in China by Huiyuan (334–417) at Mount Lu, where he founded the White Lotus Society, a devotional community dedicated to Amitabha (Amitābha Buddha).

-The main scripture is the Infinite Life Sutra, which describes Amitābha’s vows and the conditions for rebirth in his Pure Land.

Chan School (Zen / Meditation School)

Chan Buddhism was traditionally founded in China by Bodhidharma in the early 6th century at the Shaolin Temple. He introduced the idea of “mind-to-mind transmission” — enlightenment passed directly from teacher to student beyond reliance on scriptures. He is honored as the First Patriarch of Chan.

—Northern School — Gradual Enlightenment

Led by Shenxiu

• Emphasized steady practice

• Focused on meditation, discipline, and scripture

• Viewed enlightenment as gradual cultivation

2. Southern School — Sudden Enlightenment

Led by Huineng

• Taught that enlightenment is sudden

• Awakening is an immediate realization of one’s inherent Buddha-nature

• Transcends words and texts

Mouzi vs HuiYuan and Buddhism

Mouzi was one of the earliest Chinese intellectuals to defend Buddhism against Confucian and Daoist criticism after Buddhism first entered China.

—Truth is universal, not limited to China.

• Buddhism does not contradict Chinese moral values.

• Foreign origin does not invalidate a teaching.

He represents the first major effort to intellectually legitimize Buddhism in China.

Huiyuan was an influential monk and founder of an early Pure Land devotional community. He is best known for defending the independence of the Buddhist monastic community from state control.

—Lay Buddhists should obey the emperor and follow social norms.

• Monks, however, have renounced worldly roles and therefore should not be required to bow to the emperor.

He insisted that monks:

• Do not threaten political order.

• Serve society spiritually rather than politically.