Religions and Philosophies of Ancient China

Ancient China is known for many things; the Silk Road, their emperors, the dynasties, The iconic Great Wall Of China, and the religions they practiced. Ancient China has a fascinating history and what has developed over time to be a part of some people's lives today!

The citizens of ancient china have practiced multiple beliefs such as Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Confucianism is people being essentially good and perfecting themselves in their community or their social life. Another religion such as Taoism is the belief and philosophy, which wants people to live in harmony with nature. Many people in China practice both Confucianism and Taoism, Confucianism teaches them how to behave towards one another, and Taoism teaches them

how to behave towards the natural world and with themselves personally.
Buddhism is the belief of multiple deities and mostly the spiritual way of living. Buddhism was created for a goal to end suffering and the cycle of rebirth. Buddhism was also mixed in with Taoism.
During 1000 BCE - 300 AD, Confucianism was commonly practiced during this time. It was taught to make a ‘dark-hearted’ person shed light into their life and also how people are meant to react towards one another. The master once said, “Those who are clever in their words and pretentious in their appearance, yet are humane, are few indeed.” I believe the master is saying that a person who knows what they're saying, takes care of their appearance, all while being humane or compassionate towards others are rare to find. Most people who are smart and take care of their looks mostly don't care about others other than themselves, but if you find one that does care about others - that is the one you want to be friends with, a role model, someone you want to be yourself. People who lived in the time year between 551-479 BCE focused on Confucianism and were probably caring towards others no matter who they were, all while being smart.
Taoism was practiced during the time of 360-280 BCE.

Taoism was taught to show people how to take care of yourself mentally, more like motivation or what to do. A goal/mindset. Zhuang Zhou an influential Chinese philosopher taught Taoism and he told people, “If you do good, stay away from fame. If you do evil, stay away from punishments. Follow the middle; go by what is constant, and you can stay in one piece, keep yourself alive, look after your parents, and live out your years.” This quote exemplifies the fact that Taoism is shown to help you and the people around you. People such as your parents. If you are successful in life, stay away from the fame, from the spotlight. To follow your path - your goal - to become successful. Keep your dream alive, help out others, your family and to live your life to the

fullest.
Buddhism was also one of the main religions practiced in Ancient China, even though some emperors tried to destroy traces of the religion to stop people from following and practicing the culture.

Buddhism came into Ancient China at around 300-600 AD. Buddhism is taught for people to believe what they want, not forcing people to commit to a god but to choose to believe in Buddhism yourself. Buddhism is a spiritual development leading to the true nature of reality. A student of The Sixth Patriarch of the Chan (Zen) school of Buddhism, once wrote a verse that resembles Buddhism, “The mind is the bodhi tree, The body is the mirror stand. The mirror is originally clean and pure; Where can it be stained by dust?” This quote shows that Ancient China believed in being good. The mirror is represented as the body, and the dust represents the evil in the world. Where does evil belong on the body? Nowhere, we can't afford to be corrupted by the lies in the world or the propaganda. We have to be pure and clean like how we originally were.

Ancient China followed many religions during their time of 1000 BCE - 600 AD. Three main ones being Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. They all relate to each other by what is being taught in each religion, what message is being displayed. They also all deal with some sort of community and the person itself.

I’ve learned multiple things while researching the topic or religion in Ancient China. Some things being Confucianism and Taoism,

Buddhism during the Silk Road, and what Buddhism really means. What it is all about. I learned what Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism really meant and the message that is supposed to be displayed.