Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Syncretism of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism in China and Japan ( No Answer,   5 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Syncretism of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism in China and Japan
Category: Relationships and Society > Religion
Asked by: tela432-ga
List Price: $5.00
Posted: 03 Apr 2005 12:15 PDT
Expires: 03 May 2005 12:15 PDT
Question ID: 504398
The three elite religions of China and Japan (Daoism, Confucianism and
Buddhism) have become syncretized throughout history. They all borrow
ideas from each other. In China, A Buddhist can worship at a Taoist
temple and study Confucian texts without any problems. If these three
religions are so similar, why have they not synthesized into one? Why
have they remained seperate?
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Syncretism of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism in China and Japan
From: myoarin-ga on 03 Apr 2005 17:36 PDT
 
I would suspect that it is because those religions do not have the
kind of organizations that we know in the western world:  the Roman
Catholic church and Anglican/Episcopal church with their centralized
structures, and the Lutheran protestant churchs with an international
organization, all more or less united in the World Council of Churches
 (maybe the RC is not included there).
Subject: Re: Syncretism of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism in China and Japan
From: myoarin-ga on 04 Apr 2005 09:14 PDT
 
Hmmm?  I see now that I did not complete my thoughts.
The Christian religions also have not united, despite a large body of
common belief, and the eucumenical movement between the RC and
Lutherans has slowed down, partly IMHO because the latter are among
themselves not so sure of the common ground and the RC with a more
stringent theological base have gone as far as they can to meet the
protestants, who also now cannot budge further.
But that is away from the question, accept to indicate the difference,
that the major Christian religions have organizations that could work
towards a synthesis, but the major eastern religions (except perhaps
for Tibetan Buddhism) do not.
At least, that is my layman's understanding.
Subject: Re: Syncretism of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism in China and Japan
From: amber00-ga on 11 Apr 2005 06:35 PDT
 
Because they deal wth different areas of life. One might go to shinto
festivals but have a buddhist funeral. There aren't any shinto
funerals because a corpse is seen as impure in the shinto tradition.
See
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto 
www.askasia.org/frclasrm/readings/r000009.htm
Subject: Re: Syncretism of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism in China and Japan
From: no_pseudonym-ga on 12 Apr 2005 00:09 PDT
 
Hi.  I'm doing an undergraduate course in East Asian religions and I
can try and offer you a bit of an answer.
Firstly, Confucianism is generally beheld to be a 'religion' which
deals more with worldly affairs...with human relations, and how
society should be, governmental policy etc.  Taoism on the other hand
is more an otherworldy religion.  But in fact there has been a bit of
syncretism between the two, because the principle of Yin and Yang
applies to a lot of Confucian practices.
The reason Buddhism and Confucianism have not merged is mainly an
institutional thing.  There have been efforts by certain monks to find
the common ground between the religions and merge them, but other than
that it has been impractical to do so.
I'm so sure of sociopolitical conditions in China, but in Korea
Buddhism and Confucianosm have been used at different times as the
state religion, and so you can see a political reason for there not
being a synthesis.
Subject: Re: Syncretism of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism in China and Japan
From: rickyjoey-ga on 23 Apr 2005 22:10 PDT
 
Kudos to amber00 and no_pseudonym for good interpretations in
understanding the relationships between these three traditions. I'd
like to add a bit form my own experiences.

First, It is important to understand that differences in these
traditions are based on practice. It has been my experience that
Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism are adopted in a persons life at
different stages of their personal development. The biggest
distinction is between Taoism and Confucianism, Taoism focuses heavily
on "the way" which can be loosely translated as something like natural
law. Confucianism, is something of the opposite, it is much more rigid
in it's philosophy, dealing with procedure, protocol, rules,
expectations, etc. So younger career and school oriented people rely
heavily on aspects of Confucianism. You can think of it like a
motivator for discipline. Whereas older people will develop Taoism in
their lives as they settle into life, reflect on their experiences,
and develop wisdom. Traditional chinese practices are also associated
with Taoism (such as ancestor worship, etc). So when a Westerner asks
an Asian, what religion are you? sometimes they don't quite know how
to anwser. I have never met someone who will say "I am a Taoist", or
"Î am a Confucianist" like someone would say "I am Mullim", or "I am
Baptist". This just does not exist. So Taoism and Confucianism cannot
merge because they serve distince purposes in ones life.

Buddhism was introduced to Chine about 600 years after the death of
the Buddha (about 50 CE, look into the "journey to the west" epic
chinese story for a wonderful tale of the journey of a monk form China
to India to bring Buddhist doctrines to China, this is a classic epic
tale and well worth becoming accquianted with), and it would be
another 500 years before Busshism made its way over to Japan from
China. So traditional practices were already well established when
Buddhism came on the scene in these countries. Buddhism was able to
incorporate into Chinese culture because it spoke to common concerns.
For example, in Confucianism, if you work hard you, you can sit your
exams and become an academic and everything is great. Buddhism speaks
to this, as monks are usually quite well educated, and indeed,
Bodhisattavas are multitalented, so intellectual cultivation is
encouraged in Buddhist practice. Buddhism also favours structure in
practice and protocol, esp in monastic life. However, Buddhism also
speaks to Taoism, most obviously in its interpretation of karma as
being cause & effect, and sometimes the karma of an entire city or
country is considered, although this may stray from what the original
intent of karma, as cause & effect might have been intended for, it
does support an ideas of natural law in the world. However, Buddhism
is also distinct from these traditions. Buddhism would view the idea
of work hard=sit exams=get good job=success and founded in delusiion
and greed, two of the three poisons of Buddhism and so would advocate
seeing things for what they really are and sultivation of wisdom and
insight to obtain enlightment. Likewise, aspects of traditional
chinese religions, such as ancestor worship, etc, are sometimes viewed
by Buddhist as superstitious (although there are certainly lots of
superstitions in Buddhism) and so some of these practices are not
encouraged. So Buddhism is can be considered a journey, or a path, it
is a road you take that to cultivate qualties that will lead to
enlightment, or at least better conditions in this life and the next.
So it still has place in asian spiritual life, that is distinct from
Taoism and Confucianism.

As an aside, a similar thing is what separates different schools of
Buddhism. They are not in disagreement over doctrine (as you may find
with different schools in Western religions). Buddhism is not a
dogmatic tradition, and its doctrine grows (as evidenced by the many
schools which have developed all over the world). The difference
between these schools is practice. So for example, a Theravadan monk
collects alms in the morning and eats one meal before noon and
continues with the rest of the day. Monastic life in other schools are
quite different, and so these schools cannot practice in the same
space, and thus a new school arises (it is, or course, more
complicated than this, but you get a general idea here). Take for
example Nichiren (a japanese school that places emphasis on chanting
the full name of the Lotus Sutra, which when realized fully will bring
about enlightement as it contains within it, all the teaching of the
Buddha). This is a very differnt practice than other school, but it
leads to the same place, Nirvana, and is founded on the same
principles, as all the other schools, and so it is Buddhism, but it
needs its own place to practice this doctrine. I once asked a Buddhist
monk what tradition he practiced, he replied "Buddhayana" (yana means
vehicle, like in Mahayana, Hinayana (Theravada), and Vajrayana). How
true.....

I hope my understanding of this topic helps you out. As I mentioned,
this interpretation is from what I have come to understand in my own
various experiences. If someone feels that things are innacurate here,
or that I have misunderstood something, please do comment..

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy