Ancient China Religions

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Out of the current civilizations and religions in the world, China is the most ancient that still stands today. The religion of China today is a mixture of many different forms, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Chinese folk religion. Forms of these religions and former parts of Chinese religion has been dated to go back to 5000 B.C. The history of China has seen many of dynasties throughout the years. The first known dynasty was the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.). Within the religion of the nation, divination played a major role among Chinese religious practices. Cattle sculptures or turtle plastrons were made that the Chinese worshipped and made sacrifices and ceremonies to. As time progressed, divination practices …show more content…
During this period, the different regions of China moved towards a more unified bureaucracy. As the regions unified, the different religions assimilated. A general Chinese pantheon was created where each god had a specific function. In addition, the teachings of Confucius and Mo-tzu flourished in emphasizing virtue, important social relationships, humanity, and a just leader. Following the Ch’ou Dynasty, a new sight was seen within the Ch’in Dynasty (221-206 B.C.) Within this time period, the feudal system was completely destroyed and China was divided into 40 prefectures. In addition, the Great Wall of China was built to extend and fortify walls and highways. The Chinese emperor, Shih huang-ti, was horrified on the concept of death, Thus, he made every possible effort to achieve immortality, such as searching for the elixir of life and higher focus of deities. Once the Ch’in Dynasty ended, the historical Han Dynasty began (206-220). During this time period, Confucianism was fully embraced. Confucius’ ideas were a common threshold of a time for Chinese prosperity. Rulers were considered to rule under the Mandate of Heaven. There was a high notice of securing spiritual blessings. Furthermore, rituals high focused on the Five Elements and other cults, but were later replaced by sacrifices dedicated to heaven and …show more content…
During this period, historians believed the highest point in Chinese civilization to occur. Along with a golden age of literature and art came the flourishing of Taoism and Buddhism. Many Sanskrit Buddhist texts were translated into Chinese by Hsuan-tsang of India in 645. However, by the end of this dynasty, Buddhism was persecuted from the land for economic and religious reasons. Buddhism in China would never be the same. In the years of 1271-1368, the Mongol Dynasty rose in China. As the Mongols took over, they did not force their religion on the Chinese people. Thus, China faced a time of freedom in religious and economic ways under foreign rule. A notification in the ‘three teachings’ did progress as Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. After the Mongol Dynasty came another highly historical dynasty of Chinese history: the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). This time sparkplugged a peasant revolt against the Mongolian foreign rulers. Thus, a renewed cultural blossoming came about with a vast army and navy built. However, Taoism and Buddhism became poorly organized religious sectors of the country. China pushed to maintain a philosophical uniformity in ways to find personal self-realization through contemplative and mystical

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