Unit 1 Religion and Philosophy
Learning Objectives
1. Be informed of the religions and philosophies in China and Western countries respectively.
2. Have a general idea about the religious and philosophical stories.
3. Learn the importance of religions and philosophies in the society respectively.
Passage A
The Ancient Chine Thought
The core of ancient Chine culture is its way of thinking. Thinking, being the soul of ancient Chine culture, reflects its esnce in the form of conci and coherent theories. Boasting a long history and a variety of contents and schools, ancient Chine thought is extensive and profound, with Confucianism and Taoism as the principal part.
死神杜兰特
First, from the historical view, Confucianism and Taoism, being the earliest schools of thought, are the quintesnce of ancient Chine civilization before the Spring and Autumn Period. Both schools came into being in the late Spring and Autumn Period, a time when the dominant position of the official or imperial school of thought was challenged by other emerging schools of thought. And Confucius and Lao Zi, respective founders of Confucianism and Taoism, are in fact the forerunners and great thinkers of private schools of thought. Confucius was born in the State of Lu, known for the prervation of a wealth of historical and cultural codes and records and a complete culture of rites and music. Given such a circumstance, Confucius became a follower of past traditions and a trailblazer for future generations. The great contribution of Confucius lies in his bequeathing of the glorious cultural heritage, and, in particular, his collecting and compiling of historical and cultural books and records, later known as The Five Classics. In addition, he founded the Confucius School, which was devoted to the prervation of traditional culture, with the happy result of a complete Confucian doctrine, carrying forward and further developing traditional Chine culture. Lao Zi, on the other h
and, was a court historian of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. His professional training enabled him to master the “Heavenly Way”, focusing on astrology, and his “Human Way”, covering success or failure, fortune and misfortune as well as the ri and fall of dynasties during his study of history. The result is the founding of the Taoist Doctrine with the Heavenly Way and the Human Way combined.
Second, from the viewpoint of the content, Confucianism and Taoism are complimentary, constituting the dialectical unity and balance in ancient Chine cultural system. Although both Confucianism and Taoism originated ancient Chine culture, they sought to obrve and explain the world using entirely different or opposite approaches, thus forming two drastically different world outlooks in content and style as well. This not only enriches ancient Chine thinking, but also results in a balances system, dialectical and dynamic, which, becau of the complementarities and oppositeness of the two schools, makes it possible for ancient Chine thinking to regulate and renew itlf, acquiring a vigorous vitality in its long and stormy history of development. From the cosmological point of view, although both Confucianism and Taoism advocate that man is an integral p
art of nature, Confucianism concentrates on the human side, stressing the power of virtue in the human character. For instance, Confucius advis people to “do something even though they know it is impossible to succeed”, and Xun Zi holds that 冬天有什么花开“教育调研报告man can know and transform nature”. In short, subjective will and moral character constitute the main themes of the Confucian philosophy. On the other hand, Taoism focus on the Heavenly Way, emphasizing naturalness and inaction, namely letting things take their own cour, so that man and nature coexist peacefully, without one getting the upper hand of another. The core of Taoism is, therefore, letting nature take its cour. Conquently, a unique Chine concept of man and nature is formed, a concept which is characterized by the emphasis on man on the one hand and letting nature take its cour on the other. What really matters is to make the right decision or choice in a given situation.
From the political point of view, Confucianism advocates the rule of rites and virtuous character. Later borrowing some of the thoughts of the Legal School, it recommends the rule of virtue along with the u of punishments. So the political thought of Confucianism is characterized by moral teaching and rules and regulations. On the contrary, Taoism str
ess the rule of inaction, making light of righteousness and virtue, rites and punishments. The Confucian politics of “action” and the Taoist politics of “inaction” oppo yet complement each other, alternating tension with relaxation, the latter regulating and complementing the former.
脖子痒是什么问题As far as the outlook on life is concerned, the Confucian concept is very constructive, encouraging people to “go into the society”个人英语, while the Taoist notion is very passive, asking people to “retire from the world”, and to be critical of the reality or society. This eventually leads to the formation of the typical personality of literati and officialdom in feudal China, active and passive, constructive and critical. By “going into the society” and being critical, they can bring into full display their independent personality so as to achieve spiritual fulfillments. By “retiring from the world” and being constructive, they can realize their political aspirations so as to reap earthly fruits. “A sage may be in a royal court, yet his heart is in the mountains and forests.” This has become an ideal model of personality.
From the methodological point of view, both Confucianism and Taoism are characterized
by their speculative thinking. For example, Confucianism advocates the Golden Mean or the Middle of the Road, opposing both going beyond and falling short. By mean or middle is meant a relative balance between the extremes, which is a dynamic balance, constantly adjusting itlf with the changing time and space. On the other hand, Taoism suggests that people stick to one end or extreme, namely the weak, the quiet, and the void, hoping to gain advantages by making concessions, to u inaction against action, to defeat the strong by the weak, and to cope with shifting events by sticking to a fundamental principle.bug是什么
Therefore it is easy to e that the two schools of philosophy are totally different in their approaches to life. While Confucianism emphasizes prudence, scrupulously abiding by one’s duty or faithful adherence to the principle, enterpri, and enthusiasm, Taoism stress strangeness, coping with changing events, retreating in order to advance, and calmness. The combination of the two has eventually led to the birth of the characteristic culture of the Chine nation, that is, prudent without being rigid, enterprising without being foolhardy, principled and flexible, enthusiastic and cool-hearted.
Passage 2
The Bible and Christianity
Among all the religions by which people ek to worship, Christianity is by far the most influential in the West. Every pha of man’s life is touched by this religion, so much so that it has become part and parcel of Western culture. Judaism and Christianity are cloly related. In fact, it was the Jewish tradition which gave birth to Christianity. Both originated in Palestine – the hub of migration and trade routes, which led to exchange of ideas over wide areas.
Some 3800 years ago the ancestors of the Jews – the Hebrews – wandered through the derts of the Middle East. 中国最高的盆地They were traveling merchants, moving from one trading post to the next. And that was how they came to be called “Hebrews”, which means “wanderers”. About 1300 B.C., the Hebrews came to ttle in Palestine, known as Canaan at that time, and formed small kingdoms. Their history was handed down orally from one generation to another in the form of folk tales and stories, which were recorded l
ater in the Old Testament, which still later 网速慢的原因became the first part of the Christian Bible. Though a minor tribe in ancient Middle East with a small population, the Hebrews made one of the greatest contributions to the world civilization.
