Chinese Religions

by Ching, Julia

• ISBN13: 9780883448755
• ISBN10: 0883448750
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-10-01
• Publisher: Orbis Books

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Note on Transliteration	xii
Chronological Table	xiii
Introduction	1	(1)
Europe and China Compared	1	(1)
The Meaning of Religion: Western Term, Chinese Context	1	(8)
Organisation of this Book	9	(6)
PART ONE: THE INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS
The Ancestral Cult and Divination: The Dawn of Ancient Religion	15	(18)
Archaeology and Ancient Religion	15	(1)
Dragons and Dragon Bones	15	(2)
The Ancestral Cult and Ancient Religion	17	(5)
Mythology and Ancient Religion	22	(4)
Divination: Seeking for Ancestral Advice	26	(5)
The Decline of Divination	31	(2)
Sacrifice and Kingship: The Eclipse of Ancient Religion	33	(18)
Of Gods and Spirits	33	(2)
Sacrifice and Ancient Religion	35	(3)
Priesthood and Shamanism	38	(5)
Kingship and Ancient Religion	43	(3)
Revisiting the Role of Women in Antiquity	46	(2)
The Ecstatic Character of Ancient Religion	48	(1)
The Emergence of Chinese Humanism	49	(2)
Morality and Rituals: Confucianism as Religious Humanism	51	(17)
Confucianism as Religious Humanism	51	(2)
The Origins of Confucianism	53	(6)
Confucianism as Ritual Religion	59	(6)
Confucius as Prophet?	65	(3)
Love or the Law: Confucianism and its Rivals: Mohism and Legalism	68	(17)
Religious and Anti-Religious Humanisms	68	(1)
A Rival Religious Philosophy: Mo-tzu on Love	69	(3)
Human Nature and the Rites: Mencius and Hsun-tzu	72	(5)
Politics: Confucianism as `Civil Religion'	77	(3)
Political Opposition to Religion: The School of Law	80	(2)
Confucian Humanism Today	82	(3)
Freedom and the Natural: Taoism as Religious Philosophy	85	(17)
What is Taoism?	85	(1)
Taoism as Philosophy	86	(5)
Religious Meaning in Taoist Philosophy	91	(1)
Mystical Taoism and Magico-Ecstatic Behaviour	92	(3)
The Role of the Feminine in Philosophical Taoism	95	(1)
Neo-Taoism as Exegetical Tradition	96	(2)
Neo-Taoism as a Protest Movement	98	(4)
Immortality and Mysticism: Taoism as Salvation Religion	102	(19)
The Origins of Taoist Religion	102	(1)
Taoism as Institutional Religion: The Heavenly Masters Sect	103	(1)
The Quest for Immortality	104	(7)
Taoist Scriptures	111	(1)
Monastic Taoism: The Perfect Truth Sect	112	(1)
Taoism as a Salvation Religion	113	(3)
Taoism in Korea and Japan	116	(1)
Taoism Today	117	(4)
PART TWO: FOREIGN RELIGIONS AND CHINESE RESPONSE
Scripture and Hermeneutics: Buddhism's Entry to China	121	(16)
Buddhism as a Missionary Religion	121	(3)
The Introduction of Buddhism	124	(3)
The Translation of Buddhist Scriptures	127	(5)
The Great Philosophical Schools: A Hermeneutical Adventure	132	(4)
The Buddhist Conquest of China?	136	(1)
Mysticism and Devotion: Buddhism Becomes Chinese	137	(16)
Buddhism: Rise and Decline	137	(1)
The Growth of Buddhist Sects	137	(7)
Tantric Buddhism: The Mongolian-Tibetan Religion	144	(2)
Buddhism and Society	146	(4)
Buddhism in Korea and Japan	150	(1)
The Buddhist Legacy in East Asia	151	(2)
Metaphysics and Spirituality: Neo-Confucianism as Response to Buddhism	153	(17)
A New Orthodoxy: Later Confucianism	153	(1)
Compromises with Other Schools: Han Confucianism	153	(3)
Neo-Confucianism as a Response to Buddhism	156	(6)
Neo-Confucianism as Protest Philosophy	162	(2)
Neo-Confucianism in Korea and Japan	164	(1)
Neo-Confucianism in Modern Times	165	(3)
Neo-Confucian Rationalism as Preparation for Modernisation	168	(2)
Ethnic Survival: Islam and Other Middle Eastern Religions	170	(16)
Foreign Religions in China	170	(1)
Persian Religions in China: Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism	171	(3)
Jews, Past and Present	174	(3)
Islam in China	177	(6)
Islam's Success as an Ethnic Religion	183	(3)
Cultural Assimilation: The Dilemma of Christianity	186	(19)
Europe and Asia: Mutual Stereotypes	186	(1)
Christianity Comes to China	187	(11)
Christianity under Communism	198	(1)
Christianity in Korea and Japan	199	(1)
Christianity: A Foreign Religion in China	200	(5)
PART THREE: THE LEGACY OF SYNCRETISM
The Vitality of Syncretism: Popular Religion	205	(16)
What is Popular Religion?	205	(1)
The Legacy of the Past	206	(3)
Gods, Ancestors and Ghosts	209	(4)
Popular Religion and the Great Traditions	213	(2)
Is Taoism also Popular Religion?	215	(2)
The Vitality of Syncretism: Popular Religion Today	217	(2)
The Role of the Female in Popular Religion	219	(1)
Conclusion	220	(1)
The Future of Chinese Religions	221	(10)
The Question	221	(1)
The Success of Harmony	221	(2)
The Limitations of Harmony	223	(2)
Marxism and Chinese Religions	225	(1)
Christianity and Chinese Religions	226	(2)
What Future?	228	(3)
APPENDIX: The Chinese Liturgical Year	231	(3)
Notes	234	(18)
Bibliography	252	(11)
Index--Glossary: Selected Chinese Terms	263	(2)
General Index	265