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Chinese spiritual world concepts are cultural practices or methods found in Chinese culture.Some fit in the realms of a particular religion, others do not. In general these concepts were uniquely evolved from the Chinese values of filial piety, tacit acknowledgment of the co-existence of the living and the deceased, and the belief in causality and reincarnation, with or without religious ...
In Chinese religion the concept of ling (Chinese: 靈) is the equivalent of holy and numen. [117] Shen in the meaning of "spiritual" is a synonym. [96] The Yijing states that "spiritual means not measured by yin and yang". [96] Ling is the state of the "medium" of the bivalency (yin-yang), and thus it is identical with the inchoate order of ...
Chinese Buddhism also developed various unique traditions of Buddhist thought and practice, including Tiantai, Huayan, Chan Buddhism, and Pure Land Buddhism. From its inception, Chinese Buddhism has been influenced by native Chinese religions and philosophy, especially Confucianism and Taoism, but also Chinese folk religion.
Chinese concepts of religion differ from concepts in Judaism and Christianity, says scholar Julia Ching, which were "religions of the fathers", that is, patriarchal religions, whereas Chinese religion was not only "a patriarchal religion but also an ancestral religion". Israel believed in the "God of its fathers, but not its divinised fathers".
Chinese theology, which comes in different interpretations according to the Chinese classics and Chinese folk religion, and specifically Confucian, Taoist, and other philosophical formulations, [1] is fundamentally monistic, [2] that is to say it sees the world and the gods of its phenomena as an organic whole, or cosmos, which continuously emerges from a simple principle. [3]
The concept was later expanded to all manner of ritualised cultural life. Within the Confucian tradition, the purpose of ritual was to engage in a continuous process of applying appropriate behaviours, taking the correct frame of mind when doing so, as a way to shape one's thinking and reinforce moral character.
The use of Chinese concepts, such as the Tao, that were close to Buddhist ideas and terms helped spread the religion and make it more amenable to the Chinese people. However, the differences between the Sanskrit and Chinese terminology led to some initial misunderstandings and the eventual development of Buddhism in East Asia as a distinct entity.
While Confucianism was the ideology of the law, the institutions and the ruling class, Taoism was the worldview of the radical intellectuals and it was also compatible with the spiritual beliefs of the peasants and the artisans. The two, although opposite ends of the philosophical spectrum, jointly created the Chinese "image of the world". [4]