How does the teachings of buddhism compare with those of confucius and taoism?
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Wow. This is such a massive question. When I read it I started groaning because I've studied these quite a bit; as well I live or have lived in China and Thailand.
Basically:
Confucianism is not a religion, but it is Chinese. It is a type of philosophy by which people live their lives, especially through their relationships to one-another. However, this type of philosophy is VERY different from Western Philosophy starting with Plato for many reasons, one of the most important is that Chinese philosophy need not be dialectical. Confucianism has waxed and waned in influence over the centuries in China. It is currently sort of on the upswing because the government wants it to be.
Taoism is a Chinese religion, which began shortly after Confucius died. It rejects basically all of Confucianism. Taoism tastes a lot like philosophy if you read Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu, but it only takes entering a Taoist temple to see it is clearly a religion. The emphasis in Taoism is on relativity of truth and the good life being one that doesn't care so much about truth, morality, and other ideas that most religions associate with today. Chuang Tzu is a great but difficult read, I highly recommend it--the Burton Watson translation.
Buddhism is not specifically Chinese. It is a huge religion that emphasizes the suffering of life and how to alleviate it in oneself and in others. It is a wonderful religion. In China, Buddhism combined with Taoist concepts because it was believed by many that Buddism's concepts were identical with Taoism's concepts. This was untrue, but it created the Chan (Zen) school of Buddhism that exists to this day.
Basically:
Confucianism is not a religion, but it is Chinese. It is a type of philosophy by which people live their lives, especially through their relationships to one-another. However, this type of philosophy is VERY different from Western Philosophy starting with Plato for many reasons, one of the most important is that Chinese philosophy need not be dialectical. Confucianism has waxed and waned in influence over the centuries in China. It is currently sort of on the upswing because the government wants it to be.
Taoism is a Chinese religion, which began shortly after Confucius died. It rejects basically all of Confucianism. Taoism tastes a lot like philosophy if you read Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu, but it only takes entering a Taoist temple to see it is clearly a religion. The emphasis in Taoism is on relativity of truth and the good life being one that doesn't care so much about truth, morality, and other ideas that most religions associate with today. Chuang Tzu is a great but difficult read, I highly recommend it--the Burton Watson translation.
Buddhism is not specifically Chinese. It is a huge religion that emphasizes the suffering of life and how to alleviate it in oneself and in others. It is a wonderful religion. In China, Buddhism combined with Taoist concepts because it was believed by many that Buddism's concepts were identical with Taoism's concepts. This was untrue, but it created the Chan (Zen) school of Buddhism that exists to this day.
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