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| (Shintoism) the vast array of spirits associated with natural phenomena and places. They have a peaceful side and a destructive side. |
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| the nameless mystical essence of all things, or a cosmological principle or property that pervades all of reality, a field within which yin and yang influences operate or are exerted |
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| a composite of two complementary forces. All things contain both yin and yang but one is dominant. |
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Confucius is remembered by the Chinese as Teacher Kong or Kong Fu-zi (K’ung Fu-tzu). He supposedly composed or compiled the teachings that came to be known as the “five classics”: Shu Jing – Book of History, Shi Jing – Book of Poetry, Li Ji – Book of Rites, I Ching – Book of Changes, and the Chun Qiu – Annals of Spring and Autumn.
Confucius’ own teachings come to us best through the “four books” written by his disciples: the Analects, the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean and the “Book of Mencius.” |
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Lao-Tzu was the founder of Taoism. He believed that the pursuit of truth is empty since it removes people from proper simplicity. Tao Te Ching or The Treatise of the Dao and its Power, is the main religious text of Taoism.
Practicing non-aggression (wu wei) can result in “mystical invulnerability” (from animals, etc.).
I Ching (Book of Changes) doesn’t see the future as unalterably fixed but is a consultation concerning the unexpected. Divination is accomplished by reading shells or bones. Also, by palmistry, astrology, automatic writing and geomancy. |
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The most influential kami is Amaterasu (the female kami of the sun) associated with the imperial family.
The tradition of an “unsettled spirit” has roots in Chinese, Korean and Japanese folk tradition. To neglect or ignore these spirits invites retribution (storms, earthquakes, infertility, illness, etc)
In Shintoism, there are also many ways of seeking benefits from the spirits: contracting a priest to conduct rituals at a temple or shrine, pilgrimage to a temple or other sacred place, celebrating “grand festivals” and the veneration of spirits. Thus, spirits of the dead are memorialized long after they die so that they do not become angry or vengeful and plague the living. |
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