FREE ESSAY ON ANCESTOR WORSHIP

ANCESTOR WORSHIP

4. Compare and contrast Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. How are they similar? How are
they different? 
5. Describe the Chinese tradition of ancestor worship. 
-Question 4. 
Buddhism
Has over 300 million members, and was founded around 2, 500 years ago in India. The
founder is Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha, or referred to as the Enlightened One.
Their major scripture are The Triptaka, Anguttara-Nikaya, Dhammapada, Sutta-Nipata,
Samyutta-Nikaya and many others. Buddhism today is divided into three main sects:
Theravada, or Hinayana (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia), Mahayana (China, Japan,
Vietnam, Korea), and Vajrayana (Tibet, Mongolia and Japan).
Their Life goal is Nirvana (A place of great condition, or complete Bliss). Toward that
end, Buddha's teachings are capsulized in the Four Noble Truths:
The truth of suffering: Suffering, duhkha, is the central fact of life. Being born is
pain, growing old is pain, sickness is pain, death is pain. Union with what we dislike is
pain, separation from what we like is pain, not obtaining what we desire is pain. 
The truth of the origin (samudaya) of suffering: The cause of suffering is the desire
(iccha), craving (tanha) or thirst (tishna) for sensual pleasures, for existence and
experience, for worldly possessions and power. This craving binds one to the wheel of
rebirth, samsara. 
The truth of cessation (nirodha) of suffering: Suffering can be brought to an end only by
the complete cessation of desires-the forsaking, relinquishing and detaching of oneself
from desire and craving. 
The truth of the path (marga) to ending suffering: The means to the end of suffering is
the Nobel Eightfold Path (arya ashtanga marga), right belief, right thought, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right
meditation. 
CONFUCIANISM
Adherents, Estimated at 350 million, mostly in China, Japan, Burma and Thailand.
Understand his relationship to the heavens and earth. Beginning as early as the
prehistoric age, it is evident from cave paintings that religious rites may have been
used to ensure the success of hunting, fertility, and harvests.
Confucianism began about 2,500 years ago in China. The founder Supreme Sage K'ung-fu-tsu
(Confucius) and Secong Sage Meng-tzu (Mencius).
Its, Doctrine of the Mean, Great Learning and Mencius.
Confucianism has been for over 25 centuries, the dominant philosophical system in China
and the guiding light in almost every aspect of Chinese life. Confucius and his followers
traveled throughout the many feudal states of the Chinese empire, persuading rulers to
adopt his social reforms. They did not offer a point-by-point program, but stressed
instead the Way, or One Thread, Jen, which is (translated as humanity or love) that runs
through all Confucius' teachings. They urged individuals to strive for perfect virtue,
righteousness (called Yi) and improvement of character. They taught the importance of
harmony in the family, order in the state and peace in the empire, which they saw as
inherently interdependent. Teachings emphasize a code of conduct, self-cultivation and
propriety - and thus the attainment of social and national order. Stress is more on human
duty and the ideal of the superior man than on a divine or supramundane Reality. Still,
Confucius fasted, worshiped the ancestors, attended sacrifices and sought to live in
harmony with Heaven. Confucianism is now enjoying a renaissance in China. 
TAOISM (pronounced Dow-ism)
Taoism is China's oldest indigenous religion. Dating from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. ---
220 A.D.), Its 81 chapters have been translated into English more times than any other
Chinese document. It was founded and began 2, 500 years ago in China. The founder is
Lao-tzu whom Confucius described as a dragon riding the wind and clouds. Their major
scriptures are The Tao-te-Ching, or Book of Reasons and Virtue, is among the shortest of
all scriptures, containing only 5,000 words. Also central are the sacred writings of
Chuang-tsu. It is estimated that there are 50 million adherents, mostly in China and
other parts of Asia. Taoism is a potently mystical tradition, so interpretations have
been diverse and its sects are many. 
Taoism teaches that everyone should try to achieve two goals, happiness and immortality.
The religion has many practices and ceremonies, intended to help people. They include
prayer, magic, special diets, breath-control, meditation, and recitation of scriptures.
Taoists also believe in astrology, fortune telling, witchcraft and communication with the
spirits of the dead. Taoists worship more deities than do the followers of almost any
other religion. Some deities are ancestors and others are the spirits of famous people.
Taoism borrowed heavily from Buddhism. Many Taoist deities, temples and ceremonies show
the influence of Buddhism. By A.D.1000, Taoism had divided into many sects. Some of the
sects withdrew from daily routine to meditate and study in Monasteries. Other sects were
based in temples. The temple priests passed on their position to their children. They
gained a reputation as highly skilled magicians, who could predict the future, protect
believers from illness, accidents and other misfortunes.
Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have been the major religions in China. But
Confucianism had the greatest impact on the Chinese society. It was the State religion of
China from 100 B.C. to 1,900 A.D. Confucius's scriptures called The Five Classics and
Four Books served as a foundation of the Chinese education system for centuries.
Buddha taught that people should devote themselves to finding release from the suffering
life. Through this release, people will gain Nirvana - a state of perfect peace and
happiness. To acheive this Nirvana people have to free themselves from wordly things.
Buddha taught that Nirvana could be gained by following the middlepath between the
extremes of severe self-denial and uncontrolled passion. As Buddha preached number of his
followers increased.
Question 5.
Ancestor Worship
A central feature of Chinese funerals and post-burial mortuary practices has been the
transfer of food, money and goods to the deceased. In return the living expected to
receive certain material benefits, including luck, wealth, and progeny. The living had
the responsibility of sustaining the spirits of the ancestors and protecting their
graves. As long as this reciprocal relationship was maintained both the living and dead
benefited. However, should the descendants neglect the spirit of ancestor by failing to
make regular offerings at his grave, the ancestor would be cut adrift in the other-world
and seek nourishment and attention elsewhere. Ancestors abandoned in this way became
hungry ghosts, a general term for spirits of dead people who did not have any reciprocal
relationships with the living. It was not uncommon for an ancestor to make the transition
from a benevolent, cooperative spirit into a vengeful, dangerous ghost. Specialist had to
be employed to make sure that the feng-shui (wind and water) influence was not negative.
If the remains of the deceased were not placed and arranged in the right way things could
turn out bad. Because of the influence the dead was believed to have on everyday life, a
proper funeral was very important and poor families often spent beyond their means.
Furthermore, funerals provided an arena for status competition and wealthier families
used their resources to demonstrate their superiority (and perhaps persuade their poorer
neighbors about the continuing prosperity of their descendants).
Bibliography
http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/00482.html
http://www.taipei.org/info/festival_c/html_e/ancestor.htm
http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce6/society/A0803895.html
http://www.human.toyogakuen-u.ac.jp/~acmuller/index.html
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/rel/buddh/index.html
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/taoism/
http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/philrel/guide/taoism.html