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101 Questions and answers on Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto, John Renard

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. 226-232) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

101 Questions and answers on Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto

bibliography

49935980

John Renard

[pt.] 1. Beginnings and early sources -- 1. Who was Confucius and what do traditional accounts tell us about his life? -- 2. What are the origins of "Confucianism"? Who were the Literati? -- 3. How is the Chinese Imperial Tradition (CIT) related to "Confucianism"? -- 4. What were the earliest Confucian sacred texts? Has Confucian tradition included any other sacred texts in its canon? -- 5. Who was Laozi, and what was his connection with the origins of religious Daoism and its scriptures? -- 6. What is religious Daoism and how does it differ from "Chinese Community Traditions" (CCT)? -- 7. Were there other important Daoist scriptures? And did an official canon of Daoist sacred texts ever develop? -- 8. What is Shinto and what are its origins? -- 9. What are the earliest important Shinto sacred texts? -- 10. Were Shinto's sacred texts ever gathered into a formal scriptural canon? -- 11. Are there important "mythic" elements in these traditions? -- 12. Who are some of the principal Shinto deities, apart from those mentioned in the primal myth? --[pt.] 2. Development and spread -- 13. If Confucius and Laozi were not considered divine early on, how did they come to assume so lofty a stature? -- 14. What chief deities and other important sacred personages eventually came to form the Daoist pantheon? -- 15. How have Daoist/CCT history and myth come together in the stories of the Jade Emperor, Guandi, and the Yellow Emperor? -- 16. What was the relationship between religious ritual and the power of the Chinese imperial court? -- 17. Have the Chinese traditions ever been intimately identified with specific political regimes, the way Shinto became Japan's "national" creed? -- 18. Is there a distinctively Confucian interpretation of history? -- 19. Have there been any important Confucian reform movements? What are Neo-Confucianism and Neo-Daoism? -- 20. What is the historical importance of the developments known as Dual Shinto and the School of National Learning? -- 21. How would you sum up the history of Confucianism? -- 22. How would you summarize the history of religious Daoism? -- 23. How would you sum up the history of Shinto? --[pt.] 3. Doctrines and practices -- 24. Is creed an important concept in the major Chinese and Japanese traditions? -- 25. Are "doctrine" and "dogma" important concepts in Chinese and Japanese religion? -- 26. Is the concept of revelation useful in understanding the traditions of China and Japan? -- 27. Does belief in an afterlife play an important role in Chinese and Japanese religious thought? -- 28. Are salvation or redemption important concepts? -- 29. What kind of ritual calendar do these traditions observe? -- 30. How important is the concept of "ritual" in Confucianism and the CIT? Could you describe an example of an annual CIT ritual occasion? -- 31. What regular or annual observances have been part of Confucian/CIT tradition? -- 32. What are the major types of Daoist religious observance? -- 33. What are some of the major festivities Shinto practitioners celebrate? -- 34. What place does purification occupy in Shinto ritual? And what are the main features of major shrine rituals? --[pt.] 4. Authority, law, and ethics -- 35. Are there critical concepts about the nature of the human person? -- 36. How do Confucians, Daoists, and adherents of Shinto think about the goal of human life? -- 37. Is there a distinctive religious or theological "ethic" in these traditions? -- 38. What is the principal Confucian virtue? What is meant by "rectification of names"? -- 39. What is the basic Confucian concept of appropriate moral leadership? And what is the Mandate of Heaven? -- 40. Is there a central teaching authority in any of the major Chinese and Japanese traditions? -- 41. Have the Chinese and Japanese evolved discrete systems of religious law? -- 42. Are there important hierarchical structures in these religious traditions? -- 43. How does the hierarchy among Shinto shrines work? -- 44. What are some of the main varieties of officials or ritual specialists? -- 45. How are leaders chosen and vested with authority? --[pt.] 5. Spirituality and popular piety -- 46. What do these traditions say about ultimate spiritual reality? -- 47. Are miracles an important element in the spirituality of these traditions? -- 48. Are relics significant in these traditions? -- 49. Is there such a thing as a saint in Chinese and Japanese religious traditions? -- 50. Do these traditions celebrate the birthdays of any religious figures or honor them on "feast days"? -- 51. Have there been any Confucian, Daoist, or Shinto mystics? -- 52. Has martyrdom ever been important in the history of the Chinese and Japanese traditions? -- 53. Do Confucians, Daoists, and adherents of Shinto believe in angels or devils? -- 54. Given the ubiquitous presence of spirits, is exorcism an important practice in Chinese or Japanese traditions? -- 55. What role do dreams and visions, or other spirit manifestations, play? -- 56. Is the practice of divination prominent in Chinese and Japanese spiritualities? -- 57. How do Chinese and Japanese faith traditions deal ritually with death and mourning? --[pt.] 6. Religion and artistic expression -- 58. Are there any signs or symbols that might identify an individual as an adherent of a particular Chinese or Japanese tradition? -- 59. What signs or symbols distinguish ritual specialists in the Chinese and Japanese traditions? -- 60. Is there such a thing as Confucian or Shinto art or aesthetics? -- 61. Do Confucians mark their sacred spaces with any distinctive signs and symbols? -- 62. Are there symbolic dimensions in CIT sacred spaces? -- 63. Are Daoist and CCT sacred spaces marked with any distinctive signs and symbols? -- 64. Do Shinto practitioners mark their sacred spaces with any distinctive signs and symbols? -- 65. Do numbers, colors, or elements of nature have symbolic meaning in the Chinese traditions? -- 66. Are statues and other visual imagery important in Daoist and CCT temples? -- 67. What is the symbolism of the trigrams and their various permutations called hexagrams? Are there any other common Chinese religious symbols? -- 68. What kinds of ritual objects are important in Chinese and Japanese traditions? -- 69. How important is music in the Chinese and Japanese traditions? -- 70. Is dance also a significant ingredient in these traditions? --[pt.] 7. Internal diversity and external relations -- 71. Have there been any sub-communities or denominations within Confucianism? -- 72. Have there been any important sub-communities or denominations within Daoism? -- 73. Are there any sub-communities or denominations within Shinto? Have "orthodoxy" and "heresy" been significant Shinto concepts? -- 74. Is the phenomenon of conversion into the traditions of China and Japan important? -- 75. Have the Chinese and Japanese religious traditions typically sent out missionaries to convert others? -- 76. Do people ever decide they want to depart from Daoism/CCT or Shinto? -- 77. How would you sum up Confucianism's historical relationships to other traditions? -- 78. How would you describe Daoism's relationships to other traditions? -- 79. What issues have characterized Shinto's relationships to other traditions? --[pt.] 8. Women, family, and society -- 80. What gender-related issues have been important in these traditions? Have women exercised religious leadership and authority? -- 81. Who are some important female deities? -- 82. Has religiously sponsored education played an important role? -- 83. What other religious institutions have supported community life in Chinese and Japanese traditions? -- 84. What are the most important gathering places or communal religious venues? -- 85. Are there standard forms of group liturgical worship? -- 86. What rites do Shinto practitioners perform in their shrines? -- 87. What does the Shinto term "matsuri" mean and how does it explain the importance of community? -- 88. How about worship at home and through the day, in smaller groupings, when people are not in temples and shrines? -- 89. Could you give examples of some important "rites of passage"? -- 90. Are there distinctive rituals or beliefs around marriage and family life? -- 91. What are the Confucian and Literati views of ancestor veneration? What about Daoism/CCT and Shinto? -- 92. Has the practice of religious pilgrimage been an important ingredient in the fostering of religious community in China and Japan? --[pt.] 9. Chinese and Japanese traditions here and now -- 93. How have the major Chinese and Japanese traditions spread significantly beyond their lands of origin? -- 94. Where do adherents of the great Chinese and Japanese traditions live today? Are any estimates of numbers available? -- 95. Are there any historic monuments linking China's present to its imperial religion of old (CIT)? -- 96. If I visited a Chinese temple today, what would I see? -- 97. If I visited a Shinto shrine today, what would I see? -- 98. Do millennialism or messianism have a place in the Chinese and Japanese traditions? Does the sect called Falun Gong have any such associations? -- 99. Are there any holy places of contemporary significance? -- 100. What do the current practices of taijiquan, divination, fengshui, and accupuncture/accupressure have to do with Chinese religious traditions? -- 101. Has the Japanese Emperor remained religiously important even with the Japanese loss of World War II? And were the kamikaze pilots associated with Shinto? -- Varieties, schools, and sub-communities

One hundred one questions and answers on Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto