Chinese Mentality and Foreign Relations:

1
Chinese Mentality and Foreign Relations

• Popular religion, Self-identification, and
  relations with the non-Chinese world

2
Chinese Religions

• The definition of religion Is Confucianism a
  religion?
• The rites controversy among Catholic
  missionaries in China.
• What constitutes warship and the difference
  between the East and the West?
• Polytheism v. monotheism What are the historical
  consequences?

3
Daoism as a political philosophy

• Its origins in the same time period of
  Confucianism Dao-de-jing and its mystical
  author, Laozi
• The core concept of "wuwei do nothing,
• The organic perspective of the universe Chinese
  creation myth Pan-gu
• The Way of nature, human, state, and society
  romanticizing primitive tribal life,
• The "go-with-the-flow mentality, the argument
  for less or no government,
• Adopted as guiding philosophy by the early Han as
  the foundation for the policy of relaxation
  recovery,

4
Daoism as a religion

• search for immortality through alchemy,
  meditation, qi-gong,
• The switch emphasis from outer elixir to inner
  elixir, "dan,"
• the practice of martial arts, taiji in
  particular, hermitage,
• Practitioners as shaman-doctors (medicine men?),
  cult-rebel leaders, todays Falungong,
  http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong
• The tales of human animal immortals (fox
  spirits)

5
Buddhism

• The introduction from India around 222-589 AD,
  when China was divided
• The core concept of "nirvana" to extinguish,
  translated as "wu" of Daoism
• The four noble truth
• Life is suffering (reincarnation)
• The root of suffering is desires
• To stop the ever-turning wheel of life is to
  extinct desire
• The 8-fold path to nirvana meditation, celibacy,
  vegetarianism
• Chang Pure Land sects

6
Popular Religion of China

• a mixture of Daoism, Buddhism, local legends,
• "fabulously polytheistic," no script, no
  doctrine, no institution
• the "other world" is the mirror image of this
  world, communications mutual influence between
  the two worlds obtainable
• the concept of life after death trial, judgment,
  reincarnation
• ancestor worship as the centerpiece, reflecting
  Confucian cult of familism,
• the socio-political utility of folk religion
  spiritual sanction for authority, hierarchy,
  family, morality

7
Chinas Foreign Relations in the Ancient World

• The middle-kingdom mentality China (??) as the
  center of the universe
• The absence of the concept of equal
  statesmanship, and of the foreign affair
  institution

8
The Tributary System

• From Han Dynasty (1st cent. B.C.) tributary
  missions of neighboring states came to China to
  pay tribute
• the Chinese intentions
• a way of pacification in the frontier
• display of superiority benevolence with
  material returns
• exotic items for the imperial house
• the "barbarian purpose"
• protection from China
• profit trade
• The system collapsed in 18-19th centuries
  replaced by the "Canton system," and then, the
  "treaty system."