Confucianism represents the way of life followed by the Chinese people for well over 2.000 years. The influence of Confucianism is so predominant that if anyone should be asked to characterize in one word traditional Chinese life and culture that word would be “Confucian.” Primarily a code of ethics and a system of philosophy, Confucianism has left its mark on Chinese politics and government, family and society, and art and literature. In a certain sense, Confucianism even functions as a religion in the ancient community. The influence of Confucianism is not confined to China. Nearby countries, such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, embraced Confucianism in their national life and culture. For example, the design of the South Korean flag —with the Yin and Yang symbol and trigrams from The Book of Changes -- is a clear indication of the Korean feeling of cultural affinity with Confucian China. The most imposing Temple of Confucius outside China stands today in Seoul, and it is there that the most authentic Confucian sacrifice, with elaborate classical music and dance, is to be witnessed. In Europe, Confucianism also has a lot of outstanding admirers. Some leading figures of the Enlightenment in Europe developed an overwhelming admiration for Confucian thought and letters. For instance, Gottfried Leibniz, an eminent 17th — 18th-century German philosopher and mathematician, spoke of Confucian China with the deepest appreciation and displayed some knowledge of The Book of Changes and the system of thought of Zhu Xi. While his theory of monadology suggests influence from Zhu Xi, his binary arithmetic stems from his studies of The Book of Changes. Voltaire was another admirer of China, and he was enchanted by, the moral code of Kong Zi '(Confucius.55J—'179 B.C.). Employing the theme of the Chinese drama Orphan of the Zhao Family, he wrote his own play, Orphelin de la Chine (A Chinese Orphan) in 1755, and described it as “the Morals of Kong Zi in five acts.” Other men of letters in Europe who came under the influence of Confucian China included Goethe, the French Encyclopaedists, and Alexander Pope and Charles Lamb in England. Today Chinese studied are pursued by many students at many universities in the West.

To understand Confucianism thoroughly, we need a survey of its origins. Confucianism sought its origins in the institutions of the “Former Kings,” that is, the predynastic sage-emperors Yao and Shun (legendary figures ascribable to the 24th and 23rd centuries B. C.) and the founders of the first three dynasties, Xia, Shang, and Zhou (23rd —3rd centuries B.C.). Many basic Confucian principles, such as the worship of ancestors, the Mandate of Heaven and government by virtue, were popular at least during the Zhou Dynasty. However, the Confucian school began to take shape only during the Spring and Autumn Period when Kong Zi and his disciples were travelling from one state to another to propagate their ideas. Therefore Kong Zi is regarded as the founder of Confucianism. There is no special word in Chinese meaning “Confucian” or “Confucianist,” members of the Confucian School having always been called ru, a word which may be translated as “literati.” With regards to this term, The Explanation of Script and Elucisation of Characters by Xu Shen (58— 147), one of the earliest Chinese dictionaries, appearing about 100, says:”The word ru means 'yielding.' It's a term applied to scholars versed in the arts.” This would indicate that ru was originally a term applied, in general, to all persons who possessed education find were versed in the arts. But later on, the use of the term was restricted exclusively to the Confucian School.
The Confucianists were specialists in the rituals that played an important part in the lives of the aristocracy. The result is that Confucianism became the rationalized expression of upper-class morality. This explains its emphasis on correct ritualistic behavior, on such cultural activities as music, on a graded love, and on the ruler as a moral example to his people.

Kong Zi, the founder of Confucianism, was born into an impoverished aristocratic family at Qufu in the state of Lu (the present-day Shandong Province). Kong was his family name; his given name was Qiu and his literary name Zhongni, but he is Often referred to by his title of honor, Kong Fu Zi, i.e., Master Kong. In his early twenties he served as keeper of the granary and later as supervisor of flocks in his native state. It is believed that he once became the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister of Lu, but he soon resigned his position, full of disappointment. Accompanied by many of his disciples, he wandered from state to state for 13 years, preaching his theories and in search of a position suitable for his talent. At last he returned to his native state where he spent his remaining years in teaching his disciples and in editing ancient books. The Analects, a collection of notes of the Master's discourses, conversations, and travels kept by his disciples, is the earliest and most reliable source on the life and teachings of Kong Zi and is regarded as the basic “scripture” of Confucianism. Although gaining some influence even in his own lifetime, the triumph of his theory — Confucianism, finally occurred in the 2nd century B.C., and lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. He received numerous posthumous titles, “Supreme Sage and Foremost Teacher,” “Great Perfect, Most Holy Culture Spreading King,” “A Great Sage in this Fateful World, and an Ideal Teacher for Myriads of Years,” to mention just a few.

It is generally believed that Buddhism was brought to China by missionaries at the very beginning of the Christian Era. Tradition has it that Buddhism was introduced after Emperor Ming Di of the Han Dynasty had a dream of a flying golden deity that was interpreted as a vision of the Buddha. Accordingly, the Emperor dispatched emissaries to India who subsequently returned to China with The Sutra in Forty-two Sections, which was deposited in a temple outside the capital of Luoyang. In actuality, Buddhism entered China gradually, first through Central Asia and. later by way of the Malay Archipelago.
The Buddhism that first became popular in China during the Man Dynasty was deeply colored with magical practices. In the succeeding centuries, Chinese pilgrims constantly went to India to study the religion at first hand and bring back the sacred texts, and Indian and Central Asiatic monks came to China to assist in the translation of the texts into Chinese. The work of translation contributed greatly to the rapid growth of Buddhism from magical practices into both a religion and a philosophy.
When Buddhists came into contact with the Chinese lierati, especially the Neo-Taoists, in the Wei-Jin Period they matched Buddhist concepts with those of Taoism, identifying Tathagata (Thusness, Nirvana) with the Taoist “original nonbeing,” for example. Under Neo-Taoist influence, early Buddhist schools in China all engaged in discussions on being and nonbeing. There appeared seven schools among which the most famous are there School of Original Nonbeing represented by Dao An (314-385), the School of Matter as Such by Zhi Laolin(314 —366) and the School of Nonbeing of Mind by Zhi Mindu.
Buddhism had marked progression during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. From the time of Emperor Wen Di of Song, many venerable Buddhist monks came to China from the West, and Buddhism of various sects flourished. Large numbers of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures were translated into Chinese. Among the emperors and princes, the most devout Buddhists were Xiao Ziliang, Prince of Jinling of Qi, and Emperor Wu Di of Liang. Emperor Wu Di many times retired to a Buddhist temple to become a novice and each time had to be bought out of the temple by his ministers. At one time, Jiankang (modern Nanjing) alone boasted more than 500 Buddhist monasteries housing upwards of 100,000 monks and nuns. Famous Buddhist monks were held in awe by people of rank and title. The Northern and Southern Dynasties also witnessed bitter controversies over Buddhist issues. Many Buddhist thinkers sought to combine Buddhism with Confucianism and Taoism, and there were also some orthodox Chinese scholars, usually Confucianists and Taoists who attacked Buddhism as the religion of the barbarians and accused the Buddhists of neglecting social and personal responsibilities by abandoning family life. The most spectacular controversy centered around the destructibility or the indestructibility of the soul. The Buddhist adherents maintained that the soul would not perish after the decay of the body, and would undergo successive transmigration with the load of Karma, whereas their opponents, such as Fan Zhen, contended that the body and the soul cannot be separate, and that the soul exists when the body exists and the soul will perish as the body decays. A number of the resulting polemics have been preserved in two compilations: Collected Essays on Buddhism and Further Collection of Essays on Buddhism.
By the seventh century Buddhism reached its apogee, claiming as converts all elements of Chinese society — the imperial household, the nobility, the great and wealthy families, and the common people. Scattered all over China were monasteries large and small, and associated with the monasteries were vigorous and influential schools of Buddhism founded by creative Chinese monks.
Eminent Buddhist schools founded during the Sui and Tang period include the Three-Treatise School, the Consciousness Only School, the Tiantai (Flower Splendor) School, the Pure Land School, and the Chan or the Meditation School.
The Song Dynasty was the age of the Neo-Confucianists, most of whom, though incorporating into their systems Buddhist theories, fought it strenuously and continuously. Consequently, Buddhism embarked on the way of decline. However, Buddhism was still a major force at that time, and it was recorded that there were 40,000 monasteries housing more than 450,000 monks and nuns. Several versions of Buddhist canons were published. In the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties Buddhism in the main continued to decline. Though there were short-time revivals for some of the Buddhist schools, they never regained the popularity they enjoyed before. In modern China, Buddhism suf?fered greater eclipse, but its influence still can not be too lowly estimated.

Taoism, along with Confucianism, is one of the two major indigenous religion-philosophical traditions that have shaped Chinese life for more than 2,000 years. Taoist thought permeates Chinese culture and has also found its way into all Asian cultures influenced by China, especially those of Vietnam, Japan, and Korea. More strictly defined, Taoism includes philosophical Taoism, that is, the ideas and attitudes peculiar to The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, The Book of Master Zhuang, The Book of Master Lie, and related writings, and religious Taoism, which is concerned with the ritual worship of the Way.

One of the three major religious traditions in China, Religious Taoism consisted of a series of organized religious movements that worshipped the Way and its emanations and observed magical, physical, alchemical and meditative practices aiming at immortality. Religious Taoism sought for its origins in three aspects: the worship of gods and ghosts in ancient times, the theories and practices of the immortals advocated by the necromancers of alchemists and philosophical Taoism.
People of the Shang Dynasty worshipped an anthropomorphic supreme God that was thought to dominate the whole world. Under this supreme God, there was a large group of various minor gods and ghosts that helped the supreme God to mete out reward and punishment in various aspects of life according to men's good or evil behaviors. People also believed that man's soul would not perish after death, and therefore they constantly made sacrifices to the departed ancestors in order to obtain their blessings. Moreover, divination and oilier magic techniques were developed to consult the will of gods and the ancestors for decisions of important affairs. The witch acted as an intermediate between man and the other world of gods, ghosts, and ancestors-Some of the gods and ghosts later “served” in the Taoist pantheon, and most of the Taoist masters, like the witches, were magicians believed to possess occult techniques.
Beliefs in immortal beings and practices aiming at immortality were quite popular during the Warring States Period, especially in the north-eastern coastal regions. The people who engaged in such practices and claimed to possess magical powers were called necromancers or wonder-workers. A series of such wonder-workers visited the courts of Qin and early Han. They told of islands in the ocean, peopled by immortal beings--which the ancient books had described — and so convincing were their accounts that sizable expeditions were fitted out and sent in search of them. They persuaded emperors to climb holy mountains and perform sacrifices in order to receive from immortals the elixir of longevity. One of these wonder-workers, Li Shao Jun, taught Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty to perform sacrifices to the furnace, which would enable him to summon spiritual beings. They in turn would permit him to change cinnabar powder (mercuric sulfide) into gold, from which vessels were to be made, out of which the Emperor would eat and drink. This would increase his span of life and permit him to behold the immortals who dwell on the Isles of Penglai, in the midst of the sea. Many people believed that immortals frequently appeared disguised among men to transmit their immortality formulas and magical powers to worthy humans. This idea that humans could become immortals was later incorporated into Religious Taoism, and became one of its most important tenets.
Also originating in the eastern coastal region, alongside these same thaumaturgic tendencies, was the learned tradition of the Huang Lao masters, devotees of the legendary “Yellow Emperor” and Lao Zi. Lao Zi was the initiator of philosophical Taoism, and later was venerated also as the founder of Religious Taoism. Lao Zi's work, The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue in which Lao Zi discoursed upon the way, the arts of government and the method of longevity became the most holy scripture of the Taoist followers. The Yellow Emperor was believed to be a ruler of the Golden Age who achieved success through following the principle of inaction. He was also celebrated as the patron technology; and the classic works of many arcane arts, including alchemy, medicine, sexual techniques, cooking and dietetics, were all placed under his aegis. In early Han period, the teachings of the Huang-Lao masters spread throughout learned and official circles in the capital. Many early Han statesmen became their disciples and attempted to practise government by inaction; among them were also scholars who cultivated esoteric arts. Although their doctrine lost its direct political relevance during the reign of Emperor Wu Di, their ensemble of teachings concerning both ideal government and practices for prolonging life continued to evoke considerable interest and is perhaps the earliest truly Taoist movement of which there is clear historical evidence.
At the end of the 1st century B.C., a certain wonder-worker Gan Zhongke presented to the Emperor a Classic of the Great Peace that he claimed had been revealed to him by a spirit, who had come to him with the order to renew the Han Dynasty. His temerity cost him his life but other works bearing the same title continued to appear. These works, miscellaneous in contents, contained some of the tenets of early Religious Taoism .and were taken as holy scriptures by the Taoist Masters.
The tradition of fully developed Taoist religious movements began in the second century with the Way of the Great Peace and the Way of the Celestial Masters.
The Way of the Great Peace was organized by Zhang Jue (-184) who led the great Yellow Turban Rebellion in I84. Zhang Jue declared that the “blue heaven” was to be replaced by a “yellow heaven;” and his followers wore yellow turbans in token of this expectation. Worshipping a “Huang-Lao Lord,” the movement gained a vast number of adherents throughout eastern China. Though they were eventually defeated by the imperial forces, the tendency towards messianic revolt continued to manifest itself at frequent intervals.
The Way of the Celestial Masters, also known as the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice after a famous tax levied by the organization on its members, was founded in the mountains of modern Sichuan Province by a certain Zhang Daoling (34 — 156) who is said to have received a revelation from Lao Zi or Lord l.ao the Most High. Lao Zi was honored as the founder of this religion, and The Classic “J the Way and Its Virtue as the scripture. For ceremonial and administrative purposes, the Way of the Celestial Masters organized 24 (later 28 and 36) parishes, where the Masters offered political as well as spiritual government. The focal point of each parish was the oratory, or “chamber of purity,” which served as the centre for communication with the powers on high. Here the libationer, the priestly functionary of the nuclear community, officiated. Zhang Daoling was later honored by his disciples as Celestial Master, whence came the name the Way of the Celestial Masters.
Both the Way of the Great Peace and the Way of the Celestial Masters are in a sense associated with peasants, whose wishes they reflected to some extent. The two movements lacked systematic theories as well as practices, therefore they were called by later people Primitive Religious Taoism in contrast to the Taoism by later aristocrats.

Lao Zi, founder of Taoism, was horn in the state of Chu about 600 B. C. According to The Records of the Historian by Sima Qian, Lao Zi was a librarian or archivist at the- Zhou court and was famous for his great learning. There is a tradition that Kong Zi, his younger contemporary, once sought and received enlightenment from him. Upon retirement he went westward and wrote a hook of 5,000 words, the well-known Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, in which he expounded his philosophy.
The keynote of Lao Zi's philosophical system is the Way, which is the course, the principle, the substance, and the standard of all things, to which all of them must conform. It is one and simple, like the uncarved block. In its essence, it is eternal, absolute, and beyond space and time; in its operation, it is spontaneous, everywhere, constant and unceasing, always in transformation, going through cycles and finally returning to its root. It is modeled after Nature and is called the “self-so”. It is good like water, always benefitting things without claiming credit. It takes no unnatural action, and yet all things flourish. Furthermore, it is nonbeing itself, not in the sense of nothingness but as not being any particular thing. When it is possessed by an individual thing, it becomes its virtue, which is the principle underlying the individual thing. Lao Zi was progressive for his time in that he replaced a god, a Heaven, or a supreme authority that was believed to govern the universe with the Way, an absolute, overriding spirit transcending time and space, but his theory represents the standpoint of objective idealism.
Applying such a theory to politics, Lao Zi refuted the Confucian doctrine of humanity and rites, and advocated inaction in government, which means to let things take their own course, and not interfere in people's lives. From his proposition that the Way never acts, yet there is nothing it hasn't done, Lao Zi declared that numerous laws and institutions are a mistake; that government interference with the natural ways of things, especially by high taxes, is evil. The people should be encouraged to return to a primitive simplicity; their bellies should be filled, their minds emptied, their wills weakened, and their sinews toughened. Therefore, they will always be without knowledge and without desire. An ideal society, according to Lao Zi, was one small in population and territory, where, although there were boats, carriages, armor and weapons, there was no one and no occasion to employ them. People recorded events by making knots with ropes, and they never in their lives visited people of a neighboring state even though they could hear the crowing of cocks, and the barking of dogs on the other side of the border. These ideas are opposed to human civilization and reflect the pessimism of the Taotsis, most of whom are hermits and recluses.
Similarly, the ideal life of the individual is a life following the principles of the Way. In addition to simplicity, spontaneity, and vacuity, a good life is one of tranquility, which characterizes the natural state; of weakness, which eventually overcomes strength; and above all, of inaction, that is, to lead a natural life. Lao Zi proposed “Three Treasures” for life: kindness, which enables one to be brave; frugality, which makes one profuse; and never being the first in the world (humility), which enables one to become chief of the state. Lao Zi also exhorted people to banish wisdom and discard knowledge in order to reduce their desires. When people have few desires and are content with what they have, they will suffer no humiliation, and will be forever safe and sound.
Elaborating his theory that “Reversion is the movement of the Way,”(The Book of Master Lao) Lao Zi developed some naive ideas of dialectics. To him, anything that develops extreme qualities will invariably revert to the opposite qualities. Thus the named and the nameless, being and nonbeing, strength and weakness, honor and shame, wisdom and stupidity, etc., are all interdependent and grow out of one another. “It's upon calamity that happiness leans; it is upon happiness that calamity rests... Correctness reverts to peculiarity, and goodness reverts to evil. “ (The Book of Master Lao) Because of this truth, Lao Zi taught that, to weaken something, one should first strengthen it; to diminish something, one should first increase it... In this way, even the weakest in the world can overcome the strongest. Lao Zi unveiled the unity of opposites in the world and realized the contradictions in things and the transformation of the opposites. In his view, however, change did not develop in a forward fashion; instead, it went on in an endless cycle. In addition, the transformation of the opposites was absolute and unconditional.
Lao Zi was a venerated philosopher to the Confucianists, a saint or a god to the people, and an emanation of the Way and one of the greatest divinities to the Taoists. His philosophy has influenced Chinese culture in many ways. His emphasis on harmony with all things in nature gave rise to subsequent schools of philosophy, poetry, and painting. His theory, that the movement of the Way consists in reversion, helped cultivate the forbearance and resilience of the people in adversity, and the theory of “doing everything by doing nothing” was taken as a guiding principle for the enlightened monarch. Lao Zi’s ideas were carried on enhanced by Zhuang Zi, another great philosopher of Taoism.