Chinese and Japanese Popular Religions

INT-244: Topic 6
Chinese and Japanese Popular Religions
Complete the following prompts by analyzing key issues in Chinese and Japanese popular religions. A minimum of five academic resources is required, one of which must be the course textbook. Use at least one resource per question.
Briefly summarize five key features of syncretistic (mixed together) Chinese popular religion (shamanism/ancestor worship, Chinese idolatry, Confucianism, Daoism, Mahayana Buddhism). (75-100 words total)
Key Feature #1: Traditions of individual salvation through self-cultivation, morality, spirit possession, and meditation & body techniques. These are critical components in the pursuit of health, wealth, and happiness in life. No deity provides these. Rather, it is an individual's responsibility to pursue these things while remaining true to their beliefs.
Key Feature #2: Respect for family and elders is another critical feature. The family name should always be honored and upheld, while the elders' commands must be respected.
Key Feature #3: Communal celebration is also an important feature. Since the Chinese religion is a mixed one, there are different types of communal celebrations. However, common across this communal celebration is the importance of the family name, respect for elders, and focus on community.
Key Feature #4: Further, the cosmology that material and spiritual realms are not separate. The universe is essentially a whole organic system that evolves depending on general rules (Albert & Maizland, 2020).
Key Feature #5: Lastly, individuals can purify themselves before and after death to attain a spiritual hierarchy (Brook, 2013).
Briefly summarize three key features of syncretistic (mixed) Japanese popular religion (Shintoism, Japanese Buddhism, and Confucianism). (75-100 words total)
Key Feature #1: Humans are fundamentally sound, and evil spirits cause evil. Thus, evil must be kept away through ceremonies and rituals (purification) for people not to commit evil acts or have evil thoughts.
Key Feature #2: Another key feature is that tradition and family are the foundation of preserving the culture. Thus, families and communal belonging is an important element in this mixed religion.
Key Feature #3: Kami is a divine power found in many things, including animals and objects. Being polytheistic, Shinto believes in many gods and is animistic (Porcu, 2021).
Describe critical religious practices (e.g., arranging a marriage, funerals, etc.) that an individual follower of Chinese popular religion might do in their daily life or a lifetime. Describe practices from at least three of the five religions. (75-100 words)
In China, there are often two wedding ceremonies based on the concept of Confucianism. Both families give the wedding ceremony to present the establishment of a new marital union. During the wedding ceremony, the couple must pay honor to the ancestors, earth, and heaven. These are the core fundamentals that support life and wellbeing. On the other hand, the Buddhist wedding is short, about half an hour. During this time, an ordained monk chants sacred text. Lastly, while Taoists take marriage seriously, they do not view it as a matter of religious concern. Instead, it is a civil matt...