The Elements of Chinese Religious Culture

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Date 03/04/2012
The Elements of Chinese Religious Culture which prepared them to successfully resist domination by the Euro-American majority
Introduction
Honestly, Chinese are normally very pragmatic during their approach to religion and life. To some extent, they are superstitious. Hence, they hold a strong belief in the fengsui doctrines. These doctrines were supposed to aid in the home organization of the Chinese people. They never wanted to do anything which they thought could offend their gods or their various ways of nature. As far as the Chinese people were concerned, they had to select what wished to worship. As a result, they worshipped their gods through the use of given locations or objects in nature. In addition, the Chinese worshipped by the use of their ancestors, animals, and idol representations and folk heroes as if they were their gods. Towards all these representations, they provided ritual offerings alongside respect. Additionally, they burnt incense, various paper objects and ritual papers. This is because they wanted to keep order and ensure they had good luck. Most of these cultural and religious practices contributed a lot towards their resistance from Euro-American majority domination. Generally, the Chinese are religious fanatics, very evangelical and capitalize most on converting other people rather than being converted. Precisely, they have a lot of respect for the religion of other people in the same way they respect their religion (Peter 98).
The culture of the Chinese contained both moral teachings and rituals. The rituals were to be learned, observed and carried out at home. In addition, these rituals were carried out in various temples within the community or within ancestral halls in various villages. In areas where ancestral halls were absent, they had to carry out their rituals at miniature alters in their homes. Additionally, they carried out their rituals within their places of business and within sanctuaries located within their district or family associations in various China towns. Likewise, vital dates together with festivals were observed by the use of banquets and rituals. According to the Chinese people, beliefs and teachings simply denote ethical wisdom or a guarantee foe living well in harmony with gods and nature. The Chinese are normally taught by moral tales, ethical principles and deeds. They are normally taught both in temples and at home. For a long time, the teachings have mixed key concepts and wisdom including Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism together with religions and lores of the local folks (James, 202).
Within this diversity, there exist some key elements that may be assumed as a general feature of Buddhism within the entire history of the Chinese people. In the first place, most Chinese people are Buddhists. Hence, for most Buddhists, the similar symbol of unity is the Buddha. This was the case despite whether taken as an in T...