East Asian religions

In the study of comparative religion, the East Asian religions or Taoic religions, form a subset of the Eastern religions. This group includes Chinese religion overall, which further includes Ancestral Worship, Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, Taoism and popular salvationist organisations (such as Yiguandao and Weixinism), as well as elements drawn from Mahayana Buddhism that form the core of Chinese and East Asian Buddhism at large. The group also includes Japanese Shinto, Tenrikyo, and Korean Muism (Korean shamanism similar to Chinese Wuism), all of which combine Shamanistic elements and indigenous ancestral worship with various influences from Chinese religions. Chinese salvationist religions have influenced the rise of Japanese new religions such Tenriism and Korean Jeungsanism; as these new religious movements draw upon indigenous traditions but are heavily influenced by Chinese philosophy and theology. All these religious traditions, more or less, share core Chinese concepts of spirituality, divinity and world order, including Tao, 道 ("Way", Pinyin dào, Japanese tō or dō, and Korean do) and Tian, 天 ("Heaven", Japanese ten, and Korean cheon'''). Early Chinese philosophies defined the Tao and advocated cultivating the de, "virtue", which arises from the knowledge of such Tao. Some ancient Chinese philosophical schools merged into traditions with different names or became extinct, such as Mohism (and many others belonging to the ancient Chinese Hundred Schools of Thought), which was largely subsumed into Taoism. East Asian religions include many theological stances, including polytheism, nontheism, henotheism, monotheism, pantheism, panentheism and agnosticism. The place of Taoic religions among major religious groups is comparable to the Abrahamic religions found in Europe and the Western World as well as across the Middle East and the Muslim World, and Dharmic religions across the Indian subcontinent, Tibetan plateau and Southeast Asia.

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Pure land

A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism where many Buddhists aspire to be reborn in. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions. In Sanskrit Buddhist sources, the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit: ) or more technically a pure buddha-field (viśuddhabuddhakṣetra). The various traditions that focus on attaining rebirth in a pure land have been termed Pure Land Buddhism.

Chinese folk religion

Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion, comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled with the contents of institutionalised religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Chinese syncretic religions”. This includes the veneration of shen (spirits) and ancestors, exorcism of demonic forces, and a belief in the rational order of nature, balance in the universe and reality that can be influenced by human beings and their rulers, as well as spirits and deities.

Feng shui

Feng shui (ˈfʌŋˌʃuːi ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is an ancient Chinese traditional practice which claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term feng shui means, literally, "wind-water" (i.e. fluid). From ancient times, landscapes and bodies of water were thought to direct the flow of the universal Qi – "cosmic current" or energy – through places and structures. More broadly, feng shui includes astronomical, astrological, architectural, cosmological, geographical and topographical dimensions.

Geography of Asia

Geography of Asia reviews geographical concepts of classifying Asia, the central and eastern part of Eurasia, comprising approximately fifty countries. Definition and boundaries of Asia The land mass of Asia is not the sum of the land masses of each of its regions, which have been defined independently of the whole. For example, the borders of Central Asia and the Middle East depend on who is defining them and for what purpose.

History of East Asia

East Asia generally encompasses the histories of China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan from prehistoric times to the present. Each of its countries has a different national history, but East Asian Studies scholars maintain that the region is also characterized by a distinct pattern of historical development. This is evident in the interrelationship among traditional East Asian civilizations, which not only involve the sum total of historical patterns but also a specific set of patterns that has affected all or most of traditional East Asia in successive layers.

Folklore

Folklore is the whole of oral traditions shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. They include material culture, such as traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, and the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas, weddings, folk dances, and initiation rites.

Donghuang Cultural Heritage: Knowledge Graph for Understanding

Explores the Mogao Caves in China and the use of knowledge graphs to simplify understanding of Donghuang culture.

Ming Shan Digital Experience

Cédric Duchene, Delphine Ribes Lemay, Nicolas Henchoz, Emily Clare Groves, Andreas Sonderegger, Margaux Charvolin

The Ming Shan Digital Experience is an immersive installation designed to support meditation in the context of a new Taoist center. Its creation confronted current academic literature on digital technology for meditation with the practical and cultural req ...

2021

A Chinese reality through project practice

Marlène Audrey Bertille Leroux

We considers the project not only as producing practice but also as knowledge creator. Each project, from a tea house in a sacred Taoist mountain to a new city master plan, always interacts with local specificity to create a new context. Through the prism ...

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