Chinese and Japanese Religions

Rachel Welsh
Mini-Paper 3:Chinese and Japanese Religions
After reading chapter 6, I feel like I have a much better understanding about Chinese and Japanese religions. I honestly didn’t know very much about these religions and was surprised to learn how important family and values were to Chinese and Japanese families. These religions seem to have a completely different background then any of the other religions we have studied because they seem to be the most realistic to me. They don’t worship many different gods, and they don’t seem to rely on spirits or signs from a higher power. What I thought was very interesting was how dedicated the Chinese are too their families. After reading about how they invested all their time and money towards either their oldest or most intelligent son so that he could succeed when he took exams, I realized we sort of do that today. Families invest in their children’s futures with the hopes of their children becoming a success, and what family doesn’t want a doctor or lawyer, someone who makes lots of money and could support everyone, to actually be in their family? When a child succeeded in the Chinese religion, the family hoped to be very well off, and very well respected in the community for many years. I think that this is a prime example of religion and politics working together very closely, because once a family was given political power, they used it to benefit their family in any way.
Another thing I noticed was that the Chinese and Japanese religions seemed to focus more heavily on the future and trying to restore what once was, but with a newer, clearer mind. One example of this is how Confucius knew that nature had some order, and that a society should adapt to that order. He knew this because of ancestors, and instead of trying to just teach everyone about the past, things began to progress, and they adapted based on their current situation. Confucius was very well educated, and knew a lot about values and how to be a successful society, but he didn’t consider himself anything special really. I think now a days we sometimes get blinded by how things are ‘suppose to be’ as opposed to how things really are. We need to sometimes adapt more to our society instead of expecting our society to adapt to us. We need more people like Confucius who care more about just making the world a better place, as opposed to someone trying to take credit for starting a movement or trying to change society. We need more honesty, and more heart behind the way we chose to live our lives.
After doing some research online, I learned that Shinto and Buddhism are the 2 major religions practiced in Japan now a days. I know these religions have been popular for ages, but I discovered that religion doesn’t play a very big role in their lives today, which is the complete opposite of what we read in out text books. What I want to know is why the people of Japan lost touch with their religion? Why do they only really celebrate it at birth, weddings, and funerals? However, after learning that, I think our society relates very closely to their in modern times, because there are many people who only step foot into churches for things like weddings and funerals. We seem to only turn to religion when great things are happening in our lives, but really, we should be turning to our faith when times are hard, or tough. I sort of grew up in the church, and was raised a Christian, but I stopped going to church a few years ago. I continued to stay close with God, but I made some really big mistakes, and lost faith a little bit, but recently, I have returned to church, and it feels great to be there. I actually look forward to going to church now because I have a completely different attitude about God and my faith, then I did a few years ago. It is very easy for me to understand why people only turn to religion to celebrate, but once I realized that I needed something to believe in while I was at my lowest points, I felt a million times better. I think turning to religion only to celebrate is a common mistake that many different religions experience. It’s actually acceptable, and very common for people to not give thanks, or praise a higher power, frequently.
One good thing I read in our text book was that Japanese people were not forced into religion, and they were able to freely choose what they believe in. It’s nice to see that people could make their own choices about their beliefs, and that people often considered themselves to be a few different religions. This sort of reminds me of our society today because I don’t feel like we are forced to believe in anything. Many people have very mixed feelings about religion, and that is ok.
I think that out of all the religions we have studied so far, the Japanese and Chinese religions seem to be the most modern, and the most able to work in a society like ours today. Sure, the mythology and woman being considered a lower citizen aren’t something that would work in our society, but there are many things I think could work, or at least remind me of life today. I enjoyed learning about these religions, and I actually did learn a lot, because before this course, I thought Chinese and Japanese religion was all about Buddha and rituals, and weird shrines, but I feel like I learned a heck of a lot more after reading the textbook and doing some research on line.


Resources
1. Ways to the Center Sixth Edition, Carmody, Denise L., Brink, T.L., Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.
2. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e629.html