R 201:EASTERN RELIGIONS
Winter 2003

THIRD EXAM STUDY QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS ON THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA

Be familiar with the following terms and names; be able to state their meaning, identify that (or those things) to which they refer, and indicate in a phrase their meaning in Chinese religions. (For meanings see R201 Lectures (2003) and the R201 Glossary.)

divination, feng shui, yang, yin, Dao de Jing/Tao Te Ching, Lao-zi/Lao Tzu, Yi Jing/I Ching, Dao, Daoism (Philosophical or School Daoism [Dao Jia /Tao Chia], Daoist yoga and hygiene, and Religious or Church Taoism [Dao Jiao /Tao Chiao]), wu wei, ji (ch'i, qi), tai ji / t'ai chi chuan, Confucius [Kong-zi /K'ung-fu Tzu], Mencius [Meng-zi /Meng Tzu], ru (or ru jia), the Confucian Scriptures (The Five Classics and The Four Books), filial piety [xiao /hsiao], humaneness [ren /jen], noble person [jun-zi /chun tzu], li, Five Cardinal Virtues, Neo-Confucianism.

2.  What are the basic features of the Chinese world-view or cosmology?  What are yang and yin and in this respect and what do they represent?  (CJ1, Ludwig, chs. 10 &12)

3.  What is feng shui and how does it relate to the basic Chinese world-view?  (CJ1)

4.  What is the purpose of divination in traditional Chinese culture?  What is the Yi Jing/I Ching in this respect and how is it used?  (CJ1, Ludwig, chs. 10 &12)

5.  What is Philosophical Daoism (Dao Jia/Tao Chia) and what does it typically include? (CJ2, Ludwig, chs. 10 & 12)

6.  What typical images and themes are found in Philosophical Daoism?  (CJ2, Ludwig, ch. 12)

7.  What is Daoist yoga and what does it typically include?  (CJ2, Ludwig, chs. 11 & 13)

8.  What is Religious Daoism (Dao Jiao/Tao Chiao) and what does it typically include?  (CJ2, Ludwig, chs. 10, 11, & 13)

9.  What Ways of Being Religious find expression in the different forms of Daoism?  (CJ2)

10.  In what respects does Chan Buddhism reflect an influence of indigeneous Chinese religion and culture, especially Philosophical Daoism?  (CJ2 and B6)

11.  In what specific ways did Buddhism at first find itself in conflict with traditional Chinese beliefs and values?  Given these factors, what helped Buddhism become accepted in China?  (B6, CJ1, CJ2, Ludwig, chs. 10 & 11)

12.  How is Confucianism similar to Daoism (i.e., in what ways does it agree with Daoism)?  How is it different?  (CJ3, Ludwig, chs. 10 & 12)

14.  In what respects is Confucianism a religion?  Why do some scholars regard Confucianism as not a religion?  (CJ3, Ludwig, chs. 10, 11, & 12)

15.  Features of Confucianism's attitude toward the gods and what lies outside the human realm include what?  (CJ3, Ludwig, chs. 10, 11, & 12)

16.  What Ways of Being Religious find expression in Confucianism?  (CJ3 & CJ4)

17.  What is the primary task or 'project' of Confucianism, and what does it involve?  (CJ4, Ludwig, ch. 13)

18.  What do Confucians mean by 'true humanity' (ren /jen)?  What do they mean by it as an ideal to be cultivated (cultivated not just as an individual but moreso as a 'node' or juncture in the web of human relationships)?  (CJ4, Ludwig, ch. 13)

19.  What is the self according to Confucian teaching?  How does it differ from that of Daoism and that of Buddhism?  How does it differ from that of Western religions?    (CJ4, B2, H4, Ludwig, chs. 12 & 13)

20.  In what respects are being a human being and one's relationships toward others 'ideals to be realized' in Confucianism, as opposed to things one can take for granted?  Even to be deserving of the right to be called "father" or "son," "husband" or "wife," "ruler" or "subject."  How is this related to the Confucian theme known as "the rectification of names"?  (CJ4, Ludwig, ch. 13)

21.  What is li as Confucianism understands it and why do Confucians regard it as so important?  What sorts of thing does li involve?  (CJ3, CJ4, Ludwig, chs. 10 & 13)

23.  What specific institutional forms did Confucianism take?   (I.e., nation-wide education for civil service posts and "worship" at Confucian temples.)  For how long were these forms in existence?  From when to when?  (CJ3, CJ4, Ludwig, chs. 10, 11, & 13)

24.  What makes Confucian temples different from other temples in Chinese culture?  And what is the nature of "worship" at them.  (CJ3 [not in notes])

25.  What was Neo-Confucianism, and what made it different from earlier Confucianism?  When did it emerge?  (CJ4, Ludwig, chs. 11 & 12)

26.  Be able to classify any of the religious expressions we deal with in Chinese religions according to the Six Ways of Being Religious.  (CJ1 - CJ4, Essay IV, and H3)

Be familiar with the following terms and names; be able to state their meaning, identify that (or those things) to which they refer, and indicate in a phrase their meaning in Japanese religions. (For meanings see R201 Lectures (2003) and the R201 Glossary.)
 

Shinto [= Kami-no-michi], Shrine Shinto, State Shinto, Sectarian Shinto, Kami, shrine [jinja], kannagara, misogi, Butsudo, Tendai Buddhism, Mt. Hiei, Kukai, Shingon Buddhism, Shugendo, yamabushi, Dogen, Soto Zen, Esai, Rinzai Zen, koan, Chanoyu (also called Chado), Honen, Amida, Shinran, Jodo Shin-shu, Bushido, Nichiren, Nichiren Shoshu, Soka Gakkai.

2.  What was Nationalist or State Shinto, and in what specific ways was it a change from Shinto in prior ages?  What happened to it at the end of World War II?  (CJ5, Ludwig, ch. 14)

3.  What are kami?  Shinto kami differ from the gods of other religions in what ways?   (CJ5, Ludwig, chs. 14 & 15)

4.  What is kannagara, the object or goal of Shinto religious life?  In what typical ways is it realized or enacted?  (CJ5, Ludwig, chs. 15 & 16)

5.  Shinto concern with purity and pollution (tsumi) is manifested in what typical ways?  What mythical event set the model for most purification rituals?  In this connection, what are the rituals of oharai and misogi?  (CJ5, Ludwig, chs. 15 & 16)

6.  How are good and evil defined in Shinto?  In this respect, what role does sincerity or honesty (makoto) of the heart have?  (CJ5, Ludwig, chs. 15 & 16)

7.  Who are Izsanagi and Izanami in Shinto mythology?  What is their importance in Shinto?  (CJ6, Ludwig, chs. 14 &15)

9.  Worship at a Shinto shrine typically includes what?  What mythical event set the model for shrine worship?  (CJ6, Ludwig, chs. 14, 15, & 16)

10.  Shinto is especially connected with a heightened sensitivity to beauty and distinctive aesthetic values in what ways?  What are some of the traditional arts (geijutsu-do) that give expression to this?  (CJ5, CJ6, Ludwig, ch. 16)

11.  In what ways has Confucianism had an impact upon Japanese culture (mixing with and influencing other Shinto and Buddhist elements, especially aesthetic ones)?  (CJ6, Ludwig, chs. 14 & 16)

12.  Shinto and Buddhism have mixed and influenced each other in Japan in what specific ways?  (CJ6, CJ7, Ludwig, chs. 14, 15, & 16)

13.  In what specific ways does Shugendo represent a combination of Buddhist and indigenous Shinto practices?  In this connection, what is a yamabushi?  (CJ6, Ludwig, ch. 14)

14.  In what specific ways has Zen appealed to the indigenous Japanese religious sensibility?  In different words, in what ways has Zen corresponded to indigeneous themes in Shinto?  (CJ7, Ludwig, chs. 14, 15, & 16)

15.  In what ways does Chanoyu/Chado (the Way of Tea) manifest and express both Shinto and Zen Buddhist themes?  (CJ6, CJ7, Ludwig, ch. 16)

16.  In what specific ways has Tendai and Mt. Hiei played an important role in Japanese religious history?  (CJ7, Ludwig, ch. 14)

17.  Who was Nichiren?  In what ways did the nature of the sect of Buddhism that he founded differ from previous forms of Buddhism?  (CJ7, Ludwig, ch. 14)

18.  Who were Honen and Shinran?  What specific role did Honen play in Japanese Pure Land Buddhism?  In what ways did Shinran's teachings differ from his predecessors?  (CJ7, Ludwig, chs. 14, 15, & 16)

19.  In what specific ways are Shin Buddhism and Devotional Protestant Christianity similar?  In what ways are they different?  (CJ7, Ludwig, chs. 14, 15, & 16)

20.  Who was Kukai?  What was unique in his teaching?  How is Shingon Buddhism distinctive or different from other forms of Japanese Buddhism?  (CJ7, Ludwig, chs. 14, 15, & 16)

21.  In respect to "life passage" rituals, what tradition do the Japanese people usually turn to for "life" rituals?  What tradition do they usually turn to for "death" rituals?  (CJ7, Ludwig, ch. 16)

22.  Be able to classify any of the religious expressions we deal with in Japanese religions according to the Six Ways of Being Religious.  (CJ5, CJ6, CJ7, Essay IV and H4)

23.  Be able to recognize statements that pass the Test of Neutrality (statements that are "bracketed) amidst statements that do not.  (H2)

24.  The phrase "ultimate reality" as used in the approach taken in this course refers to what?  Why is it that the approach that this course takes (empathetic objectivity or phenomenology of religion) must leave unanswered the question whether it refers to one thing in all religions or different things in different religions?  (H2, H3)

25. What distinctive understanding of the nature of God is shared by the three traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?  What distinctive understanding of the nature of the "ultimate reality" tends to be shared among the traditions of India, China, and Japan? Be able to explain each of the three aspects that characterize these understandings. (Essay V, H4)

26. Be able to recognize the other six traits that distinguish Eastern religions (the ones we are studying) from Western religions, beyond their shared understanding of the nature of "ultimate reality." (Essay V, H4)

27. Explain the respect in which the religions of India, China, and Japan (with the exception of Islam and Sikhism) are not "historical religions" in the way Judaism, Christianity and Islam are "historical religions." What does this have to do with how these traditions understand ultimate reality as "not other" and how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam understand ultimate reality (or God) as "other"?  (Essay V, H4)