¶ … West
There are three major religions that have established themselves in China: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism; and of the three, only Buddhism is not indigenous to China. Buddhism found its way to China along the Silk Road, brought by missionaries from India. For centuries, the three religions have co-existed with many Chinese adopting elements of each in their daily lives. Whatever similarities, or symbiotic elements each contains, the three religions have also competed with each other for prominence and prestige within Chinese society. At different times each has been the dominant religion, fully supported by the Imperial Court, however, Buddhism, since it's incorporation into Chinese society, has viewed itself as the superior religion. While most Buddhists are completely comfortable with the idea of other religious ideals in society, and even embrace certain aspects of them, they still feel that Buddhism is superior. One piece of Chinese literature, generally accepted as one of the four great classic novels in Chinese history, is Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West. It is the fictionalized story of a real monk who traveled to India to learn about Buddhism and collect sacred Buddhist scriptures. And although the novel is intermixed with other tales of mythology, adventure, magic, and the supernatural, one theme that permeates the story is the superiority of Buddhism within Chinese society. China may be home to three great religions, but, according to Wu Cheng'en, only Buddhism is the best.
Journey to the West is based on a real journey to India taken by a Chinese Buddhist monk in the early 7th century. The monk's name was Xuanzang, and his true story acts as the basis for Wu Cheng'en's fictional account written some thousand years after the actual events. It is said that in the year 629, Xuanzang had a dream in which he was told to make a pilgrimage to India in order to learn about Buddhism and obtain sacred Buddhist texts. In a journey that lasted some 17 years, Xuanzang traveled to India, stayed for many years, and returned to China with more than a thousand sacred texts; which he spent the rest of his life translating. He is also credited with authoring the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which is a vivid account of the social aspects of the many different lands he visited.
It is generally said that there are four great classic novels in Chinese literature; Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dream of the Red Chamber, and Journey to the West. It was during the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D.-1644 A.D.) that Journey to the West was written by the 16th century author Wu Cheng'en and contained a highly fictionalized account of Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India. This account not only contains the journey of Xuanzang, called Tripitaka in the story, but also three magical companions: Sun Wukong, also called Monkey King, Zhu Bajie, also called Monk Pig, or just Pigsy, and Sha Wujing, also called Friar Sandy. Together these four make a long and arduous journey where they are constantly interrupted, attacked, waylaid, or forced to take tangential excursions. After a great many adventures the four arrive in India, retrieve the sacred texts, and return to China to receive many heavenly rewards. While this tale may be based upon a real religious pilgrimage, Wu Cheng'en interweaves the original story with so much mythology, religious imagery, and magic that Journey to the West is transformed into a great piece of dramatic fiction.
Journey to the West contains a great deal of religious symbolism and imagery, especially in the presentation of the main characters. For example, there is Monkey King, or Sun Wukong, whose story takes up the first part of the tale. He began life as a monkey, but through courage and determination, mostly his willingness to travel through a waterfall and into the "Happy Land of the Mountain Flowers and Fruit, Cave Heaven of the Water Curtain," he became King. (Wu Cheng'en, p.9) Monkey King then became a disciple of the Taoist immortal Bodhi, where he learned a number of magical Taoist powers such as the power to transform into any object. After becoming one of the most powerful demons on Earth, he was eventually asked to join the gods in Heaven. But his lowly position as manager of the stables and later gardener, insulted Monkey King and, after eating all the Sacred Peaches of the Heavenly Garden (which granted Enlightenment), he was expelled from Heaven by the...
While the similarities in ethical and theological concepts are great, some differences emerge. For instance, Islam seems to be the more fundamental or faith-based of the two religions, as Robinson (2008-1) points often to a liberal branch of Christianity that questions even the very fundamentals of the faith. For instance, while Muslims believe that Jesus was born of a Virgin, even though they do not accept him as the
Islam and the West How do you see Islam offering an alternative to modernity as defined by the West? Is this alternative oppositional to or complementary with the West or both? Why or why not? Focus on specific examples. Globalization is a phenomenon that has touched all spheres of human life. Made pervasive with the aid of technology, globalization has come to define the manner in which we lead our lives. Be
Islam According to Three Books Though Islam is certainly suffering from an image problem in the West, there is no denying the fact that it is the one of the major religions and boasts of millions of followers in almost every part of the world. Our assessment of Islam and its various teachings may not exactly be perfect because of the negative perceptions and interpretations currently doing rounds in the West.
Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism Taoism, Confucianism, and Judaism There are several major religions in the world and in different parts of the world the religions are quite diverse. In China, two major religions are Taoism and Confucianism, while in the West one of the oldest religions is Judaism. These religions are quite different, with historical, theological, and philosophical differences. But they also have certain aspects in common, such as honesty, integrity, and compassion.
The Japanese myth partly resembles that of Adam and Eve present in the Bible and in the Quran. However, the first beings in Japan are considered to hold much more power than their equivalents in the west. Another resemblance between the Japanese legends and those in the west is the fact that the kami are considered to live in the high planes of Takamagahara, somewhat resembling mount Olympus, from Greek
Islam in the Age of Globalization The three major religions in the 21st century are all Abrahamic in historical basis. These religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity remain at the edge of political, social, and cultural issues, particularly now in that globalism has become so predominant. These religions are noted as Abrahamic because each uses the basic teachings of the Prophet Abraham in their general world view. All three faiths are monotheistic
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now