Final Module SSE 206 Asian Studies

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
POTOTAN CAMPUS
Pototan, Iloilo
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MODULE IN
SOCIAL SCIENCE 206:
ASIAN STUDIES
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Pototan, Iloilo
MODULE IN
SOCIAL SCIENCE 206:
ASIAN STUDIES
First Issue: August 23, 2021
Dr. Romeo F. Detaro
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Notes to the Students
This course focuses on Asian Studies which includes its early developments up to
the present pressing issues and contemporary history. It is a course designed to
examine the political, economic and socio-cultural issues in Asian Societies today in the
light of historical and global forces at work in Asia.
This maiden issue is a loose notes regarding the topics and it is expected to be
revised soon.
Romeo Felarca Detaro PhD.
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Table of Contents
Pages
Part 1
Notes to the Students ------------------------ 10
Unit 1. Introduction to Asian Origin ------------------------ 10
Lesson 1. Ancient Civilization in Asia ------------------------ 10
Pre-activity ------------------------ 10
Lesson proper ------------------------ 11
Post activity ------------------------ 16
Lesson 2. Ancient Iraq or Mesopotamia ------------------------ 18
Pre-activity ------------------------ 18
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 19
Post activity ------------------------ 22
Lesson 3. Ancient India ------------------------ 24
Pre-activity ------------------------ 24
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 24
Post Activity ------------------------ 27
References ------------------------ 27
Unit II. Asian Geography ------------------------ 29
Lesson. 4. Geographical features of Asia ------------------------ 29
Pre-activity ------------------------ 29
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 29
Post Activity ------------------------ 31
Reference ------------------------
Lesson 5. Natural Resources in Asia ------------------------ 32
Pre-activity ------------------------ 32
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 32
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Post Activity ------------------------ 38
Reference ------------------------
Lesson 6. Landforms of Asia ------------------------ 40
Pre-activity ------------------------ 40
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 40
Post Activity ------------------------ 43
Reference ------------------------
Lesson 7. Waterforms of Asia ------------------------ 45
Pre-activity ------------------------ 45
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 45
Post Activity ------------------------ 48
References ------------------------
Lesson 8. Economy of Asia ------------------------ 49
Pre-activity ------------------------ 49
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 49
Post Activity ------------------------ 49
References ------------------------
Unit 3. Culture of Asia ------------------------ 52
Lesson 9. Population of Asia ------------------------ 52
Pre-activity ------------------------ 52
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 52
Post Activity ------------------------ 55
Reference ------------------------
Lesson 10. Asian Migration ------------------------ 56
Pre-activity ------------------------ 56
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 56
Post Activity ------------------------ 59
References ------------------------
Unit 4. Ethnic Groups in Asia ------------------------ 60
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Lesson 11. Asian Families ------------------------ 60
Pre-activity ------------------------ 60
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 60
Post Activity ------------------------ 62
References ------------------------
Lesson 12. Political Organizations in Asia ------------------------ 63
Pre-activity ------------------------ 63
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 63
Post Activity ------------------------ 67
References
Lesson 13. Asian Environmental Issues ------------------------ 67
Pre-activity ------------------------ 67
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 68
Post Activity ------------------------ 68
References ------------------------
Lesson 14. Conflicts in Asia ------------------------ 71
Prep-activity ------------------------ 71
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 71
Post Activity ------------------------ 74
References ------------------------ 75
Part 2 ------------------------ 76
MIDTERM PERIOD ------------------------ 77
Unit 5. Asian Religion ------------------------ 78
Lesson 15. Christianity ------------------------ 79
Pre-activity ------------------------ 80
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 81
Post Activity ------------------------ 82
References ------------------------ 83
Lesson 16. Hinduism ------------------------ 84
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Pre-activity ------------------------ 85
Lesson Proper ------------------------
Post Activity ------------------------ 85
References ------------------------ 85
Lesson 17. Judaism ------------------------ 87
Pre-activity ------------------------ 87
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 87
Post Activity ------------------------ 88
References ------------------------
Lesson 18. Buddhism ------------------------ 89
Pre- activity ------------------------ 89
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 89
Post Activity ------------------------ 89
References ------------------------
Lesson 19. Confucianism ------------------------ 93
Pre-activity ------------------------ 93
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 93
Post Activity ------------------------ 98
References ------------------------
Lesson 20. Shintoism ------------------------ 100
Pre-activity ------------------------ 100
Lesson Proper ------------------------ 100
Post Activity ------------------------ 104
References ------------------------
Suggested Readings ------------------------ 116
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Unit 1. Asian Origin
Lesson 1. Ancient Civilization of Asia
Considered as the most populated and the largest continent in the world, Asia is
special because, we as Filipinos, belongs to this continent. With the present
developments in the Philippines, we actually influences Asia and the World, and versa
because with the current stream of globalization such as this COVID-19 pandemic and
globalization, we were not isolated by the events around the globe. With this dynamic
relationship, as Social scientists, we have our unique tools of understanding the
intricacies of social currents and the tools can be found through the early records,
manuscripts, analyzed before us by so many historians, political scientists,
anthropologists, archaeologists and many others.
Rashtrakuta
Rashtrakuta was a royal dynasty that ruled major regions of the Indian Subcontinent
between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest recognised Rashtrakuta inscription is a
Seventh-century copper plate grant detailing their rule from Manapura, a metropolis in
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Central or West India. Different ruling Rashtrakuta clans from the identical interval
talked about in inscriptions had been the kings of Achalapur (trendy Elichpur in
Maharashtra) and the rulers of Kannauj.
The Elichpur clan was a feudatory of the Badami Chalukyas, and through the rule
of Dantidurga, it overthrew Chalukya Kirtivarman II and went on to construct an
empire with the Gulbarga area in trendy Karnataka as its base. This clan got here to be
often called the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta, rising to energy in South India in
753. During the same time, the Pala dynasty of Bengal and the Prathihara
dynasty of Malwa had been gaining power in eastern and northwestern India
respectively. An Arabic textual content, Silsilat al-Tawarikh (851), known as the
Rashtrakutas one of many 4 principal empires of the world.
This era, between the 8th and the 10th centuries, noticed a tripartite battle for the
assets of the wealthy Gangetic plains. Every of those three empires annexing the seat
of energy at Kannauj for brief intervals of time. At their peak, the Rashtrakutas of
Manyakheta dominated an unlimited empire stretching from the Ganges River and
Yamuna River doab in the north to Cape Comorin in the South, a fruitful time of
political growth, architectural achievements and well-known literary contributions. The
early kings of this dynasty had been influenced by Hinduism and the later kings by
Jainism.
Throughout their rule, Jain mathematicians and scholars contributed significant works in
Kannada and Sanskrit. Amoghavarsha I, arguably the most well-known king of this
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dynasty wrote Kavirajamarga. It is a landmark literary work in the Kannada
language. Art and Architecture reached a milestone in the Dravidian style, the best
instance of which can be seen within the Kailasanath Temple at Ellora in
Maharashtra. Other significant contributions are the Kashivishvanatha temple and
the Jain Narayana temple at Pattadakal in trendy Karnataka, each of that are
UNESCO World Heritage Websites.
Mughals Empire
The Mughals or Mogul Dynasty was an empire that ruled most of Northern India
extending large parts of the Indian Subcontinent including Bangladesh, India and
Pakistan. The Mughals originated from a Muslim Persinate dynasty of Chagatai Turco-
Mongol origin of modern day Uzbekistan. They ruled from the early 16th to the mid-
18th century. The rulers of the Mughal dynasty descended from Timur and Genghis
Khan and it was further well-known by its emperor’s efforts to integrate Hindus and
Muslims into a united Indian state.
Babur (1526-1530):
The most prominent emperor among the Mughal rulers were the founder of the
dynasty, Babur whose reign was from 1526- 1530, a Central Asian ruler who came to
India at the age of 14 years to fulfill his ambitions. He ruled most parts of Northern
India after defeating Panipat in 1526. He could not allow the new emperor to
consolidate gain due to the obsession with wars and military campaigns.
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Humayun (1530-1540):
After Babur’s reign, the dynasty was taken over by his son Humayun at the age of 23 in
December 1530. He lost the territories in 1540, but regained those 15 years later with
the aid of the Safavid dynasty of Persia and with additional territory. During his rule, the
empire was largely influenced by the Persian art, architecture, language and literature.
He could successfully expand the empire almost one million square kilometers till the
time of his death in 1556, leaving a substantial legacy for his son, Akbar.
Akbar (1556-1605):
Abu’l-Fath Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar popularly known as Akbar was the great ruler
of Mughal dynasty who ruled from 1556 to 1561. He succeeded his father, Humayun
under a regent, Bairam Khan as Akbar was young and inexperienced when he came
into power. Bairam Khan helped Akbar to expand and merge Mughal Empire in India.
Akbar was a strong personality and a successful general. The Mughal period is marked
as the “Classic period” during his rule in 1556. He followed great control over military,
political, cultural and economic governance, due to which he could extend the empire to
entire country. In order to unify the vast Mughal Empire, he established a centralized
system of administration and adopted a policy of conciliating conquered rulers through
marriage and diplomacy. The Mughal dynasty enjoyed economic progress as well as
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religious harmony under Akbar’s reign. To elude tribal bonds and Islamic state identity,
he strived to unite far- flung lands of his realm through loyalty.
Akbar was also a great patron of art and culture. His love for literature triggered him to
create a library of over 24,000 volumes written in various languages including Sanskrit,
Hindustani, Persian, Greek, Latin, Arabic and Kashmiri. Akbar’s court at Delhi, Agra and
Fatehpur Sikri became centers of the arts, literature and learning. Mughal style of arts,
painting and architecture is a combination of Perso- Islamic culture with a blend of
indigenous Indian elements.
Babylonian Empire
The ancient city of Babylon can be traced to modern day Iraq, around 90 kms
southwest of Baghdad. The Babylonian Empire was considered to be the most powerful
state in the ancient world. A series of conflicts between the Amorites and the Assyrians
followed the end of the Akkadian Empire giving rise to the powerful city state of
Babylon.
The city of Babylon was the capital of the Empire and appeared first in the history after
the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur. However Babylon remained a small territory until the
reign of its sixth Amorite ruler, Hammurabi, an efficient ruler that took Babylon into a
different scale of power.

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Assyrian Empire
Assyria, in its original geographical and historical sense, was a small triangular-shaped
land lying between the Tigris and the Zab Rivers and the Median Mountains. When the
Assyrians gained in power and numbers, they soon extended their dominion beyond
these very narrow boundaries so that even in early times the name Assyria was carried
westward to the Euphrates and southward as far as Hit.
At the Zenith of its rule, Assyria could lay claim to an empire that stretched from Egypt
in the west to the borders of Iran in the east that encompassed the whole of the Fertile
Crescent in the realm of a single imperial domain.
Umayyad Caliphate
Umayyad Caliphate is first of the Muslim Empires (or Islamic Empires) of the world
which ruled the Caliphate Empire (661-750 A.D.) Both Muhammad and Umayyads had a
common ancestor named Abd Manaf ibn Qusai from where they descended.
Muhammad descended from Hashim (Son of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai) and Umayyads
descended from Hashim’s brother Abd-Shams, and the name of his son was Umayya
Features of Umayyad Caliphate:
gold coin from Umayyad EmpireThe Umayyad Dynasty’s Caliphs bear an
unmatched social equality. They literally live a normal and modest life. They seek to
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follow their unique sense of dressing and were much curious about material goods and
rituals. They alienated their court from the community of the Muslims and are closely
attached with their own community.
Mu’awiyya, the first Umayyad Dynasty Caliph, introduced a completely different idea
of kingship in the Muslim world, by vesting the authority of leadership to the super-
normal individuals. He also introduced a new method of selecting caliphs, whereby the
caliph was elected by a small group of powerful tribal leaders. The powerful leaders
were influenced by Mu’awiyya so that his son Yajid gets selected as the new Caliph of
Umayyad Caliphate. Thus, it is known that the Yajid’s succession was possible due to
his father for whom the Umayyad Dynasty is basically popular as a hereditary dynasty.
And it is due to this reason the Islamic historians call the Umayyad period as “kingdom”
(Mulk) rather than caliphate.
The Umayyad Caliphate marked many changes in the Islamic Government. The
adoption of Byzantine administration and financial systems were the most significant
one whereby Mu’awiyya moved the administrative center of Islam from Medina to
Damascus in Syria. He was influenced by his closest advisor to take on the Byzantine
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administration in Damascus. He allotted a large number of Christian administrator and
counselors into the Byzantine administrational institution.
Another change was the establishment of wealth and monarchical accessories that
flourished the efflorescence of art, architecture and writings in Islamic culture. This
issue brought negative image to the Umayyads among many Muslim People of the
Muslim Empires. It was recognized as a fundamental distortion of the religious and
social principles of Islam.
Though, Mu’awiyya caliphate created much of the drawbacks, it also had merit points.
Mu’awiyya was a brilliant ruler, under whose tenure, Islam enjoyed peace and strong
military and political control over Iran and Iraq. Mu’awiyya was a generous and
judicious administrator. He fully personified the Arabic virtue of “Leniency” or “Hilm”.
His leniency and forgiveness helped to establish a new administrative structure.
Vijayanagara Empire
Vijayanagara Empire was found by Harihara I. His reign might have ended after 1357.
However, before he died he nominated his brother Bukka to succeed him. Harihara and
Bukka were the sons of Sangama. They were first at the service of Prataparuda II. They
gave up Islam and proceeded to set up an independent Hindu state. The general view
is that his anti-Islamic movements disturbed the loyalty of the brothers to the sultan
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and the idea to serve their country and their ancestral religion arose. But because of
their Muslim faith they were at first not accepted by the people. They then followed a
policy of conciliation which pacified the people. Harihara and Bukka met the sage
Vidyaraya and were enlightened by his teachings. They returned to the Hindu fold and
accepted the mission of upholding the Hindu cause against the Islam.
Gupta Dynasty
Gupta Dynasty was one of the ancient Indian empires that ruled during 240 to 550 CE
in Northern, Central as well as Western parts of India. The founder of the dynasty was
Maharaja Sri Gupta, who reigned for 240-280 CE and was succeeded by his son
Ghatotkacha from 280-319 CE.
It is known from the ancient Indian texts, that the Guptas belonged to the caste of
Vaishyas. According to Jayaswal, it is assumed that the Guptas were original natives of
Prayaga (Allahabad) in Uttar Pradesh, in North India. The study of numismatic
evidences, it is known that the Guptas belonged to the Northeastern India.
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According to DC Ganguly, another historian of that time believed that the original
hometown of the Guptas is Murshidabad region of Bengal. However, his views were
considered invalid as his theory was based on the statements of the Chinese Buddhist
monk, Yijing who visited India during 675 and 696 CE, but the Guptas ruled during the
end of 3rd century whereas Yijing placed him at the end of 2nd century.
From the expressions of Allan and other scholars, the Guptas concentrated in the region
of Magadha and extended their control to Bengal. But others meant to believe that they
actually originated from the region of Varendi or the Varendra Bhumi in Bengal now is a
part of Rangpur and Rajshahi division of modern day Bangladesh, wherefrom they
extended to Magadha.
The notable kings of the dynasty were: (Chandra Gupta I, Samudra Gupta and Chandra
Gupta II)
Indus Valley Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization is the one of the oldest ancient civilizations of the world. Indus
River Valley Civilization was discovered by the archaeologists in the 1920s.
It flourished in the Bronze Age (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE, pre-
Harappan cultures starting c.7500 BCE) along the Indus River (hence called Indus
Valley Civilization) and the Ghaggar-Hakra River, which now lies in the area of modern
Pakistan, North-West India and Afghanistan (covering an area of 1.25 million km2).
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The Indus Valley Civilization was spread from Balochistan in Pakistan to Gujarat in
India.
The first city to be discovered by excavation was Harappa and Mohenjo Daro soon
afterwards was also discovered. Indus Valley Civilization is also known as ‘Harappan
Civilization‘.
Mesopotamia Civilization
‘Mesopotamia’ means the land between the rivers. Mesopotamian civilization is
considered to be the first civilization known to the history of mankind originated in the
Fertile Crescent bounded in the northeast by the Zagros Mountains and in the southeast
by the Arabian Plateau nourished by two rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates. The
presence of the two rivers made the land fertile making it possible for the civilization to
thrive. Mesopotamian Civilization became the base for many aspects of Western
Civilization.
The geography of Mesopotamia that included flat and marshy land can be traced to
parts of modern day Syria, almost all of Iraq and southeastern Turkey. As per the
geography, Mesopotamian Civilization could be roughly divided into two zones: the ostly
flat Upper Mesopotamia and the highly fertile plain of Lower Mesopotamia
The Fertile Crescent: Cradle of Civilization
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The population of the previously hunters and gatherers grew in Mesopotamia with
development of better tools. These clans began developing small village like
settlements. Increased dependence on the food that they produced set the base for a
more developed technology of farming and irrigation. Along with more permanent
houses, Mesopotamian Cities discovered methods of storing food grains which could be
used over an extended period of time. Animals were domesticated which in turned gave
additional support in their farming. Mesopotamians developed pottery, stone tools and
started spinning thread from wool and flax. Wool was the most common fabric used in
Mesopotamian Clothing. Looms for weaving fabric can be traced to as early as 3000
BCE. Along with carved stone jewelry, copper were also used for the same.
The vast expanse of the region was constantly disturbed by devastating flood and
thunderstorm making it vulnerable to suffering and starvation. This constant fear and
helplessness gave rise to the belief in God to save them from such perils. Temples were
dedicated to many gods and goddesses. During this phase, priests were at the top of
the society. Religion in Mesopotamia was the center of their lives. However, governors
also the war leaders ruled the city with an assembly of adults. With the passage of
time, these governors assumed more power giving rise to monarchy in turn establishing
dynasties so that monarch could pass on their power down to their sons and grandsons.
Mesopotamian Civilization: Rise of the First Civilization
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With the advent of farming, irrigation became an important issue to be addressed. On
the other hand creation of embankments was required to keep the flood away from
Euphrates. Canals and ditches were dug to drain out marshes. Abundant crops were
produced and the surplus was used to feed to city workers such as the artist,
merchants and craftsmen among others. This organization gave rise to a complex
Mesopotamian society supported by economic activities. Groups of people stayed
together and spoke a common language. With society, emerged leaders and social
classes.
The urbanization of this region went through several changes:
9000 BCE: Hilltop cities evolved. Example: Jericho
7000 BCE: Settlement began in the Zagros Mountain. A network of small cities
developed in the fertile crescent
6000 BCE: The network of villages and small cities expanded towards the South along
the Euphrates
5000 BCE: Mesopotamia became a large network of villages and cities.
Religion for Mesopotamians however was the central focus in the city life and each city
had its own gods and goddesses. Hence, temple became an important architectural
element which was built to honor the divinity. With the scale of the city, grew the size
of the temple in its functions and wealth.
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Mesopotamian temples were designed on a rectangular plan. These temple towers or
Ziggurats a representation of the sacred mountain were brick-built temple mounds in a
layered platform. Ziggurats were the main center of administrative and economic
activity. Quarters of the priest, officials and the accountants, musicians, treasure
chambers, granary along with ceremonial banquets and courtyards etc. was present in
the temple complex. Sacrificial animals were also reared in the temple complex.
Ziggurat of Ur is one of the largest with a height of around 70 to 100 feet on a
rectangular plan of 210 by 150 feet. Three stairways led to the first level while a single
stairway led to the second level and finally to the last and highest terrace. The most
important part of the Ziggurat of Ur was the Nanna temple believed to have been an
engineering and design marvel.
Another important piece of architecture was the White Temple which was built on the
Anu Ziggurat. The temple gets its name for the fact that it was entirely white washed
inside and out. It was a long rectangular central hall with rooms on either side and had
three entrances.
Ancient Egyptian Civilization
The History of ancient Egyptian civilization is one that has captured the interests of
millions of people across many different eons of time. The History of ancient Egyptian
civilization is such that no matter how much you know there is always heaps more to
learn about it. While a lot of people have a good knowledge of how the Ancient
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Egyptians lived and flourished, what many people do not realize or do not know about
Ancient Egypt is that it has not always been the one kingdom or country, as we know it
today, but was more than that, with multiple rulers all at the same time. Prior to the
Fourth millennium before Christ, Egypt was covered by a diverse range of different
peoples, each with their own traditions, cultures, and sets of beliefs. All of these tribes
were nomadic in nature. From the Fourth Millennium BC, though, things started to
change around here, all of these different groups of people started coming together to
form a conglomeration together.
There is no steady information about these kings in the history of ancient Egyptian
civilization from this age, and we do not know where they came from. We also do not
know how many kings ruled in that period. This is because of the lack of information in
this direction on the period. One other explanation for this is the obliteration of any
evidence that has been collected in the field. From the information, however, that we
do have in place it is certain that there were three dynasties at the time (called 0, 1 and
2). These three dynasties are believed to have come from the region of “Thinis” located
close to Middle Egypt’s Abydos. This is the reason that the kings from this region came
to be known as the Thinite Kings.
The Old Kingdom
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It was during the period of the Old Kingdom, from around 2686 BC – 2181 BC that
Egypt came to be formed in its entirety. It was at this time that the importance of the
people’s ruler came to lie in the hands of the king. Not only was he a ruler of the place,
he was also considered a divine being. The pharaoh was said to be a reincarnation of
the Egyptian god Horus. Along time, by the time the fifth dynasty came to be, the
pharaoh was considered to be the son of the supreme Egyptian god, Re. By this time
written language had come to be developed too. The use of hieroglyphics proved to
have spread far and wide during this time, and written communication developed
rapidly. This was also the time that there was a great improvement in the field of
technology. Proof if this is the fact that it was in this age that the first pyramids on the
planet came to be constructed. Also, there were many great temples that were built in
this age, and also the Great Obelisk.
The Old Kingdom was made up of four dynasties; 3, 4, 5, and 6. The Old kingdom,
however, did not see the same level of development in the sixth dynasty as it did in the
third, fourth and the fifth dynasty. The reason for this is the fact that power came to be
decentralized in this time. By the year 2181 BC, thus, Egypt as a nation started getting
fragmented into different parts. In each of these arts, anarchy became the natural
order, and there was chaos everywhere.
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Here are details on the kings of the kings of the Old Kingdom. The dates are only an
approximate as there is no way of ascertaining the exact dates, because of different
calendars that were followed here.
Sanakhte was the first king of the Old Kingdom. This was from c.2686 to 2668. There is
not much that is known about Sanakhte, but many historians state that he became the
king by entering into marriage with the last king of the second dynasty’s daughter.
Today we know much lesser than we know about his brother Djoser, about whom there
is a lot of information. He, however, played an important role in starting a process
through which he started accumulating wealth for his country. The first thing that he
did do in this direction was to look into the mining of copper and turquoise from the
adjoining Sinai desert. We do not have information about where Sanakhte had been
buried following his death.
Djoser became the king of Egypt after the death of his probable brother, Sanakhte. This
was somewhere from c.2668 – 2649 B. C. he was believed to have taken the borders of
Egypt all the way to the First Cataract in the South, which was later known as the
Aswan. This, however, was not true. What was true was the fact that it was during this
age that the first building made completely out of stone was built. This was the first
stone building in the history of the world, and it was the famous Step Pyramid of
Saqqara. All that remains of Djoser’s body today, almost four thousand years later, is a
mummified foot. This was found in the Step Pyramid itself. According to most counts
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and studies, Djoser’s body might have been torn apart by tomb robbers from the
ancient world who had their eyes on precious stones and jewels.
Djoser came to be followed by Sekhemkhet in c.2649 – 2643. There was not much
known about this king for a great amount of time. However in the year 1951, Zakaria
Goneim, an Egyptian archaeologist found about a step pyramid that was unfinished at
Saqqara that belonged to Sekhemkhet. The reason that the construction work was
stopped midway was presumable because the king died quite suddenly. If it had
reached completion, this pyramid could possibly have been a step taller than the
pyramid that Djoser’s made for himself. There was a great amount of treasures that
was found inside and so it was believed that it had not been marauded in antiquity, just
like many other tombs from Egypt.
Introduction of Ancient Chinese Civilization:
1766 BC: customary date for the establishing of the first notable administration in
China, the Shang line
1122 BC: Western Zhou administration established after the oust of the last Shang
ruler
771 BC: Eastern Zhou administration period starts after the sack of the Western Zhou
capital; the first stage is customarily isolated into two: the Spring and Autumn (771-481
BC) and the Warring States (481-221 BC) periods
551-479 BC: Confucius, China’s overwhelming logician, lives

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221 BC: The First Emperor, Qin Shih Huang, finishes the success of all other Chinese
states
202 BC: The Han line established, following quite a while of confusion taking after the
fall of the Qin
220 AD: the fall of the Han line is an advantageous marker for the end purpose of the
antiquated time of Chinese history.
Japanese Civilization
The real history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan as well as the
Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region towards the modern history
of Japan as a nation state. After the final ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem
of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human development. The earliest-known pottery
is one of the Jomon periods. Initial known written mention of the Japan is the brief
information offered in Twenty-Four Histories in the first century AD. The main cultural
and religious impacts originated from China.
The initial permanent capital had been created at Nara in 710 AD, which became a
center of Buddhist art, faith, and culture. The present imperial household emerged
about 700 AD, but until 1868 (with few exceptions) had high prestige but small power.
By 1550 or so governmental power ended up being subdivided into a few hundred local
devices, or “domains” managed by regional “daimyo” (lords), each together with the
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own force of samurai warriors. Tokugawa Ieyasu stumbled on energy in 1600, gave
land to their supporters, put up his “bakufu” (military federal government) at Edo
(contemporary Tokyo). The “Tokugawa period” was prosperous and peaceful, but Japan
deliberately terminated the Christian missions and take off almost all experience of the
outside world.
In the 1860s the Meiji Period began, plus the new national leadership methodically
ended feudalism and transformed a remote, underdeveloped area country into a world
energy that closely followed Western models. Democracy was problematic because
Japan’s effective military had been semi-independent and overruled Ñor assassinate –
civilians in the 1920s and 1930s.
The military relocated into China beginning in 1931 and declared all-out war on China in
1937. Japan managed the coast and major towns and cities and set up puppet regimes,
but had been not able to beat China. Its assault on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led
to war with the United States and its own allies.
After many naval victories by mid-1942, Japan’s armed forces had been overextended
and its particular industrial base was not able to provide the needed ships, armaments,
and oil. Even with his navy sunk and their primary metropolitan areas damaged by the
atmosphere, the Emperor held away until August 1945 whenever two atomic bombs
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and a Soviet intrusion forced a surrender. Occupied by the U.S. after the war and
stripped of its entire empire, Japan ended up being transformed into a peaceful and
democratic nation.
After 1950 it enjoyed high financial growth prices and became a global economic
powerhouse, particularly in engineering, automobiles, and electronic devices. Since the
1990s financial stagnation was an important issue, with an earthquake and tsunami in
2011 causing massive economic dislocations and loss of the nuclear power supply.
Japanese Prehistory
The Japanese Paleolithic age covers a period beginning with around 100,000 to 30,000
BC, if the earliest rock device implements have already been found, and ending around
12,000 BC, at the conclusion of the last ice age, corresponding with the start of the
Mesolithic Jomon period. A start date of around 35,000 BC is many generally accepted.
The Japanese archipelago had been disconnected through the continent after the final
ice age, around 11,000 BC. After a hoax by an amateur researcher, Shinichi Fujimura,
was exposed, the Lower and Middle Paleolithic evidence reported by Fujimura and his
associates has been refused after thorough reinvestigation. Just some Upper Paleolithic
evidence not related to Fujimura can be considered more developed.
Jomon Period (14,000-300 BC)
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The Jomon Period lasted from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC. The initial signs of
civilization and stable living patterns appeared around 14,000 BC with all the Jomon
culture, characterized by a mesolithic to neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer
lifestyle of wood stilt house and pit dwelling and a rudimentary as a type of agriculture.
Weaving had been still unknown and clothes had been often made from fur. The Jomon
people began to make clay vessels, decorated with habits produced by impressing the
damp clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks.
Many the oldest surviving examples of pottery on earth may be found in Japan,
predicated on radio-carbon dating, along with daggers, jade, combs manufactured from
shells, and other household items dated to your 11th millennium BC, even though
specific dating is disputed. Clay figures referred to as Dogū were also excavated. Family
members things recommend trade channels existed with places as far away as
Okinawa. DNA analysis suggests that the Ainu, an indigenous people that lived in
Hokkaido together with northern part of Honshu are descended through the Jomon and
thus express descendants of the earliest inhabitants of Japan.
The Yayoi Period (400 BC-250 AD)
The Yayoi Period lasted from about 400 or 300 BC to 250 AD. It’s known as after Yayoi
town, the subsection of Bunkyo, Tokyo where archaeological investigations uncovered
its first respected traces.
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The start of the Yayoi period marked the influx of the latest practices such as weaving,
rice farming, shamanism and iron and bronze-making brought from Korea or China. For
example, some paleoethnobotany studies also show that wet-rice cultivation began
about 8000 BC into the Yangtze River Delta and spread to Japan about 1000 BC.
Japan first appeared in written records in AD 57 using the following mention in China’s
Book of the Later Han: Across the ocean from Lelang would be the individuals of Wa.
Formed from more than one hundred tribes, they come and spend tribute frequently.
The Sanguo Zhi written into the 3rd century noted the country ended up being the
unification of some 30 small tribes or states and ruled by a shaman queen known as
Himiko of Yamataikoku.
During the Han Dynasty and Wei Dynasty, Chinese people to Kyushu recorded its
inhabitants and stated that they had been the descendants of the Grand Count (Taibo)
associated with Wu. The inhabitants additionally show traits associated with pre-
sinicized Wu people who have tattooing, teeth-pulling and baby-carrying. The Sanguo
Zhi records the real information which are much like people on Haniwa statues, such
men with braided hair, tattooing and women wearing big, single-piece clothes.
The Yoshinogari site is considered the most famous archaeological site into the Yayoi
period and reveals a big, constantly inhabited settlement in Kyushu for all more than
100 years. Excavation has shown probably the most ancient components to be around
400 BC. Among the artifacts are iron and bronze things, including those from China. It
appears the inhabitants had frequent communication with the mainland and trade
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relations. Today some reconstructed buildings stay into the park on the archaeological
site.
Ancient and Classical Japan
Kofun Period (250-538)
The Kofun Period is an era in the reputation for Japan from around 250 to 538. The
term kofun is Japanese for the kind of burial mounds dating using this era. The Kofun
period follows the Yayoi period. The Kofun additionally the later Asuka durations are
occasionally described collectively since the Yamato period.
Generally speaking, the Kofun period is split from the Asuka period for its cultural
distinctions. The Kofun period is illustrated by an animistic culture which existed ahead
of the introduction of Buddhism. Politically, the establishment of the Yamato court and
its particular expansion as allied states from Kyushu to your Kanto are foundational to
factors in determining the time scale. Additionally, the Kofun period could be the
earliest era of recorded history in Japan. Nevertheless, whilst the chronology of the
historical sources have become much distorted, studies of the age require deliberate
critique plus the help of archaeology.The archaeological record and ancient Chinese
sources show that the many tribes and chiefdoms of Japan would not begin to coalesce
into states until 300 AD when big tombs started to appear while there have been no
connections between western Japan and Korea or China. Some describe the
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“mysterious century” as an occasion of internecine warfare as different chiefdoms
competed for hegemony on Kyushu and Honshu.
Asuka Period (538-710)
The Asuka Period, 538 to 710, is if the proto-Japanese Yamato polity gradually
became a demonstrably centralized state, defining and applying a rule of governing
laws and regulations, for instance, the Taika Reform and Taiho Code. The development
of Buddhism led to the discontinuing of the practice of big kofun.
Buddhism had been introduced to Japan in 538 by Baekje, to which Japan provided
army support, also it was promoted by the ruling class. Prince Shotoku devoted their
efforts to the spread of Buddhism and Chinese tradition in Japan. He’s credited with
bringing general comfort to Japan through the proclamation associated with Seventeen-
article constitution, a Confucian style document that dedicated to the kinds of morals
and virtues which were to be anticipated of government officials plus the emperor’s
subjects.
a page delivered to the Emperor of China by an emissary from Japan in 607 reported
that the Emperor associated with Land where in fact the Sun rises (Japan) delivers a
page to the Emperor associated with the land where Sun sets (China), thus, implying
the same footing with China which angered the Chinese emperor.
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Beginning with the Taika Reform Edicts of 645, Japanese intensified the adoption of
Chinese cultural practices and reorganized the government additionally the penal rule
under the Chinese administrative structure (Ritsuryo) of times. This paved the way for
the influential Confucian philosophy in Japan until the nineteenth century. This era
additionally saw initial uses for the term Nihon as a name for the growing state.
Nara Period (710-794)
The Nara Period of the 8th century marked the first emergence of a good Japanese
state. Following an Imperial rescript by Empress Gemmei the move of the money to
Heijo-kyo, present-day Nara, occurred in 710. The city had been modeled in the capital
of this Chinese Tang Dynasty, Chang’an (now Xi’an).
Through the Nara Period, governmental development was quite limited, since users
associated with imperial family struggled for power using the Buddhist clergy plus the
regents, the Fujiwara clan. Japan did enjoy friendly relations with Silla along with formal
relationships with Tang China. In 784, the main city was moved once more to Nagaoka
to flee the Buddhist priests then in 794 to Heian-kyo, present-day Kyoto.
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Historic writing in Japan culminated in the early 8th century aided by the massive
chronicles, the Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Matters, 712) and the Nihon Shoki
(Chronicles of Japan, 720). These chronicles give a legendary account of Japan’s
beginnings, today referred to as Japanese mythology. Based on the urban myths found
in these 2 chronicles, Japan ended up being started in 660 BC by the ancestral Emperor
Jimmu, a direct descendant associated with the Shinto deity Amaterasu, or the Sun
Goddess. The myths recorded that Jimmu began a line of emperors that remains to this
day. Historians assume the fables partly describe historic facts that the first emperor
who actually existed was Emperor Ojin, although the date of their reign is uncertain.
Since the Nara period, real governmental energy will not be in the hands of the
emperor, but in the arms associated with court nobility, the shoguns, the army and,
now, the prime minister 1336-1392
The Heian Period (794-1185)
The Heian Period, (794 to 1185), is the last period of traditional Japanese history. It’s
considered the top of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, particularly in
poetry and literary works. Within the early 11th century, Lady Murasaki penned Japan’s,
and something on the world’s, earliest surviving novel, The Tale of Genji. The
Man’yoshu and Kokin Wakashu, the oldest current collections of Japanese poetry, had
been compiled at the time.
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Strong differences from mainland Asian cultures emerged (such as for example a native
writing system, the kana). Chinese impact had reached its top, then effectively ended
with the last Imperial-sanctioned target to Tang China in 838, because of the decline
of the Tang Dynasty, although trade expeditions and Buddhist pilgrimages to China
continued.
Governmental power within the Imperial court was in the hands of powerful aristocratic
families, especially the Fujiwara clan, who ruled underneath the titles Sessho and
Kampaku (regents).
The end associated with period saw the rise of various military clans. The four most
effective clans were the Minamoto clan, the Taira clan, the Fujiwara clan,
together with Tachibana clan. Towards the finish of this 12th century, disputes
between these clans turned into civil war, such as the Hogen and Heiji Rebellions,
accompanied by the Genpei War, from which emerged a society led by samurai clans,
underneath the political rule of this shogun.
Feudal Japan (12th – 19th century)
The “feudal” amount of Japanese history, dominated by the powerful regional families
(daimyo) while the military rule of warlords (shogun), stretched through the
12th through the nineteenth centuries. The Emperor stayed but had been mostly
kept to a de jure figurehead ruling place. This time around is normally divided into
periods following the reigning category of the shogun.
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Kamakura Period (1185-1333)
The Kamakura Period, 1185 to 1333, is a period that marks the governance of this
Kamakura shogunate while the transition to the Japanese “medieval” era, a nearly 700-
year period when the emperor, the court, while the traditional central government were
kept intact but had been largely relegated to ceremonial functions. Civil, army and
judicial things had been managed by the bushi (samurai) class, probably the most
powerful of who ended up being the de facto nationwide ruler, the shogun. This period
in Japan differed through the old shoen system in its pervasive army focus.
In 1185, Minamoto no Yoritomo defeated the competing Taira clan, and in 1192,
Yoritomo ended up being appointed Seii Tai-Shogun by the emperor; he
established a base of power in Kamakura. Yoritomo ruled as the first in a line of
Kamakura shoguns. Nonetheless, after Yoritomo’s death, another warrior clan, the
Hojo, came to rule as regents for the shoguns. A traumatic event of the duration had
been the Mongol invasions of Japan between 1272 and 1281, by which massive Mongol
forces with superior naval technology and weaponry attempted a full-scale intrusion
associated with Japanese islands. A famous typhoon named kamikaze, translating as
divine wind in Japanese, is credited with devastating both Mongol invasion forces, even
though some scholars assert that the defensive measures the Japanese constructed on
the island of Kyushu might have been adequate to repel the invaders. Even though the
Japanese had been successful in stopping the Mongols, the invasion attempt had
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devastating domestic repercussions, resulting in the extinction associated with
Kamakura shogunate.
The Kamakura period finished in 1333 with all the destruction of the shogunate while
the short reestablishment of imperial rule (the Kenmu renovation) under the Emperor
Go-Daigo by Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and Kusunoki Masashige.
Thus, the “Japanese center Ages”, which also range from the Muromachi period and
lasted before the Meiji Restoration, began with all the Kamakura period.
Kenmu Restoration (1333-1336)
The Kenmu (or Kemmu) renovation could be the three 12 months amount of Japanese
history between the Kamakura period plus the Muromachi period plus the governmental
events that took place in it. The renovation ended up being an attempt created by
Emperor Go-Daigo to bring the Imperial House, thus, the nobility it represented back in
power, so, restoring a civilian federal government after almost a hundred years. 5 of
armed forces rule.
The attempted restoration eventually failed and had been replaced by the Ashikaga
shogunate (1336 – 1575). It became the last time the Emperor had any power before
the Meiji restoration of 1867. The numerous and severe governmental mistakes created
by the Imperial House with this three-year duration were to own important
repercussions into the after decades and end using the rise of the Ashikaga dynasty.
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Muromachi Period (1336-1573)
The Muromachi Period is a division of Japanese history operating from approximately
1336 to 1573. The time scale marks the governance associated with the Ashikaga
shogunate, also known as Muromachi shogunate that has been formally established in
1336 by the first Muromachi shogun Ashikaga Takauji, who seized governmental energy
from Emperor Go-Daigo, closing the Kemmu renovation. The time finished in 1573 once
the 15th and final shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki had been driven out of the capital in Kyoto
by Oda Nobunaga.
The first years of 1336 to 1392 of this Muromachi period is also known as the
Nanboku-cho or Northern and Southern Court period, due to the fact Imperial
court had been split in 2.
The later years of 1467 to the end associated with Muromachi period normally referred
to as Sengoku period, the “Warring States period”, an occasion of intense internal
warfare, and corresponds aided by the period of the first associates utilizing the West,
aided by the arrival of Portuguese “Nanban” traders.
In 1543, a Portuguese ship, blown off its program to China, landed on Tanegashima
Island Japan. Firearms introduced by Portuguese would bring the major innovation to
Sengoku period culminating in the Battle of Nagashino where apparently 3,000
arquebuses (the actual number is believed to be around 2,000) reduce charging you
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ranks of samurai. During the following years, traders from Portugal, the Netherlands,
England, and Spain arrived, as did Jesuit, Dominican, and Franciscan missionaries.
Nanboku-cho Period (1336-1392)
The Nanboku-cho period (“South and North courts period”, also called the Northern and
Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, ended up being an interval that
took place through the formative several years of the Muromachi bakufu of Japan’s
history. In those times, there existed a Northern Imperial Court, established by
Ashikaga Takauji in Kyoto, and a Southern Imperial Court, established by Emperor Go-
Daigo in Yoshino.
Ideologically, the two courts fought for fifty years, because of the South stopping to the
North in 1392. But, the truth is the north line was underneath the power associated
with Ashikaga shoguns and had little real self-reliance. Partly as a result of this, since
the 19th century, the Emperors of the Southern Imperial Court have now been
considered the legitimate Emperors of Japan. Additionally, the Southern Court
controlled the Japanese imperial regalia, and Kitabatake Chikafusa’s Jinno Shotoki
legitimized the South’s imperial guideline despite their beat. The results of this period
continue to be influential in Modern Japan’s view of the tenno seika (Emperor System).
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The destruction associated with the Kamakura shogunate, thus, the failure associated
with Kemmu Restoration opened up an emergency in ideological legitimacy.
Furthermore, institutional changes in the estate system (shoen) that formed the
bedrock for the earnings of nobles and warriors alike altered the status of social teams
decisively. Just what emerged from the exigencies of this Nanboku-cho (Southern and
Northern Court) War had been the Muromachi regime that broadened the economic
base of the warriors, further undercutting the noble proprietors, a trend that had
started using the Kamakura bakufu.
Sengoku Period
The Warring States period had been a period of social upheaval, governmental intrigue,
and almost constant military conflict in Japan that lasted roughly from the midst of the
fifteenth century to your start of the seventeenth century.
Even though Ashikaga shogunate had retained the dwelling associated with the
Kamakura bakufu and instituted a warrior federal government based on the same social
economic rights and obligations founded by the Hojo with all the Joei Code in 1232, it
neglected to win the commitment of many daimyo, especially those whoever domains
had been not even close to Kyoto.
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As trade with China expanded, the economy developed, and also the usage of money
became extensive as markets and commercial cities showed up. This, combined with
developments in agriculture and small-scale trading, led to the desire for greater
neighborhood autonomy throughout all degrees of the social hierarchy.
As early as the beginning of the 15th century, suffering and misery caused by natural
disasters such as earthquakes and famines usually served to trigger armed uprisings by
farmers weary of debt and fees.
The Sengoku period is better understood in contrast to the “Dark Ages” of Europe;
that has been a transition period transferring power from Rome from what would
become the kings of Europe. In Japan, it absolutely was a decentralization of the
Japanese federal government from Kyoto to your many daimyos that will come to
power during this period of unrest.
The Onin War (1467-1477), a conflict rooted in economic distress and due to a
dispute over shogunal succession, is generally thought to be the onset of the
Sengoku-jidai. The “eastern” military for the Hosokawa household and its
particular allies clashed with the “western” military associated with Yamana, and
fighting close to Kyoto lasted for pretty much 11 years, after which it spread to outlying
provinces
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Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1603)
The Azuchi-Momoyama Period runs from approximately 1568 to 1600. The period
marks the army reunification and stabilization of this country under just one political
ruler, first by the promotions of Oda Nobunaga who almost united Japan, achieved later
by one of is own generals, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The title Azuchi-Momoyama originates
from the names of these particular castles, Azuchi Castle and Momoyama castle.
After having united Japan, Hideyoshi invaded Korea so that they can overcome Korea,
China, and even India. Yet, after two unsuccessful campaigns toward the allied forces
of Korea and China and their death, his forces retreated from the Korean peninsula in
1598.
The short period of succession conflict to Hideyoshi had been ended when Tokugawa
Ieyasu, one of many regents for Hideyoshi’s young heir, emerged victorious at the
Battle of Sekigahara and seized political energy.
Nanban Trade
The Nanban trade – “Southern barbarian trade” or the Nanban trade period Nanban
boeki jidai, “Southern barbarian trade period” in Japanese history expands through the
arrival associated with the first Europeans to Japan in 1543, for their near-total
exclusion from the archipelago in 1641, under the promulgation of the “Sakoku”
Seclusion Edicts.
Edo Period (1600 – 1868)

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During the Edo Period, also known as the premodern era, the administration of this
country was shared by over 2 hundred daimyos. The Tokugawa clan, frontrunner
associated with the victorious eastern military within the Battle of Sekigahara, was
probably the most powerful of them, and for fifteen generations monopolized the title
of Sei-i Taishogun (frequently shortened to shogun). Along with their head office at Edo
(present-day Tokyo), the Tokugawa commanded the allegiance of the other daimyo,
who in turn ruled their domains with a rather high level of autonomy.
The shogunate completed many significant policies. They placed the samurai class over
the commoners: the agriculturists, artisans, and merchants. They enacted sumptuary
legislation restricting hairstyle, gown, and accessories. They organized commoners into
groups of five and held all responsible for the functions of each individual. To prevent
daimyo from rebelling, the shoguns required them to maintain luxurious residences in
Edo and live at these residences on a rotating schedule; carry down costly processions
to and from their domains; subscribe to the upkeep of shrines, temples, and roadways;
and seek authorization before repairing their castles.
Bakumatsu
Bakumatsu will be the final several years of the Edo period if the Tokugawa shogunate
found a conclusion. It’s characterized by major events occurring between 1853 and
1867 during which Japan finished its isolationist international policy known as sakoku
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and transitioned from a feudal shogunate to the Meiji government. The major
ideological/political divide in those times ended up being involving the pro-imperialist
ishin shishi (nationalist patriots) and also the shogunate forces, such as the elite
Shinsengumi (newly chosen corps) swordsmen.
Although those two teams were probably the most visible abilities, many other factions
attempted to use the chaos of Bakumatsu to seize personal energy. Also, there have
been two other main driving forces for dissent: first, growing resentment of the part of
the tozama daimyo (or outside lords), and second, growing anti-western sentiment
after the arrival of Matthew C. Perry.
The first associated with those lords that have conducted Tokugawa forces during the
Battle of Sekigahara (in 1600) and had from that point on been excluded
permanently from all powerful jobs in the shogunate. The second was to be expressed
within the expression sonno joi, or “revere the Emperor, eradicate the barbarians”. The
turning point for the Bakumatsu was through the Boshin War as well as the Battle of
Toba-Fushimi when pro-shogunate forces had been defeated.
Seclusion
Through the early an element of the 17th century, the shogunate suspected that the
traders and missionaries were really forerunners of an armed forces conquest by
European abilities. Christianity spread in Japan, particularly among peasants. The
shogunate suspected the loyalty of Christian peasants towards their daimyos and
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seriously persecuted them. This led to a revolt by persecuted peasants and Christians in
1637 known as the Shimabara Rebellion which saw 30,000 Christians, samurai, and
peasants facing a huge samurai army of more than 100,000 sent from Edo.
The rebellion was crushed at a high expense towards the shogun’s army. Following the
eradication of this rebels at Shimabara, the shogunate put foreigners under
progressively tighter limitations. It monopolized foreign policy and expelled traders,
missionaries, and foreigners, except for the Dutch and Chinese merchants limited to the
man-made island of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay and lots of little trading outposts beyond
your country. But, in those times of isolation (Sakoku) that started in 1635, Japan
ended up being much less cut off from the rest of the globe than is commonly thought,
plus some purchase of western knowledge occurred under the Rangaku system.
Russian encroachments through the north led the shogunate to increase direct rule to
Hokkaido, Sakhalin as well as the Kuriles in 1807, nevertheless, the policy of exclusion
proceeded.
End of Seclusion
The insurance policy of isolation lasted for longer than 200 years. In 1844, William II of
this Netherlands delivered an email urging Japan to start her doorways, which resulted
in Tokugawa shogunate’s rejection.
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On July 8, 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry associated with the U.S. Navy with four
warships – the Mississippi, Plymouth, Saratoga, and Susquehanna – steamed into the
bay at Edo, old Tokyo, and displayed the threatening energy of their vessels’ cannons
during a Christian burial, that the Japanese observed. He requested that Japan available
to trade because of the West. These vessels became referred to as kurofune, the Black
Ships.
The next year, at the meeting of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854, Perry came back with
seven vessels and asked for that the Shogun sign the “Treaty of Peace and Amity,”
developing formal diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States. Within five
years Japan had finalized comparable treaties along with other western nations. The
Harris Treaty was finalized aided by the United States on July 29, 1858.
These treaties were commonly regarded by Japanese intellectuals as unequal, having
been forced on Japan through gunboat diplomacy, so that as a sign of the West’s desire
to incorporate Japan into the imperialism that had been taking hold of the rest of Asian
continent. Among other measures, they offered the Western nations unequivocal
control of tariffs on imports additionally the right of extraterritoriality to all their visiting
nationals. They would remain a sticking point in Japan’s relations with all the West as
much as the change associated with the century.
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Meiji Period (1868-1912)
The Meiji Period, or Meiji Era, denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor, running,
within the Gregorian calendar, from October 23, 1868, to 30 July 30, 1912. During this
period, Japan began its modernization and rose to world power status. This era name
means “Enlightened Rule”. After the death of the Meiji Emperor in 1912, the Taisho
Emperor took the throne, thus, beginning the Taisho period.
Meiji Restoration
The Meiji Restoration, also called the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, had been a
string of events that generated enormous alterations in Japan’s governmental and
social structure. It took place within the latter half the nineteenth century, a period that
spans both the late Edo period (often called later Tokugawa shogunate) as well as the
beginning of the Meiji age.
The absolute most important foreign account of the occasions between 1862 and1869
is contained in A Diplomat in Japan by Sir Ernest Satow. The renovation was an
immediate reaction to the opening of Japan by the arrival for the Black Ships of
Commodore Matthew Perry and made Imperial Japan an excellent power.
Taisho Period (1912-1926)
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The Taisho Period (“period of good righteousness”), or Taisho Era, is an interval into
the reputation for Japan dating from July 30, 1912, to December 25, 1926, coinciding
because of the reign associated with Taisho Emperor.
The health of the newest emperor was poor, which prompted the change in political
power from the old oligarchic number of elder statesmen (or genro) to the Diet of
Japan plus the democratic events. Thus, the era is considered the time of the liberal
motion called the “Taisho democracy” in Japan; it will always be distinguished through
the preceding chaotic Meiji period as well as the after militarism-driven first half of the
Showa period.
Activity Proper
Post Activity
Name:_____________________________________________ Day : _________
Lesson Title:________________________________________ Score:__________
Essay: Explain the major contributions of each ancient civilization.
Ancient Civilization (All civilizations Contributions to mankind
mentioned above)
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References
Ancient Japan - World History Encyclopedia retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 2. Ancient Iraq or Mesopotamian Civilization
Pre-Activity
Although in your other subject, in world history, the ancient history of Iraq, was also
discussed, it cannot be denied that, Iraq, will be again be discussed here in Asian
Studies. Iraq is located in the Southwest Asian region and therefore this topic is
inevitable.
Activity Proper
Mesopotamia (Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία Mesopotamíā; Arabic: ‫ بِاَل د ٱل َّرافِ َد ْين‬Bilād ar-
Rāfidayn; Classical Syriac: ‫ܢܗܪܝܢ‬

̈ ‫ܐܪܡ‬, Ārām-Nahrīn or ‫ܢܗܪܝܢ‬
̈ ‫ܒܝܬ‬, Bēṯ Nahrīn) is a
historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in
the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. It occupies the area of present-day Iraq, and
parts of Iran, Turkey, Syria and Kuwait.
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The Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated
Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in
539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. It fell to Alexander the
Great in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire.
Later the Arameans dominated major parts of Mesopotamia (c. 900 BC – 270 AD)
Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthian Empire.
Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with
western parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In 226 AD, the
eastern regions of Mesopotamia fell to the Sassanid Persians. The division of
Mesopotamia between Roman (Byzantine from 395 AD) and Sassanid Empires
lasted until the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia of the Sasanian Empire and
Muslim conquest of the Levant from Byzantines. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian
and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd
century BC, including Adiabene, Osroene, and Hatra.
Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution
from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most
important developments in human history, including the invention of the wheel, the
planting of the first cereal crops, and the development of cursive script,
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mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture". It has been known as one of the
earliest civilizations to ever exist in the world.
Etymology
The regional toponym Mesopotamia (/ˌ

mɛsəpəˈ
teɪmiə/, Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία
'[land] between rivers'; Arabic: ‫ بِاَل د ٱل َّرافِ َد ْين‬Bilād ar-Rāfidayn or ‫ بَ ْين ٱل َّن ْه َر ْين‬Bayn an-
Nahrayn; Persian: ‫ میان‌رودان‬miyân rudân; Syriac: ‫ܢܗܪܝܢ‬

̈ ‫ ܒܝܬ‬Beth Nahrain "land of
rivers") comes from the ancient Greek root words μέσος (mesos, 'middle') and
ποταμός (potamos, 'river') and translates to '(land) between rivers'. It is used
throughout the Greek Septuagint (c. 250 BC) to translate the Hebrew and Aramaic
equivalent Naharaim. An even earlier Greek usage of the name Mesopotamia is evident
from The Anabasis of Alexander, which was written in the late 2nd century AD, but
specifically refers to sources from the time of Alexander the Great. In the Anabasis,
Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria.
Another name that was in use was "Ārām Nahrīn" (Classical Syriac: ‫ܢܗܪܝܢ‬
̈ ‫)ܐܪܡ‬, this
term for Mesopotamia was mainly used by the jews (Hebrew: ‫ארם נהריים‬, Aram
Naharayim).This word is also used multiple times in the Old Testament of the Bible to
describe "Aram between the (two) rivers".
The Aramaic term biritum/birit narim corresponded to a similar geographical concept.
Later, the term Mesopotamia was more generally applied to all the lands between the
Euphrates and the Tigris, thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost
all of Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The neighbouring steppes to the west of the
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Euphrates and the western part of the Zagros Mountains are also often included under
the wider term Mesopotamia.
A further distinction is usually made between Northern or Upper Mesopotamia and
Southern or Lower Mesopotamia. Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the Jazira, is the
area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to Baghdad. Lower
Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf and includes Kuwait and
parts of western Iran.
In modern academic usage, the term Mesopotamia often also has a chronological
connotation. It is usually used to designate the area until the Muslim conquests, with
names like Syria, Jazira, and Iraq being used to describe the region after that date. It
has been argued that these later euphemisms are Eurocentric terms attributed to the
region in the midst of various 19th-century Western encroachments.
Geography
Known world of the Mesopotamian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures from
documentary sources
Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of
which have their headwaters in the Taurus Mountains. Both rivers are fed by numerous
tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland
routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are
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frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert
expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000-square-kilometre (5,800 sq mi)
region of marshes, lagoons, mudflats, and reed banks in the south. In the extreme
south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf.
The arid environment ranges from the northern areas of rain-fed agriculture to the
south where irrigation of agriculture is essential if a surplus energy returned on energy
invested (EROEI) is to be obtained. This irrigation is aided by a high water table and by
melting snows from the high peaks of the northern Zagros Mountains and from the
Armenian Highlands, the source of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that give the region
its name. The usefulness of irrigation depends upon the ability to mobilize sufficient
labor for the construction and maintenance of canals, and this, from the earliest period,
has assisted the development of urban settlements and centralized systems of political
authority.
Agriculture throughout the region has been supplemented by nomadic pastoralism,
where tent-dwelling nomads herded sheep and goats (and later camels) from the river
pastures in the dry summer months, out into seasonal grazing lands on the desert
fringe in the wet winter season. The area is generally lacking in building stone, precious
metals, and timber, and so historically has relied upon long-distance trade of
agricultural products to secure these items from outlying areas. In the marshlands to
the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since
prehistoric times and has added to the cultural mix.
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Periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. The
demands for labor has from time to time led to population increases that push the limits
of the ecological carrying capacity, and should a period of climatic instability ensue,
collapsing central government and declining populations can occur. Alternatively,
military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led
to periods of trade collapse and neglect of irrigation systems. Equally, centripetal
tendencies amongst city-states have meant that central authority over the whole
region, when imposed, has tended to be ephemeral, and localism has fragmented
power into tribal or smaller regional units. These trends have continued to the present
day in Iraq.
History of Iraq, History of the Middle East, and Chronology of the ancient
Near East
The prehistory of the Ancient Near East begins in the Lower Paleolithic period. Therein,
writing emerged with a pictographic script in the Uruk IV period (c. 4th millennium BC),
and the documented record of actual historical events — and the ancient history of
lower Mesopotamia — commenced in the mid-third millennium BC with cuneiform
records of early dynastic kings. This entire history ends with either the arrival of the
Achaemenid Empire in the late 6th century BC or with the Muslim conquest and the
establishment of the Caliphate in the late 7th century AD, from which point the region
came to be known as Iraq. In the long span of this period, Mesopotamia housed some
of the world's most ancient highly developed, and socially complex states.
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The region was one of the four riverine civilizations where writing was invented, along
with the Nile valley in Ancient Egypt, the Indus Valley Civilization in the Indian
subcontinent, and the Yellow River in Ancient China. Mesopotamia housed historically
important cities such as Uruk, Nippur, Nineveh, Assur and Babylon, as well as major
territorial states such as the city of Eridu, the Akkadian kingdoms, the Third Dynasty of
Ur, and the various Assyrian empires. Some of the important historical Mesopotamian
leaders were Ur-Nammu (king of Ur), Sargon of Akkad (who established the Akkadian
Empire), Hammurabi (who established the Old Babylonian state), Ashur-uballit I and
Tiglath-Pileser I (who established the Assyrian Empire).
Scientists analysed DNA from the 8,000-year-old remains of early farmers found at an
ancient graveyard in Germany. They compared the genetic signatures to those of
modern populations and found similarities with the DNA of people living in today's
Turkey and Iraq.
Periodization
After early starts in Jarmo (red dot, circa 7500 BC), the civilization of Mesopotamia in
the 7th–5th millennium BC was centered around the Hassuna culture in the north, the
Halaf culture in the northwest, the Samarra culture in central Mesopotamia and the
Ubaid culture in the southeast, which later expanded to encompass the whole region.
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Overview map in the 15th century BC showing the core territory of Assyria with its two
major cities Assur and Nineveh wedged between Babylonia downstream and the states
of Mitanni and Hatti upstream.
Pre- and protohistory. Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (10,000–8700 BC). Pre-Pottery
Neolithic B (8700–6800 BC). Jarmo (7500–5000 BC). Hassuna (~6000 BC–? BC),
Samarra (~5700–4900 BC) and Halaf cultures (~6000–5300 BC) cultures. Ubaid period
(~6500–4000 BC). Uruk period (~4000–3100 BC). Jemdet Nasr period (~3100–2900
BC)
Early Bronze Age. Early Dynastic period (~2900–2350 BC). Akkadian Empire (~2350–
2100 BC). Third Dynasty of Ur (2112–2004 BC). Early Assyrian kingdom (24th to 18th
century BC)
Middle Bronze Age
Early Babylonia (19th to 18th century BC). First Babylonian dynasty (18th to 17th
century BC). Minoan eruption (c. 1620 BC)
Late Bronze Age
Old Assyrian period (16th to 11th century BC). Middle Assyrian period (c. 1365–1076
BC). Kassites in Babylon, (c. 1595–1155 BC). Late Bronze Age collapse (12th to 11th
century BC)
Iron Age
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Syro-Hittite states (11th to 7th century BC). Neo-Assyrian Empire (10th to 7th century
BC). Neo-Babylonian Empire (7th to 6th century BC)
Classical antiquity
Persian Babylonia, Achaemenid Assyria (6th to 4th century BC). Seleucid Mesopotamia
(4th to 3rd century BC). Parthian Babylonia (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD).
Osroene (2nd century BC to 3rd century AD). Adiabene (1st to 2nd century AD)
Hatra (1st to 2nd century AD). Roman Mesopotamia (2nd to 7th centuries AD), Roman
Assyria (2nd century AD). Late Antiquity. Palmyrene Empire (3nd century AD). Asōristān
(3rd to 7th century AD). Euphratensis (mid-4th century AD to 7th century AD). Muslim
conquest (mid-7th century AD)
Language and writing
The earliest language written in Mesopotamia was Sumerian, an agglutinative language
isolate. Along with Sumerian, Semitic languages were also spoken in early
Mesopotamia. Subartuan a language of the Zagros, perhaps related to the Hurro-
Urartuan language family is attested in personal names, rivers and mountains and in
various crafts. Akkadian came to be the dominant language during the Akkadian Empire
and the Assyrian empires, but Sumerian was retained for administrative, religious,
literary and scientific purposes. Different varieties of Akkadian were used until the end
of the Neo-Babylonian period. Old Aramaic, which had already become common in
Mesopotamia, then became the official provincial administration language of first the
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Neo-Assyrian Empire, and then the Achaemenid Empire: the official lect is called
Imperial Aramaic. Akkadian fell into disuse, but both it and Sumerian were still used in
temples for some centuries. The last Akkadian texts date from the late 1st century AD.
Early in Mesopotamia's history (around the mid-4th millennium BC) cuneiform was
invented for the Sumerian language. Cuneiform literally means "wedge-shaped", due to
the triangular tip of the stylus used for impressing signs on wet clay. The standardized
form of each cuneiform sign appears to have been developed from pictograms. The
earliest texts (7 archaic tablets) come from the É, a temple dedicated to the goddess
Inanna at Uruk, from a building labeled as Temple C by its excavators.
The early logographic system of cuneiform script took many years to master. Thus, only
a limited number of individuals were hired as scribes to be trained in its use. It was not
until the widespread use of a syllabic script was adopted under Sargon's rule that
significant portions of the Mesopotamian population became literate. Massive archives
of texts were recovered from the archaeological contexts of Old Babylonian scribal
schools, through which literacy was disseminated.
Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia
somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating
being a matter of debate), but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial,
literary, and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD.
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Akkadian literature
Libraries were extant in towns and temples during the Babylonian Empire. An old
Sumerian proverb averred that "he who would excel in the school of the scribes must
rise with the dawn." Women as well as men learned to read and write, and for the
Semitic Babylonians, this involved knowledge of the extinct Sumerian language, and a
complicated and extensive syllabary.
A considerable amount of Babylonian literature was translated from Sumerian originals,
and the language of religion and law long continued to be the old agglutinative
language of Sumer. Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear translations were compiled
for the use of students, as well as commentaries on the older texts and explanations of
obscure words and phrases. The characters of the syllabary were all arranged and
named, and elaborate lists were drawn up.
Many Babylonian literary works are still studied today. One of the most famous of these
was the Epic of Gilgamesh, in twelve books, translated from the original Sumerian by a
certain Sîn-lēqi-unninni, and arranged upon an astronomical principle. Each division
contains the story of a single adventure in the career of Gilgamesh. The whole story is a
composite product, although it is probable that some of the stories are artificially
attached to the central figure.
Science and technology
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Mesopotamian mathematics and science was based on a sexagesimal (base 60)
numeral system. This is the source of the 60-minute hour, the 24-hour day, and the
360-degree circle. The Sumerian calendar was lunisolar, with three seven-day weeks of
a lunar month. This form of mathematics was instrumental in early map-making. The
Babylonians also had theorems on how to measure the area of several shapes and
solids. They measured the circumference of a circle as three times the diameter and the
area as one-twelfth the square of the circumference, which would be correct if π were
fixed at 3. The volume of a cylinder was taken as the product of the area of the base
and the height; however, the volume of the frustum of a cone or a square pyramid was
incorrectly taken as the product of the height and half the sum of the bases. Also, there
was a recent discovery in which a tablet used π as 25/8 (3.125 instead of 3.14159~).
The Babylonians are also known for the Babylonian mile, which was a measure of
distance equal to about seven modern miles (11 km). This measurement for distances
eventually was converted to a time-mile used for measuring the travel of the Sun,
therefore, representing time.
Babylonian astronomy
From Sumerian times, temple priesthoods had attempted to associate current events
with certain positions of the planets and stars. This continued to Assyrian times, when
Limmu lists were created as a year by year association of events with planetary
positions, which, when they have survived to the present day, allow accurate
associations of relative with absolute dating for establishing the history of Mesopotamia.
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The Babylonian astronomers were very adept at mathematics and could predict eclipses
and solstices. Scholars thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most
of these related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12-
month calendar based on the cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two
seasons: summer and winter. The origins of astronomy as well as astrology date from
this time.
During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Babylonian astronomers developed a new
approach to astronomy. They began studying philosophy dealing with the ideal nature
of the early universe and began employing an internal logic within their predictive
planetary systems. This was an important contribution to astronomy and the philosophy
of science and some scholars have thus referred to this new approach as the first
scientific revolution. This new approach to astronomy was adopted and further
developed in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy.
In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical reports were thoroughly scientific; how
much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The
Babylonian development of methods for predicting the motions of the planets is
considered to be a major episode in the history of astronomy.
The only Greek-Babylonian astronomer known to have supported a heliocentric model
of planetary motion was Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC). Seleucus is known from
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the writings of Plutarch. He supported Aristarchus of Samos' heliocentric theory
where the Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around
the Sun. According to Plutarch, Seleucus even proved the heliocentric
system, but it is not known what arguments he used (except that he
correctly theorized on tides as a result of Moon's attraction).
Babylonian astronomy served as the basis for much of Greek, classical Indian,
Sassanian, Byzantine, Syrian, medieval Islamic, Central Asian, and Western European
astronomy.
Medicine
The oldest Babylonian texts on medicine date back to the Old Babylonian period in the
first half of the 2nd millennium BC. The most extensive Babylonian medical text,
however, is the Diagnostic Handbook written by the ummânū, or chief scholar, Esagil-
kin-apli of Borsippa, during the reign of the Babylonian king Adad-apla-iddina (1069-
1046 BC).
Along with contemporary Egyptian medicine, the Babylonians introduced the concepts
of diagnosis, prognosis, physical examination, enemas, and prescriptions. In addition,
the Diagnostic Handbook introduced the methods of therapy and aetiology and the use
of empiricism, logic, and rationality in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. The text
contains a list of medical symptoms and often detailed empirical observations along
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with logical rules used in combining observed symptoms on the body of a patient with
its diagnosis and prognosis.
The symptoms and diseases of a patient were treated through therapeutic means such
as bandages, creams and pills. If a patient could not be cured physically, the
Babylonian physicians often relied on exorcism to cleanse the patient from any curses.
Esagil-kin-apli's Diagnostic Handbook was based on a logical set of axioms and
assumptions, including the modern view that through the examination and inspection of
the symptoms of a patient, it is possible to determine the patient's disease, its
aetiology, its future development, and the chances of the patient's recovery.
Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety of illnesses and diseases and described their
symptoms in his Diagnostic Handbook. These include the symptoms for many varieties
of epilepsy and related ailments along with their diagnosis and prognosis
Technology
Mesopotamian people invented many technologies including metal and copper-
working, glass and lamp making, textile weaving, flood control, water
storage, and irrigation. They were also one of the first Bronze Age societies
in the world. They developed from copper, bronze, and gold on to iron.
Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive
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metals. Also, copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for
different weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and maces.
According to a recent hypothesis, the Archimedes' screw may have been used by
Sennacherib, King of Assyria, for the water systems at the Hanging Gardens
of Babylon and Nineveh in the 7th century BC, although mainstream scholarship
holds it to be a Greek invention of later times. Later, during the Parthian or Sasanian
periods, the Baghdad Battery, which may have been the world's first battery, was
created in Mesopotamia.
Religion and philosophy
Ancient Mesopotamian religion was the first recorded. Mesopotamians believed that the
world was a flat disc, surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above that, heaven.
They also believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the
universe was born from this enormous sea. In addition, Mesopotamian religion was
polytheistic. Although the beliefs described above were held in common among
Mesopotamians, there were also regional variations. The Sumerian word for universe is
an-ki, which refers to the god An and the goddess Ki. Their son was Enlil, the air god.
They believed that Enlil was the most powerful god. He was the chief god of the
pantheon.
Philosophy
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The numerous civilizations of the area influenced the Abrahamic religions, especially the
Hebrew Bible; its cultural values and literary influence are especially evident in the Book
of Genesis.
Giorgio Buccellati believes that the origins of philosophy can be traced back to early
Mesopotamian wisdom, which embodied certain philosophies of life, particularly ethics,
in the forms of dialectic, dialogues, epic poetry, folklore, hymns, lyrics, prose works,
and proverbs. Babylonian reason and rationality developed beyond empirical
observation.
The earliest form of logic was developed by the Babylonians, notably in the rigorous
nonergodic nature of their social systems. Babylonian thought was axiomatic and is
comparable to the "ordinary logic" described by John Maynard Keynes. Babylonian
thought was also based on an open-systems ontology which is compatible with ergodic
axioms. Logic was employed to some extent in Babylonian astronomy and medicine.
Babylonian thought had a considerable influence on early Ancient Greek and Hellenistic
philosophy. In particular, the Babylonian text Dialogue of Pessimism contains similarities
to the agonistic thought of the Sophists, the Heraclitean doctrine of dialectic, and the
dialogs of Plato, as well as a precursor to the Socratic method. The Ionian philosopher
Thales was influenced by Babylonian cosmological ideas.
Culture
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Ancient Mesopotamians had ceremonies each month. The theme of the rituals and
festivals for each month was determined by at least six important factors:
The Lunar phase (a waxing moon meant abundance and growth, while a waning moon
was associated with decline, conservation, and festivals of the Underworld)
The phase of the annual agricultural cycle
Equinoxes and solstices
The local mythos and its divine Patrons
The success of the reigning Monarch
The Akitu, or New Year Festival (First full moon after spring equinox)
Commemoration of specific historical events (founding, military victories, temple
holidays, etc.)
Music
Some songs were written for the gods but many were written to describe important
events. Although music and songs amused kings, they were also enjoyed by ordinary
people who liked to sing and dance in their homes or in the marketplaces. Songs were
sung to children who passed them on to their children. Thus songs were passed on
through many generations as an oral tradition until writing was more universal. These
songs provided a means of passing on through the centuries highly important
information about historical events.

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The Oud (Arabic:‫ )العود‬is a small, stringed musical instrument used by the
Mesopotamians. The oldest pictorial record of the Oud dates back to the Uruk period in
Southern Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago. It is on a cylinder seal currently housed at
the British Museum and acquired by Dr. Dominique Collon. The image depicts a female
crouching with her instruments upon a boat, playing right-handed. This instrument
appears hundreds of times throughout Mesopotamian history and again in ancient
Egypt from the 18th dynasty onwards in long- and short-neck varieties. The oud is
regarded as a precursor to the European lute. Its name is derived from the Arabic word
‫ العود‬al-‘ūd 'the wood', which is probably the name of the tree from which the oud was
made. (The Arabic name, with the definite article, is the source of the word 'lute'.)
Games
Hunting was popular among Assyrian kings. Boxing and wrestling feature
frequently in art, and some form of polo was probably popular, with men sitting on the
shoulders of other men rather than on horses. They also played majore, a game
similar to the sport rugby, but played with a ball made of wood. They also played a
board game similar to senet and backgammon, now known as the "Royal Game of
Ur".
Family life
Mesopotamia, as shown by successive law codes, those of Urukagina, Lipit Ishtar
and Hammurabi, across its history became more and more a patriarchal society, one
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in which the men were far more powerful than the women. For example, during the
earliest Sumerian period, the "en", or high priest of male gods was originally a
woman, that of female goddesses, a man. Thorkild Jacobsen, as well as many
others, has suggested that early Mesopotamian society was ruled by a "council of
elders" in which men and women were equally represented, but that over time, as
the status of women fell, that of men increased. As for schooling, only royal offspring
and sons of the rich and professionals, such as scribes, physicians, temple
administrators, went to school. Most boys were taught their father's trade or were
apprenticed out to learn a trade. Girls had to stay home with their mothers to learn
housekeeping and cooking, and to look after the younger children. Some children would
help with crushing grain or cleaning birds. Unusually for that time in history, women in
Mesopotamia had rights. They could own property and, if they had good reason,
get a divorce.
Burials
Hundreds of graves have been excavated in parts of Mesopotamia, revealing
information about Mesopotamian burial habits. In the city of Ur, most people were
buried in family graves under their houses, along with some possessions. A few have
been found wrapped in mats and carpets. Deceased children were put in big "jars"
which were placed in the family chapel. Other remains have been found buried in
common city graveyards. 17 graves have been found with very precious objects in
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them. It is assumed that these were royal graves. Rich of various periods, have been
discovered to have sought burial in Bahrein, identified with Sumerian Dilmun.
Economy
Mining areas of the ancient West Asia. Boxes colors: arsenic is in brown, copper in red,
tin in grey, iron in reddish brown, gold in yellow, silver in white and lead in black.
Yellow area stands for arsenic bronze, while grey area stands for tin bronze.
Sumerian temples functioned as banks and developed the first large-scale system of
loans and credit, but the Babylonians developed the earliest system of commercial
banking. It was comparable in some ways to modern post-Keynesian economics, but
with a more "anything goes" approach.
Agriculture
Irrigated agriculture spread southwards from the Zagros foothills with the Samara and
Hadji Muhammed culture, from about 5,000 BC.
In the early period down to Ur III temples owned up to one third of the available land,
declining over time as royal and other private holdings increased in frequency. The
word Ensi was used to describe the official who organized the work of all facets of
temple agriculture. Villeins are known to have worked most frequently within
agriculture, especially in the grounds of temples or palaces.
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The geography of southern Mesopotamia is such that agriculture is possible only with
irrigation and with good drainage, a fact which had a profound effect on the evolution
of early Mesopotamian civilization. The need for irrigation led the Sumerians, and later
the Akkadians, to build their cities along the Tigris and Euphrates and the branches of
these rivers. Major cities, such as Ur and Uruk, took root on tributaries of the
Euphrates, while others, notably Lagash, were built on branches of the Tigris. The
rivers provided the further benefits of fish (used both for food and fertilizer), reeds, and
clay (for building materials). With irrigation, the food supply in Mesopotamia was
comparable to that of the Canadian prairies.
The Tigris and Euphrates River valleys form the northeastern portion of the Fertile
Crescent, which also included the Jordan River valley and that of the Nile. Although land
nearer to the rivers was fertile and good for crops, portions of land farther from the
water were dry and largely uninhabitable. Thus the development of irrigation became
very important for settlers of Mesopotamia. Other Mesopotamian innovations include
the control of water by dams and the use of aqueducts. Early settlers of fertile land in
Mesopotamia used wooden plows to soften the soil before planting crops such as
barley, onions, grapes, turnips, and apples. Mesopotamian settlers were some of the
first people to make beer and wine. As a result of the skill involved in farming in the
Mesopotamian region, farmers did not generally depend on slaves to complete farm
work for them, but there were some exceptions. There were too many risks involved to
make slavery practical (i.e. the escape/mutiny of the slaves). Although the rivers
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sustained life, they also destroyed it by frequent floods that ravaged entire cities. The
unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often hard on farmers; crops were often
ruined so backup sources of food such as cows and lambs were also kept. Over time
the southernmost parts of Sumerian Mesopotamia suffered from increased salinity of
the soils, leading to a slow urban decline and a centring of power in Akkad, further
north.
Trade
Mesopotamian trade with the Indus Valley civilisation flourished as early as the third
millennium BC. For much of history, Mesopotamia served as a trade nexus - east-west
between Central Asia and the Mediterranean world (part of the Silk Road), as well as
north-south between the Eastern Europe and Baghdad (Volga trade route). Vasco da
Gama's pioneering (1497-1499) of the sea route between India and Europe and the
opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 impacted on this nexus.
Government
The geography of Mesopotamia had a profound impact on the political development of
the region. Among the rivers and streams, the Sumerian people built the first cities
along with irrigation canals which were separated by vast stretches of open desert or
swamp where nomadic tribes roamed. Communication among the isolated cities was
difficult and, at times, dangerous. Thus, each Sumerian city became a city-state,
independent of the others and protective of its independence. At times one city would
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try to conquer and unify the region, but such efforts were resisted and failed for
centuries. As a result, the political history of Sumer is one of almost constant warfare.
Eventually Sumer was unified by Eannatum, but the unification was tenuous and failed
to last as the Akkadians conquered Sumeria in 2331 BC only a generation later. The
Akkadian Empire was the first successful empire to last beyond a generation and see
the peaceful succession of kings. The empire was relatively short-lived, as the
Babylonians conquered them within only a few generations.
Kings
The Mesopotamians believed their kings and queens were descended from the City of
Gods, but, unlike the ancient Egyptians, they never believed their kings were real gods.
Most kings named themselves "king of the universe" or "great king". Another common
name was "shepherd", as kings had to look after their people.
Power
When Assyria grew into an empire, it was divided into smaller parts, called provinces.
Each of these were named after their main cities, like Nineveh, Samaria, Damascus, and
Arpad. They all had their own governor who had to make sure everyone paid their
taxes. Governors also had to call up soldiers to war and supply workers when a temple
was built. He was also responsible for enforcing the laws. In this way, it was easier to
keep control of a large empire. Although Babylon was quite a small state in the
Sumerian, it grew tremendously throughout the time of Hammurabi's rule. He was
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known as "the lawmaker", and soon Babylon became one of the main cities in
Mesopotamia. It was later called Babylonia, which meant "the gateway of the gods." It
also became one of history's greatest centers of learning.
Warfare
With the end of the Uruk phase, walled cities grew and many isolated Ubaid villages
were abandoned indicating a rise in communal violence. An early king Lugalbanda was
supposed to have built the white walls around the city. As city-states began to grow,
their spheres of influence overlapped, creating arguments between other city-states,
especially over land and canals. These arguments were recorded in tablets several
hundreds of years before any major war—the first recording of a war occurred around
3200 BC but was not common until about 2500 BC. An Early Dynastic II king (Ensi) of
Uruk in Sumer, Gilgamesh (c. 2600 BC), was commended for military exploits against
Humbaba guardian of the Cedar Mountain, and was later celebrated in many later
poems and songs in which he was claimed to be two-thirds god and only one-third
human. The later Stele of the Vultures at the end of the Early Dynastic III period
(2600–2350 BC), commemorating the victory of Eannatum of Lagash over the
neighbouring rival city of Umma is the oldest monument in the world that celebrates a
massacre. From this point forwards, warfare was incorporated into the Mesopotamian
political system. At times a neutral city may act as an arbitrator for the two rival cities.
This helped to form unions between cities, leading to regional states. When empires
were created, they went to war more with foreign countries. King Sargon, for example,
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conquered all the cities of Sumer, some cities in Mari, and then went to war with
northern Syria. Many Assyrian and Babylonian palace walls were decorated with the
pictures of the successful fights and the enemy either desparately escaping or hiding
amongst reeds.
Laws
City-states of Mesopotamia created the first law codes, drawn from legal precedence
and decisions made by kings. The codes of Urukagina and Lipit Ishtar have been found.
The most renowned of these was that of Hammurabi, as mentioned above, who was
posthumously famous for his set of laws, the Code of Hammurabi (created c. 1780 BC),
which is one of the earliest sets of laws found and one of the best preserved examples
of this type of document from ancient Mesopotamia. He codified over 200 laws for
Mesopotamia. Examination of the laws show a progressive weakening of the rights of
women, and increasing severity in the treatment of slaves.
Art
The art of Mesopotamia rivalled that of Ancient Egypt as the most grand, sophisticated
and elaborate in western Eurasia from the 4th millennium BC until the Persian
Achaemenid Empire conquered the region in the 6th century BC. The main emphasis
was on various, very durable, forms of sculpture in stone and clay; little painting has
survived, but what has suggests that painting was mainly used for geometrical and
plant-based decorative schemes, though most sculpture was also painted.
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The Protoliterate period, dominated by Uruk, saw the production of sophisticated works
like the Warka Vase and cylinder seals. The Guennol Lioness is an outstanding small
limestone figure from Elam of about 3000–2800 BC, part man and part lion. A little later
there are a number of figures of large-eyed priests and worshippers, mostly in alabaster
and up to a foot high, who attended temple cult images of the deity, but very few of
these have survived. Sculptures from the Sumerian and Akkadian period generally had
large, staring eyes, and long beards on the men. Many masterpieces have also been
found at the Royal Cemetery at Ur (c. 2650 BC), including the two figures of a Ram in a
Thicket, the Copper Bull and a bull's head on one of the Lyres of Ur.
From the many subsequent periods before the ascendency of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
Mesopotamian art survives in a number of forms: cylinder seals, relatively small figures
in the round, and reliefs of various sizes, including cheap plaques of moulded pottery
for the home, some religious and some apparently not.The Burney Relief is an unusual
elaborate and relatively large (20 x 15 inches) terracotta plaque of a naked winged
goddess with the feet of a bird of prey, and attendant owls and lions. It comes from the
18th or 19th centuries BC, and may also be moulded. Stone stelae, votive offerings, or
ones probably commemorating victories and showing feasts, are also found from
temples, which unlike more official ones lack inscriptions that would explain them; the
fragmentary Stele of the Vultures is an early example of the inscribed type,and the
Assyrian Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III a large and solid late one.
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The conquest of the whole of Mesopotamia and much surrounding territory by the
Assyrians created a larger and wealthier state than the region had known before, and
very grandiose art in palaces and public places, no doubt partly intended to match the
splendour of the art of the neighbouring Egyptian empire. The Assyrians developed a
style of extremely large schemes of very finely detailed narrative low reliefs in stone for
palaces, with scenes of war or hunting; the British Museum has an outstanding
collection. They produced very little sculpture in the round, except for colossal guardian
figures, often the human-headed lamassu, which are sculpted in high relief on two sides
of a rectangular block, with the heads effectively in the round (and also five legs, so
that both views seem complete). Even before dominating the region they had continued
the cylinder seal tradition with designs which are often exceptionally energetic and
refined.
Architecture
The study of ancient Mesopotamian architecture is based on available archaeological
evidence, pictorial representation of buildings, and texts on building practices. Scholarly
literature usually concentrates on temples, palaces, city walls and gates, and other
monumental buildings, but occasionally one finds works on residential architecture as
well. Archaeological surface surveys also allowed for the study of urban form in early
Mesopotamian cities.
Brick is the dominant material, as the material was freely available locally, whereas
building stone had to be brought a considerable distance to most cities. The ziggurat is
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the most distinctive form, and cities often had large gateways, of which the Ishtar Gate
from Neo-Babylonian Babylon, decorated with beasts in polychrome brick, is the most
famous, now largely in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The most notable architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple
complexes at Uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from the Early
Dynastic period sites in the Diyala River valley such as Khafajah and Tell Asmar, the
Third Dynasty of Ur remains at Nippur (Sanctuary of Enlil) and Ur (Sanctuary of Nanna),
Middle Bronze Age remains at Syrian-Turkish sites of Ebla, Mari, Alalakh, Aleppo and
Kultepe, Late Bronze Age palaces at Hattusa, Ugarit, Ashur and Nuzi, Iron Age palaces
and temples at Assyrian (Kalhu/Nimrud, Khorsabad, Nineveh), Babylonian (Babylon),
Urartian (Tushpa/Van, Kalesi, Cavustepe, Ayanis, Armavir, Erebuni, Bastam) and Neo-
Hittite sites (Karkamis, Tell Halaf, Karatepe). Houses are mostly known from Old
Babylonian remains at Nippur and Ur. Among the textual sources on building
construction and associated rituals are Gudea's cylinders from the late 3rd millennium
are notable, as well as the Assyrian and Babylonian royal inscriptions from the Iron Age.
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Lesson Title:__________________________________ Score:__________
Essay. With a more detailed discussion of Ancient Mesopotamian Civilization,
what do you think is its implications in Asian Studies.
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Reference
Mesopotamia - Wikipedia retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 3. Ancient India
Pre-Activity
Another huge country and significant Ancient Civilization that impacted Asia is the
Ancient Civilization of India.
Lesson Proper
Ancient India is the Indian subcontinent from prehistoric times to the start of Medieval
India, which is typically dated (when the term is still used) to the end of the Gupta
Empire. Ancient India was composed of the modern-day countries of Afghanistan, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, India, Nepal and Pakistan.
General history of ancient India

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According to consensus in modern genetics anatomically modern humans first arrived
on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago.
However, the earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago.
Settled life, which involves the transition from foraging to farming and pastoralism,
began in South Asia around 7,000 BCE. At the site of Mehrgarh presence can be
documented of the domestication of wheat and barley, rapidly followed by that of
goats, sheep, and cattle. By 4,500 BCE, settled life had spread more widely, and began
to gradually evolve into the Indus Valley Civilization, an early civilization of the Old
world, which was contemporaneous with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. This
civilisation flourished between 2,500 BCE and 1900 BCE in what today is Pakistan and
north-western India, and was noted for its urban planning, baked brick houses,
elaborate drainage, and water supply.
In early second millennium BCE persistent drought caused the population of the Indus
Valley to scatter from large urban centres to villages. Around the same time, Indo-
Aryan tribes moved into the Punjab from Central Asia in several waves of migration.
Their Vedic period (1500-500 BCE) was marked by the composition of the Vedas, large
collections of hymns of these tribes. Their varna system, which evolved into the caste
system, consisted of a hierarchy of priests, warriors, and free peasants, excluded
indigenous peoples by labeling their occupations impure. The pastoral and nomadic
Indo-Aryans spread from the Punjab into the Gangetic plain, large swaths of which they
deforested for agriculture usage. The composition of Vedic texts ended around 600
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BCE, when a new, interregional culture arose. Small chieftaincies, or janapadas, were
consolidated into larger states, or mahajanapadas, and a second urbanisation took
place. This urbanisation was accompanied by the rise of new ascetic movements in
Greater Magadha, including Jainism and Buddhism, which opposed the growing
influence of Brahmanism and the primacy of rituals, presided by Brahmin priests, that
had come to be associated with Vedic religion,and gave rise to new religious
concepts.In response to the succes of these movements, Vedic Brahmanism was
synthesised with the preexisting religious cultures of the subcontinent, giving rise to
Hinduism.
Indian Cultural Influence (Greater India)
Most of the Indian subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th
and 3rd centuries BCE. From the 3rd century BCE onwards Prakrit and Pali literature in
the north and the Tamil Sangam literature in southern India started to flourish. Wootz
steel originated in south India in the 3rd century BCE and was exported to foreign
countries. During the Classical period, various parts of India were ruled by numerous
dynasties for the next 1,500 years, among which the Gupta Empire stands out. This
period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known as the
classical or "Golden Age of India". During this period, aspects of Indian civilisation,
administration, culture, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of Asia,
while kingdoms in southern India had maritime business links with the Middle East and
the Mediterranean. Indian cultural influence spread over many parts of Southeast Asia,
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which led to the establishment of Indianised kingdoms in Southeast Asia (Greater
India).
The most significant event between the 7th and 11th century was the Tripartite
struggle centred on Kannauj that lasted for more than two centuries between the Pala
Empire, Rashtrakuta Empire, and Gurjara-Pratihara Empire. Southern India saw the rise
of multiple imperial powers from the middle of the fifth century, most notably the
Chalukya, Chola, Pallava, Chera, Pandyan, and Western Chalukya Empires. The Chola
dynasty conquered southern India and successfully invaded parts of Southeast Asia, Sri
Lanka, the Maldives, and Bengal in the 11th century.In the early medieval period Indian
mathematics, including Hindu numerals, influenced the development of mathematics
and astronomy in the Arab world.
Islamic conquests made limited inroads into modern Afghanistan and Sindh as early as
the 8th century, followed by the invasions of Mahmud Ghazni. The Delhi Sultanate was
founded in 1206 CE by Central Asian Turks who ruled a major part of the northern
Indian subcontinent in the early 14th century, but declined in the late 14th century, and
saw the advent of the Deccan Sultanates. The wealthy Bengal Sultanate also emerged
as a major power, lasting over three centuries.This period also saw the emergence of
several powerful Hindu states, notably Vijayanagara and Rajput states, such as Mewar.
The 15th century saw the advent of Sikhism. The early modern period began in the
16th century, when the Mughal Empire conquered most of the Indian subcontinent,
signalling the proto-industrialization, becoming the biggest global economy and
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manufacturing power, with a nominal GDP that valued a quarter of world GDP, superior
than the combination of Europe's GDP.The Mughals suffered a gradual decline in the
early 18th century, which provided opportunities for the Marathas, Sikhs, Mysoreans,
Nizams, and Nawabs of Bengal to exercise control over large regions of the Indian
subcontinent.
From the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, large regions of India were
gradually annexed by the East India Company, a chartered company acting as a
sovereign power on behalf of the British government. Dissatisfaction with company rule
in India led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which rocked parts of north and central
India, and led to the dissolution of the company. India was afterwards ruled directly by
the British Crown, in the British Raj. After World War I, a nationwide struggle for
independence was launched by the Indian National Congress, led by Mahatma Gandhi,
and noted for nonviolence. Later, the All-India Muslim League would advocate for a
separate Muslim-majority nation state. The British Indian Empire was partitioned in
August 1947 into the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan, each gaining its
independence.
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Lesson Title :__________________________________Score:__________
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Research and give a brief discussion of at least 10 topics below:
Culture in ancient India, Science and technology in ancient India, Organizations concerned with ancient India
General history of ancient India, History of India, Periodisation of Indian history, An elaborate periodisation may
be as follows: Indian pre-history Age (c.10,000–3300 BCE), Indian Civilizations on peak Indus Valley Civilisation (c.
3300-1750 BCE);ron Age including Vedic period (c. 1750-600 BCE);"Second Urbanisation" (c. 600-200 BCE);
Classical period (c. 200 BCE-1200 CE); Pre-Classical period (c. 200 BCE-320 CE); "Golden Age" (Gupta Empire) (c.
320-650 CE); Late-Classical period (c. 650-1200 CE); Medieval period (c. 1200-1500 CE); Early Modern (c. 1500-
1850); Modern period (British Raj and independence) (from c. 1850). Indian pre-history, Neolithic Age India
Bhirrana Culture (7570 – 6200 BCE) Mehrgarh culture (c. 7000 – 2500 BCE), Bronze Age India
Indus valley civilization (c. 3300 – 1300 BCE), Ahar-Banas culture (c. 3000 – 1500 BCE), Iron Age (c. 1200 – 272
BCE) , Vedic civilization (c. 1500 – 500 BCE), Black and red ware culture (c. 1300 – 1000 BCE) (c. 1200 – 600
BCE), Northern Black Polished Ware (c. 700 – 200 BCE), Indian Iron Age kingdoms (c. 700 – 300 BCE)
Pandyan Kingdom (600 BCE - 1650 CE), Second Urbanisation, Nanda Empire (425–321 BCE)
Maurya Empire (321–184 BCE), Sangam Period (c. 300 BCE – 300 CE), Pandyan Kingdom (c. 600 BCE – 1650 CE)
Chera Kingdom (c. 300 BCE – 1102 CE), Chola Kingdom (c. 300 BCE – 1279 CE)
Pallava Kingdom (250 BCE – 800 CE), Maha-Megha-Vahana Empire (250s BCE – 5th century CE)
Satavahana Empire (230 BCE – 220 CE), Indo-Scythian Kingdom (200 BCE – 400 CE)
Kuninda Kingdom (3rd century BCE – 4th century CE), Shunga Empire (185–73 BCE)
Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BCE – 10 CE, Kanva empire (75–26 BCE)
Kushan Empire (30–375 CE), Classical Age
(Middle kingdoms of India), Gurjara-Pratihara Empire
Vakataka Empire, Chola Empire, Pala Empire, Gupta Empire (240–590 CE), Kadamba dynasty (345–1000 CE),
Banavasi, Halasi, Hangal, Western Ganga dynasty(350-1000 CE), Kolar, Talakadu, Middle Ages (c. 500 – 1500),
Badami Chalukyas (547–742), Badami Chalukya architecture, Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal, Mahakuta
Rashtrakuta Empire (742–982), Ellora, Kailash Temple, Eastern Chalukyas, Western Chalukyas (983–1185)
Western Chalukya architecture, Mahadeva Temple at Itagi,Lakkundi, Chaudayyadanapura, Annigeri, Chaulukya (c.
944 - 1244), Kakatiyas, Kalachuris of Kalyani, Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri, Hoysala Empire (1114–1342), Belur,
Halebidu, Somanathapura, Vijayanagara Empire (1336–1565), Hampi, Culture in ancient India, Art in ancient
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India; Music in ancient India, Carnatic music, Hindustani music, Language in ancient India, Vedic Sanskrit, Proto-
Dravidian, (Scripts), Tamil Brahmi, Pallava Script. Gupta script, Kadamba script, Religion in ancient India, History
of Jainism, History of Hinduism, Exotic tribes of ancient India, Historical Vedic religion, Vedas, Vedic mythology,
Vedic priesthood, History of Buddhism, Science and technology in ancient India, Science and technology in ancient
India, Indian mathematics, Indian astronomy, List of Indian inventions, Indian martial arts, Malla-yuddha,
Kalaripayattu, Ancient Indian medicine, Siddha medicine, Ayurveda, Architecture, Dravidian architecture, Mughal
architecture, Indian in Sanskrit epics, Organizations concerned with ancient India
References
History of India - Wikipedia retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 4. Asian Geography
This lesson will introduce you to Asian Geography
Pre-activity
Activity Proper
Geography is the study of physical environment and its effect on history and man’s
way of life.
Geo-earth; graphein- to write
Asia- was a word by ancient Hitites to mean Anatolia
It was derived from Aegean word Asu- meaning sunrise
Kinds of geography
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1. Soil geography; 2. Social geography; 3. Applied geography; 4. Human geography; 5.
Economic geography; 6. Political geography
Cartography-art of map-making
latitude- imaginary lines from north to south
Equator-imaginary lines dividing the globe into northern hemisphere and southern
hemisphere
Longitude- imaginary lines that runs from east to west.
From equator to north pole- 90 degrees
From equator to south pole- 90 degrees
The exact location of prime meridian is 0 degrees
longitude
There are 180 degrees of longitude
in the eastern half and 180 degrees longitude
in the western half.
Boundaries of Asia
East- Bering Strait and Pacific Ocean
West- Arabian Sea
Mediterranean Sea; Aegean Sea; Dardanelles Strait; Bosporus Strait
Black Sea; Caucasus Mountains
3. North- water boundary
Arctic Ocean
4. South water boundary
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Indian Ocean; Arabian sea; Bay of Bengal; South China sea
5. East water boundary
Pacific Ocean
6. Southwest water boundary
Mediterranean sea and Red Sea
Location
About 164 degrees longitude and 85 degrees latitude
Between 10 degrees to 95 degrees north latitude
And 11 degrees to 175 degrees west longitude
Total land area: 44, 339, 000 square kilometers
Largest continent in the world
Almost a third of the world’s total land area
Northernmost point:
Cape Chelyuskin in Siberia
Westernmost point:
Baba Burun
Easternmost point:
Cape Dezhneva
Southernmost point:
Cape Buru in Malaysia
Mountains
1.Mount Everest- highest in the world
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Located in the Himalayan Mountain Range; South Asia; 8848 meters above sea level
2400 kilometers long mountain range; North of Nepal and India, and plataeau of Tibet
2. Hindu Kush
3. Caucasus mountains
Pamir knot- highest peak of Himalayans, Tien Shan and Hindu Kush; 4000 meters
above sea level; Known as the rooftop of the world
Volcanoes
Plateaus
Tibet-Largest in the world
Deccan- India
Plains and valleys
Plains in Indus Ganges north of India
Valley along the Huang Ho, Yangtze and Amur in China
2880 kilometers-length
3. Valleys of Mekong River Vietnam
4. Valley in Menam Chao Phraya river in Thailand
5. Irrawaddy and Salween rivers in Myanmar
6. Plains of central Luzon in the Philippines
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Deserts
China:
1. Takla Makan -1440 kilometers long; 2. Gobi desert-; Arabian peninsula deserts; Iran;
Iraq; India
Archipelagos
Indonesia- world’s largest archipelago-13,000 islands; Philippines-7,107 islands; Japan
Peninsula
India; Indochina; Saudi Arabia- Arabian peninsula is the world’s largest, 0ver 2.5 million
square kilometers; Malaysia
Bodies of water
Ocean
Pacific; Indian; Arctic
Seas
South China; Mediterranean; Bering; Okhotsk; China; Black; Red
Rivers
Lena , Huang Ho
Ob , Yangtze
Indus , Amur
Ganges, Brahmaputra
Menam, Chao Phraya
Tigris, Euphrates
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Lakes
Aral sea; Balkash and Baikal; Lake Van; Laguna de Bay
Three temperature zones
1. Low latitudes; Near the equator; Tropical or very hot zone
2. High latitudes; Frigid; Very cold zone
3. Middle latitudes- temperate zones-Not so hot, not so cold
12 climate regions
Equatorial or tropical-lowland near equator; Savanna-grasslands; Desert-less than 10
inches a year; Mediterranean-pleasant and sunny; Humid-subtropical- Japan; Marine-
korea, northwest china; Humid-continental- central part of Russia
Continental steppe-dry flat lands; Continental desert – Gobi desert
Tundra- Rusian word for marshy plain; Taiga or polar- Russian word meaning forest;
Vertical climate- the higher the altitude, the colder
5 regions of Asia
North or central asia; East asia; South asia; Southeast asia; South west asia
North/central asia
From Ural mountains to Pacific Ocean; Siberia; Former Soviet Central Asia
Plants-wheat,barley,flowers,berries; Animals-cattle,sheep,goats, horses,camels
Fish; Permafrost-permanently frozen
Newly independent republics of the former soviet central asia
1. Armenia; 2. Azerbaijan; 3.Georgia; 4.Kazakhstan; 5.Kyrgyztan 6.Tajikistan
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7.Turkmenistan; 8.Uzbekistan
Central/North Asia
No sea port; Little rain; Made of mountains, deserts,steppes
Takla makan desert; Tien Shan mountains
Xinjiang mountains; Hindu kush mountains; Passage way; Siberia-12.6 million square
km; Western; Eastern; Far eastern; -oil; Hydroelectric power; Gas,coal; -silk road
East asia/Far east/northeast
China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan,
Coal, copper, sulphates,
Antimony, tungsten, iron ore, petroleum, agriculture,rice,wheat,barley,corn, cotton, tea,
coffee,peanuts, fruits,apples,oranges,pears,tangerine
Animals-swine,sheep,goats,cows,carabaos,fishing,whale,pearl culture
China
18 provinces-china proper; Divided by Qin Ling range- from Kunlun –China sea
Greater Khingan mountains- manchurian lowland; Shanxi and Shaanxi plateaus; Loess,
fie-fertile sediments; North korea,eastern Manchuria-mountainous; Iron ore;
Manchurian Plain; North China Plain; Yunnan plateau-tin, tungsten, antimony,iron, salt,
coal
China ranks 3rd in coal; Iron ore; Petroleum; Largest rivers; Yangtze; Huang Ho river-
silted,flood,china’s sorrow or yellow peril; Hydroelectric power; Hsi river- south, Canton;
Alluvial soil- soil carried by water; Loess-soil carried by wind; Rice,vegetables,
sugarcane,tea,wheat
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Mongolia
World’s most sparsely populated; High plateau; Gobi desert; Mostly herdsman
Coal; Oil; Tents- ger or yurts; Gold,iron, coal, petroleum, livestock,cattle, goats,
Japan
Four major islands:
1. Hokkaido
2.Honshu-this is crossed by Fossa Magma (volcano-filled rift) Mount Fuji
3.Shikoku
4.Kyushu-southernmost island
Korean Peninsula
Hydroelectric power; Graphite; Magnesium
Rice; More than 35 million koreans lived in urban areas
1948-South and North Korea separated
South korea
NIC- newly industrialized country-it exports chemicals, machinery, textiles; Agriculture
Taiwan
Nationalist Chinese; Mountainous and heavily forested; Aided by America
Industrialized country; Exports; Plywood, lumber, paper, chemicals, cement, fertilizer,
plastics, textiles, electronic
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
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Essay. What can you say about the rich natural resources of the different Regions of
Asia. Given a chance to live in 5 Regions of Asia, to what region do you wish to live and
why?
Reference
The Countries and Peoples of Asia by Vivar, Teofista and Viloria, Evelina, 1998, Page1-
20
Lesson 6. Asian Landforms
Pre-activity
This time let us familiarize Asian landforms.
Activity Proper
South Asia
India; Pakistan; Bangladesh;Bhutan; Sikkim; Sri Lanka; Nepal; Maldives
characteristics
Hinduism and Buddhism; Rice; Wheat; Cotton; Jute; Sugarcane; Tobacco; Vegetables;
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Tea
Landforms and plants
Indus River Valley-Pakistan; Bangladesh-rice, flowers,tea; Ganges river valley-center of
jute industry in the world; Sri Lanka- rice, tobacco, cotton, rubber, coconuts; Nepal and
Bhutan- mountainous-wheat, corn, cereals
India
Indian peninsula- ancient crystalline rocks sloping eastward from heigths of 900-1200
meters along western Ghats
Nigiri rise- in the south 2,400 meters
Deccan palteau-518,000 square kilometers, covered by lava, bassalt, Himalayas
Assam plateau-Bihar and Orissa- hematite iron age, manganese, copper, vanadium,
world’s largest deposit of mica
Indo-Gangetic Plain-five tributaries of Indus gave the name Bengal (five waters) coal,
iron, manganese, bauxite,
Hydroelectric power; Oil; Gas; Janshedpur, Calcutta- center of steel production
Processed food, textiles; Automobiles, petrochemicals, electrical goods
Industrial centers; 1. Bombay 2. Poona, Ahmadabad 3. Madras- Bangalore; Weaving,
jewelry, leather goods
Himalayas
West- salt range in Pakistan
East- Siwalik range (900-1520 meters)-Nepal to Bangladesh
Behind Siwalik range are lesser Himalayas (nepal and Kashmir
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North – Mt. Everests
India
Cherranpunji-wettest place in the world in the edge Assam Plateau; Ghats and Assam-
Myanmar hills; Sal- coniferous teak; Sundri-littoral swamps; Regur- black cotton soil
Bangladesh
Jute; Tea; Frequent flooding
Pakistan
Land is dry and barren; Wheat; Livestock; Sheep’ Goats
Sri Lanka
Ceylon- old name; Tea; Rubber; Coconut; Limestones; Graphites; Gems
Southeast Asia
Brunei; Singapore; Myanmar; Thailand; Malaysia; Cambodia; Laos; Vietnam
Philippines’ Indonesia
Resources
Rice- Myanmar- Irrawaddy delta, teak wood,
Cotton, peanuts, rubber, sugar cane, tobacco
Laos- rice, corn, coffee, tobacco, fruits
Vietnam-Red river and Mekong river
Livestock- poultry, cattle, swine; Carabao
Thailand- 2/3 is covered by forest
Natural resources
Laos- bamboo, quinine- made into drugs against malaria

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Cinnamon, spices and seasoning
Philippines- mahogany, plywood, rank first in gold production, nickel, chromite
Indonesia-teakwood, ebony, nipa palm, mangrove, petroleum, oil
Myanmar- mining, lead, tungsten, zinc, tin, antimony, jade
Thailand-minerals
Malaysia-tin in Perak and Selangor, Kuala Lumpur- center of tin industry
Indochinese peninsula
Ancient plateaus: Ridges:
1. Shan in Myanmar- 1. Arakan Yoma
2. Korat in Thailand marshes:
Basins: 1. Tonle Sap- Angkor
1. Irrawaddy
2. Menam Chao Phraya
3. Mekong
4. Salween river
5. Hong Ha (Red River)
Malaysia
Sunda- asian contineltal shelf 1. Sumatra; 2. Java; 3. Borneo
Mountainous; Tin; Oil; Doldrums-calms-; Rubber; Palm trees; rice
Indonesia
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4th most thickly populated in the world
Rice, coconut, coffee, tea, cocoa, rubber, tobacco
Oil
Timber, textiles, cement, fertilizer, nickel, natural gas, bauxite, copper,
Philippines
Mindanao deep – cape Johnson depth- second greatest depth- 10,497 meters below
sea level; Rice; Sugarcane; Abaca, sugarcane, tobacco, copra; Fruits- mango, banana,
pineapple
Singapore
City-state southern tip of Malay penisula
Strait of Malacca
Population: 3.1 million (1998)
Port, industrial, and trading center
Thailand
Minerals;Agriculture ; Rice; Tin; Problem- high oil price
Rubber; teak
Vietnam
Coal rubber
Iron coffee
Manganese tea
Phosphate maize
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Tin manioc
Zinc ground nut
Rice coconut
Coal tobacco
Lead sweet potatoes
Laos
Relatively poor; Tin;Iron; Gold; Copper; Manganese
Rice, corn, coffee, cotton, tea, tobacco
Cambodia
Old names: Kampuchea and Khmer Kingdom
During Vietnam War- Khmer Rouge- communist group took over Cambodia
Million died due to hunger and mass killing; Phosphate; Iron; Limestone
Farming, fishing; Corn, rice, tobacco, rubber, sugar
Southwest Asia
Three plateaus:
1. Anatolia ; 2. Iran; 3. Arabian in the south
Levant- Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria; Tigris river
Euphrates river; Five seas: Mediterranean, Black, Red, Caspian and Persian
Islam; Turkey- Angora breed of goats
Petroleum, oil, chromium, coal, clay, gravel, limestone, gypsum and potash
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Fertile Crescent
Two regions
1. Mediterranean Levant
2. alluvial basin of the Tigris-Euphrates rivers
East- Amanus-Lebanon mountains, rift valley, Orontes Valley, Jordan Valley, Dead sea-
bromide and potash
Lebanon mountains, Mount Hermon
South- Hills of Judea
Alluvial soil of Tigris and Euphrates river
Red Sea, mountains of Yemen
Oman mountains, Arabian Block, Rub’ al Khali desert
Arabian peninsula
Oil, from camels to cadillac, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates,
Jordan,Syria, and Iraq
Jordan- no oil, but with phosphate, potash, marble
Manganese, iron, sulphur, copper
Farming- wheat, barley, citrus fruits, olives, vegetables, oil refining, tanning, electrical
goods, cement, soap
Syria- food, wheat, barley, cotton, tobacco, fruits, cattle, sheep, textiles, cement
Iraq- sulphur, phosphate, salt, gypsum, dates, wheat, barley, rice, tobacco, cotton,
wool, hides, cement, soap, textiles
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Turkey
Anatolian plateau
Pontic mountains , Taurus mountains, Armenian highlands- Mount Ararat
Lead, copper, zinc, coal, iron, chromite
Wheat, beans, figs, olives, some fruits, tobacco, cereals, iron, steel, sugar refining,
textile
Iran
Iran plateau
Elbrurz mountain, Armenian highland, East Iranian uplands, Hindu Kush, Pamir
mountains,
Thin forest, poor pasture, very poor steppe, desert, high sand dunes
Old name: Persia, 1935- its name was named Iran
Wheat, barley, rice, fruits, cotton, oil industry, iron, copper, coal, chrome, lead, zinc,
Israel
Small country, mostly desert, farmland, oranges, apples, Dead sea, it imports
diamonds, they polished it and sell, jewelry, factories, shoes, textiles, rubber tires,
machinery
Lebanon
Smallest country in southwest asia, bitumen, iron, limestone, salt, food, oil refining,
textiles, cement, fruits, vegetables, tobacco, commerce, banking, and finance
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
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1.Explain why Asia is called “land of contrast”
2. Do you believe that geography dictates the life of people? Justify your answer.
3. what would you considered the most beautiful country in Asia, geography-wise?
Why?
4. which continent is the largest in terms of people and area?
A. Africa b. North America c. Asia d. Europe
5. Because of the diversity of its resources, population, and cultures, Asia is often
called the land of ________.
A. contrast B. differences C. Similarities D. Variety
6. The most highly industrialized country in Asia, despite of its meager natural
resources.
A. China B. Malaysia C. Japan D. Singapore
7. This part of Asia which has remained poor has been greatly changed due to the
discovery of oil.
A. East Asia B. South Asia C. North Asia D. Southwest Asia
8. Which part of Asia has the largest forest in the world?
A. China B. India C. Malaysia D. Russia
9. Which of the following does not belong to the group.
A. Lebanon B. Israel C. Iran D. Laos
10. Which of the following does not belong to the group?
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A. Vietnam B. Jordan C. Malaysia D. Indonesia
Reference
The Countries and Peoples of Asia by Vivar, Teofista and Viloria, Evelina, 1998,
Page21- 31
Lesson 7. Asian Waterforms
Pre-activity
Among the best waterforms are found in Asian continent, let us learn some it.
Activity Proper
The Longest Rivers Of Asia

Country/countries through which
Rank River Length (km) Length (miles
it flows
1 Yangtze China 6,300 3,915
2 Yellow River China 5,464 3,395
China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand,
3 Mekong 4,909 3,050
Cambodia, Vietnam
4 Lena River Russia 4,294 2,668
Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan,
5 Irtysh River 4,248 2,640
Russia
6 Brahmaputra River China, India, Bangladesh 3,848 2,391
7 Ob River Russia 3,650 2,268
8 Indus River China, India, Pakistan 3,610 2,243
9 Yenisei River Mongolia, Russia 3,487 2,167
10 Nizhnyaya Tunguska River Russia 2,989 1,857
11 Yarlung Tsangpo River China, India, Bangladesh 2,840 1,765
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it flows
12 Amur River Russia, China 2,824 1,755
13 Salween River China, Myanmar, Thailand 2,800 1,740
14 Euphrates Iraq, Syria, Turkey 2,760 1,715
15 Vilyuy River Russia 2,650 1,647
16 Ganges India, Bangladesh 2,510 1,560
Afghanistan, Tajikistan,
17 Amu Darya 2,500 1,553
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
18 Ishim River Kazakhstan, Russia 2,450 1,522
19 Ural River Kazakhstan, Russia 2,428 1,509
20 Pearl River China, Vietnam 2,320 1,442
21 Aldan River Russia 2,273 1,412
22 Olenyok River Russia 2,270 1,411
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
23 Syr Darya 2,212 1,374
Kazakhstan
24 Irrawaddy River Myanmar 2,210 1,373
25 Xi River China, Vietnam 2,197 1,365
26 Kolyma River Russia 2,129 1,323
27 Songhua River China 1,925 1,196
28 Podkamennaya Tunguska River Russia 1,865 1,159
29 Tigris Turkey, Syria, Iraq 1,850 1,150
30 Vitim River Russia 1,837 1,141
31 Kama River Russia 1,805 1,122
32 Chulym River Russia 1,799 1,118
33 Angara River Russia 1,779 1,105
34 Indigirka River Russia 1,726 1,072
35 Ket River Russia 1,621 1,007
36 Argun River China, Russia 1,620 1,007
37 Tobol River Russia 1,591 989
38 Yalong River China 1,571 976
39 Han River China 1,532 952
40 Alazeya River Russia 1,520 944
41 Godavari River India 1,465 910
42 Amga River Russia 1,462 908
43 Ili River Kazakhstan, China 1,439 894
44 Olyokma River Russia 1,436 892
45 Taz River Russia 1,401 871
46 Sutlej China, India, Pakistan 1,400 870
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it flows
47 Liao River China 1,390 864
48 Yamuna India 1,376 855
49 Kura Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan 1,364 848
50 Hai River China 1,329 826
51 Tarim River China 1,321 821
52 Narmada River India 1,300 808
53 Krishna River India 1,290 802
54 Zeya River Russia 1,210 752
55 Chuna River Russia 1,203 748
56 Red River China, Vietnam 1,200 746
57 Jialing River China 1,190 739
58 Kızılırmak River Turkey 1,182 734
59 Markha River Russia 1,181 734
60 Nen River China 1,170 727
61 Demyanka River Russia 1,159 720
62 Anadyr River Russia 1,150 715
63 Hari Afghanistan, Turkmenistan 1,150 715
64 Helmand River Afghanistan, Iran 1,150 715
65 Kapuas River Indonesia 1,143 710
66 Omolon River Russia 1,114 692
67 Huai River China 1,100 684
68 Wu River China 1,100 684
69 Konda River Russia 1,097 682
70 Tyung River Russia 1,092 679
71 Kherlen River Mongolia, China 1,090 677
72 Vasyugan River Russia 1,082 672
73 Ghaghara China, Nepal, India 1,080 671
74 Aras Turkey, Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijan 1,072 666
75 Chu River Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan 1,067 663
76 Bolshoy Yugan River Russia 1,063 661
77 Maya River Russia 1,053 654
78 Tura River Russia 1,030 640
79 Biryusa River Russia 1,012 629
The Yangtze is the largest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world, with a
whopping 3,915 miles (6,300 km) of length. It starts in the Plateau of Tibet before
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moving through 11 provinces to get to the East China Sea. In fact, it also serves as the
border for several of these provinces. Most of the river is hard to see as over 75% of it
runs through the mountains.
The Yellow River, also called Huang He, is also in China. It is 3,395 miles (5,464 km)
long and starts in the Qinghai province. From there it crosses over six other provinces
as well as two autonomous regions to get to the Gulf of Chihli, also called Bo Hai, which
is an embayment of the Yellow Sea, itself a part of the North Pacific ocean. Its turbulent
dangerous waters have given it the names "China's Sorrow" and "The Ungovernable."
The Mekong River crosses through many borders, going from southeastern China
through Tibet and Yunnan province to Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, then finally
to Vietnam and draining into the South China Sea. It comprises part of the border
between Myanmar and Laos, and Laos and Thailand. It's the longest Southeast Asian
river, coming in at 3,050 miles (4,909 km). Its name varies from country to country, but
it is most recognized outside of Asia by its Chinese name.
Lena River is found entirely within the borders of Russia and has a total length of
2,668 miles (4,294 km). It is located in the north and is found in an area with plentiful
wildlife and natural resources, like gold. The river starts in the Baikal range, slightly east
of the Baikal Lake itself, and flows mainly through the Russian Republic of Sakha,
eventually joining the Yenisei River before going in a large arc up to the Laptev Sea
which is part of the Arctic Ocean, where it ends.
The fifth-longest waterway in Asia is the Irtysh River. It originates from glaciers on
the Altai Mountains of Xinjiang province in China, right on the border with Mongolia,
before passing westward across the northern corner of the Chinese territory and
through Kazakhstan, where it flows northwest in the Eastern tip of the country and is
known as the Ertis River. It then crosses into Russia before eventually making its way
to the Ob River in western Siberia. It comes in at a sizable length of 2,640 miles (4,248
km).
Brahmaputra River goes through the countries of China, India, and Bangladesh over
the course of 2,391 miles (3,848 km). It flows towards the east through the Tibet
Autonomous Region of China from its source in the Himalayas then into India to an
intersection with the smaller Gange river. From there, the shared stream empties out in
the Bay of Bengal. In the course of its journey, it passes through Assam and
Bangladesh.
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Ob River is 2,268 miles (3,650 km) long and is entirely located within Russia,
specifically the central portion. It flows north and west across western Siberia in a
corkscrew diagonally down from its head in the Altai Mountains on the border with
Kazakhstan, all the way to the Gulf of Ob before going northward into the Arctic Ocean.
Its a key transportation route and has a lot of economic potential.
The Indus River is the next one on this list, coming in at 2,243 miles (3,610 km) and
going through three countries: China, India, and Pakistan. It is the biggest and most
critical river in Pakistan and it has twenty major tributaries. It starts from the Tibetan
plateau near Lake Mansarovar and the Himalayas, runs through the Indian territories
Jammu and Kashmir, then flows south through the entire country of Pakistan before
ending in the Arabian Sea, a part of the Indian Ocean.
The Yenisei River goes through Mongolia and Russia and stretches on for 2,167 miles
(3,487 km). It is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic ocean and its course
rises in northern Mongolia and goes north through Russia to the Kara Sea. Its upper
reaches are sparsely populated as they are prone to rapids and flooding. The middle
section, meanwhile, is controlled by a series of large hydroelectric dams.
The Nizhnyaya Tunguska River runs through Russia and spans 1,857 miles (2,989
km). The river itself is located in western Siberia and flows east off the of the Yenisei
River as one of its major tributaries, through the province of Irkutsk province and the
Krasnoyarsk region. Parts of the river have a broad valley with numerous sandbanks,
and other parts are filled with gorges and rapids.
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. Among the Major rivers of Asia, which do you like most and why?
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Reference
Asia Water Map - Bing images retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 8. Asian Economy
Pre-activity
The Asian Economy is huge, now let us understand how this economy developed
unfortunately, comparing to other continents, many Asian countries were still lagging
behind, and one of them in our country.
Activity Proper
The economy of Asia comprises more than 4.5 billion people (60% of the world
population) living in 49 different nations. Asia is the fastest growing economic region,
as well as the largest continental economy by both GDP Nominal and PPP in the
world.Moreover, Asia is the site of some of the world's longest modern economic
booms, starting from the Japanese economic miracle (1950–1990), Miracle on the Han
River (1961–1996) in South Korea, economic boom (1978–2013) in China, Tiger Cub
Economies (1990–present) in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam,
and economic boom in India (1991–present).
As in all world regions, the wealth of Asia differs widely between, and within, states.
This is due to its vast size, meaning a huge range of different cultures, environments,
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historical ties and government systems. The largest economies in Asia in terms of PPP
gross domestic product (GDP) are China, India, Japan, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea,
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Thailand and Taiwan and in terms of nominal gross domestic
product (GDP) are China, Japan, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey,
Taiwan, Thailand and Iran.
Total wealth is mainly concentrated in East Asia, India and Southeast Asia, while if
measured by GDP per capita; is mostly concentrated in the East Asia in Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, and Brunei, as well as in oil rich
countries in West Asia such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain,
Kuwait, and Oman. Israel and Turkey are also two major economies in West Asia. Israel
(entrepreneurship on diversified industries) is a developed country, while Turkey
(founding member of OECD) is an advanced emerging country. Asia, with the exception
of Japan (heavy industry and electrical sophistication), South Korea (heavy industry and
information and communication technology), Taiwan (heavy industry and hi-tech parts
manufacturing), Hong Kong (financial industry and services) and Singapore (high-tech
manufacturing, biotechnology, financial and business services and tourism) in recent
years, is currently undergoing rapid growth and industrialization. China (manufacturing
and FDI-led growth and India (commodities, outsourcing destination and computer
software) are the two fastest growing major economies in the world.
East Asian and ASEAN countries generally rely on manufacturing and trade (and then
gradually upgrade to industry and commerce, and incrementally building on high-tech
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industry and financial industry for growth, countries in the Middle East depend more on
engineering to overcome climate difficulties for economic growth and the production of
commodities, principally Sweet crude oil. Over the years, with rapid economic growth
and large trade surplus with the rest of the world, Asia has accumulated over US$8.5
trillion of foreign exchange reserves – more than half of the world's total, and adding
tertiary and quaterny sectors to expand in the share of Asia's economy.
territory GDP nominal
millions of USD GDP nominal per capita
USD GDP PPP
millions of USD GDP PPP per capita
USD Location
Average 31,582,000 7,351 65,441,000 15,235
Afghanistan 18,734 513 76,486 2,094 South Asia
Armenia 13,444 4,527 32,909 11,083 West Asia
Azerbaijan 47,171 4,689 187,260 18,615 West Asia
Bahrain 38,184 25,273 76,951 50,931 West Asia
Bangladesh 378,634 2,214 977,754 5,852 South Asia
Bhutan 2,842 3,423 8,199 9,876 South Asia
Brunei 12,455 27,871 35,920 80,383 Southeast Asia
Cyprus 25,360 28,627 38,055 42,956 West Asia
Myanmar 65,994 1,244 355,609 6,707 Southeast Asia
Cambodia 26,730 1,620 76,934 4,664 Southeast Asia
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China (PRC) 14,140,163 10,098 27,308,857 19,503 East Asia
Hong Kong 372,989 49,334 490,880 64,927 East Asia
Georgia 15,925 4,289 45,398 12,227 West Asia
India 3,050,000 2,191 10,200,000 7,333 South Asia
Indonesia 1,111,713 4,163 3,737,484 13,998 Southeast Asia
Iran 458,500 5,506 1,470,661 17,661 West Asia
Iraq 224,462 5,738 705,059 18,025 West Asia
Israel 317,717 42,823 354,197 39,121 West Asia
Japan 5,082,000 101,591 127,094,745 100,667 East Asia
Jordan 44,172 4,386 97,161 9,648 West Asia
Kazakhstan 170,326 9,139 537,664 28,849 Central Asia
North Korea N/A N/A N/A N/A East Asia
South Korea 1,629,532 31,430 2,319,585 44,740 East Asia
Kuwait 137,591 29,266 312,100 66,386 West Asia
Kyrgyzstan 8,261 1,292 25,915 4,056 Central Asia
Laos 19,127 2,670 58,091 8,109 Southeast Asia
Lebanon 58,565 9,655 91,286 15,049 West Asia
Macau 54,545 81,728 77,360 115,913 East Asia
Malaysia 365,303 11,136 1,078,537 32,880 Southeast Asia
Maldives 5,786 15,562 8,667 23,311 South Asia
Mongolia 13,637 4,132 47,217 14,308 East Asia
Nepal 29,813 1,047 94,419 3,318 South Asia
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Oman76,609 17,791 203,959 47,365 West Asia
Pakistan 313,000 1,260 1,100,000 5,230 South Asia
Philippines 356,814 3,294 1,025,758 9,470 Southeast Asia
Russia[a] 1,657,539 11,305 4,518,717 30,820 North Asia/Europe
Qatar 191,849 69,687 365,835 132,886 West Asia
Saudi Arabia 779,289 22,865 1,898,511 55,704 West Asia
Singapore 362,818 63,987 585,055 103,181 Southeast Asia
Sri Lanka 86,566 3,946 304,826 13,897 South Asia
Syria N/A N/A N/A N/A West Asia
Taiwan (ROC) 586,104 28,371 1,300,212 55,078 East Asia
Tajikistan 8,152 877 33,351 3,589 Central Asia
Thailand 529,177 7,791 1,383,022 20,364 Southeast Asia
Timor-Leste 2,938 2,262 6,823 5,254 Southeast Asia
Turkey 743,708 8,957 2,346,576 28,264 West Asia/Europe
Turkmenistan 46,674 7,816 121,885 20,410 Central Asia
United Arab Emirates 405,771 37,749 746,350 69,434 West
Asia
Uzbekistan 60,490 1,831 297,222 8,999 Central Asia
Vietnam 354,800 3,758 1,142,177 11,677 Southeast Asia
Yemen 29,855 943 72,171 2,280 West Asia
Economic development
Ancient and medieval times
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Silk route via land and sea
China and India alternated in being the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800
AD. China was a major economic power and attracted many to the east, and for many
the legendary wealth and prosperity of the ancient culture of India personified Asia,
attracting European commerce, exploration and colonialism. The accidental discovery of
America by Columbus in search for India demonstrates this deep fascination. The Silk
Road became the main east–west trading route in the Asian hitherland while the Straits
of Malacca stood as a major sea route.
Pre–1945
Prior to World War II, most of Asia was under colonial rule. Only relatively few states
managed to remain independent in the face of constant pressure exerted by European
power. Such examples are China, Siam and Japan.
Japan in particular managed to develop its economy due to a reformation in the 19th
century. The reformation was comprehensive and is today known as the Meiji
Restoration. The Japanese economy continued to grow well into the 20th century and
its economic growth created various shortages of resources essential to economic
growth. As a result, the Japanese expansion began with a great part of Korea and
China annexed, thus allowing the Japanese to secure strategic resources.
At the same time, Southeast Asia was prospering due to trade and the introduction of
various new technologies of that time. The volume of trade continued to increase with
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the opening of the Suez Canal in the 1860s. Manila had its Manila galleon where in
products from the Philippine islands and China were traded with Spanish America and
Europe from 1571 to 1815. The Spanish colony of the Philippines was the first Asian
territory to trade with the Americas, from Manila to Acapulco. The route continued
overland across present-day Mexico to Veracruz on the Atlantic coast, then to Havana
and Seville, forming the first global trade route. Silk, porcelain, ivory, tobacco, coconut
and maize were some of the goods exported from Asia to the Americas and Europe,
through the Philippines.
Singapore, founded in 1819, rose to prominence as trade between the east and the
west increased at an incredible rate. The British colony of Malaya, now part of Malaysia,
was the world's largest producer of tin and rubber. The Dutch East Indies, now
Indonesia, on the other hand, was known for its spices production. Both the British and
the Dutch created their own trading companies to manage their trade flow in Asia. The
British created the British East India Company while the Dutch formed Dutch East India
Company. Both companies maintained trade monopolies of their respective colonies.
In 1908, crude oil was first discovered in Persia, modern day Iran. Afterwards, many oil
fields were discovered and it was learnt later that the Middle East possesses the world's
largest oil stocks. This made the rulers of the Arab nations very rich though the
socioeconomic development in that region lagged behind.
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In the early 1930s, the world underwent a global economic depression, today known as
the Great Depression. Asia was not spared, and suffered the same pain as Europe and
the United States. The volume of trade decreased dramatically all around Asia and
indeed the world. With falling demand, prices of various goods starting to fall and
further impoverished locals and foreigners alike. In 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria and
subsequently the rest of China and south-east Asia in what eventually became the Asia-
pacific leg of World War II.
1945–1990
Following World War II, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of India, which
account for half of the population of Asia, adopted socialist policies to promote their
domestic economy. These policies limited the economic growth of the region. They are
being abandoned in India and reformed in China. In contrast, the economies of Japan
and the Four Asian Tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong) were
economic successes, and the only successful economies outside of the Western World.
The success of these four economies led other Southeast Asian countries, namely
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand to follow suit in opening up their
economies and setting up export-oriented manufacturing bases that boosted their
growth throughout the 1980s and the 1990s.
One of the most pronounced Asian economic phenomenons during this time, the
Japanese post-war economic miracle, greatly impacted the rest of the world. After
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World War II, under central guidance from the Japanese government, the entire
economy was undergoing a remarkable restructuring. Close cooperation between the
government, corporations and banks facilitated easy access to much-needed capital,
and large conglomerates known as keiretsu spurred horizontal and vertical integration
across all industries, keeping out foreign competition. These policies, in addition to an
abandonment of military spending, worked phenomenally well. Japanese corporations
as a result exported and still export massive amounts of high quality products from "the
Land of the Rising Sun".
Another amazing economic success story is that of South Korea's, also referred to as
the Miracle on the Han River. The country was left impoverished after the Korean War,
and until the early 1970s was among the world's poorest countries (even poorer than
North Korea). However, it was since able to recover with double digit annual growth
rates. Many conglomerates, also known as chaebols, such as Samsung, LG Corp,
Hyundai, Kia, SK Group, and more grew tremendously during this period. South Korea
has now become the most wired country in the world.
Taiwan and Hong Kong experienced rapid growth up till the 1990s. Taiwan became,
and still remains one of the main centers of consumer electronics R&D as well as
manufacturing. However, unlike in Japan and South Korea, the bulk of Taiwan's
economy is dependent on small to medium-sized businesses. Hong Kong, on the other
hand, experienced rapid growth in the financial sector due to liberal market policies,
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with many financial institutions setting up their Asian headquarters in Hong Kong. Till
today, Hong Kong has been ranked as the world's freest economy for many years
running, and it remains one of the world's top 5 leading financial centers.
In Southeast Asia, economic development was fueled by the growth of the bamboo
network. The bamboo network refers to a network of overseas Chinese businesses
operating in the markets of Southeast Asia that share common family and cultural ties.
The network expanded as Chinese refugees emigrated to Southeast Asia following the
Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949. Singapore in particular experienced very rapid
economic growth after declaring independence in 1965, following a two-year federation
with Malaysia. In addition to creating a conducive economic and political climate, the
government developed the skills of its multi-racial workforce, and established export-
oriented industries by encouraging foreign investors to set up regional operations in
manufacturing. The government also played a prominent role in Singapore's growth as
a major financial and business services centre. Singapore is today one of the richest
countries in the world, both in terms of GNI per capita, and GDP (PPP) per capita.
This period was also marked by military conflict. Wars driven by the Cold War, notably
in Vietnam and Afghanistan, wrecked the economies of these respective nations. When
the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990–91, many Central Asian states were cut free and
were forced to adapt to pressure for democratic and economic change. Also, several of
the USSR's allies lost valuable aid and funding.
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1991–2007
The Chinese economy boomed under the economic measures undertaken by Deng
Xiaoping, in the late 1970s, and continuing under Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao in the
1990s and 2000s. After the liberalization of the economy of India, growth in India and
China increasingly shifted the center of gravity of the global economy towards Asia. By
the late 2000s, China's economic growth rate exceeded 11% while India's growth rate
increased to around 9%. One of the factors was the sheer size of the population in this
region.
Meanwhile, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore emerged as the Four Asian
Tigers with their GDPs growing well above 7% per year in the 1980s and the 1990s.
Their economies were mainly driven by growing exports. The Philippines only began to
open up its stagnated economy in the early 1990s. Vietnam's economy began to grow
in 1995, shortly after the United States and Vietnam restored economic and political
ties.
Throughout the 1990s, the manufacturing ability and cheap labor markets in Asian
developing nations allowed companies to establish themselves in many of the industries
previously dominated by companies from developed nations. By the dawn of the 21st
century, Asia became the world's largest continental source of automobiles, machinery,
audio equipment and other electronics.
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At the end of 1997, Thailand was hit by currency speculators, and the value of the Baht
along with its annual growth rate fell dramatically. Soon after, the 1997 Asian financial
crisis spread to the ASEAN region, South Korea and other countries in Asia, resulting in
great economic damage on the affected countries (but with Japan and China both
largely escaping the crisis). In fact, some of the economies, most notably those of
Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea actually contracted. By 1999, most countries had
already recovered from the crisis. In 2001, almost all economies in both Europe and
Asia were adversely affected by the September 11 attacks, with Indonesia and Japan
was hardest. Both continents quickly recovered from the attacks in United States after
more than a year.
In 2004, parts of Sumatra and South Asia were severely damaged by an earthquake
and the subsequent tsunami. The tsunami wreaked havoc, causing massive damage in
the infrastructure of the hit areas, particularly Indonesia, and displaced millions. For a
short time, GDP contracted among nations such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka, despite
massive inflow of foreign aid in the aftermath of the disaster.
The economy of Japan suffered its worst post-World War II economic stagnation set in
the early 1990s (which coincided with the end of Cold War), which was triggered by the
latter event of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It, however, rebounded strongly in the
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early 2000s due to strong growth in exports, although unable to counteract China in
2005 after China gradually surpassed it as the largest economy in Asia.
2008–2019
Worlds regions by total wealth (in trillions USD), 2018
The financial crisis of 2007–2008, triggered by the housing bubble in the United States,
caused a significant decline in the GDP of the majority of the European economies. In
contrast, most Asian economies experienced a temporary slowdown in their rates of
economic growth, particularly Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China, resuming their
normal growth soon after.
The Arab Spring and the ensuing civil unrests since 2011 had caused economic malaise
in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, amongst the most adversely affected nations in the
Middle East. At the same time, in the early 2010s, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates and Kuwait registered their highest GDP growths on record in the years that
followed due to increased oil prices and further diversification of exports, as well as
rising foreign exchange reserves.
In 2013, in a once-in-a-decade party leadership reshuffle in China (change of Hu-Wen
Administration to Xi-Li Administration), the Chinese economy experienced a significant
slowdown in the GDP growth, slowing down from the unprecedented decades of 9–10%
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annual growth to around 7–8%, which has significant effect in some developing
economies, particularly in Southeast Asia and India.
The Philippines, however, managed to grow at rates at par with China in the period
2012–2013, and became the world's fastest growing emerging market economy since
2014, overtaking Malaysia in 2017 as the third largest economy overall in Southeast
Asia. It also recovered after getting hit by Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm on
record to make landfall, in November 2013, which killed at least 5,200 and displacing
millions more.
On September 29, 2013, China opened the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone. This free trade
zone allows international trade to be conducted with fewer restrictions and lower
customs duties. The zone is tax free for the first ten years to encourage foreign direct
investment (FDI) with a 'negative list' used to regulate in which fields foreign
investments are prohibited. In 2018, India has overtaken Japan as the second largest
economy in Asia and the third largest overall in the world, while China has overtaken
the U.S. in terms of purchasing power parity or GDP (PPP) in the world, marking the
first time in almost 2 centuries that any country outside the Americas and Europe has
taken the top spot globally.
2020-present
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The Asian economies were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that started in the
Hubei province of China, the country of origin of the virus and one of the worst-hit
worldwide in terms of overall confirmed cases. China's economy experienced its first
contraction in the post-Mao era as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Iran is the
worst-hit country in Asia in terms of mortality rate after China, raising concerns of an
economic collapse following the U.S. expansion of sanctions against them during the
Trump administration since 2019 and declining oil prices due to both the ongoing
economic collapse in Venezuela and the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Japan was also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic amidst its declining population and
a stagnant economy since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, with the
postponement of 2020 Summer Olympics that it is set to host. South Korea, Singapore,
Qatar, the Philippines, Indonesia and India were also affected by the COVID-19
pandemic, further raising fears of a recession across the continent after a streak of
stock market losses in the region amidst nationwide lockdown in India and continued
school and work closures in China, effectively quarantining more than 2 billion people (a
quarter of the world's current human population).
Future
Asia's large economic disparities are a source of major continuing tension in the region.
While global economic powers China, Japan, India, South Korea continue powering
through, and Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Sri
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Lanka have entered the path to long-term growth, regions right next to these countries
are in severe need of assistance.
Given the enormous quantity of cheap labor in the region, particularly in China and
India, where large workforces provide an economic advantage over other countries, the
rising standard of living will eventually lead to a slow-down. Asia is also riddled with
political problems that threaten not just the economies, but the general stability of the
region and world. The nuclear neighbours, Pakistan and India, constantly pose a threat
to each other, causing their governments to invest heavily in military spending.
Another potential global danger posed by the economy of Asia is the growing
accumulation of foreign exchange reserves. The countries/regions with the largest
foreign reserves are mostly in Asia – China (Mainland – $2,454 billion & Hong Kong –
$245 billion, June 2010), Japan ($1,019 billion, June 2009), Russia ($456 billion, April
2010), India ($516 billion, July 2020), Taiwan ($372 billion, September 2010), South
Korea ($286 billion, July 2010), and Singapore ($206 billion, July 2010). This
increasingly means that the interchangeability of the Euro, USD, and GBP are heavily
influenced by Asian central banks. Some economists in the western countries see this
as a negative influence, prompting their respective governments to take action.
According to the World Bank, China surpassed the United States and the European
Union to become the world's largest economy in terms of purchasing power by early
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2015, followed by India. Both countries are expected to rank in the same positions
between 2020 and 2040. Moreover, based on Hurun Report, for the first time in 2012
Asia surpassed North America in amount of billionaires. More than 40 percent or 608
billionaires came from Asia, where as North America had 440 billionaires and Europe
with 324 billionaires.
Regional variation
Hong Kong Exchange Trade Lobby 2005
Following a Third Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in
2013 China revealed plans for several sweeping social and economic reforms. The
government would relax its one-child policy to allow single-child parents to have two
kids. This reform was implemented as a response to the aging population of China and
provide more labor. The government also reformed the hukou system, allowing the
labor force to become more mobile.
The reforms will make financial loan systems more flexible encouraging increased
economic involvement of private firms. Additionally, state-owned enterprises will be
required to pay higher dividends to the government. The benefits of this will go to
Social Security. Reform also allows farmers to own land for the first time ideally
encouraging farmers to sell their land and move to cities which will boost consumerism
and increase urban work force.
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On April 10, 2014, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and Securities and
Futures Commission (CSRC) made a Joint Announcement about the approval for the
establishment of mutual stock market access between Mainland China and Hong Kong.
Under the ‘Connect Program’, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and Shanghai
Stock Exchange will establish mutual order-routing connectivity and related technical
infrastructure to enable investors to invest in Chinese equities market directly. On
November 17, 2014, the program officially launched with the approvals from Beijing.
The 'Connect Program' is an initiative with significance to both Hong Kong and
Mainland. It brings another opportunity for the growth of the Hong Kong securities
market. More importantly, it provides, for the first time, a feasible, controllable and
expandable channel to investors to invest in both Hong Kong and Mainland, in addition
to current schemes including QDII, QFII, AND RDFII programs.
Local government's spending plays a critical role in China's fiscal system. Following the
1991 intergovernmental fiscal reform, the central government's share of total fiscal
revenue increase from less than 30 percent to around 50 percent in 2012. Local
governments are now responsible for infrastructure investment, service delivery and
social spending, which together account for about 85 percent of the total expenditure.
Without a rule to guide the distribution of intergovernmental expenditure
responsibilities, significant levels of risk would be associated with the spending.
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China's central administration will impose hard caps on local government borrowing in
order to control financial risks from an explosive level. Statistics showed that total debt
had reached $3 trillion by the middle of 2013, raising total government debt to 58
percent of GDP. Similar jump occurred in corporate debt as well, which pushed China's
overall debt-GDP ratio up to 261% from 148% in 2008. IMF warned that rapid debt
run-ups could lead to financial crisis.
The new rules are expected to be combined with broader fiscal reforms aimed at
bringing local government tax revenue in line with expenditure. The central government
will provide more guidance to local governments in terms of how to manage and invest
wisely.
As of 2017, China has the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP at $11.8
trillion. It is the largest manufacturing economy in the world, and is the largest exporter
of goods. China is also the world's largest producer and consumer of agricultural
products. China is a leading producer of rice, and is a key producer of wheat, corn,
tobacco, soybeans, and potatoes, among others. Though thee real estate industry in
China has taken, China has had the largest real estate market in the world. China's
service sector has doubled in size, accounting for 46% of China's total GDP. In 2011,
the Chinese government instituted a five-year plan to prioritize the development of the
service economy. The telecommunications sub-sector in China is one of the largest in
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the world, with over a billion mobile customers. Tencent, the developer of WeChat, is
one of the dominating players in the telecommunication sector.
Economic liberalisation in India
Under the then premiership of P.V. Narashimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan
Singh, Indian economy opened itself to world market.
The economic liberalisation in India refers to the ongoing economic liberalisation,
initiated in 1991, of the country's economic policies, with the goal of making the
economy more market-oriented and expanding the role of private and foreign
investment. Specific changes include a reduction in import tariffs, deregulation of
markets, reduction of taxes, and greater foreign investment. Liberalisation has been
credited by its proponents for the high economic growth recorded by the country in the
1990s and 2000s. The overall direction of liberalisation has since remained the same.
Though governments has yet to solve a variety of politically difficult issues, such as
liberalising labour laws and reducing agricultural subsidies along with corruptions and
fiscal deficits to sustain the growth.
The economy of India is the fifth-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the third-
largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).The country is classified as a newly
industrialized country, one of the G-20 major economies, a member of BRICS and a
developing economy with an average growth rate of approximately 7% over the last
two decades. Maharashtra is the richest Indian state and has an annual GDP of US$320
billion, nearly equal to that of Pakistan or Portugal, and accounts for 12% of the Indian
GDP followed by the states of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat.
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India's economy became the world's fastest growing major economy from the last
quarter of 2014, replacing the People's Republic of China.
The long-term growth prospective of the Indian economy is highly positive due to its
young population, corresponding low dependency ratio, healthy savings and investment
rates, and increasing integration into the global economy. The Indian economy has the
potential to become the world's 3rd-largest economy by the next decade, and one of
the largest economies by mid-century. And the outlook for short-term growth is also
good as according to the IMF, the Indian economy is the "bright spot" in the global
landscape. India also topped the World Bank’s growth outlook for 2015–16 for the first
time with the economy having grown 7.3% in 2014–15 and expected to grow 7.5–8.3%
in 2015–16.
India has the one of fastest growing service sectors in the world with annual growth
rate of above 9% since 2001, which contributed to 57% of GDP in 2012–13.India has
capitalized its economy based on its large educated English-speaking population to
become a major exporter of IT services, BPO services, and software services with
$174.7 billion worth of service exports in 2017–18. It is also the fastest-growing part of
the economy. The IT industry continues to be the largest private sector employer in
India. India is also the fourth largest start-up hub in the world with over 3,100
technology start-ups in 2014–15 The agricultural sector is the largest employer in
India's economy but contributes to a declining share of its GDP (17% in 2013–14).
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India ranks second worldwide in farm output. The Industry sector has held a constant
share of its economic contribution (26% of GDP in 2013–14). The Indian automotive
industry is one of the largest in the world with an annual production of 21.48 million
vehicles (mostly two wheelers and cars) in FY 2013–14. India has $600 billion worth of
retail market in 2015 and one of world's fastest growing E-Commerce markets.
India's two major stock exchanges, Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock
Exchange of India, had a market capitalization of US$1.71 trillion and US$1.68 trillion
respectively as of Feb 2015, which ranks 11th & 12 largest in the world respectively
according to the World Federation of Exchanges. India also home to world's third
largest Billionaires pool with 97 billionaires in 2014 and fourth largest number of ultra-
high-net-worth households that have more than 100 million dollars.
India is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation, the G20, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the
World Trade Organization, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the United
Nations and the New Development BRICS Bank.
Successive Indian governments have been advised to continue liberalisation. Even
though, in early years India grew at slower pace than China (however, since 2013 India
has been growing faster than its northern counterpart in terms of percentage of GDP
growth, although China's absolute growth still exceeds India by a large margin). The
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McKinsey Quarterly states that removing main obstacles "would free India's economy to
grow at 10% a year".
There has been significant debate, however, around liberalisation as an inclusive
economic growth strategy. Since 1992, income inequality has deepened in India with
consumption among the poorest staying stable while the wealthiest generate
consumption growth. As India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate became
lowest in 2012–13 over a decade, growing merely at 5.1%, more criticism of India's
economic reforms surfaced, as it apparently failed to address employment growth,
nutritional values in terms of food intake in calories, and also exports growth – and
thereby leading to a worsening level of current account deficit compared to the prior to
the reform period. But then in FY 2013–14 the growth rebounded to 6.9% and then in
2014–15 it rose to 7.3% as a result of the reforms put by the New Government which
led to the economy becoming healthy again and the current account deficit coming in
control. Growth reached 7.5% in the Jan–Mar quarter of 2015 before slowing to 7.0%
in Apr–Jun quarter
By 2050, India's economy is expected to overtake the US economy, putting it behind
China in the world's largest economies. Like China, agriculture makes up a large part of
the Indian economy. As the Indian economy has grown, agriculture's contribution to
GDP has steadily declined, but it still makes up a large portion of the workforce and
socio-economic development. India's industrial manufacturing GDP output was the 6th
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largest in the world in 2015, largely due to petroleum products and chemicals. India's
pharmaceutical industry has also grown at a compound annual growth rate of 17.5%
over the last 11 years, and is one of India's fastest-growing sub-sectors today.
However, the engineering industry in India is still the largest sub-sector by GDP.
Perhaps the most exciting development in India is its incredibly fast-growing
information technology and business process outsourcing sub-sector. Cities like
Bangalore, Hyderabad rival the United States's Silicon Valley in innovation and
technological advancement as more and more skilled, tech-savvy students and young
professionals are entering the entrepreneurial world.
India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of
telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone) with 1.183 billion subscribers as on 31
May 2019. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom
operators and hyper-competition among them. As on 31 July 2018, India has the
world's second-largest Internet user-base with 460.24 million broadband internet
subscribers in the country.
Abenomics in Japan
Shinzo Abe, the former Prime Minister of Japan, who initiated economic reforms
popularly called Abenomics.
Abenomics was a policy named after, and implemented by the former Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzō Abe. Following the global economic recession, the Prime Minister hoped
to boost Japanese economy with "three arrows": massive fiscal stimulus, more
aggressive monetary easing and structural reforms to make Japan more
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competitive.The stimulus package was 20.2 trillion yen ($210 billion) and the
government also aimed to create 600,000 jobs in two years. In addition, this stimulus
package aimed to ensure public safety with reconstruction efforts, creating a base for
future business growth, and revitalizing regions by promoting tourism, revitalizing public
transport, and improving infrastructure.
The Bank of Japan also aimed to raise inflation to 2% in part by buying up short-term
government debts. Critics point out that hyperinflation and an unbalanced GDP/debt
ration could be negative results of Abenomics. Furthermore, currency changes could
aggravate international relations, especially those between China and Japan.
Trade blocs
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political, economic,
security, military, educational and socio-cultural organization of countries located in
Southeast Asia. Founded in 1967, its aim is to foster cooperation and mutual assistance
among members. The countries meet annually every November in summits. The
organisation serves as a central platform for cooperation and unity in Asia, its affiliates
created several trade blocs in the region, including Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership, the world's largest trade bloc.
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The current member countries of ASEAN are Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Thailand,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and
Indonesia. East Timor and Papua New Guinea are given observer status.
In 2005, ASEAN was instrumental in establishing the East Asia Summit (involving all
ASEAN members plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand)
which some have proposed may become in the future a trade bloc, the arrangements
for which are far from certain and not yet clear.
The Asian Currency Unit (ACU) is a proposed currency unit for the ASEAN "10+3"
economic circle. (ASEAN, the mainland of the People's Republic of China, India, Japan,
and South Korea).
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, Kyrgyzstan
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic,
and security organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in
Shanghai, China . Its members include China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan . The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Charter, formally establishing the organisation, was signed in June 2002 and entered
into force on 19 September 2003. Known as the "Alliance of Asia", it is the world's
forefront regional organisation in economic power and political influence, one of the
world's strongest military alliances, and the largest regional organisation in the world in
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terms of geographical coverage and population, covering three-fifths of the Eurasian
continent and nearly half of the human population. At present, the SCO is one of the
world's most powerful and influential organisations.
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a proposed free trade
agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has
existing free trade agreements (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New
Zealand). It is the world's largest trading bloc, covering nearly half of the global
economy.
RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in
Cambodia. The free trade agreement is scheduled and expected to be signed in
November 2020 during the ASEAN Summit and Related Summit in Vietnam. RCEP is
viewed as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed trade
agreement which includes several Asian and American nations but excludes China and
India.
Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement
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The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), formerly called the Bangkok
Agreement, is the only trade agreement bringing together China and India, in addition
to Bangladesh and the Republic of Korea, among others. The Secretariat of the
agreement is provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (ESCAP). While the agreement covers only a limited number of products,
members agreed in 2009 to implement a Trade Facilitation Framework Agreement
aimed at streamlining trade procedures between members.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a group of Pacific Rim countries
who meet with the purpose of improving economic and political ties. Although the initial
intention was to create a free trade area covering all membership (which includes
China, the United States and Australia, among others) this has failed to materialize.In
2014, APEC members committed to taking a concrete step towards greater regional
economic integration by endorsing a roadmap for the Free Trade Area of the Asia-
Pacific (FTAAP) to translate this vision into a reality. As a first step, APEC is
implementing a strategic study on issues related to the realization of a Free Trade Area
of the Asia-Pacific. The study will provide an analysis of potential economic and social
benefits and costs, analyze the various pathways towards a Free Trade Area and
identify challenges economies may face in realizing this goal.
Gulf Cooperation Council
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The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is a regional intergovernmental political and
economic union founded in 1981.The current member states of GCC are Bahrain,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement
The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) is an economic agreement
between the People's Republic of China, the Hong Kong SAR government (signed on 29
June 2003), and the Macau SAR government (signed on 18 October 2003), in order to
promote trade and investment facilitation.
The main aims of CEPA are to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barrier on substantially all
the trade in goods between the three, and achieve liberalization of trade in services
through reduction or elimination of substantially all discriminatory measures.
Arab League
The Arab League is an association of Arab countries in Africa and Asia. The Arab League
facilitates political, economic, cultural, scientific and social programs designed to
promote the interests of its member states.
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a confederation consisting of 12 of
the 15 states of the former Soviet Union, both Asian and European (the exceptions
being the three Baltic states). Although the CIS has few supranational powers, it is
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more than a purely symbolic organization and possesses coordinating powers in the
realm of trade, finance, lawmaking and security. The most significant issue for the CIS
is the establishment of a full-fledged free trade zone / economic union between the
member states, to be launched in 2005. It has also promoted cooperation on
democratisation and cross-border crime prevention.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
The Heads of Governments of SAARC Countries at the 12th South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan on January 4, 2004
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an association of eight
countries of South Asia, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,
Nepal, Pakistan and, Sri Lanka. These countries comprise an area of 5,130,746 km2 and
a fifth of the world population. SAARC encourages cooperation in agriculture, rural
development, science and technology, culture, health, population control, narcotics
control and anti-terrorism. Also, a FTA called South Asia Free Trade Agreement was
reached at the 12th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit. It
created a framework for the creation of a free trade zone covering 1.6 billion people of
member states.
Economic sectors
Primary sector
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Asia is by a considerable margin the largest continent in the world, and is rich in natural
resources. The vast expanse of the former Soviet Union, particularly that of Russia,
contains a huge variety of metals, such as gold, iron, lead, titanium, uranium, and zinc.
These metals are mined, but inefficiently due to the control of a few state-sponsored
giants that make participation difficult for many international mining companies.
Nevertheless, profits are high due to a commodity price boom in 2003/2004 caused
largely by increased demand in China. Oil is Southwest Asia's most important natural
resource. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait are rich in oil reserves and have benefited
from recent oil price escalations.
Asia is home to some four billion people, and thus has a well established tradition in
agriculture. High productivity in agriculture, especially of rice, allows high population
density of many countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, southern China, Cambodia,
India, and Vietnam. Agriculture constitutes a high portion of land usage in warm and
humid areas of Asia.
Many hillsides are farmed in a terrace method to boost arable land.The main
agricultural products in Asia include rice and wheat. Opium is one of major cash crops
in Central and Southeast Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, though its production is
prohibited everywhere. Forestry is extensive throughout Asia, with many of the items of
furniture sold in the developed nations made out of Asian timber. More than half of the
forested land in Asia is in China, Indonesia, and Malaysia. China is considered a top
exporter of wood products like paper and wood furniture while tropical timbers are a
top export in Malaysia and Indonesia. Fishing is a major source of food, particularly in
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Japan and China. In Japan larger, high-quality fish are common while in China, smaller
fish are being consumed at a higher rate. As the middle-class population in Southeast
Asia expands, there is an increase of more expensive meats and foods becoming a part
of the traditional diet.
Secondary sector
The manufacturing sector in Asia has traditionally been strongest in the East Asia region
—particularly in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.The industry varies
from manufacturing cheap low value goods such as toys to high-tech value added
goods such as computers, CD players, games consoles, mobile phones and cars. Major
Asian manufacturing companies are mostly based in either Japan or South Korea. They
include Sony, Toyota, Toshiba, and Honda from Japan, and Samsung, Hyundai, LG, and
Kia from South Korea.
Many developed-nation firms from Europe, North America, Japan and South Korea have
significant operations in developing Asia to take advantage of the abundant supply of
cheap labor. One of the major employers in manufacturing in Asia is the textile
industry. Much of the world's supply of clothing and footwear now originates in
Southeast Asia and South Asia, particularly in Vietnam, China, India, Thailand,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia.
Tertiary sector
A view of the Tidel Park in Chennai, India. Software industries of late, have been
outsourced to Asian cities as such for good infrastructure, efficient man-power and
cheap labour.
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Asia's top ten important financial centers are located in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo,
Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, Shenzhen, Osaka, Seoul and Mumbai. India has been one of
the greatest beneficiaries of the economic boom. The country has emerged as one of
the world's largest exporters of software and other information technology related
services.World class Indian software giants such as Infosys, HCL, Mphasis, Mindtree,
Larsen & Toubro Infotech, Wipro, Rolta, Mahindra Satyam and Tata Consultancy
Services have emerged as the world's most sought after service providers.
Call centers are also becoming major employers in the Philippines due to the availability
of many English speakers, and being a former American colony familiar with the
American culture. Huge corporations from English speaking countries like USA, Canada,
Australia and even UK invest in the Philippines because they pay for the employees and
companys' miscellaneous costs are cheaper in the Philippines. According to CNBC
International news last 2014, Philippines became the BPO Capital with an estimated
15.5 billion US dollars of revenue creating more than 900,000 jobs for Filipinos.
On the other hand, there are also potential huge holes for BPO business. The increase
of numbers of international banks major huge corporations are trying to cut their
annual company expense by changing BPO to AI (Artificial Intelligence). If the
Philippine government will not think new competitive ideas to maintain the BPO
business in the country, the country will lose a billion dollars of revenue by the next 10
years (according to ABS-CBN business news channel).
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The rise of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has seen the rise of India
and China as the other financial centers. Experts believe that the current center of
financial activity is moving toward "Chindia" – a name used for jointly referring to China
and India – with Shanghai and Mumbai becoming major financial hubs in their own
right.
Other growing technological and financial hubs include Dhaka (Bangladesh), Chittagong
(Bangladesh), Karachi (Pakistan), Chennai (India), New Delhi (India), Pune (India),
Bangalore (India), Hyderabad (India), Shenzhen (China), Kolkata (India), Jakarta
(Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Lahore (Pakistan), Metro Manila (Philippines),
Cebu (Philippines) and Bangkok (Thailand).
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. After reading the discussion of Asian Economy. Can you explain, the rise and fall of
Asian Economy and what do you think are the strength and weaknesses of Asian
Economy in general.
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Reference
Economy of Asia - Wikipedia retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 9. The Asian Family
Pre-activity
Family- basic unit of society, it is a very important institution because it is the one who
procreates and all other institutions depends on it.
Lesson Proper
Characteristics of Traditional Asian Families
1. solidarity-China, Philippines, India
2. Filial piety-devotion of children to parents-China, Japan
3.Patriarchal- Hindu- suttee- burning of widow on the husband’s funeral and purdah-
veil, curtain, chador- for Arabs;
Israel-work discrimination for women
4. Pronatalistic society- an attitude that encourage childbearing
5. most Asian Countries are monogamous one husband, one wife
Muslims- they have the tradition of marrying up to 4 wives
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6.Usually in Southeast Asia- Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar- labor- poor
7. arranged marriages- Arabs, Chinese, Indians, dowry- womans demand from her
husband under a marriage contract.
Changes among Asian Families
1. variety of family forms-Due to mixed marriages; 2. single parents;3.Separated
parents; 4. inter-faith families; 5.intercultural families; 6. extended family
2 factors of immigration
1. push factors
A. political and religious persecution; B. famine; C. shortage of land; D. poverty
2. pull factors
A. the promise of freedom; B. industry; C. needed workers; D. equal pay; E. land
ownership; F. equal rights; G. the promise of a better life;H. family
Internal migration, Proliferation of slums, Homeless, Criminality. Abuse in the
family, Family break-up
India- internatal migration and urbanization-estimated 100million migrant
workers
China- 100-150million migrate to Beijing, Shanghai, Pearl River Delta
2006- 3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Asia
Plus 2.7 million in West Asia
2. Cause:
1. Conflict; 2. Violence; 3. human rights abuses; 4. due to development projects
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5. volcanoes, natural disasters, floods; 6. ethnic minorities displacement
External migration
6.1 million Asians are employed outside their country
3.8 million was the estimated illegal migrants
Usual destinations
1. Japan; 2. Korea; 3. Hong Kong; 4. Taiwan; 5. Singapore; 6. Malaysia
7. Thailand and 8. oil-rich West Asian Countries
Asians going to Europe
1. Italy; 2. Hungary; 3. UK
According to American Community Survey
Philippines was the 2nd largest immigrants country in the world: 1.70 million
First place: Mexico
Asia is a great exporter of cheap labor
Women workers
1. domestic helpers; 2. nurse-maids; 3. Doctors; 4. Nurses; 5.business etc.
Reason for women migration
1. marriage
More women are in politics:
India-1952- Queen Mother Tehri Garhusal or Rajmata,
Sent to Japan, the first Indian woman sent to foreign country by the
government.
2. Sri Lanka 1960 - Sirimavo Bandaranaike- the first woman Prime Minister in
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the world
3. Myanmar – Aung San Suu Kyi- famous freedom fighter , her father was
assassinated when she was 2 years old
4. Philippines- President Corazon C. Aquino
5. Benazir Bhutto- Pakistan- the youngest (35) woman prime minister of the
largest majority Muslim country, people magazine was included in the top 50
most beautiful people in the world
6. Qatar- 2003- Sheikha bint Ahmed Al- Mahmud- the first woman minister in the
Gulf, in the same year, Qatar approved women’s rights to vote
7. Jordan- Leila Sharif- first woman cabinet
8. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo- Philippine president
9. Smt. Pratibha Devisignh Patil- president of India
10. Sheikh Hasina Wajed- prime Minister of Bangladesh
11. Annette Lu- Vice President of Taiwan
Other laws that favors women’s rights
1. Hindu Succession Act of 1956- right to vote
2. Marriage Act of 1955- right to divorce
Caring for the aged members of the family
1. Hong kong- declining number of elders living with the family of their sons
2. Korea- 50.8% lived with their married son, 1984
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3. China- 1983- 80% lived with their son
4. Indonesia- 1990; Philippines, 2/3 to ¾ of the elderly lived with their married
son
Post Activity
Essay: Explain the Issues on Asian Families
Reference
Category:Asian families by ancestry - Wikipedia retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 10. Asian Migration
Pre-activity
Asian Migration is a phenomenon in Asia. Let us discover how this phenomenon emerge
and continue to play a significant role in the present global village.
Activity Proper
Migration in Asia: Where is everybody going?
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Migrant workers from Tuvalu hope to benefit from Australia’s Pacific Labour
Scheme.
Time will tell whether Asia-Pacific’s increasing trend toward regional integration extend
further into labor markets.
The US government recently endured a month-long partial shutdown due to a partisan
dispute over funding to build a wall on the country’s southern border with Mexico.
While those on both sides of the issue were digging in their heels, I got to thinking
about migration trends in Asia.
According to the most recent edition of ADB's Asian Economic Integration Report, Asia
remains the world’s largest continental source of international migrants. Indeed, one in
three migrants worldwide comes from the region.
The number of Asian migrants has grown steadily to about 87 million, and the report
notes that leading source countries of migrants to Asia are the People’s Republic of
China (PRC) with 5.2 million, the Russian Federation (3.8 million), and Bangladesh (3.7
million).
Primary drivers for the movement of such large numbers of people include conflict and
the desire for better educational and economic opportunities. Another emerging driver
of migration that has received more attention of late is climate change, the subject of a
landmark ADB study.
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The majority of Asian migrants are semi- and low-skilled workers such as maids,
caregivers and manual laborers, including those working on construction sites. Skilled
Asian migrants tend to move to advanced industrial economies outside the region.
Asia-Pacific getting ready for greater intra-regional #migration
But as Asian countries become more prosperous and host increasingly important
economic centers, one can imagine that more skilled Asian migrants will stay closer to
home in future years.
There are various developments opening the door to greater intra-regional migration.
For example, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) envisions the free flow of skilled
labor among the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This goal
is slowly being realized through the granting of visas and work permits, and negotiation
of mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) in areas such as engineering, nursing,
architecture, medicine, dentistry, and tourism.
However, an ADB study of skills mobility in the AEC concluded that several technical
and political barriers at national and regional levels impede professionals from moving
and practicing their profession in other ASEAN countries. Overcoming these
impediments could yield real benefits.
Economist Mita Adhisti calculated that ASEAN’s overall economic growth could increase
7.1% by 2025 if member countries took steps to support migration, such as improving
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labor market information, providing language and skill training, simplifying
administrative requirements, and expanding MRAs to semi-skilled workers.
Demographically-driven labor shortages in high-income economies are creating new
opportunities for migrants from developing countries in the region.
Australia, Japan labor shortages to spur Asia-Pacific migration
Australia’s Pacific Labour Scheme kicked off in July 2018 to allow citizens of Kiribati,
Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu to take up low and semi-skilled
work opportunities in rural and regional Australia for up to three years. The scheme will
be expanded to more Pacific island countries as Australia hopes to fill labor gaps in
towns and on farms, and in the process stimulate greater economic activity away from
the major coastal population centers.
Beginning in 2019, Japan plans to begin issuing more than a quarter-million five-year
visas for workers in 14 sectors that are experiencing serious labor shortages, including
caregiving, construction, agriculture and shipbuilding. A separate new visa category for
high-skilled workers will grant permission for long-term stays, and the right to bring
families into the country.
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Australia and Japan are not the only countries in the region that will require more
workers.
The Economist has reported that countries in East Asia will have to import 275 million
people between the ages of 15 and 64 by 2030 to keep the share of the population at
working age steady. Malaysia, Viet Nam, Singapore, Thailand, and the PRC will need
workers. Countries with a surplus of workers include Bangladesh, India, Indonesia,
Myanmar, and the Philippines.
Will Asia’s increasing trend toward regional integration in areas such as trade, equity,
and direct investment extend further into the continent’s labor markets? Time will soon
tell.
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Giving people the tools to demand better public services
Human migration involves the movement of people from one place to another with
intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic
region). The movement often occurs over long distances and from one country to
another, but internal migration (within a single country) is also possible; indeed, this is
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the dominant form of human migration globally. Migration is often associated with
better human capital at both individual and household level, and with better access to
migration networks. Age is also important for both work and non-work migration.
People may migrate as individuals, in family units or in large groups.There are four
major forms of migration: invasion, conquest, colonization and emigration/immigration.
Persons moving from their home due to forced displacement (such as a natural disaster
or civil disturbance) may be described as displaced persons or, if remaining in the home
country, internally-displaced persons. A person who seeks refuge in another country
can, if the reason for leaving the home country is political, religious, or another form of
persecution, make a formal application to that country where refuge is sought and is
then usually described as an asylum seeker. If this application is successful this
person's legal status becomes that of a refugee.
In contemporary times,migration governance has become closely associated with state
sovereignty. States retain the power of deciding on the entry and stay of non-nationals
because migration directly affects some of the defining elements of a State.
Definitions
Depending on the goal and reason for relocation, persons who migrate can be divided
into three categories: migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Each category is defined
broadly as the mixed circumstances might occur and motivate a person to change their
location.
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As such, migrants are traditionally described as persons who change the country of
their residence for general reasons and purposes. These purposes may include the
search for better job opportunities or healthcare needs. This term is the most generally
defined one as anyone changing their geographic location permanently can be
considered migrants.
Contrastly, refugees are not narrowly defined and are described as persons who do not
relocate willingly. The reasons for the refugees’ migration usually involve war actions
within the country or other forms of oppression, coming either from the government or
non-governmental sources. Refugees are usually associated with people who must
unwillingly relocate as fast as possible; hence, such migrants will likely relocate
undocumented.
There exist many statistical estimates of worldwide migration patterns.
The World Bank has published three editions of its Migration and Remittances Factbook,
beginning in 2008, with a second edition appearing in 2011 and a third in 2016. The
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has published ten editions of the World
Migration Report since 1999.The United Nations Statistics Division also keeps a
database on worldwide migration. Recent advances in research on migration via the
Internet promise better understanding of migration patterns and migration motives.
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Structurally, there is substantial South-South and North-North migration; in 2013, 38%
of all migrants had migrated from developing countries to other developing countries,
while 23% had migrated from high-income OECD countries to other high-income
countries.The United Nations Population Fund says that "while the North has
experienced a higher absolute increase in the migrant stock since 2000 (32 million)
compared to the South (25 million), the South recorded a higher growth rate. Between
2000 and 2013 the average annual rate of change of the migrant population in
developing regions (2.3%) slightly exceeded that of the developed regions (2.1%)."
Substantial internal migration can also take place within a country, either seasonal
human migration (mainly related to agriculture and to tourism to urban places), or
shifts of population into cities (urbanisation) or out of cities (suburbanisation). Studies
of worldwide migration patterns, however, tend to limit their scope to international
migration.
International migrants, 1970–2015
Year Number of migrants Migrants as a %
of the world's population
1970 84,460,125 2.3%
1975 90,368,010 2.2%
1980 101,983,149 2.3%
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1985 113,206,691 2.3%
1990 153,011,473 2.9%
1995 161,316,895 2.8%
2000 173,588,441 2.8%
2005 191,615,574 2.9%
2010 220,781,909 3.2%
2015 248,861,296 3.4%
2019 271,642,105 3.5%
Almost half of these migrants are women, which is one of the most significant migrant-
pattern changes in the last half century. Women migrate alone or with their family
members and community. Even though female migration is largely viewed as
associations rather than independent migration, emerging studies argue complex and
manifold reasons for this.
As of 2019, the top ten immigration destinations were:
United States; Germany; Saudi Arabia; Russian Federation
United Kingdom; United Arab Emirates; France; Canada; Australia; Italy
In the same year, the top countries of origin were
India, Mexico, China, Russian Federation, Syrian Arab Republic, Bangladesh,Pakistan,
Philippines, Afghanistan, Indonesia
Besides these rankings, according to absolute numbers of migrants, the Migration and
Remittances Factbook also gives statistics for top immigration destination countries and
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top emigration origin countries according to percentage of the population; the countries
that appear at the top of those rankings are completely different than the ones in the
above rankings and tend to be much smaller countries.
As of 2013, the top 15 migration corridors (accounting for at least 2 million migrants
each) were:
1. Mexico–United States; 2. Russian Federation–Ukraine; 3. Bangladesh–India
4. Ukraine–Russian Federation; 5. Kazakhstan–Russian Federation;6. China–United
States; 7. Russian Federation–Kazakhstan; 8. Afghanistan–Pakistan; 9. Afghanistan–
Iran; 10. China–Hong Kong; 11. India–United Arab Emirates; 12. West Bank and Gaza–
Jordan; 13. India–United States; 14. India–Saudi Arabia; 15. Philippines–United States
Economic impacts of human migration
World economy
The impacts of human migration on the world economy has been largely positive. In
2015, migrants, who constituted 3.3% of the world population, contributed 9.4% of
global GDP.
According to the Centre for Global Development, opening all borders could add $78
trillion to the world GDP.
Remittances
Remittances (funds transferred by migrant workers to their home country) form a
substantial part of the economy of some countries. The top ten remittance recipients in
2018.
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Rank Country Remittance (in billions of US dollars) Percent of GDP
1 India 80 2.80
2 China 67 0.497
3 Philippines 34 9.144
4 Mexico 34 1.54
5 France 25 0.96
6 Nigeria 22 5.84
7 Egypt 20 8.43
8 Pakistan 20 6.57
9 Bangladesh 17.7 5.73
10 Vietnam 14 6.35
In addition to economic impacts, migrants also make substantial contributions in the
areas of sociocultural and civic-political life. Sociocultural contributions occur in the
following areas of societies: food/cuisine, sport, music, art/culture, ideas and beliefs;
civic-political contributions relate to participation in civic duties in the context of
accepted authority of the State. It is in recognition of the importance of these
remittances that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 targets to
substantially reduce the transaction costs of migrants remittances to less than 3 percent
by 2030.
Voluntary and forced migration
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Migration is usually divided into two categories: voluntary migration and forced
migration.
The distinction between involuntary (fleeing political conflict or natural disaster) and
voluntary migration (economic or labour migration) is difficult to make and partially
subjective, as the motivators for migration are often correlated. The World Bank
estimated that, as of 2010, 16.3 million or 7.6% of migrants qualified as refugees. This
number grew to 19.5 million by 2014 (comprising approximately 7.9% of the total
number of migrants, based on the figure recorded in 2013). At levels of roughly 3
percent the share of migrants among the world population has remained remarkably
constant over the last 5 decades.
Voluntary migration
Voluntary migration is based on the initiative and the free will of the person and is
influenced by a combination of factors: economic, political and social: either in the
migrants` country of origin (determinant factors or "push factors") or in the country of
destination (attraction factors or "pull factors").
"Push-pull factors" are the reasons that push or attract people to a particular place.
"Push" factors are the negative aspects of the country of origin, often decisive in
people`s choice to emigrate and the "pull" factors are the positive aspects of a different
country that encourages people to emigrate in search of a better life. For example, the
government of Armenia periodically gives incentives to people who will migrate to live in
villages close to the border with Azerbaijan. This is an implementation of a push
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strategy, and the reason people don't want to live near the border is security concerns
given tensions and hostility because of Azerbaijan.
Although the push-pull factors are apparently diametrically opposed, both are sides of
the same coin, being equally important. Although specific to forced migration, any other
harmful factor can be considered a "push factor" or determinant / trigger factor, such
examples being: poor quality of life, lack of jobs, excessive pollution, hunger, drought
or natural disasters. Such conditions represent decisive reasons for voluntary migration,
the population preferring to migrate in order to prevent financially unfavorable
situations or even emotional and physical suffering.
Forced migration
There exist contested definitions of forced migration. However, the editors of a leading
scientific journal on the subject, the Forced Migration Review, offer the following
definition: Forced migration refers to the movements of refugees and internally
displaced people (displaced by conflict) as well as people displaced by natural or
environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development
projects. These different causes of migration leave people with one choice, to move to
a new environment. Immigrants leave their beloved homes to seek a life in camps,
spontaneous settlement, and countries of asylum.
By the end of 2018, there were an estimated 67.2 million forced migrants globally—
25.9 million refugees displaced from their countries, and 41.3 million internally
displaced persons that had been displaced within their countries for different reasons.
Contemporary labor migration theories
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Numerous causes impel migrants to move to another country. For instance,
globalization has increased the demand for workers in order to sustain national
economies. Thus one category of economic migrants - generally from impoverished
developing countries - migrates to obtain sufficient income for survival. Such migrants
often send some of their income home to family members in the form of economic
remittances, which have become an economic staple in a number of developing
countries.may also move or are forced to move as a result of conflict, of human-rights
violations, of violence, or to escape persecution. In 2013 it was estimated that around
51.2 million people fell into this category.Other reasons people may move include to
gain access to opportunities and services or to escape extreme weather. This type of
movement, usually from rural to urban areas, may class as internal migration.
Sociology-cultural and ego-historical factors also play a major role. In North Africa, for
example, emigrating to Europe counts as a sign of social prestige. Moreover, many
countries were former colonies. This means that many have relatives who live legally in
the (former) colonial metro pole, and who often provide important help for immigrants
arriving in that metro pole. Relatives may help with job research and with
accommodation. The geographical proximity of Africa to Europe and the long historical
ties between Northern and Southern Mediterranean countries also prompt many to
migrate.
The question whether a person takes the decision to move to another country depends
on the relative skill premier of the source and host countries. One is speaking of
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positive selection when the host country shows a higher skill premium than the source
country. Negative selection, on the other hand, occurs when the source country
displays a lower skill premium. The relative skill premia defines migrants selectivity. Age
heaping techniques display one method to measure the relative skill premium of a
country.
A number of theories attempt to explain the international flow of capital and people
from one country to another.
Contemporary research contributions in the field of migration
Recent academic output on migration comprises mainly journal articles. The long-term
trend shows a gradual increase in academic publishing on migration, which is likely to
be related to both the general expansion of academic literature production, and the
increased prominence of migration research. Migration and research on it has further
changed with the revolution in information and communication technologies.
Neoclassical economic theory
This theory of migration states that the main reason for labor migration is wage
difference between two geographic locations. These wage differences are usually linked
to geographic labor demand and supply. It can be said that areas with a shortage of
labor but an excess of capital have a high relative wage while areas with a high labor
supply and a dearth of capital have a low relative wage. Labor tends to flow from low-
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wage areas to high-wage areas. Often, with this flow of labor comes changes in the
sending as well as the receiving country. Neoclassical economic theory is best used to
describe transnational migration, because it is not confined by international immigration
laws and similar governmental regulations.
Dual labor market theory
Dual labor market theory states that migration is mainly caused by pull factors in more
developed countries. This theory assumes that the labor markets in these developed
countries consist of two segments: the primary market, which requires high-skilled
labor, and the secondary market, which is very labor-intensive requiring low-skilled
workers. This theory assumes that migration from less developed countries into more
developed countries is a result of a pull created by a need for labor in the developed
countries in their secondary market. Migrant workers are needed to fill the lowest rung
of the labor market because the native laborers do not want to do these jobs as they
present a lack of mobility. This creates a need for migrant workers. Furthermore, the
initial dearth in available labor pushes wages up, making migration even more enticing.
New economics of labor migration
This theory states that migration flows and patterns can't be explained solely at the
level of individual workers and their economic incentives, but that wider social entities
must be considered as well. One such social entity is the household. Migration can be
viewed as a result of risk aversion on the part of a household that has insufficient
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income. The household, in this case, is in need of extra capital that can be achieved
through remittances sent back by family members who participate in migrant labor
abroad. These remittances can also have a broader effect on the economy of the
sending country as a whole as they bring in capital. Recent research has examined a
decline in U.S. interstate migration from 1991 to 2011, theorizing that the reduced
interstate migration is due to a decline in the geographic specificity of occupations and
an increase in workers’ ability to learn about other locations before moving there,
through both information technology and inexpensive travel.Other researchers find that
the location-specific nature of housing is more important than moving costs in
determining labor reallocation.
Relative deprivation theory
Relative deprivation theory states that awareness of the income difference between
neighbors or other households in the migrant-sending community is an important factor
in migration. The incentive to migrate is a lot higher in areas that have a high level of
economic inequality. In the short run, remittances may increase inequality, but in the
long run, they may actually decrease it. There are two stages of migration for a worker:
first, they invest in human capital formation, and then they try to capitalize on their
investments. In this way, successful migrants may use their new capital to provide for
better schooling for their children and better homes for their families. Successful high-
skilled emigrants may serve as an example for neighbors and potential migrants who
hope to achieve that level of success.
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World systems theory
World-systems theory looks at migration from a global perspective. It explains that
interaction between different societies can be an important factor in social change
within societies. Trade with one country, which causes economic decline in another,
may create incentive to migrate to a country with a more vibrant economy. It can be
argued that even after decolonization, the economic dependence of former colonies still
remains on mother countries. This view of international trade is controversial, however,
and some argue that free trade can actually reduce migration between developing and
developed countries. It can be argued that the developed countries import labor-
intensive goods, which causes an increase in employment of unskilled workers in the
less developed countries, decreasing the outflow of migrant workers. The export of
capital-intensive goods from rich countries to poor countries also equalizes income and
employment conditions, thus also slowing migration. In either direction, this theory can
be used to explain migration between countries that are geographically far apart.
Osmosis theory
Based on the history of human migration, Djelti (2017a) studies the evolution of its
natural determinants. According to him, human migration is divided into two main
types: the simple migration and the complicated one. The simple migration is divided, in
its turn, into diffusion, stabilisation and concentration periods. During these periods,
water availability, adequate climate, security and population density represent the
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natural determinants of human migration. For the complicated migration, it is
characterised by the speedy evolution and the emergence of new sub-determinants
notably earning, unemployment, networks and migration policies. Osmosis theory
(Djelti, 2017b) explains analogically human migration by the biophysical phenomenon of
osmosis. In this respect, the countries are represented by animal cells, the borders by
the semipermeable membranes and the humans by ions of water. As to osmosis
phenomenon, according to the theory, humans migrate from countries with less
migration pressure to countries with high migration pressure. In order to measure the
latter, the natural determinants of human migration replace the variables of the second
principle of thermodynamics used to measure the osmotic pressure.
Social-scientific theories
Sociology of immigration
A number of social scientists have examined immigration from a sociological
perspective, paying particular attention to how immigration affects, and is affected by,
matters of race and ethnicity, as well as social structure. They have produced three
main sociological perspectives:
symbolic interactionism, which aims to understand migration via face-to-face
interactions on a micro-level
social conflict theory, which examines migration through the prism of competition for
power and resources
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structural functionalism (based on the ideas of Émile Durkheim), which examines
the role of migration in fulfilling certain functions within each society, such as the
decrease of despair and aimlessness and the consolidation of social networks
More recently, as attention has shifted away from countries of destination, sociologists
have attempted to understand how transnationalism allows us to understand the
interplay between migrants, their countries of destination, and their countries of origins.
In this framework, work on social remittances by Peggy Levitt and others has led to a
stronger conceptualisation of how migrants affect socio-political processes in their
countries of origin.
Much work also takes place in the field of integration of migrants into destination-
societies.
Political science
Political scientists have put forth a number of theoretical frameworks relating to
migration, offering different perspectives on processes of security, citizenship, and
international relations. The political importance of diasporas has also becomea growing
field of interest, as scholars examine questions of diaspora activism, state-diaspora
relations, out-of-country voting processes, and states' soft power strategies. In this
field, the majority of work has focused on immigration politics, viewing migration from
the perspective of the country of destination. With regard to emigration processes,
political scientists have expanded on Albert Hirschman's framework on '"voice" vs. "exit"
to discuss how emigration affects the politics within countries of origin.
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Every migration flow generates a return or counter migration.
the majority of migrants move a short distance.
migrants who move longer distances tend to choose big-city destinations.
urban residents are often less migratory than inhabitants of rural areas.
families are less likely to make international moves than young adults.
most migrants are adults.
large towns grow by migration rather than natural increase.
migration stage by stage (step migration).
urban rural difference.
migration and technology.
economic condition.
Lee
Lee's laws divide factors causing migrations into two groups of factors: push and pull
factors. Push factors are things that are unfavourable about the area that one lives in,
and pull factors are things that attract one to another area.
Push factors:
Not enough jobs; Few opportunities; Inadequate conditions; Desertification
Famine or drought; Political fear or persecution; Slavery or forced labor; Poor medical
care; Loss of wealth; Natural disasters; Death threats; Desire for more political or
religious freedom; Pollution; Poor housing; Landlord/tenant issues; Bullying; Mentality;
Discrimination; Poor chances of marrying
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Condemned housing (radon gas, etc.); War; Radiation; Disease
Pull factors:
Job opportunities; Better living conditions; The feeling of having more political or
religious freedom; Enjoyment; Education; Better medical care
Attractive climates; SecurityFamily links; Industry; ; Better chances of marrying; Climate
cycles
.The modern field of climate history suggests that the successive waves of Eurasian
nomadic movement throughout history have had their origins in climatic cycles, which
have expanded or contracted pastureland in Central Asia, especially Mongolia and to its
west the Altai. People were displaced from their home ground by other tribes trying to
find land that could be grazed by essential flocks, each group pushing the next further
to the south and west, into the highlands of Anatolia, the Pannonian Plain, into
Mesopotamia, or southwards, into the rich pastures of China. Bogumil Terminski uses
the term "migratory domino effect" to describe this process in the context of Sea People
invasion.
Food, sex, security
The theory that migration occurs because individuals search for food, sex and security
outside their usual habitation; Idyorough (2008) is of the view that towns and cities are
a creation of the human struggle to obtain food, sex and security. To produce food,
security and reproduction, human beings must, out of necessity, move out of their
usual habitation and enter into indispensable social relationships that are cooperative or
antagonistic. Human beings also develop the tools and equipment to enable them to
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interact with nature to produce the desired food and security. The improved
relationship (cooperative relationships) among human beings and improved technology
further conditioned by the push and pull factors all interact together to cause or bring
about migration and higher concentration of individuals into towns and cities. The
higher the technology of production of food and security and the higher the cooperative
relationship among human beings in the production of food and security and in the
reproduction of the human species, the higher would be the push and pull factors in the
migration and concentration of human beings in towns and cities. Countryside, towns
and cities do not just exist but they do so to meet the human basic needs of food,
security and the reproduction of the human species. Therefore, migration occurs
because individuals search for food, sex and security outside their usual habitation.
Social services in the towns and cities are provided to meet these basic needs for
human survival and pleasure.
Other models
Zipf's inverse distance law (1956)
Gravity model of migration and the friction of distance
Radiation law for human mobility
Buffer theory
Stouffer's theory of intervening opportunities (1940)
Zelinsky's Mobility Transition Model (1971)
Bauder's regulation of labour markets (2006): "suggests that the international migration
of workers is necessary for the survival of industrialised economies...[It] turns the
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conventional view of international migration on its head: it investigates how migration
regulates labour markets, rather than labour markets shaping migration flows."
Migration governance
By their very nature, international migration and displacement are transnational issues
concerning origin and destination States, as well as States through which migrants may
travel (often referred to as “transit” States) or in which they are hosted following
displacement across national borders. And yet, somewhat paradoxically, the majority of
migration governance has historically remained with individual States, their policies and
regulations on migration typically made at the national level.For the most part,
migration governance has been closely associated with State sovereignty. States retain
the power of deciding on the entry and stay of non-nationals because migration directly
affects some of the defining elements of a State. Bilateral and multilateral
arrangements are features of migration governance, and there are several global
arrangements in the form of international treaties in which States have reached
agreement on the application of human rights and the related responsibilities of States
in specific areas. The 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) are two
significant examples, notable for being widely ratified. Other migration conventions
have not been so broadly accepted, such as the International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which
still has no traditional countries of destination among its States parties. Beyond this,
there have been numerous multilateral and global initiatives, dialogues and processes
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on migration over several decades. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular
Migration (Global Compact for Migration) is another milestone, as the first
internationally negotiated statement of objectives for migration governance striking a
balance between migrants’ rights and the principle of States’ sovereignty over their
territory. Although it is not legally binding, the Global Compact for Migration was
adopted by consensus in December 2018 at a United Nations conference in which more
than 150 United Nations Member States participated and, later that same month, in the
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), by a vote among the Member States of 152
to 5 (with 12 abstentions).
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Explain why Filipinos migrate to other places around the world?
Reference
Category:Asian families by ancestry - Wikipedia retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 11. Ethnic Groups in Asia
Pre-activity
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Asia has a lot of Ethic Groups, let us learn some of them.
Activity Proper
Ethnic groups in Asia
Asian people
Total population
4,533,765,005
59.4% of the total world population
(World population of 7.5 billion)[1]
Regions with significant populations
South, East and Southeast Asians (Eastern Asians)[2]
China (PRC) 1,384,688,986[3]
India 1,296,834,042[4]
Indonesia 262,787,403[5]
Bangladesh 164,098,818[6]
Japan 126,168,156[7]
Philippines 100,006,900[8]
Vietnam 97,040,334[9]
Thailand 68,615,858[10]
South Korea 51,418,097[11]
Taiwan (ROC) 23,545,963[12]
Cambodia 15,288,489[13]
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Hong Kong (SAR) 7,213,338[14]
Singapore 5,996,000[15]
West and Central Asians (Western Asians)
Iran 85,888,910[16]
Turkey 81,257,239[17]
Iraq 39,650,145[18]
Saudi Arabia 33,091,113[19]
Syria 19,454,263[20]
Kazakhstan 18,744,548[21]
Jordan 10,458,413[22]
United Arab Emirates 9,701,315[23]
Israel 8,424,904[24]
Lebanon 5,469,612[25]
Palestine 4,683,000[26]
Languages
Languages of Asia (Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Japanese, Filipino,
Indonesian, Korean, Persian, Thai, Vietnamese and Hebrew among other minority Asian
languages)
Religion
Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Shinto, Judaism and others
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The ancestral population of modern Asian people has its origins in the two primary
prehistoric settlement centres - greater Southwest Asia and from the Mongolian plateau
towards Northern China.
Migrations of distinct ethnolinguistic groups have probably occurred as early as 10,000
years ago. However, about 2.000 BCE early Iranian speaking people and Indo-Aryans
have arrived in Iran and northern Indian subcontinent. Pressed by the Mongols, Turkic
peoples oftenly migrated to the western and northern regions of the Central Asian
plains. Prehistoric migrants from South China and Southeast Asia seem to have
populated East Asia, Korea and Japan in several waves, where they gradually replaced
indigenous people, such as the Ainu, who are of uncertain origin. Austroasiatic and
Austronesian people establish in Southeast Asia between 5.000 and 2.000 BCE, partly
merging with, but eventually displacing the indigenous Australo-Melanesians.
In terms of Asian people, there is an abundance of ethnic groups in Asia, with
adaptations to the climate zones of the continent, which include arctic, subarctic,
temperate, subtropical or tropical, as well as extensive desert regions in Central and
Western Asia. The ethnic groups have adapted to mountains, deserts, grasslands, and
forests, while on the coasts of Asia, resident ethnic groups have adopted various
methods of harvest and transport. The types of diversity in Asia are cultural, religious,
economic and historical.
Ethnological map of the Pamirs
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Some groups are primarily hunter-gatherers- whereas others practice transhumance
(nomadic lifestyle), have been agrarian for millennia, or adopted an industrial or urban
lifestyle. Some groups or countries in Asia are completely urban (e.g., Qatar and
Singapore); the largest countries in Asia with regard to population are the China, India,
Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Iran, Thailand, Burma,
and South Korea. Colonisation of Asian ethnic groups and states by European peoples
began in the late 1st millennium BCE, reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
Ethnic map of Central Asia
Central Asia, in its most common definition, is deemed to consist of five former Soviet
Socialist Republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
In a wider view, Xinjiang of western China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and northern
Pakistan are included. Turkic, Indo-Iranian, and Mongolic peoples comprise its general
ethnicities.
The main religions of Central Asia are Islam (Turkic/Indo-Iranian peoples) and
Buddhism (Mongolia). Central Asia has a long, rich history mainly based on its
geographical location along the ancient Silk Road. It has been conquered by Mongols,
Tibetans, Timurids, Uzbeks Persians, Tatars, Russians, Afghans and Sarmatians, and
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thus has a very distinct, vibrant culture.The culture is influenced by Chinese, Indian,
Jewish/Hebrew, Persian, Afghan, Arabian, Turkish, Russian, Sarmatian and Mongolian
cultures.
The music of Central Asia is rich and varied and is appreciated worldwide. Meanwhile,
Central Asian cuisine is one of the most prominent cuisines of Asia, with cuisines from
Pakistan, India, China and Azerbaijan showing significant influence from the foods of
Central Asia. One of the most famous Central Asian foods is kebab.
The literature of Central Asia is linked with Persian literature as historically it has been
part of the Persian Empire for a lot of its history. Furthermore, sitting at the junction of
the Silk Road, it has numerous Chinese, Indian and Arabian literary works.
East Asia
Ethnolinguistic map of China
East Asians is a term used for ethnic groups that are indigenous to East Asia, which
consists of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, and South
Korea.The major ethnic groups that form the core of East Asia are the Han, Korean,
and Yamato. Other ethnic groups of East Asia include the Bai, Hui, Tibetans, Manchus,
Ryukyuan, Ainu, Zhuang, Mongols and other Mongolic peoples.
The major East Asian language families are the Sinitic, Japonic, and Koreanic families.
Other language families are Tibeto-Burman, Ainu languages, Mongolic, Tungusic,
Turkic, Miao–Yao, Tai–Kadai, Austronesian and Mon–Khmer.
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Throughout the ages, the greatest influence on East Asia historically has been from
China, where the span of its cultural influence is generally known as the Sinosphere laid
the foundation for East Asian civilization. Chinese culture not only served as the
foundation its own society and civilization, but for also that of its East Asian neighbors,
Japan and Korea.The knowledge and ingenuity of Chinese civilization and the classics of
Chinese literature and culture were seen as the foundations for a civilized life in East
Asia. China served as a vehicle through which the adoption of Confucian ethical
philosophy, Chinese calendar systems, political and legal systems, architectural style,
diet, terminology, institutions, religious beliefs, imperial examinations that emphasized a
knowledge of Chinese classics, political philosophy and culture, as well as historically
sharing a common writing system reflected in the histories of Japan and Korea. The
relationship between China and its cultural influence on East Asia has been compared to
the historical influence of Greco-Roman civilization on Europe and the Western World.
[68] Major characteristics exported by China towards Japan and Korea include shared
Chinese-derived language characteristics, as well as similar social and moral
philosophies derived from Confucianist thought.
The script of the Han Chinese characters has long been a unifying feature in East Asia
as the vehicle for exporting Chinese culture to its East Asian neighbors. Chinese
characters became the unifying language of bureaucratic politics and religious
expression in East Asia.The Chinese script was passed on first to Korea, Vietnam in the
1st century, then to Japan, where it forms a major component of the Japanese writing
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system. In Korea, Sejong the Great invented the hangul alphabet in 1443, which later
becomes the main orthographic system for the Korean language in the 19th century. In
Japan, much of the Japanese language is written in hiragana, katakana in addition to
Chinese characters.
North Asia
Distribution of the Uralic, Altaic, and Yukaghir languages
European influences, especially Russian, are strong in the southwestern and central part
of the region, due to its high Russian population from Eastern Europe which began to
settle the area in the 18th-century.For the most part, North Asia is considered to be
made up of the Asian part of Russia solely. North Asia is geographically the northern
extremity of East Asia and the physical characteristics of its native inhabitants generally
resemble that of East Asians, however, this is principally divided along political lines
under separate national identities, particularly that of China, Mongolia and Russia. The
main ethnic groups of the region speak languages of the Uralic, Turkic, Mongolic, and
Tungusic language families, along with East Slavs and various "Paleo-Siberian" peoples,
with most of these ethnic groups being composed of nomads or people with a nomadic
history.
The geographic region of Siberia was the historical land of the Turkic people, the
Tatars, in the Siberia Khanate. Russia, under expansion of its territory however, took
control of the region now known as Siberia, and thus today it is under Russian rule.
There are roughly 33 million people in North Asia.
South Asia
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South Asia, in general definition, consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The five Southern Indian states
and north-eastern Sri Lanka share a Dravidian culture, due to the prominence of
Dravidian languages there. The Brahuis of Pakistan also belong to Dravidian people
group. Sri Lanka has two main languages, Sinhalese which has Indo-Aryan roots and
Tamil which has Dravidian roots. Bangladesh and the Indian province West Bengal
share a common Bengali language and culture. The provinces of Azad Kashmir and
Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan share a common Dardic and Tibetic heritage with the Indian
territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Similarly the Punjab province of Pakistan
and Indian state of Punjab share a common Punjabi ethnicity, language and culture. In
Pakistan, the two western regions of Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa share a
greater Iranian heritage and while the provinces of Sindh share a more Indo-Aryan
culture. Iranian is most prevalent in Afghanistan, with significant Turkic speakers.
Regions of Nepal and parts of the Indian states and territories of Arunachal Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand have cultural
similarity to Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism being the dominant religion there. Finally the
Northeast Indian states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and tribal groups of
Assam and Tripura have cultural affinities with South East Asia.
Bhutanese are often referred to in their literature as "Bhote" (people of Bhutia/Bhotia or
Tibet). They follow Tibetan Buddhism to and it is a dominant political and cultural
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element in modern Bhutan. Their language, Dzongkha, is the national language and is
descended from Old Tibetan.
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, religions founded in the region that is
today's India, are spread throughout the subcontinent. Islam and Christianity also have
significant region-specific histories. While India and Nepal have a majority of people
following Hinduism, Sri Lanka and Bhutan have a majority of Buddhists alongside
Hinduism. Islam is the second largest religion after Hinduism with Muslim countries like
Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Indo-Aryan languages are spoken in most of North, East, West and Central India;
Nepal; Bangladesh; Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Dravidian languages are spoken in
India,fewer parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Maldives, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Tibeto-Burman languages are spoken in the hills of Bangladesh, Nepal, North Pakistan,
North and North East India. Austroasiatic languages are spoken in certain northern and
eastern areas of Bangladesh, parts of Nepal and scattered across different zones of
India mostly concentrated around Chota Nagpur Plateau and the state of Meghalaya.
Iranian languages are most prevalent in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Turkic
speakers are significant in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan as well.
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is often split into two parts: Mainland Southeast Asia, comprising Burma,
Cambodia, Laos, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam; and Maritime Southeast
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Asia, which includes Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, East Malaysia, the Philippines, and
Singapore. China has historically influenced the region more than India, most notably
through the large Chinese populations in many of the countries of the region.
Demographically, Southeast Asia has had little Western immigration, although Western
influence still exists due to the lasting legacy of colonialism. One example is the
Philippines, which has been heavily influenced by Spain and slightly by the United
States of America over the course of almost four centuries of colonisation.
A common feature found around the region is stilt houses, while another is rice paddy
agriculture, which originated in the region thousands of years ago. Dance is also a very
important feature of the culture, utilizing movements of the hands and feet perfected
over thousands of years. Furthermore, the arts and literature of Southeast Asia is very
distinctive as some have been influenced by Indian, Hindu, Chinese, Islamic and
Buddhist literature.
West Asia
Ethnolinguistic distribution in Central/Southwest Asia of the Altaic, Caucasian,
Afroasiatic (Hamito-Semitic) and Indo-European families.
Traditional costumes of (from right to left) a Christian resident of Famagusta, a
Christian woman of Famagusta, and an Orthodox monk of the Monastery of Tchiko,
near Lefka. Photographed in Cyprus in 1873.
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West Asia is sometimes referred to as "Southwest Asia". West Asia consists of Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, most of
Turkey, and part of Egypt.
Culturally, the region's dominant ethnic groups are Arab (about 150 million), Turkic
(about 60 million), Persian (about 50 million) and Kurds (about 35 million). Other
indigenous minorities include Jews (6.2 million), Assyrians (about 400,000), Armenians
(about 4.5 million), Azerbaijanis (about 40 million), Mandaeans, Yazidis, Circassians,
and others. Many of the West Asian countries contain expansive deserts, and thus many
nomadic groups exist today, most notably the Bedouin Arabs.
Other minorities and migrant groups
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Europeans, Russian nationals, North Americans and South Americans
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A woman in Nepalese costume
At least 21 million of European, Russian, North American and South American
nationalities and heritage live in Asia, representing 0.45% of the total population of
Asia. The following is a list of people with such ancestry and nationality, including
people of mixed heritage of part Asian and part European/North American/South
American, living in Asian countries, also showing the main country of origin.
Philippines 5 million (Spain, 4.7% of total population)
China 4.2 million (Russia, 0.31% of total population),
Kazakhstan 3.5 million (Russia, 19% of total population)
India 1.7 million (United Kingdom, 0.12% of total population)
Kyrgyzstan 837,000 (Russia, 13.5% of total population)
Uzbekistan 750,000 (Russia, 2.3% of total population)
United Arab Emirates 461,000 (United Kingdom, 4.9% of total population)
Turkmenistan (Russia, 5.1% of total population) 297,913
Thailand 250,000 (United Kingdom, 0.36% of total population)
South Korea 245,000 (United States, 0.48% of total population)
Hong Kong 218,209 (United States, 3.1% of total population)
Indonesia 189,000 (Netherlands, 0.071% of total population)
Pakistan 149,253 (United Kingdom, 0.07% of total population)
Syria 120,000 (Russia, 0.7% of total population)
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Azerbaijan 119,300 (Russia, 1.2% of total population)
Qatar 115,000 (United States, 4.3% of total population
Bangladesh 110,138 (United States, 0.06% of total population)
Cyprus 109,462 (United Kingdom, 9.1% of total population)
Japan 106,000 (United States, 0.08% of total population)
Saudi Arabia 100,000 (United States, 0.3% of total population)
Singapore 76,900 (United Kingdom, 1.3% of total population)
Tajikistan 68,200 (Russia, 1.1% of total population)
Jordan 65,000 (Russia, 0.67% of total population)
Iran 50,000 (Russia, 0.061% of total population)
Malaysia 37,000 (Portugal, 0.11% of total population)
Georgia 26,453 (Russia, 0.7% of total population)
Lebanon 25,000 (United States, 0.41% of total population)
Taiwan 21,000 (United States, 0.09% of total population)
Myanmar 19,200 (United Kingdom, 0.035% of total population)
Oman 16,349 (United Kingdom, 0.39% of total population)
Bahrain 15,000 (United Kingdom, 1% of total population)[
Afghanistan 13,000 (United States, 0.037% of total population)
Kuwait 13,000 (United States, 0.031% of total population)
Macau 13,000 (Portugal, 2.3% of total population)
Armenia 11,911 (Russia, 0.4% of total population)
Sri Lanka 8,856 (Italy, 0.04% of total population)
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Iraq 6,000 (United States, 0.015% of total population)
Mongolia 3,000 (Russia, 0.1% of total population)
Nepal 3,000 (United States, 0.01% of total population)
Vietnam 2,700 (United States, 0.002% of total population)
North Korea 2,045 (United States, 0.008% of total population)
Maldives 1,117 (Germany, 0.25% of total population)
Cambodia 1,000 (France, 0.006% of total population)
Yemen 1,000 (United States, 0.003% of total population)
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. After reading this lesson, what are your important take aways?
Reference
Human migration - Wikipedia retrieved August 27, 2021
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Lesson 12. Political Organizations in Asia
Pre-activity
Let us learn some Political Organizations in Asia.
Activity Proper
A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process,
including political parties, non-governmental organizations, and special interest
advocacy groups. Political organizations are those engaged in political activities (e.g.,
lobbying, community organizing, campaign advertising, etc.) aimed at achieving clearly-
defined political goals, which typically benefit the interests of their members.
While parties are one type of political organization that may engage in some or all of
those activities, they are distinct in that they typically focus on supporting candidates
for public office, winning elections and controlling government.
The most well-known type of political organization is the political party. Political parties
are directly involved in the political processes of countries with party systems, of which
there are several types.
Some of the most common types are democratic multi-party systems, single party
dictatorships, and two party systems.
Democratic systems
In democratic Multi-party systems such as India, Pakistan, etc., there is no restriction
on the number of parties allowed to be in operation at any given time. Under these
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types of systems, people are free to participate in the political process both through
elections and by forming their own political parties as they please.
Examples of multi-party systems are:
Armenia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Pakistan, Philippines,
Taiwan
Single party systems
In single-party systems, one political party exercises control over the government.
Unlike under other systems, single-party systems do not necessarily extend democratic
privileges to the citizens. This means that citizens have little say regarding political
subjects.
Examples of single-party systems are:
China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Vietnam
Two-party systems
Two-party systems are similar to multiparty systems in that power is not concentrated
in one party and that parties have to consider the opinion of the general public in order
to retain power by winning elections. Most two-party systems are technically multiparty
systems but all power is effectively concentrated amongst two parties or coalitions.
Examples of two-party systems are:
Australia, Malta, Nepal, United Kingdom, United States
Party coalitions
Another type of political organization is the party coalition. A party coalition is a group
of political parties operating together in parliament. Oftentimes, party coalitions are
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formed after elections have taken place and no party has clearly won a majority seat in
parliament (e.g. the AAP-Congress Government in Delhi). Other coalitions are formed
prior to elections and are effectively agreements between two or more parties to run
jointly in elections and to pursue similar agendas (e.g. the National Democratic Alliance
in India, and the Liberal/National Coalition in Australia.
Lobby group
In politics, lobbying, persuasion, or interest representation is the act of lawfully
attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most
often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which usually involves
direct, face-to-face contact, is done by many types of people, associations and
organized groups, including individuals in the private sector, corporations, fellow
legislators or government officials, or advocacy groups (interest groups). Lobbyists may
be among a legislator's constituencies, meaning a voter or bloc of voters within their
electoral district; they may engage in lobbying as a business. Professional lobbyists are
people whose business is trying to influence legislation, regulation, or other government
decisions, actions, or policies on behalf of a group or individual who hires them.
Individuals and nonprofit organizations can also lobby as an act of volunteering or as a
small part of their normal job. Governments often define and regulate organized group
lobbying that has become influential.
The ethics and morals involved with legally bribing or lobbying or influence peddling are
complicated. Lobbying can, at times, be spoken of with contempt, when the implication
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is that people with inordinate socioeconomic power are corrupting the law in order to
serve their own interests. When people who have a duty to act on behalf of others,
such as elected officials with a duty to serve their constituents' interests or more
broadly the public good, can benefit by shaping the law to serve the interests of some
private parties, a conflict of interest exists. Many critiques of lobbying point to the
potential for conflicts of interest to lead to agent misdirection or the intentional failure
of an agent with a duty to serve an employer, client, or constituent to perform those
duties. The failure of government officials to serve the public interest as a consequence
of lobbying by special interests who provide benefits to the official is an example of
agent misdirection. That is why lobbying is seen as one of the causes of a democratic
deficit.
Etymology
In a report carried by the BBC, an OED lexicographer has shown that "lobbying" finds
its roots in the gathering of Members of Parliament and peers in the hallways
("lobbies") of the UK Houses of Parliament before and after parliamentary debates
where members of the public can meet their representatives.
One story held that the term originated at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, where it
was supposedly used by President Ulysses S. Grant to describe the political advocates
who frequented the hotel's lobby to access Grant—who was often there in the evenings
to enjoy a cigar and brandy—and then tried to buy the president drinks in an attempt to
influence his political decisions. Although the term may have gained more widespread
currency in Washington, D.C. by virtue of this practice during the Grant Administration,
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the OED cites numerous documented uses of the word well before Grant's presidency,
including use in Pennsylvania as early as 1808.
The term "lobbying" also appeared in print as early as 1820
Other letters from Washington affirm, that members of the Senate, when the
compromise question was to be taken in the House, were not only "lobbying about the
Representatives' Chamber" but also active in endeavoring to intimidate certain weak
representatives by insulting threats to dissolve the Union.
Lobby groups may concentrate their efforts on the legislatures, where laws are created,
but may also use the judicial branch to advance their causes. The National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People, for example, filed suits in state and federal
courts in the 1950s to challenge segregation laws. Their efforts resulted in the Supreme
Court declaring such laws unconstitutional.
Lobbyists may use a legal device known as amicus curiae (literally: "friend of the court")
briefs to try to influence court cases. Briefs are written documents filed with a court,
typically by parties to a lawsuit. Amici curiae briefs are briefs filed by people or groups
who are not parties to a suit. These briefs are entered into the court records, and give
additional background on the matter being decided upon. Advocacy groups use these
briefs both to share their expertise and to promote their positions.
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The lobbying industry is affected by the revolving door concept, a movement of
personnel between roles as legislators and regulators and roles in the industries
affected by legislation and regulation, as the main asset for a lobbyist is contacts with
and influence on government officials.This climate is attractive for ex-government
officials.It can also mean substantial monetary rewards for lobbying firms, and
government projects and contracts worth in the hundreds of millions for those they
represent.
The international standards for the regulation of lobbying were introduced at four
international organizations and supranational associations: 1) the European Union; 2)
the Council of Europe; 3) the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development;
4) the Commonwealth of Independent States.[15]
Methods
In 2013, the director general of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan,
illustrated the methods used in lobbying against public health:
Efforts to prevent noncommunicable diseases go against the business interests of
powerful economic operators. In my view, this is one of the biggest challenges facing
health promotion. it is not just Big Tobacco anymore. Public health must also contend
with Big Food, Big Soda, and Big Alcohol. All of these industries fear regulation, and
protect themselves by using the same tactics. Research has documented these tactics
well. They include front groups, lobbies, promises of self-regulation, lawsuits, and
industry-funded research that confuses the evidence and keeps the public in doubt.
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Tactics also include gifts, grants, and contributions to worthy causes that cast these
industries as respectable corporate citizens in the eyes of politicians and the public.
They include arguments that place the responsibility for harm to health on individuals,
and portray government actions as interference in personal liberties and free choice.
This is formidable opposition. When industry is involved in policy-making, rest assured
that the most effective control measures will be downplayed or left out entirely. This,
too, is well documented, and dangerous. In the view of WHO, the formulation of health
policies must be protected from distortion by commercial or vested interests.
Other countries
Canada: Canada maintains a Registry of Lobbyists.
Israel (1994)
India: In India, where there is no law regulating the process, lobbying had traditionally
been a tool for industry bodies (like FICCI) and other pressure groups to engage with
the government ahead of the national budget and legislation in parliament. One reason
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being that lobbying activities were repeatedly identified in the context of corruption
cases. For example, in 2010, leaked audio transcripts of Nira Radia. Not only private
companies but even the Indian government has been paying a fee every year since
2005 to a US firm to lobby for ex. to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. In India, there
are no laws that defined the scope of lobbying, who could undertake it, or the extent of
disclosure necessary. Companies are not mandated to disclose their activities and
lobbyists are neither authorized nor encouraged to reveal the names of clients or public
officials they have contacted. The distinction between Lobbying and bribery still remains
unclear. In 2012, Walmart revealed it had spent $25 million since 2008 on lobbying to
"enhance market access for investment in India." This disclosure came weeks after the
Indian government made a controversial decision to permit FDI in the country's multi-
brand retail sector.
Kazakhstan: Since 1998, Kazakhstan has been trying to pass a law on lobbying. The
National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken" is one of the first official
lobbying structures in the country, but there are other examples.
International organization
An international organization (also known as an international institution or
intergovernmental organization) is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the
behavior of states and other actors in the international system. Organizations may be
established by a treaty or be an instrument governed by international law and
possessing its own legal personality, such as the United Nations, the World Health
Organization and NATO. International organizations are composed of primarily member
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states, but may also include other entities, such as other international organizations.
Additionally, entities (including states) may hold observer status.
Notable examples include the United Nations (UN), Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Bank for International Settlements (BIS),
Council of Europe (COE), International Labour Organization (ILO) and
International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
History
The first and oldest international organization—being established employing a treaty,
and creating a permanent secretariat, with a global membership—was the International
Telecommunication Union (founded in 1865). The first general international
organization—addressing a variety of issues—was the League of Nations. The United
Nations followed this model after World War II.
Purpose
The role of international organizations is helping to set the international agenda,
mediating political bargaining, providing a place for political initiatives and acting as
catalysts for the coalition- formation. They facilitate cooperation and coordination
among member nations. In addition, they promote global initiatives aimed at reducing
inequality like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10.
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Regional organizations
International organizations typically have member states from the whole world,
however in some cases organizations have geographic limitations, such as the European
Union, African Union and NATO. The United Nations also has regional organizations,
such as UNECE and UNECA.
The oldest regional organization is the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine,
created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna.
United Nations Agencies
The United Nations organizes its work into agencies, such as United Nations Relief
Works Agency, which are generally considered as international organizations in their
own right.
Additionally, the United Nations has Specialized Agencies which are organizations within
the United Nations System, that have their member states (often nearly identical to the
UN Member States) and are governed independently by them, examples include
International Organizations that predate the UN, such the International
Telecommunication Union, and the Universal Postal Union, as well as organizations that
were created after the UN such as the World Health Organization (which was made up
of regional organizations such as PAHO that predated the UN).
International NGOs
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International organizations are sometimes referred to as intergovernmental
organizations (IGOs), to clarify the distinction from international non-governmental
organizations (INGOs), which are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate
internationally. These include international nonprofit organizations such as the World
Organization of the Scout Movement, International Committee of the Red Cross and
Médecins Sans Frontières, as well as lobby groups that represent the interests of
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. Discuss the concept of Political Organizations and explain why they
exists.
Reference
Lobbying - Wikipedia retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 13. Asian Environment Issues
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Pre-activity
Asia is not immune from the different issues. Let us discuss some of them.
Activity Proper
6 Major Environmental Problems of Asia
Throughout the Asia-Pacific region, rapid economic and population growth creates
serious social consequences from environmental problems of urban excess,
deforestation, overfishing, global warming, air pollution, and limited safe water supplies.
The Asian economic crisis has aggravated this trend. Economic policies have
encouraged growth in some sectors while ignoring damage to others. Further, little
regard is given to sustainability of the exploited resources. The social costs in terms of
health, economic efficiency, and cultural dislocation are immediate, while the long-term
costs of environmental rehabilitation are humbling. Left unbridled, environmental
damage can lead to economic decline.
Urban Excess
Environmental problems arise from the urban by-products of transport, industrial
activities, and the overcrowding of human habitation. Economic policies have
encouraged mass migration of labor to urban industries. The shift from rural to urban
Asia will accelerate in the coming century, aggravating urban crowding and increasing
the risk of social and political conflict. Asia’s urban profile increased from 27% (0.7B
people) in 1980 to 38% (1.4B) in 2000 and will rise to 50% (2.3B) in 2020.
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To date, governments have stimulated urban migration by maintaining low food costs,
which reduce rural incomes and increase the flight to the cities. About a third of the
people in the Third World’s cities live in desperately overcrowded slums and squatter
settlements, with many people unemployed, uneducated, undernourished and
chronically ill. Conditions will worsen as their numbers swell and transport,
communication, health and sanitation systems break down. One solution to urban
excesses is to divert industry and its induced labor migration away from the mega cities
towards surrounding areas. This requires significant infrastructure investment, however,
and establishes competing centers of political power.
Deforestation/Desertification
Asian food security is threatened by deforestation and desertification. More than a third
of the arable land in Asia is at risk. Nearly 75% of Southeast Asia’s original forest cover
has been destroyed at an annual loss rate that is the size of Switzerland.
The loss of forests and agricultural land is due to both the exploitation for profit and the
ignorance of good practices. Isolated, rogue regimes such as Burma exploit timber, oil,
and mineral resources to support their governments. Poor farmers across Asia use
improper irrigation and fertilization practices, resulting in increased salinity and toxic
soils.
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Regardless of motive and method, the loss of workable land hurts not only the
harvester, but also has broad consequences for his neighbors in terms of erosion,
downstream flooding, and pollution.
Indonesia’s provinces refuse to properly manage the annual smog threatening the
health and productivity of its own people as well as in neighboring Singapore and
Malaysia. These failings point to an obvious need to invest in improved oversight,
management, monitoring, methods, and conservation.
Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance After years of conflict, large quantities of mines
and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) litter the landscape, killing and maiming
thousands of innocent victims annually. The problem is most acute in Cambodia,
Vietnam, and Laos.
In Cambodia, one out of every 245 individuals is an amputee. Landmines and/or UXO
maim or kill 100 people per month in Cambodia. Death or injury remove many victims
from the work force during their productive years, further debilitating economically
disadvantaged families.
Landmines and UXO create vast numbers of internally displaced people, remove
valuable real estate from productive use, serve as physical barriers to the movement of
people, goods and services, and dramatically increase the mortality rate of both people
and livestock.
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Cambodia’s 4 to 6 million landmines are scatter over 1,800 square kilometers, or
roughly 1% of the country. Estimates are that 200,000 tons of UXO affect up to 50% of
the Laotian landmass.
Major projects have been delayed, and, before activities proceed, accountants must set
aside up to 10% of project costs for mine clearance. Large-scale development is
difficult or impossible because of landmines.
Agricultural production could increase by 135% in Cambodia without the impediments
of mines and UXO. The United States has provided millions of dollars in monetary aid
and has carried out or proposed a number of projects to help these countries deal with
this problem. Progress toward removing all mines and UXO is slow, and may be
impossible due to technical difficulties in identifying mines and UXO in the field.
Areas of greatest economic value should receive highest priority for clearance, barriers
need to be constructed for those areas that cannot be cleared at this time, and
educational programs should be initiated. The U.S. military’s unique technical
knowledge helps these clearing efforts, but domestic programs need sound funding and
implementation.
Water
As the demand for water grows with population and the economy, water supplies will
be increasingly polluted from untreated sewage, from industrial discharges, and from
salt-water intrusion of overexploited water tables.
In Jakarta, it costs $20M to $30M annually to boil water for home use. In Manila Bay,
heavily polluted by sewage, fish catches have dropped 40% in the last decade. Fish
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catches near cities in India and China also have experienced major declines. Of
Taiwan's 20 million people, less than 1 million are served by sewers. Each day in Hong
Kong, about 1 million tons of sewage and industrial effluent pour untreated into the sea
- a volume to fill 500 Olympic swimming pools, according to Hong Kong officials.
Projecting to 2025, water shortages will affect India, China, North and South Korea,
Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Water disputes have affected international relations for years. Although an agreement
was reached in 1996, India and Bangladesh have disagreed on the sharing of the
waters of the Ganges for more than 20 years. Greater numbers of international disputes
will arise and be more difficult to resolve as populations increase and economies grow,
thereby placing a greater demand on scarce resources.
A domestic resource allocation problem that is common to the Pacific Islands soon will
prevail over Asia: high-use agriculture will compete with populations for scarce water
supplies. While more than 80% of the water consumed in Asia is used for agricultural
purposes, 60 to 75% is lost to evaporation before reaching the crops. A technological
solution may be to encourage the use of water-efficient drip irrigation techniques, which
are employed in less than 1% of all irrigated areas.
Overfishing
Fish are a key source of food for virtually all Asian states, providing one of the largest
sources of animal protein to the world's fastest growing commodity market. The world’s
largest tuna fishery crosses the jurisdiction of at least 21 countries—as well as extensive
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high-seas areas of the Pacific Ocean—and involves harvesting by fishing vessels from
26 different nations.
Across the Pacific and in many coastal and riparian parts of Asia, fishing is a significant
part of the economic base, providing food, employment, revenue, and foreign exchange
earnings. World fisheries are being overfished as marine catches increased from 17
million metric tons (MMT) in 1950 to a peak of 87.1 MMT in 1996. As a result, there has
been a steady increase in the frequency of clashes and incidents at sea caused by
foreign fishing trawlers illegally encroaching into Exclusive Economic Zones and
territorial seas.
Aquaculture production is a growing part of the fisheries sector. In 1996, 20% of all
global fisheries production was from aquaculture. Asia dominates world aquaculture for
fish, shrimp and shellfish, with China producing 68% of the global total. If done in an
environmentally friendly manner, aquaculture can be a positive contributor to the world
food supply.
For example, giant tiger prawn production in Thailand has exploded from 900 to
277,000 tons in the last decade. However, reckless pumping of seawater into shrimp
ponds can damage neighboring fields and hurt coastal marine life.
To protect fisheries and insure sustainability, cooperative resource management
schemes such as fishing quotas need to be established and enforced. Militaries, coast
guards, law enforcement, and courts should cooperate to reduce the possibility of
disputes, collisions, and pollution, such as negligent oil spills.
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Global Warming
Carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane, and nitrous oxide act like a glass
in a greenhouse, letting the sun’s rays in but trapping heat that would otherwise be
released back into space. Carbon dioxide accounts for more than half of the warming
affect, while CFCs contribute about a quarter and methane and nitrous oxide cause the
remainder. Temperatures have increased .3 to .6 degrees C over the last century,
consistent with the rise in greenhouse gases as predicted in recently developed
computer models. Climate models predict that temperatures will be 1 to 3 degrees C
higher in 2100.
Rising ocean temperatures and melting polar caps will elevate sea levels by 15 to 95 cm
in the next century. Bangladesh could lose 17% of its land area to rising seas, while
several island nations, such as the Maldives and Tuvalu will become uninhabitable or
disappear. Parts of Northern Europe and Canada will benefit from better harvests, but
crop yields in India could decline by 30% by 2050.
The controversial solution of the Kyoto Protocol of December 1997 places legally
binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol aims to reduce emissions
from developing countries to approximately 95% of their 1990 levels by the 2008 to
2012 timeframe.
Air Pollution
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ir pollution from vehicles, power plants, incinerators and industry is a major problem in
Asia. Outdated pollution control technology and the use of high polluting fuels
compound this problem.
Health. Nine of the fifteen cities with the highest particulate levels in the world and six
out of the fifteen cities worst affected by sulfur dioxide are in East Asia. Air pollution in
China caused more that 175,000 premature deaths in 1995 and nearly 2 million cases
of chronic bronchitis. Damage to health and buildings cost Bangkok $1B annually, while
air pollution in Delhi decreased crop yields by 30%.
Cross-impacts. Air pollution, in the form of acid rain, can be transported hundreds of
miles by wind before being deposited through fog, rain or snow. The acidic deposition
damages buildings, degrades the environment and reduces crop yields. In India, wheat
growing near a power plant suffered a 49% reduction in yield compared with that
grown 22 kilometers away.
Transnational interest. South Korea and Japan are concerned about economic and
health effects of airborne pollutants and acid rain from coal burning power plants in
nearby China. China's heavy use of air-polluting coal blurs the distinction between
domestic economics and transnational threats.
Technology. The developed countries have dramatically reduced the amount of
pollutant emissions in the last 20 years through the implementation of new
technologies. Widespread use of these proven technologies in developing and advanced
Asian economies, coupled with cleaner burning fuels such as unleaded gasoline, natural
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gas and low sulfur coal can reduce total emissions regardless of rising energy
consumption. Implications for Cooperation Since trade has a significant effect on
environmental conditions, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is making efforts to
address these problems in a multilateral forum. Also, the APEC forum is discussing
environmental policy, technologies, sustainability, and education and information.
Countries are increasingly participating in global and regional conventions on
atmosphere and oceans, protection of wildlife and habitat, and the handling of
hazardous substances. The United Nations and the World Bank are providing aid
through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for countries suffering from spillover
pollution of neighboring countries.
Fledgling regional organizations are develop a dialog for resolving contentious issues by
discussing environmental management; nature conservation; industrial, marine, and
urban settings; and education, training, and information.
Among these organizations are ASEAN, the South Asia Cooperative Environment
Program (SACEP), the South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP), and the
Lower Mekong Basin Development Environment Program (LMBDEP). The latter
organization links economic cooperation and development in Laos, Vietnam and
Thailand, addresses food and power production, flood control, and navigation in the
lower Mekong River basin.
Conclusions
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Environmental issues are an underlying—and often neglected—cause for conflicts,
disasters, or dislocations. Militaries in the region may be called upon not only to resolve
conflicts, but—like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—to use their organizational skills
and resources to address both crisis relief and long-term issues of security and
infrastructure. Further—at the micro-economic level—each country's military faces a
broad array of environmental challenges from the impact of their infrastructure and
operations. The U.S. military is highly skilled in confronting these challenges. By sharing
these environmental security practices with other countries, the U.S. military promotes
good governance and sets an example for reducing environmental threats.
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. Among the many environmental problems that Asia is experiencing right now,
what do you think is the greatest problem that might cause our extinction in the coming
years.
Reference
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https://www.bing.com/search?
q=environmental+issues+in+asia&cvid=ce21197ac5434cd99f5467a3f8839
34f&aqs=edge.0.0.8287j0j4&FORM=ANAB01&PC=HCTS retrieved August
27, 2021
Lesson 14. Conflicts in Asia
Pre-activity
There were many conflicts and issues that surrounds this topic in Asia, but this time, I
will select only only specific only to our country-The Philippines. The primary focus of
these discussion is the conflict of the Philippine government and the separatists Moro
National Liberation Front and Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Activity Proper
Philippines
Seceded- to withdraw formally from membership of some body, esp. from a state.
From Latin word secedere- to go away
Secession- the act of seceding
Separatist-a member of a political or religious minority favoring secession
Lumads- visayan term for native
According to Human Development Network, 2005
Nearly 40 years since its eruption, the Moro struggle remains one of the longest-
running secessionists armed conflicts in the world
According to Bobby M. Tuazon, 2008
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“The resistance of the Moro peoples againts these trepidations in order to guard their
nation-states and ethnicity was waged through the long period of colonialism, chiefly
by Spain and the United States, followed by the founding of the Third Republic in 1946
that began the arbitrary assertions for the territorial cooptation of the Moro provinces,
resulting in the ethnocidal attacks by the Philippines armed forces and government-
backed private armies during the 1950s-1960’s triggering the wars of secession and self
determinism of the 1970’s until today.”
According to former Congressman Manuel Collantes
“All of us have read the seven years war. The thirty years war and the hundred years
war. But our Muslim brothers fiercely loyal to Islamic faith established a world record.
They waged 333 years war against Spain….The American could never totally subdue
our Muslim brothers…”
According to Najib Saleeby
“ The Moro has been pictured to the outside world as a black Devil Incarnate conceived
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in inequity and born in mischief”.
Unfair laws against the Muslims
Registration Act of 1902-created the private land holdings
Public Land Act of 1905 and 1919
Anscestral Act of 1907
Resettlement policy- resulted to mass eviction of Muslims and Lumads
1982- over 217,644 people were displaced
1963- Philippine Congress received complaint about the “democracy of colonialism”
1918 to 1948- Muslims and Lumads were displaced
National Integration Policy of the Government
Multinationals in Mindanao
- PANAMIN- Presidential Assistant for National Minorities
Logging, Mining and Agri-business
9 American Mining Companies
1. Llanza Bay Logging; 2. Findlay Miller Co.; 3. Paper and Industrial Corp.; 4. Bishop
Bay Winter Co.; 5. Basilan Lumber Co.; 6. Philippine Wallboard; 7.Sta. Ines Malale;
8.Augan Wood; 9.ADECOR
Three Points that Muslims wanted to be understood
1. Islam as a culture; 2. Islam as a system of moderation; 3. Islam that cannot be
assimilated
Spanish propaganda versus the Spaniards
Pirates; Murderers; Juramentados; Savages cutthroats; People incapable of

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civilizations; Terrorists
MNLF and the Muslim Secessionists
Paused the greatest threat to the established order.
Marcos solution
He appealed to the ASIANS and OIC to forge a ceasefire and offered a promise to the
Muslims for amnesty and socio-economic support to bring them to the level of the
people of Luzon and Visayas.
Marcos focused only on Christian Settlement
Injustice; Prejudice; Neglect; discrimination
4/16 Principal Ethnic Muslim Groups
1. Tausogs- western mindanao
2.Samals- western mindanao
3. Maguindanaons- central-eastern mindanao
4. Maranaws-central-eastern mindanao
14/16 Muslim Ethnic Groups
Yakan- Basilan; Jama mapun- Cagayan de sulu; Badjaos- Tawi-tawi
Sangil Malibuganon-; Malbag- South Western Mindanao; Bangingi- Western Mindanao
Kalagan- Davao provinces; Ilanon-Palawan; Tagbanua- Palawan; Samal Pangutaran-
Palawan; Palawanen-Palawan
; Batak- Palawan
21 Ethno-linguistic Groups or Lumads some of them are already Islamized

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Ata Tagbasna
Bagobo Tiboli
Banuan Terway
Batak Nbo
B’laan Bukidnon
Dibalbawon Higanon
Mananwa Mangguwangan
Manobo Mansaka
Mitigsalug Palawon
Subanon Tagakado
Cause of heartaches
How Lumads are dispossessed and displaced from their sacred homeland is a sad story
to tell. But they object to Bangsa Moro.
Principal issues according to Catholic Peacebuilding Network (2006)
1. persistent material inequity
2. status inequity and broken relationships
3. structures that perpetuate injustice
4. international factors shaping the arena of conflict
5. interactions and self-perpetuating spirals.
Two separate problems according to Husin, 2009
1. Moro insurgency
Large-scale secessionists-driven armed conflict
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2. community-centered-armed conflicts- including clan feuds, this could escalate
into the broader context of secessionists conflict.
In 2009- there were 1,470 cases of clan feuds from 1930 to 2009
Killed 5,816; wounded 4,285;displaced 50,641 families
Other problems
While the MILF is asking 1,000 barangays the GRP is willing to allow only 600.
Clan Feuds (rido) and Secessionists Wars: Interplay of Conflicts
MILF used clan feuds to escalate secessionism
1. January 2005- Linantangan assault
Killed 7 soldiers,
2. August, 2004- Dapiawan encounters
3. 1989- armed confrontation at Gli-gli
Lumad’s struggle for self-determinism
Issue:Lumad Communal of Tribal Domains
1985- lumad people’s organization must be established
Right to sel-determinism
Lumad’s achievements
1. 1973 Philippine Constitution- acknowledge unique character of the
2. PD 410- in 1974- by Marcos, to protect the ancestral lands of the tribal people,
unfortunately it was never implemented.
3. 1987 Constitution- Article XII, section 5 and Art.IV section 17- right of
Indigenous cultural communities

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4.RA6734- article XII section 8- creation of ARMM
5. Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 chapter II, section 9
Other Laws that may be considered triumph of Islam in the Philippines
Proclamation no. 498 (Nov. 26, 2003) declares Nov. 26, 2003, the end of
Ramadhan, as a special non-working day throughout the country (Feast of
Ramadhan)
RA no. 9177 (Nov.13, 2002) declares the first day of shawwal, the 10th month of
the Islamic calendar, a national holiday for the observance of Eidul Fitr, and the
10th day of Zhul Hijja, the 12th month of Islamic calendar, a regional holiday in
the ARMM, for the observance of Eidul Adha.
PD no. 807- sec. 23-law for special civil service exam (PD no. 832 and 1125)
PD no. 1083, Feb. 4, 1977- Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines
RA no. 8371 (Oct. 29, 1997)- IPRA law
Article X section 15- Autonomous Regions
Estimated economic lost due to Moro conflict
1970-1982- and 1997-2001: P8.2 billion annually
1970-1981- P108-158 billion or about 0.5 percent of the national GDP
According to 2005 Philippine Human Development Report by Solita Collas-
Monsod
MNLF and MILF
MNLF- bowed to the creation of ARMM
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MILF-is still negotiating for the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
They are considered by Dannug and Campanilla as extremists. They only believe
that the reality of today is the reality forever.
That the world today is still divided into bi-polar relations, that the world is still in
a cold war period, that imperialists dominates the nation-states, capitalists versus
socialists, individualists versus collectivists.
Kinds of Government
De jure- or legitimate government- established according to the constitution.
De facto-Illegitimate government-it is one that maintains itself by a display of
force against the will of the rightful legal government and is successful , at least
temporarily in overturning the Constitution of the rightful legal government by
setting its own in lieu thereof.
3 kinds of de facto government
1. government by revolution- ex. If CPP,NPA, NDF won
2. Government by Secession- it is a government established by the inhabitants of
a state who succeed therefrom without overthrowing its government. Ex. If MILF
would succeed in its armed and revolutionary campaign to make Mindanao a
state separate and independent from the Philippines.- de facto; Philippines- de
jure
3. government by occupation
Due to the injustice experienced by the tri-people of Mindanao
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1. Christians
2. Indigenous Peoples (IPs)
3. Muslims
They began to organize their private armies
Late 1960’s- a Muslim Independence Movement began to emerge as
paramilitaries harassed the minority Muslim communities.
Early 1970s- a full scale civil war had erupted between the Philippine government
and revolutionary Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Dec. 23, 1976- MNLF and Government of the republic of the Philippines (GRP)
through the intercession of OIC- Organization of Islamic Conference concluded
Tripoli Agreement.
This agreement was not acceptable to Hashim Salamat of his MILF, and this
could create ambiguities (Tan, 2000)
MILF and Islam
MILF rationalizes its arm struggle to its followers by invoking verses from the
Qur’an that call on the Muslim faithful to fight oppression until eventual
liberation.
Nur Misuari
he misused funds intended for Mindanao Progress and spent P20 million for his
travel
-on the 16th day of Zamboanga siege- 110 MNLF rebels killed; 18 soldiers and
policemen killed; 161- wounded; 93 rebels have been captured; 45 others have
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surrendered.
-displaced 110,000 residents
DSWD- spent P3.9 billion
BIFF- Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
Led by former MILF field Kumander Umra Ameril Kato- broke away from the
MILF following the botched attempt at a peace pact, the Memorandum of
Agreement on Ancestral Domain, in 2008.
Last September 25, 2013, they took 13 teachers and pupils hostages. At least 3
soldiers and two civilians were killed.
Muslim Separatist Movement
Mindanao-based break-away group from RPM-P/RPA/ABB.
Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Mangagawa-Pilipinas (Worker’s Revolutionary
Party-Philippines/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade
In 2003, GMA- approved the start of the peace talk with RPM-M, she appointed
Quintos-Deles as one of the panel of GRP
1986- Cory Aquino assumed presidency, she called for a ceasefire and
negotiation
Temporary truce between government and MNLF, CPLA and agreements were
signed establishing state recognition of their autonomy
May 1987- peace talk with NDF- 60 day ceasefire but broke down January, 1987
2000- Camp Abu Bakr was taken over by government troops
February, 2003- outbreak of hostilities in Buliok, in Central Mindanao- or Buliok
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complex, located deep inside Liguasan Marsh, MILF founder Hashim Salamat
trasfered here from Camp Abu Bakr.
This event outraged the civil society, displaced 40,000 families, resulted to Davao
airport bombing, killed 38, and Davao wharf- killed 16
August 7, 2004- to August 2, 2008
A long process of consultations- comprising 110 sessions in total
(A Call for Discernment and Unity, 2008)
2007- AFP marines entered a community considered as MILF territory while
searching for Fr. Antonio Bossi, kidnapped by the ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group), the
beheading of 14 marines by a “lost command” of the MILF and members of ASG
ignited the indignation of the military elite (Alipala and Avedano, 2007)
August, 2008 –GRP-MILF Peace panel proposed MOA on the right of ancestral
domain but a few days later the Supreme Court issued a TRO which aborted the
MOA signing.
2013 – the regular election on Oct. 28 were postponed in Zamboanga City
following three weeks of gun battles between government forces and renegade
members of the secessionists Moro National Liberation Front in September
followed by massive flooding.
According to Quintos-Deles
Between the government and MILF, many peace tables were established, not
just the formal negotiating table in Kuala Lumpur
1. in area of security
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-led by Joint Committee on the Cessasion of Hostilities (JCCH)
Between local monitoring teams and LGUs and International Monitoring team.
With the help of Ad Hoc Joint Action group (AHJAG)- for isolation and interjection
of lawless elements.
2. in area of rehabilitation and development
Another cluster of “tables”
A. With representative of the government,
MILF- delegated Bangsamoro Development Agency
Donor group like World Bank
Undertaking the Mindanao Trust Fund
Considered as the FINAL PEACE AGREEMENT
A. Ancestral Domain- formal negotiations at Kuala Lumpur
According to Quintos-Deles
“Spaces were opened to allow for many layers of conversation and dialogue
where stakeholders, not only from both sides but also from local and
international third parties, are able to participate, and contribute in shaping the
and contentious terms of security, development, ancestral domains rights, and
self-governance”.
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
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Essay. With the discussion of the separatism and conflict issue in Mindanao. Do you
think, long lasting peace will still be possible in Mindanao? Explain your answer.
Reference
The New Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language International Edition, by
Lexicon Publications, Inc., 2004, pages 901;908
Rasul, Jainal D. Agonies and Pain, 2003
Majul, Cesar Adib, Muslims in the Philippines, The University of the Philippines Press,
1999
De Leon, Hector S. The 1987 Philippine Constitution,1998, page 54
Dannug, R.R. and Campanilla, M.B. Politics, Governance and Government with
Philippine Constitution, 2003, Page 32
Crossover leadership in Asia: Staying whole in two halves from civil society to
government, 2008, Incite gov. Page 62-110
Anceschi, Luca et. al. Conflict, Religion, and Culture, domestic and international
implications for southeast Asia and Australia, 2009,Page 29
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Tuazon, Bobby and Evangelista, Oscar, The Moro Reader history and contemporary
struggles of the Bangsamoro ,2008, page 4,
Lesson 15. Christianity
Pre-activity
In this module, I also include a very detailed discussions of Christianity because I
believe that a lot of conflicts and social currents in Asia is in one way or another
connected to religion. A lot of troubles today like that in the Middle east, and even in
almost the entire part of the Asian continent and the world.
Activity Proper
Christianity is an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of
Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest religion, with about 2.4 billion followers. Its
adherents, known as Christians, make up a majority of the population in 157 countries
and territories, and believe that Jesus is the Christ, whose coming as the Messiah was
prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled
in the New Testament.
Christianity remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches, as well as in
its doctrines concerning justification and the nature of salvation, ecclesiology,
ordination, and Christology. The creeds of various Christian denominations generally
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hold in common Jesus as the Son of God—the Logos incarnated—who ministered,
suffered, and died on a cross, but rose from the dead for the salvation of mankind; and
referred to as the gospel, meaning the "good news". Describing Jesus' life and
teachings are the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, with the Old
Testament as the gospel's respected background.
Christianity began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the 1st century in the Roman
province of Judea. Jesus' apostles and their followers spread around the Levant,
Europe, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Transcaucasia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, despite initial
persecution. It soon attracted gentile God-fearers, which led to a departure from Jewish
customs, and, after the Fall of Jerusalem, AD 70 which ended the Temple-based
Judaism, Christianity slowly separated from Judaism. Emperor Constantine the Great
decriminalized Christianity in the Roman Empire by the Edict of Milan , later convening
the Council of Nicaea where Early Christianity was consolidated into what would
become the State church of the Roman Empire . The early history of Christianity's
united church before major schisms is sometimes referred to as the "Great Church"
(though divergent sects existed at the same time, including Gnostics and Jewish
Christians). The Church of the East split after the Council of Ephesus and Oriental
Orthodoxy split after the Council of Chalcedon over differences in Christology, while the
Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church separated in the East–West Schism
(1054), especially over the authority of the bishop of Rome. Protestantism split in
numerous denominations from the Catholic Church in the Reformation era (16th
century) over theological and ecclesiological disputes, most predominantly on the issue
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of justification and the primacy of the bishop of Rome. Christianity played a prominent
role in the development of Western civilization, particularly in Europe from late antiquity
and the Middle Ages. Following the Age of Discovery (15th–17th century), Christianity
was spread into the Americas, Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world
via missionary work.
The four largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church (1.3 billion/50.1%),
Protestantism (920 million/36.7%), the Eastern Orthodox Church (230 million), and the
Oriental Orthodox churches (62 million) (Orthodox churches combined at 11.9%),
though thousands of smaller church communities exist despite efforts toward unity
(ecumenism).Despite a decline in adherence in the West, Christianity remains the
dominant religion in the region, with about 70% of the population identifying as
Christian.Christianity is growing in Africa and Asia, the world's most populous
continents.Christians remain persecuted in some regions of the world, especially in the
Middle East, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia.
Etymology
Early Jewish Christians referred to themselves as 'The Way' (Koinē Greek: τῆς ὁδοῦ,
romanized: tês hodoû), probably coming from Isaiah 40:3, "prepare the way of the
Lord."According to Acts 11:26, the term "Christian" (Χρῑστῐᾱνός, Khrīstiānós), meaning
"followers of Christ" in reference to Jesus's disciples, was first used in the city of
Antioch by the non-Jewish inhabitants there.The earliest recorded use of the term
"Christianity" (Χρῑστῐᾱνισμός, Khrīstiānismós) was by Ignatius of Antioch around 100
AD.
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Beliefs
While Christians worldwide share basic convictions, there are also differences of
interpretations and opinions of the Bible and sacred traditions on which Christianity is
based.
Creeds
An Eastern Christian icon depicting Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the First
Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381.
Nicene Creed
Concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds.
They began as baptismal formulae and were later expanded during the Christological
controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. "Jesus is
Lord" is the earliest creed of Christianity and continues to be used, as with the World
Council of Churches.
The Apostles' Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian
faith. It is used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and
catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical churches of Western Christian tradition,
including the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and
Western Rite Orthodoxy. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and
Congregationalists. This particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th
centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator. Each of the
doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic
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period. The creed was apparently used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal
candidates in the churches of Rome. Its points include:
Belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit
The death, descent into hell, resurrection and ascension of Christ
The holiness of the Church and the communion of saints
Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful
The Nicene Creed was formulated, largely in response to Arianism, at the Councils of
Nicaea and Constantinople in 325 and 381 respectively, and ratified as the universal
creed of Christendom by the First Council of Ephesus in 431.
The Chalcedonian Definition, or Creed of Chalcedon, developed at the Council of
Chalcedon in 451, though rejected by the Oriental Orthodox,taught Christ "to be
acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably": one
divine and one human, and that both natures, while perfect in themselves, are
nevertheless also perfectly united into one person.
The Athanasian Creed, received in the Western Church as having the same status as
the Nicene and Chalcedonian, says: "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in
Unity; neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance."
Most Christians (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Protestant alike)
accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the creeds mentioned above.
Many Evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even while
agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. For example, most Baptists do
not use creeds "in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative
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confessions of faith on one another." Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the
Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the
Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, and the Churches of Christ.
Jesus
The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah
(Christ). Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of
humanity and hold that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the
Old Testament. The Christian concept of messiah differs significantly from the
contemporary Jewish concept. The core Christian belief is that through belief in and
acceptance of the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to
God, and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.
While there have been many theological disputes over the nature of Jesus over the
earliest centuries of Christian history, generally, Christians believe that Jesus is God
incarnate and "true God and true man" (or both fully divine and fully human). Jesus,
having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but
did not sin. As fully God, he rose to life again. According to the New Testament, he rose
from the dead, ascended to heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will
ultimately return to fulfill the rest of the Messianic prophecy, including the resurrection
of the dead, the Last Judgment, and the final establishment of the Kingdom of God.
According to the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was conceived by the
Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Little of Jesus' childhood is recorded in the
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canonical gospels, although infancy gospels were popular in antiquity. In comparison,
his adulthood, especially the week before his death, is well documented in the gospels
contained within the New Testament, because that part of his life is believed to be most
important. The biblical accounts of Jesus' ministry include: his baptism, miracles,
preaching, teaching, and deeds.
Death and resurrection
Christians consider the resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith (see 1
Corinthians 15) and the most important event in history.Among Christian beliefs, the
death and resurrection of Jesus are two core events on which much of Christian
doctrine and theology is based. According to the New Testament, Jesus was crucified,
died a physical death, was buried within a tomb, and rose from the dead three days
later.
The New Testament mentions several post-resurrection appearances of Jesus on
different occasions to his twelve apostles and disciples, including "more than five
hundred brethren at once", before Jesus' ascension to heaven. Jesus' death and
resurrection are commemorated by Christians in all worship services, with special
emphasis during Holy Week, which includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
The death and resurrection of Jesus are usually considered the most important events
in Christian theology, partly because they demonstrate that Jesus has power over life
and death and therefore has the authority and power to give people eternal life.
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Christian churches accept and teach the New Testament account of the resurrection of
Jesus with very few exceptions. Some modern scholars use the belief of Jesus' followers
in the resurrection as a point of departure for establishing the continuity of the
historical Jesus and the proclamation of the early church. Some liberal Christians do not
accept a literal bodily resurrection,seeing the story as richly symbolic and spiritually
nourishing myth. Arguments over death and resurrection claims occur at many religious
debates and interfaith dialogues.Paul the Apostle, an early Christian convert and
missionary, wrote, "If Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your
trust in God is useless.
Salvation
The Law and the Gospel by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1529); Moses and Elijah point the
sinner to Jesus for salvation.
Paul the Apostle, like Jews and Roman pagans of his time, believed that sacrifice can
bring about new kinship ties, purity, and eternal life. For Paul, the necessary sacrifice
was the death of Jesus: Gentiles who are "Christ's" are, like Israel, descendants of
Abraham and "heirs according to the promise" The God who raised Jesus from the dead
would also give new life to the "mortal bodies" of Gentile Christians, who had become
with Israel, the "children of God", and were therefore no longer "in the flesh".
Modern Christian churches tend to be much more concerned with how humanity can be
saved from a universal condition of sin and death than the question of how both Jews
and Gentiles can be in God's family. According to Eastern Orthodox theology, based
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upon their understanding of the atonement as put forward by Irenaeus' recapitulation
theory, Jesus' death is a ransom. This restores the relation with God, who is loving and
reaches out to humanity, and offers the possibility of theosis c.q. divinization, becoming
the kind of humans God wants humanity to be. According to Catholic doctrine, Jesus'
death satisfies the wrath of God, aroused by the offense to God's honor caused by
human's sinfulness. The Catholic Church teaches that salvation does not occur without
faithfulness on the part of Christians; converts must live in accordance with principles of
love and ordinarily must be baptized. In Protestant theology, Jesus' death is regarded
as a substitutionary penalty carried by Jesus, for the debt that has to be paid by
humankind when it broke God's moral law. Martin Luther taught that baptism was
necessary for salvation, but modern Lutherans and other Protestants tend to teach that
salvation is a gift that comes to an individual by God's grace, sometimes defined as
"unmerited favor", even apart from baptism.
Christians differ in their views on the extent to which individuals' salvation is pre-
ordained by God. Reformed theology places distinctive emphasis on grace by teaching
that individuals are completely incapable of self-redemption, but that sanctifying grace
is irresistible. In contrast Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Arminian Protestants
believe that the exercise of free will is necessary to have faith in Jesus.
Trinity
The Trinity is the belief that God is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son
(Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.
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Trinity refers to the teaching that the one God comprises three distinct, eternally co-
existing persons: the Father, the Son (incarnate in Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit.
Together, these three persons are sometimes called the Godhead, although there is no
single term in use in Scripture to denote the unified Godhead. In the words of the
Athanasian Creed, an early statement of Christian belief, "the Father is God, the Son is
God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God".They
are distinct from another: the Father has no source, the Son is begotten of the Father,
and the Spirit proceeds from the Father. Though distinct, the three persons cannot be
divided from one another in being or in operation. While some Christians also believe
that God appeared as the Father in the Old Testament, it is agreed that he appeared as
the Son in the New Testament, and will still continue to manifest as the Holy Spirit in
the present. But still, God still existed as three persons in each of these times. However,
traditionally there is a belief that it was the Son who appeared in the Old Testament
because, for example, when the Trinity is depicted in art, the Son typically has the
distinctive appearance, a cruciform halo identifying Christ, and in depictions of the
Garden of Eden, this looks forward to an Incarnation yet to occur. In some Early
Christian sarcophagi the Logos is distinguished with a beard, "which allows him to
appear ancient, even pre-existent."
The Trinity is an essential doctrine of mainstream Christianity. From earlier than the
times of the Nicene Creed (325) Christianity advocated the triune mystery-nature of
God as a normative profession of faith. According to Roger E. Olson and Christopher
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Hall, through prayer, meditation, study and practice, the Christian community concluded
"that God must exist as both a unity and trinity", codifying this in ecumenical council at
the end of the 4th century.
According to this doctrine, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a third
of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God (see Perichoresis). The
distinction lies in their relations, the Father being unbegotten; the Son being begotten
of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and (in Western Christian
theology) from the Son. Regardless of this apparent difference, the three "persons" are
each eternal and omnipotent. Other Christian religions including Unitarian Universalism,
Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormonism, do not share those views on the Trinity.
The Greek word trias is first seen in this sense in the works of Theophilus of Antioch;
his text reads: "of the Trinity, of God, and of His Word, and of His Wisdom". The term
may have been in use before this time; its Latin equivalent, trinitas,appears afterwards
with an explicit reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in Tertullian. In
the following century, the word was in general use. It is found in many passages of
Origen.
Trinitarians
Trinitarianism denotes Christians who believe in the concept of the Trinity. Almost all
Christian denominations and churches hold Trinitarian beliefs. Although the words
"Trinity" and "Triune" do not appear in the Bible, beginning in the 3rd century
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theologians developed the term and concept to facilitate comprehension of the New
Testament teachings of God as being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Since that time,
Christian theologians have been careful to emphasize that Trinity does not imply that
there are three gods (the antitrinitarian heresy of Tritheism), nor that each hypostasis
of the Trinity is one-third of an infinite God (partialism), nor that the Son and the Holy
Spirit are beings created by and subordinate to the Father (Arianism). Rather, the
Trinity is defined as one God in three persons.
Nontrinitarianism
Nontrinitarianism (or antitrinitarianism) refers to theology that rejects the doctrine of
the Trinity. Various nontrinitarian views, such as adoptionism or modalism, existed in
early Christianity, leading to the disputes about Christology. Nontrinitarianism
reappeared in the Gnosticism of the Cathars between the 11th and 13th centuries,
among groups with Unitarian theology in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th
century,in the 18th-century Enlightenment, amongst some groups arising during the
Second Great Awakening of the 19th century, and most recently, in Oneness
Pentecostal churches.
Eschatology
The 7th-century Khor Virap monastery in the shadow of Mount Ararat; Armenia was the
first state to adopt Christianity as the state religion, in AD 301.
The end of things, whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, or the end
of the world, broadly speaking, is Christian eschatology; the study of the destiny of
humans as it is revealed in the Bible. The major issues in Christian eschatology are the
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Tribulation, death and the afterlife, (mainly for Evangelical groups) the Millennium and
the following Rapture, the Second Coming of Jesus, Resurrection of the Dead, Heaven,
(for liturgical branches) Purgatory, and Hell, the Last Judgment, the end of the world,
and the New Heavens and New Earth.
Christians believe that the second coming of Christ will occur at the end of time, after a
period of severe persecution (the Great Tribulation). All who have died will be
resurrected bodily from the dead for the Last Judgment. Jesus will fully establish the
Kingdom of God in fulfillment of scriptural prophecies.
Death and afterlife
Most Christians believe that human beings experience divine judgment and are
rewarded either with eternal life or eternal damnation. This includes the general
judgement at the resurrection of the dead as well as the belief (held by Catholics,
Orthodox and most Protestants) in a judgment particular to the individual soul upon
physical death.
In the Catholic branch of Christianity, those who die in a state of grace, i.e., without
any mortal sin separating them from God, but are still imperfectly purified from the
effects of sin, undergo purification through the intermediate state of purgatory to
achieve the holiness necessary for entrance into God's presence. Those who have
attained this goal are called saints (Latin sanctus, "holy").
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Some Christian groups, such as Seventh-day Adventists, hold to mortalism, the belief
that the human soul is not naturally immortal, and is unconscious during the
intermediate state between bodily death and resurrection. These Christians also hold to
Annihilationism, the belief that subsequent to the final judgement, the wicked will cease
to exist rather than suffer everlasting torment. Jehovah's Witnesses hold to a similar
view.
Practices
Show on the life of Jesus at Igreja da Cidade in São José dos Campos, affiliated to the
Brazilian Baptist Convention.
Depending on the specific denomination of Christianity, practices may include baptism,
the Eucharist (Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper), prayer (including the Lord's
Prayer), confession, confirmation, burial rites, marriage rites and the religious education
of children. Most denominations have ordained clergy who lead regular communal
worship services.
Communal worship
Services of worship typically follow a pattern or form known as liturgy.[note 3] Justin
Martyr described 2nd-century Christian liturgy in his First Apology (c. 150) to Emperor
Antoninus Pius, and his description remains relevant to the basic structure of Christian
liturgical worship:
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And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to
one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as
long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally
instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together
and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water
are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings,
according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution
to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those
who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and
willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president,
who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other
cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among
us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.
Thus, as Justin described, Christians assemble for communal worship typically on
Sunday, the day of the resurrection, though other liturgical practices often occur
outside this setting. Scripture readings are drawn from the Old and New Testaments,
but especially the gospels.Instruction is given based on these readings, called a sermon
or homily. There are a variety of congregational prayers, including thanksgiving,
confession, and intercession, which occur throughout the service and take a variety of
forms including recited, responsive, silent, or sung. Psalms, hymns, or worship songs
may be sung.Services can be varied for special events like significant feast days.
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Nearly all forms of worship incorporate the Eucharist, which consists of a meal. It is
reenacted in accordance with Jesus' instruction at the Last Supper that his followers do
in remembrance of him as when he gave his disciples bread, saying, "This is my body",
and gave them wine saying, "This is my blood".In the early church, Christians and those
yet to complete initiation would separate for the Eucharistic part of the service.Some
denominations such as Confessional Lutheran churches continue to practice 'closed
communion'.They offer communion to those who are already united in that
denomination or sometimes individual church. Catholics further restrict participation to
their members who are not in a state of mortal sin.Many other churches, such as
Anglican Communion and United Church of Canada, practice 'open communion' since
they view communion as a means to unity, rather than an end, and invite all believing
Christians to participate.
Sacraments or ordinances
2nd-century description of the Eucharist
And this food is called among us Eukharistia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed
to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who
has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto
regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and
common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior,
having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation,
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so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His
word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh
and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.
Justin Martyr
In Christian belief and practice, a sacrament is a rite, instituted by Christ, that confers
grace, constituting a sacred mystery. The term is derived from the Latin word
sacramentum, which was used to translate the Greek word for mystery. Views
concerning both which rites are sacramental, and what it means for an act to be a
sacrament, vary among Christian denominations and traditions.
The most conventional functional definition of a sacrament is that it is an outward sign,
instituted by Christ, that conveys an inward, spiritual grace through Christ. The two
most widely accepted sacraments are Baptism and the Eucharist; however, the majority
of Christians also recognize five additional sacraments: Confirmation (Chrismation in the
Eastern tradition), Holy Orders (or ordination), Penance (or Confession), Anointing of
the Sick, and Matrimony
Taken together, these are the Seven Sacraments as recognized by churches in the High
Church tradition—notably Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Independent
Catholic, Old Catholic, many Anglicans, and some Lutherans. Most other denominations
and traditions typically affirm only Baptism and Eucharist as sacraments, while some
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Protestant groups, such as the Quakers, reject sacramental theology. Evangelical
churches adhering to the doctrine of the believers' Church mostly use the term
"ordinances" to refer to baptism and communion.
In addition to this, the Church of the East has two additional sacraments in place of the
traditional sacraments of Matrimony and the Anointing of the Sick. These include Holy
Leaven (Melka) and the sign of the cross.
A penitent confessing his sins in a Ukrainian Catholic church
A Methodist minister celebrating the Eucharist
Confirmation being administered in an Anglican church
Ordination of a priest in the Eastern Orthodox tradition
Crowning during Holy Matrimony in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Service of the Sacrament of Holy Unction served on Great and Holy Wednesday
Liturgical calendar
Catholics, Eastern Christians, Lutherans, Anglicans and other traditional Protestant
communities frame worship around the liturgical year. The liturgical cycle divides the
year into a series of seasons, each with their theological emphases, and modes of
prayer, which can be signified by different ways of decorating churches, colors of
paraments and vestments for clergy, scriptural readings, themes for preaching and
even different traditions and practices often observed personally or in the home.
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Western Christian liturgical calendars are based on the cycle of the Roman Rite of the
Catholic Church,and Eastern Christians use analogous calendars based on the cycle of
their respective rites. Calendars set aside holy days, such as solemnities which
commemorate an event in the life of Jesus, Mary, or the saints, and periods of fasting,
such as Lent and other pious events such as memoria, or lesser festivals
commemorating saints. Christian groups that do not follow a liturgical tradition often
retain certain celebrations, such as Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost: these are the
celebrations of Christ's birth, resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the
Church, respectively. A few denominations such as Quaker Christians make no use of a
liturgical calendar.
Symbols
The cross and the fish are two common symbols of Jesus Christ; letters of the Greek
word ΙΧΘΥΣ Ichthys (fish) form an acronym for "Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ",
which translates into English as "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior".
Christianity has not generally practiced aniconism, the avoidance or prohibition of
devotional images, even if early Jewish Christians and some modern denominations,
invoking the Decalogue's prohibition of idolatry, avoided figures in their symbols.
The cross, today one of the most widely recognized symbols, was used by Christians
from the earliest times. Tertullian, in his book De Corona, tells how it was already a
tradition for Christians to trace the sign of the cross on their foreheads. Although the
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cross was known to the early Christians, the crucifix did not appear in use until the 5th
century.
Among the earliest Christian symbols, that of the fish or Ichthys seems to have ranked
first in importance, as seen on monumental sources such as tombs from the first
decades of the 2nd century. Its popularity seemingly arose from the Greek word ichthys
(fish) forming an acronym for the Greek phrase Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter
(Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ), (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior), a concise
summary of Christian faith.
Other major Christian symbols include the chi-rho monogram, the dove (symbolic of the
Holy Spirit), the sacrificial lamb (representing Christ's sacrifice), the vine (symbolizing
the connection of the Christian with Christ) and many others. These all derive from
passages of the New Testament.
Baptism
Believer's baptism of adult by immersion, Northolt Park Baptist Church, in Greater
London, Baptist Union of Great Britain
Baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which a person is admitted to
membership of the Church. Beliefs on baptism vary among denominations. Differences
occur firstly on whether the act has any spiritual significance. Some, such as the
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as Lutherans and Anglicans, hold to
the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which affirms that baptism creates or
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strengthens a person's faith, and is intimately linked to salvation. Others view baptism
as a purely symbolic act, an external public declaration of the inward change which has
taken place in the person, but not as spiritually efficacious. Secondly, there are
differences of opinion on the methodology of the act. These methods are: by
immersion; if immersion is total, by submersion; by affusion (pouring); and by
aspersion (sprinkling). Those who hold the first view may also adhere to the tradition of
infant baptism; the Orthodox Churches all practice infant baptism and always baptize by
total immersion repeated three times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. The Catholic Church also practices infant baptism, usually by affusion, and
utilizing the Trinitarian formula.
Evangelical denominations adhering to the doctrine of the believers' Church, practice
the believer's baptism, by immersion in water, after the new birth and a profession of
faith.For newborns, there is a ceremony called child dedication.
Prayer
"... ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as
we also forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’"
— The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:9–13, EHV
In the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer, which has been seen as
a model for Christian prayer. The injunction for Christians to pray the Lord's prayer
thrice daily was given in the Didache and came to be recited by Christians at 9 am, 12
pm, and 3 pm.
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In the second century Apostolic Tradition, Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray at
seven fixed prayer times: "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at
midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with
Christ's Passion."Prayer positions, including kneeling, standing, and prostrations have
been used for these seven fixed prayer times since the days of the early Church.
Breviaries such as the Shehimo and Agpeya are used by Oriental Orthodox Christians to
pray these canonical hours while facing in the eastward direction of prayer.
The Apostolic Tradition directed that the sign of the cross be used by Christians during
the minor exorcism of baptism, during ablutions before praying at fixed prayer times,
and in times of temptation.
Intercessory prayer is prayer offered for the benefit of other people. There are many
intercessory prayers recorded in the Bible, including prayers of the Apostle Peter on
behalf of sick persons[Acts 9:40] and by prophets of the Old Testament in favor of
other people.[1Ki 17:19–22] In the Epistle of James, no distinction is made between the
intercessory prayer offered by ordinary believers and the prominent Old Testament
prophet Elijah.[Jam 5:16–18] The effectiveness of prayer in Christianity derives from
the power of God rather than the status of the one praying.
The ancient church, in both Eastern and Western Christianity, developed a tradition of
asking for the intercession of (deceased) saints, and this remains the practice of most
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Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and some Anglican churches. Churches
of the Protestant Reformation, however, rejected prayer to the saints, largely on the
basis of the sole mediatorship of Christ.The reformer Huldrych Zwingli admitted that he
had offered prayers to the saints until his reading of the Bible convinced him that this
was idolatrous.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Prayer is the raising of one's mind
and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." The Book of Common
Prayer in the Anglican tradition is a guide which provides a set order for services,
containing set prayers, scripture readings, and hymns or sung Psalms. Frequently in
Western Christianity, when praying, the hands are placed palms together and forward
as in the feudal commendation ceremony. At other times the older orans posture may
be used, with palms up and elbows in.
Scriptures
The Bible is the sacred book in Christianity.
Christianity, like other religions, has adherents whose beliefs and biblical interpretations
vary. Christianity regards the biblical canon, the Old Testament and the New
Testament, as the inspired word of God. The traditional view of inspiration is that God
worked through human authors so that what they produced was what God wished to
communicate. The Greek word referring to inspiration in 2 Timothy 3:16 is
theopneustos, which literally means "God-breathed".
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Some believe that divine inspiration makes our present Bibles inerrant. Others claim
inerrancy for the Bible in its original manuscripts, although none of those are extant.
Still others maintain that only a particular translation is inerrant, such as the King James
Version. Another closely related view is biblical infallibility or limited inerrancy, which
affirms that the Bible is free of error as a guide to salvation, but may include errors on
matters such as history, geography, or science.
The books of the Bible accepted by the Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches
vary somewhat, with Jews accepting only the Hebrew Bible as canonical; however,
there is substantial overlap. These variations are a reflection of the range of traditions,
and of the councils that have convened on the subject. Every version of the Old
Testament always includes the books of the Tanakh, the canon of the Hebrew Bible.
The Catholic and Orthodox canons, in addition to the Tanakh, also include the
deuterocanonical books as part of the Old Testament. These books appear in the
Septuagint, but are regarded by Protestants to be apocryphal. However, they are
considered to be important historical documents which help to inform the
understanding of words, grammar, and syntax used in the historical period of their
conception. Some versions of the Bible include a separate Apocrypha section between
the Old Testament and the New Testament.The New Testament, originally written in
Koine Greek, contains 27 books which are agreed upon by all major churches.
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Modern scholarship has raised many issues with the Bible. While the King James
Version is held to by many because of its striking English prose, in fact it was translated
from the Erasmus Greek Bible, which in turn "was based on a single 12th Century
manuscript that is one of the worst manuscripts we have available to us".Much
scholarship in the past several hundred years has gone into comparing different
manuscripts in order to reconstruct the original text. Another issue is that several books
are considered to be forgeries. The injunction that women "be silent and submissive" in
1 Timothy 2 is thought by many to be a forgery by a follower of Paul, a similar phrase
in 1 Corinthians 14, which is thought to be by Paul, appears in different places in
different manuscripts and is thought to originally be a margin note by a copyist.Other
verses in 1 Corinthians, such as 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 where women are instructed to
wear a covering over their hair "when they pray or prophesies", contradict this verse.
A final issue with the Bible is the way in which books were selected for inclusion in the
New Testament. Other gospels have now been recovered, such as those found near
Nag Hammadi in 1945, and while some of these texts are quite different from what
Christians have been used to, it should be understood that some of this newly
recovered Gospel material is quite possibly contemporaneous with, or even earlier than,
the New Testament Gospels. The core of the Gospel of Thomas, in particular, may date
from as early as AD 50 (although some major scholars contest this early dating), and if
so would provide an insight into the earliest gospel texts that underlie the canonical
Gospels, texts that are mentioned in Luke 1:1–2. The Gospel of Thomas contains much
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that is familiar from the canonical Gospels—verse 113, for example ("The Father's
Kingdom is spread out upon the earth, but people do not see it"),is reminiscent of Luke
17:20–21—and the Gospel of John, with a terminology and approach that is suggestive
of what was later termed Gnosticism, has recently been seen as a possible response to
the Gospel of Thomas, a text that is commonly labeled proto-Gnostic. Scholarship, then,
is currently exploring the relationship in the early church between mystical speculation
and experience on the one hand and the search for church order on the other, by
analyzing new-found texts, by subjecting canonical texts to further scrutiny, and by an
examination of the passage of New Testament texts to canonical status.
Some denominations have additional canonical holy scriptures beyond the Bible,
including the standard works of the Latter Day Saints movement and Divine Principle in
the Unification Church.
Catholic interpretation
In antiquity, two schools of exegesis developed in Alexandria and Antioch. The
Alexandrian interpretation, exemplified by Origen, tended to read Scripture allegorically,
while the Antiochene interpretation adhered to the literal sense, holding that other
meanings (called theoria) could only be accepted if based on the literal meaning.
Catholic theology distinguishes two senses of scripture: the literal and the spiritual.
The literal sense of understanding scripture is the meaning conveyed by the words of
Scripture. The spiritual sense is further subdivided into:
The allegorical sense, which includes typology. An example would be the parting of the
Red Sea being understood as a "type" (sign) of baptism.[1Cor 10:2]
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The moral sense, which understands the scripture to contain some ethical teaching.
The anagogical sense, which applies to eschatology, eternity and the consummation of
the world
Regarding exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation, Catholic theology holds:
The injunction that all other senses of sacred scripture are based on the literal
That the historicity of the Gospels must be absolutely and constantly held
That scripture must be read within the "living Tradition of the whole Church" and
That "the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with
the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome".
Protestant interpretation
Many Protestant Christians, such as Lutherans and the Reformed, believe in the
doctrine of sola scriptura--that the Bible is a self-sufficient revelation, the final authority
on all Christian doctrine, and revealed all truth necessary for salvation; other Protestant
Christians, such as Methodists and Anglicans, affirm the doctrine of prima scriptura
which teaches that Scripture is the primary source for Christian doctrine, but that
"tradition, experience, and reason" can nurture the Christian religion as long as they are
in harmony with the Bible. Protestants characteristically believe that ordinary believers
may reach an adequate understanding of Scripture because Scripture itself is clear in its
meaning (or "perspicuous"). Martin Luther believed that without God's help, Scripture
would be "enveloped in darkness". He advocated for "one definite and simple
understanding of Scripture". John Calvin wrote, "all who refuse not to follow the Holy
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Spirit as their guide, find in the Scripture a clear light". Related to this is "efficacy", that
Scripture is able to lead people to faith; and "sufficiency", that the Scriptures contain
everything that one needs to know in order to obtain salvation and to live a Christian
life.
Original intended meaning of Scripture
Protestants stress the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture, the historical-
grammatical method. The historical-grammatical method or grammatico-historical
method is an effort in Biblical hermeneutics to find the intended original meaning in the
text.This original intended meaning of the text is drawn out through examination of the
passage in light of the grammatical and syntactical aspects, the historical background,
the literary genre, as well as theological (canonical) considerations.The historical-
grammatical method distinguishes between the one original meaning and the
significance of the text. The significance of the text includes the ensuing use of the text
or application. The original passage is seen as having only a single meaning or sense.
As Milton S. Terry said: "A fundamental principle in grammatico-historical exposition is
that the words and sentences can have but one significance in one and the same
connection. The moment we neglect this principle we drift out upon a sea of
uncertainty and conjecture." Technically speaking, the grammatical-historical method of
interpretation is distinct from the determination of the passage's significance in light of
that interpretation. Taken together, both define the term (Biblical) hermeneutics. Some
Protestant interpreters make use of typology.
History
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Early Christianity
Apostolic Age
Chapel of Saint Ananias, Damascus, Syria, an early example of a Christian house of
worship; built in the 1st century AD.
Christianity in the 1st century
Christianity developed during the 1st century CE as a Jewish Christian sect of Second
Temple Judaism. An early Jewish Christian community was founded in Jerusalem under
the leadership of the Pillars of the Church, namely James the Just, the brother of Jesus,
Peter, and John.
Jewish Christianity soon attracted Gentile God-fearers, posing a problem for its Jewish
religious outlook, which insisted on close observance of the Jewish commands. Paul the
Apostle solved this by insisting that salvation by faith in Christ, and participation in his
death and resurrection by their baptism, sufficed. At first he persecuted the early
Christians, but after a conversion experience he preached to the gentiles, and is
regarded as having had a formative effect on the emerging Christian identity as
separate from Judaism. Eventually, his departure from Jewish customs would result in
the establishment of Christianity as an independent religion.
Christianity in the ante-Nicene period
This formative period was followed by the early bishops, whom Christians consider the
successors of Christ's apostles. From the year 150, Christian teachers began to produce
theological and apologetic works aimed at defending the faith. These authors are
known as the Church Fathers, and the study of them is called patristics. Notable early
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Fathers include Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian,
Clement of Alexandria and Origen.
Persecution of Christians occurred intermittently and on a small scale by both Jewish
and Roman authorities, with Roman action starting at the time of the Great Fire of
Rome in 64 AD. Examples of early executions under Jewish authority reported in the
New Testament include the deaths of Saint Stephen[Acts 7:59] and James, son of
Zebedee.[Acts 12:2] The Decian persecution was the first empire-wide conflict,[188]
when the edict of Decius in 250 AD required everyone in the Roman Empire (except
Jews) to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Diocletianic Persecution beginning
in 303 AD was also particularly severe. Roman persecution ended in 313 AD with the
Edict of Milan.
While Proto-orthodox Christianity was becoming dominant, heterodox sects also existed
at the same time, which held radically different beliefs. Gnostic Christianity developed a
duotheistic doctrine based on illusion and enlightenment rather than forgiveness of sin.
With only a few scriptures overlapping with the developing orthodox canon, most
Gnostic texts and Gnostic gospels were eventually considered heretical and suppressed
by mainstream Christians. A gradual splitting off of Gentile Christianity left Jewish
Christians continuing to follow the Law of Moses, including practices such as
circumcision. By the fifth century, they and the Jewish–Christian gospels would be
largely suppressed by the dominant sects in both Judaism and Christianity.
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Spread and acceptance in Roman Empire
Christendom by A.D. 600 after its spread to Africa and Europe from the
Middle East.
Edict of Thessalonica
Christianity spread to Aramaic-speaking peoples along the Mediterranean coast and also
to the inland parts of the Roman Empire and beyond that into the Parthian Empire and
the later Sasanian Empire, including Mesopotamia, which was dominated at different
times and to varying extents by these empires.The presence of Christianity in Africa
began in the middle of the 1st century in Egypt and by the end of the 2nd century in
the region around Carthage. Mark the Evangelist is claimed to have started the Church
of Alexandria in about 43 CE; various later churches claim this as their own legacy,
including the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.Important Africans who influenced
the early development of Christianity include Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen
of Alexandria, Cyprian, Athanasius, and Augustine of Hippo.
King Tiridates III made Christianity the state religion in Armenia between 301 and 314,
thus Armenia became the first officially Christian state. It was not an entirely new
religion in Armenia, having penetrated into the country from at least the third century,
but it may have been present even earlier.
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Constantine I was exposed to Christianity in his youth, and throughout his life his
support for the religion grew, culminating in baptism on his deathbed. During his reign,
state-sanctioned persecution of Christians was ended with the Edict of Toleration in 311
and the Edict of Milan in 313. At that point, Christianity was still a minority belief,
comprising perhaps only five percent of the Roman population. Influenced by his
adviser Mardonius, Constantine's nephew Julian unsuccessfully tried to suppress
Christianity. On 27 February 380, Theodosius I, Gratian, and Valentinian II established
Nicene Christianity as the State church of the Roman Empire. As soon as it became
connected to the state, Christianity grew wealthy; the Church solicited donations from
the rich and could now own land.
Constantine was also instrumental in the convocation of the First Council of Nicaea in
325, which sought to address Arianism and formulated the Nicene Creed, which is still
used by in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and many other
Protestant churches.Nicaea was the first of a series of ecumenical councils, which
formally defined critical elements of the theology of the Church, notably concerning
Christology. The Church of the East did not accept the third and following ecumenical
councils and is still separate today by its successors (Assyrian Church of the East).
In terms of prosperity and cultural life, the Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in
Christian history and Christian civilization, and Constantinople remained the leading city
of the Christian world in size, wealth, and culture. There was a renewed interest in
classical Greek philosophy, as well as an increase in literary output in vernacular Greek.
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Byzantine art and literature held a preeminent place in Europe, and the cultural impact
of Byzantine art on the West during this period was enormous and of long-lasting
significance. The later rise of Islam in North Africa reduced the size and numbers of
Christian congregations, leaving in large numbers only the Coptic Church in Egypt, the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in the Horn of Africa and the Nubian Church in
the Sudan (Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia).
Early Middle Ages
With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the papacy became a
political player, first visible in Pope Leo's diplomatic dealings with Huns and Vandals.
The church also entered into a long period of missionary activity and expansion among
the various tribes. While Arianists instituted the death penalty for practicing pagans
(see the Massacre of Verden, for example), what would later become Catholicism also
spread among the Hungarians, the Germanic, the Celtic, the Baltic and some Slavic
peoples.
Around 500, St. Benedict set out his Monastic Rule, establishing a system of regulations
for the foundation and running of monasteries. Monasticism became a powerful force
throughout Europe, and gave rise to many early centers of learning, most famously in
Ireland, Scotland, and Gaul, contributing to the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th
century.
In the 7th century, Muslims conquered Syria (including Jerusalem), North Africa, and
Spain, converting some of the Christian population to Islam, and placing the rest under
a separate legal status. Part of the Muslims' success was due to the exhaustion of the
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Byzantine Empire in its decades long conflict with Persia.Beginning in the 8th century,
with the rise of Carolingian leaders, the Papacy sought greater political support in the
Frankish Kingdom.
The Middle Ages brought about major changes within the church. Pope Gregory the
Great dramatically reformed the ecclesiastical structure and administration. In the early
8th century, iconoclasm became a divisive issue, when it was sponsored by the
Byzantine emperors. The Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787) finally pronounced
in favor of icons. In the early 10th century, Western Christian monasticism was further
rejuvenated through the leadership of the great Benedictine monastery of Cluny.
High and Late Middle Ages
Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, where he preached the First Crusade.
In the West, from the 11th century onward, some older cathedral schools became
universities (see, for example, University of Oxford, University of Paris and University of
Bologna). Previously, higher education had been the domain of Christian cathedral
schools or monastic schools (Scholae monasticae), led by monks and nuns. Evidence of
such schools dates back to the 6th century CE.These new universities expanded the
curriculum to include academic programs for clerics, lawyers, civil servants, and
physicians. The university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in
the Medieval Christian setting.
Accompanying the rise of the "new towns" throughout Europe, mendicant orders were
founded, bringing the consecrated religious life out of the monastery and into the new
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urban setting. The two principal mendicant movements were the Franciscans and the
Dominicans, founded by St. Francis and St. Dominic, respectively. Both orders made
significant contributions to the development of the great universities of Europe. Another
new order was the Cistercians, whose large isolated monasteries spearheaded the
settlement of former wilderness areas. In this period, church building and ecclesiastical
architecture reached new heights, culminating in the orders of Romanesque and Gothic
architecture and the building of the great European cathedrals.
Christian nationalism emerged during this era in which Christians felt the impulse to
recover lands in which Christianity had historically flourished. From 1095 under the
pontificate of Urban II, the Crusades were launched. These were a series of military
campaigns in the Holy Land and elsewhere, initiated in response to pleas from the
Byzantine Emperor Alexios I for aid against Turkish expansion. The Crusades ultimately
failed to stifle Islamic aggression and even contributed to Christian enmity with the
sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.
The Christian Church experienced internal conflict between the 7th and 13th centuries
that resulted in a schism between the so-called Latin or Western Christian branch (the
Catholic Church),and an Eastern, largely Greek, branch (the Eastern Orthodox Church).
The two sides disagreed on a number of administrative, liturgical and doctrinal issues,
most prominently Eastern Orthodox opposition to papal supremacy.The Second Council
of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) attempted to reunite the churches,
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but in both cases, the Eastern Orthodox refused to implement the decisions, and the
two principal churches remain in schism to the present day. However, the Catholic
Church has achieved union with various smaller eastern churches.
In the thirteenth century, a new emphasis on Jesus' suffering, exemplified by the
Franciscans' preaching, had the consequence of turning worshippers' attention towards
Jews, on whom Christians had placed the blame for Jesus' death. Christianity's limited
tolerance of Jews was not new—Augustine of Hippo said that Jews should not be
allowed to enjoy the citizenship that Christians took for granted—but the growing
antipathy towards Jews was a factor that led to the expulsion of Jews from England in
1290, the first of many such expulsions in Europe.
Beginning around 1184, following the crusade against Cathar heresy, various
institutions, broadly referred to as the Inquisition, were established with the aim of
suppressing heresy and securing religious and doctrinal unity within Christianity through
conversion and prosecution.
Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation
The 15th-century Renaissance brought about a renewed interest in ancient and classical
learning. During the Reformation, Martin Luther posted the Ninety-five Theses 1517
against the sale of indulgences. Printed copies soon spread throughout Europe. In 1521
the Edict of Worms condemned and excommunicated Luther and his followers, resulting
in the schism of the Western Christendom into several branches.
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Other reformers like Zwingli, Oecolampadius, Calvin, Knox, and Arminius further
criticized Catholic teaching and worship. These challenges developed into the
movement called Protestantism, which repudiated the primacy of the pope, the role of
tradition, the seven sacraments, and other doctrines and practices.The Reformation in
England began in 1534, when King Henry VIII had himself declared head of the Church
of England. Beginning in 1536, the monasteries throughout England, Wales and Ireland
were dissolved.
Thomas Müntzer, Andreas Karlstadt and other theologians perceived both the
Catholic Church and the confessions of the Magisterial Reformation as corrupted. Their
activity brought about the Radical Reformation, which gave birth to various Anabaptist
denominations.
Partly in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church engaged in a
substantial process of reform and renewal, known as the Counter-Reformation or
Catholic Reform. The Council of Trent clarified and reasserted Catholic doctrine. During
the following centuries, competition between Catholicism and Protestantism became
deeply entangled with political struggles among European states.
Meanwhile, the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought about a
new wave of missionary activity. Partly from missionary zeal, but under the impetus of
colonial expansion by the European powers, Christianity spread to the Americas,
Oceania, East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Throughout Europe, the division caused by the Reformation led to outbreaks of
religious violence and the establishment of separate state churches in Europe.
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Lutheranism spread into the northern, central, and eastern parts of present-day
Germany, Livonia, and Scandinavia. Anglicanism was established in England in 1534.
Calvinism and its varieties, such as Presbyterianism, were introduced in Scotland, the
Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland, and France. Arminianism gained followers in the
Netherlands and Frisia. Ultimately, these differences led to the outbreak of conflicts in
which religion played a key factor. The Thirty Years' War, the English Civil War, and the
French Wars of Religion are prominent examples. These events intensified the Christian
debate on persecution and toleration.
In the revival of neoplatonism Renaissance humanists did not reject Christianity; quite
the contrary, many of the greatest works of the Renaissance were devoted to it, and
the Catholic Church patronized many works of Renaissance art. Much, if not most, of
the new art was commissioned by or in dedication to the Church.Some scholars and
historians attributes Christianity to having contributed to the rise of the Scientific
Revolution, Many well-known historical figures who influenced Western science
considered themselves Christian such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei,Johannes
Kepler,Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle.
Post-Enlightenment
In the era known as the Great Divergence, when in the West, the Age of Enlightenment
and the scientific revolution brought about great societal changes, Christianity was
confronted with various forms of skepticism and with certain modern political
ideologies, such as versions of socialism and liberalism. Events ranged from mere anti-
clericalism to violent outbursts against Christianity, such as the dechristianization of
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France during the French Revolution,the Spanish Civil War, and certain Marxist
movements, especially the Russian Revolution and the persecution of Christians in the
Soviet Union under state atheism.
Especially pressing in Europe was the formation of nation states after the Napoleonic
era. In all European countries, different Christian denominations found themselves in
competition to greater or lesser extents with each other and with the state. Variables
were the relative sizes of the denominations and the religious, political, and ideological
orientation of the states. Urs Altermatt of the University of Fribourg, looking specifically
at Catholicism in Europe, identifies four models for the European nations. In
traditionally Catholic-majority countries such as Belgium, Spain, and Austria, to some
extent, religious and national communities are more or less identical. Cultural symbiosis
and separation are found in Poland, the Republic of Ireland, and Switzerland, all
countries with competing denominations. Competition is found in Germany, the
Netherlands, and again Switzerland, all countries with minority Catholic populations,
which to a greater or lesser extent identified with the nation. Finally, separation
between religion (again, specifically Catholicism) and the state is found to a great
degree in France and Italy, countries where the state actively opposed itself to the
authority of the Catholic Church.
The combined factors of the formation of nation states and ultramontanism, especially
in Germany and the Netherlands, but also in England to a much lesser extent, often
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forced Catholic churches, organizations, and believers to choose between the national
demands of the state and the authority of the Church, specifically the papacy. This
conflict came to a head in the First Vatican Council, and in Germany would lead directly
to the Kulturkampf, where liberals and Protestants under the leadership of Bismarck
managed to severely restrict Catholic expression and organization.
Christian commitment in Europe dropped as modernity and secularism came into their
own, particularly in Czechia and Estonia, while religious commitments in America have
been generally high in comparison to Europe. The late 20th century has shown the shift
of Christian adherence to the Third World and the Southern Hemisphere in general,
with the West no longer the chief standard bearer of Christianity. Approximately 7 to
10% of Arabs are Christians, most prevalent in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.
Demographics
With around 2.4 billion adherents, split into three main branches of Catholic, Protestant,
and Eastern Orthodox, Christianity is the world's largest religion.The Christian share of
the world's population has stood at around 33% for the last hundred years, which
means that one in three persons on Earth are Christians. This masks a major shift in the
demographics of Christianity; large increases in the developing world have been
accompanied by substantial declines in the developed world, mainly in Western Europe
and North America. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center study, within the next
four decades, Christianity will remain the largest religion; and by 2050, the Christian
population is expected to exceed 3 billion.
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Trinity Sunday in Russia; the Russian Orthodox Church has experienced a great revival
since the fall of communism.
According to some scholars, Christianity ranks at first place in net gains through
religious conversion. As a percentage of Christians, the Catholic Church and Orthodoxy
(both Eastern and Oriental) are declining in some parts of the world (though
Catholicism is growing in Asia, in Africa, vibrant in Eastern Europe, etc.), while
Protestants and other Christians are on the rise in the developing world.The so-called
popular Protestantism is one of the fastest growing religious categories in the world.
Nevertheless, Catholicism will also continue to grow to 1.63 billion by 2050, according
to Todd Johnson of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. Africa alone, by
2015, will be home to 230 million African Catholics.And if in 2018, the U.N. projects that
Africa's population will reach 4.5 billion by 2100 (not 2 billion as predicted in 2004),
Catholicism will indeed grow, as will other religious groups. According to Pew Research
Center, Africa is expected to be home to 1.1 billion African Christians by 2050.
In 2010, 87% of world's Christian population lived in countries where Christians are in
the majority, while 13% of world's Christian population lived in countries where
Christians are in the minority. Christianity is the predominant religion in Europe, the
Americas, Oceania, and Southern Africa. In Asia, it is the dominant religion in Armenia,
Cyprus, Georgia, East Timor, and the Philippines. However, it is declining in some areas
including the northern and western United States, some areas in Oceania (Australia and
New Zealand, northern Europe (including Great Britain,Scandinavia and other places),
France, Germany, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, and
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Quebec, and some parts of Asia (especially the Middle East, due to the Christian
emigration, and Macau).
The Christian population is not decreasing in Brazil, the southern United States, and the
province of Alberta, Canada,but the percentage is decreasing. Since the fall of
communism, the proportion of Christians has been stable or even increased in the
Central and Eastern European countries.Christianity is growing rapidly in both numbers
and percentage in China, other Asian countries, Sub-Saharan Africa,Latin America,
Eastern Europe,North Africa (Maghreb), Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and
Oceania.
Despite the declining numbers, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the
Western World, where 70% are Christians.Christianity remains the largest religion in
Western Europe, where 71% of Western Europeans identified themselves as Christian
in 2018. A 2011 Pew Research Center survey found that 76% of Europeans, 73% in
Oceania and about 86% in the Americas (90% in Latin America and 77% in North
America) identified themselves as Christians. By 2010 about 157 countries and
territories in the world had Christian majorities.
However, there are many charismatic movements that have become well established
over large parts of the world, especially Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Since 1900,
primarily due to conversion, Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, Oceania,
and Latin America. From 1960 to 2000, the global growth of the number of reported
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Evangelical Protestants grew three times the world's population rate, and twice that of
Islam. According to the historian Geoffrey Blainey from the University of Melbourne,
since the 1960s there has been a substantial increase in the number of conversions
from Islam to Christianity, mostly to the Evangelical and Pentecostal forms. A study
conducted by St. Mary's University estimated about 10.2 million Muslim converts to
Christianity in 2015, according to the study significant numbers of Muslims converts to
Christianity can be found in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan,Central Asia (including Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, and other countries), Indonesia, Malaysia,the Middle East (including Iran,
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and other countries),North Africa (including Algeria, Morocco, and
Tunisia,Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Western World (including Albania, Belgium, France,
Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Russia, Scandinavia, United kingdom, the United
States, and other western countries). It is also reported that Christianity is popular
among people of different backgrounds in Africa and Aisa, according to a report by the
Singapore Management University, more people in Southeast Asia are converting to
Christianity, many of them are young and have a university degree. According to
scholar Juliette Koning and Heidi Dahles of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam there is a
"rapid expansion" of Christianity in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia,
Malaysia, and South Korea. According to scholar Terence Chong from the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies, since 1980s Christianity is expanding in China, Singapore,
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea,and Vietnam.
In most countries in the developed world, church attendance among people who
continue to identify themselves as Christians has been falling over the last few
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decades.Some sources view this simply as part of a drift away from traditional
membership institutions, while others link it to signs of a decline in belief in the
importance of religion in general. Europe's Christian population, though in decline, still
constitutes the largest geographical component of the religion. According to data from
the 2012 European Social Survey, around a third of European Christians say they attend
services once a month or more, Conversely about more than two-thirds of Latin
American Christians; according to the World Values Survey, about 90% of African
Christians (in Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe) said they attended
church regularly.
Christianity, in one form or another, is the sole state religion of the following nations:
Argentina (Catholic),Tuvalu (Reformed), Tonga (Methodist), Norway (Lutheran), Costa
Rica (Catholic),the Kingdom of Denmark (Lutheran),England (Anglican), Georgia
(Georgian Orthodox), Greece (Greek Orthodox), Iceland (Lutheran), Liechtenstein
(Catholic),Malta (Catholic),Monaco (Catholic), and Vatican City (Catholic).
There are numerous other countries, such as Cyprus, which although do not have an
established church, still give official recognition and support to a specific Christian
denomination.
Demographics of major traditions within Christianity (Pew Research Center, 2011 data)
Tradition Followers % of the Christian population % of the world population
Follower dynamics Dynamics in- and outside Christianity
Catholic Church 1,329,610,000 50.1 15.9 Increase Growing Increase
Growing
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Protestantism 900,640,000 36.7 11.6 Increase Growing Increase Growing
Orthodoxy 260,380,000 11.9 3.8 Increase Growing Decrease Declining
Other Christianity 28,430,000 1.3 0.4 Increase Growing Increase Growing
Christianity 2,382,750,000 100 31.7 Increase Growing Steady Stable
Christians (self-described) by region
(Pew Research Center, 2010 data)
Region Christians % Christian
Europe 558,260,000 75.2
Latin America–Caribbean 531,280,000 90.0
Sub-Saharan Africa 517,340,000 62.9
Asia Pacific 286,950,000 7.1
North America 266,630,000 77.4
Middle East–North Africa 12,710,000 3.7
World 2,173,180,000 31.5
Regional median ages of Christians compared with overall median ages (Pew Research
Center, 2010 data)
Christian median age in region (years) Regional median age (years)
World 30 29
Sub-Saharan Africa 19 18
Latin America-Caribbean 27 27
Asia-Pacific 28 29
Middle East-North Africa 29 24
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North America 39 37
Europe 42 40
Churches and denominations
The four primary divisions of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox
Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. A broader distinction that is sometimes
drawn is between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, which has its origins in
the East–West Schism (Great Schism) of the 11th century. Recently, neither Western or
Eastern World Christianity has also stood out, for example, African-initiated churches.
However, there are other present and historical Christian groups that do not fit neatly
into one of these primary categories.
There is a diversity of doctrines and liturgical practices among groups calling
themselves Christian. These groups may vary ecclesiologically in their views on a
classification of Christian denominations.The Nicene Creed (325), however, is typically
accepted as authoritative by most Christians, including the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox,
Oriental Orthodox, and major Protestant (including Anglican) denominations.
Catholic Church
Pope Francis, the current leader of the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church consists of those particular churches, headed by bishops, in
communion with the pope, the bishop of Rome, as its highest authority in matters of
faith, morality, and church governance. Like Eastern Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church,
through apostolic succession, traces its origins to the Christian community founded by
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Jesus Christ. Catholics maintain that the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church"
founded by Jesus subsists fully in the Catholic Church, but also acknowledges other
Christian churches and communities and works towards reconciliation among all
Christians. The Catholic faith is detailed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Of its seven sacraments, the Eucharist is the principal one, celebrated liturgically in the
Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest, the sacrificial bread
and wine become the body and blood of Christ. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the
Catholic Church as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, honoured in dogmas and
devotions.Its teaching includes Divine Mercy, sanctification through faith and
evangelization of the Gospel as well as Catholic social teaching, which emphasises
voluntary support for the sick, the poor, and the afflicted through the corporal and
spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church operates thousands of Catholic schools,
universities, hospitals, and orphanages around the world, and is the largest non-
government provider of education and health care in the world.Among its other social
services are numerous charitable and humanitarian organizations.
Canon law (Latin: jus canonicum) is the system of laws and legal principles made and
enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external
organisation and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward
the mission of the church. The canon law of the Latin Church was the first modern
Western legal system and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the
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West, while the distinctive traditions of Eastern Catholic canon law govern the 23
Eastern Catholic particular churches sui iuris.
As the world's oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution, it has
played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. The
2,834 sees are grouped into 24 particular autonomous Churches (the largest of which
being the Latin Church), each with its own distinct traditions regarding the liturgy and
the administering of sacraments. With more than 1.1 billion baptized members, the
Catholic Church is the largest Christian church and represents 50.1% all Christians as
well as one sixth of the world's population. Catholics live all over the world through
missions, diaspora, and conversions.
Eastern Orthodox Church
St. George's Cathedral in Istanbul: It has been the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
of Constantinople whose leader is regarded as the primus inter pares in the Eastern
Orthodox Church.
The Eastern Orthodox Church consists of those churches in communion with the
patriarchal sees of the East, such as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Like
the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church also traces its heritage to the
foundation of Christianity through apostolic succession and has an episcopal structure,
though the autonomy of its component parts is emphasized, and most of them are
national churches.
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Eastern Orthodox theology is based on holy tradition which incorporates the dogmatic
decrees of the seven Ecumenical Councils, the Scriptures, and the teaching of the
Church Fathers. The church teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic
church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission, and that its bishops are the
successors of Christ's apostles. It maintains that it practises the original Christian faith,
as passed down by holy tradition. Its patriarchates, reminiscent of the pentarchy, and
other autocephalous and autonomous churches reflect a variety of hierarchical
organisation. It recognises seven major sacraments, of which the Eucharist is the
principal one, celebrated liturgically in synaxis. The church teaches that through
consecration invoked by a priest, the sacrificial bread and wine become the body and
blood of Christ. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the
God-bearer, honoured in devotions.
Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest single denomination in Christianity, with an
estimated 230 million adherents, although Protestants collectively outnumber them,
substantially.As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the
Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of
Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Near East.
Oriental Orthodoxy
Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, the seat of the Ethiopian Orthodox.
The Oriental Orthodox Churches (also called "Old Oriental" churches) are those eastern
churches that recognize the first three ecumenical councils—Nicaea, Constantinople,
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and Ephesus—but reject the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon and
instead espouse a Miaphysite christology.
The Oriental Orthodox communion consists of six groups: Syriac Orthodox, Coptic
Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
(India), and Armenian Apostolic churches. These six churches, while being in
communion with each other, are completely independent hierarchically. These churches
are generally not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church, with whom they are
in dialogue for erecting a communion. Together, they have about 62 million members
worldwide.
As some of the oldest religious institutions in the world, the Oriental Orthodox Churches
have played a prominent role in the history and culture of Armenia, Egypt, Turkey,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and parts of the Middle East and India. An Eastern Christian
body of autocephalous churches, its bishops are equal by virtue of episcopal ordination,
and its doctrines can be summarized in that the churches recognize the validity of only
the first three ecumenical councils.
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, with an unbroken patriarchate established in the 17th
century, is an independent Eastern Christian denomination which claims continuity from
the Church of the East—in parallel to the Catholic patriarchate established in the 16th
century that evolved into the Chaldean Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church in
full communion with the Pope. It is an Eastern Christian church that follows the
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traditional christology and ecclesiology of the historical Church of the East. Largely
aniconic and not in communion with any other church, it belongs to the eastern branch
of Syriac Christianity, and uses the East Syriac Rite in its liturgy.
Its main spoken language is Syriac, a dialect of Eastern Aramaic, and the majority of its
adherents are ethnic Assyrians. It is officially headquartered in the city of Erbil in
northern Iraqi Kurdistan, and its original area also spreads into south-eastern Turkey
and north-western Iran, corresponding to ancient Assyria. Its hierarchy is composed of
metropolitan bishops and diocesan bishops, while lower clergy consists of priests and
deacons, who serve in dioceses (eparchies) and parishes throughout the Middle East,
India, North America, Oceania, and Europe (including the Caucasus and Russia).
The Ancient Church of the East distinguished itself from the Assyrian Church of the East
in 1964. It is one of the Assyrian churches that claim continuity with the historical
Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon—the Church of the East, one of the oldest Christian
churches in Mesopotamia.
Protestantism
The Amish, an Old Order Anabaptist community, are known for their belief in plain
dress, credobaptism, and nonconformity to the world.
In 1521, the Edict of Worms condemned Martin Luther and officially banned citizens of
the Holy Roman Empire from defending or propagating his ideas.This split within the
Roman Catholic church is now called the Reformation. Prominent Reformers included
Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and John Calvin. The 1529 Protestation at Speyer
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against being excommunicated gave this party the name Protestantism. Luther's
primary theological heirs are known as Lutherans. Zwingli and Calvin's heirs are far
broader denominationally, and are referred to as the Reformed tradition.
Protestants have developed their own culture, with major contributions in education,
the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts,
and many other fields.
The Anglican churches descended from the Church of England and organized in the
Anglican Communion. Some, but not all Anglicans consider themselves both Protestant
and Catholic.
Since the Anglican, Lutheran, and the Reformed branches of Protestantism originated
for the most part in cooperation with the government, these movements are termed the
"Magisterial Reformation". On the other hand, groups such as the Anabaptists, who
often do not consider themselves to be Protestant, originated in the Radical
Reformation, which though sometimes protected under Acts of Toleration, do not trace
their history back to any state church. They are further distinguished by their rejection
of infant baptism; they believe in baptism only of adult believers—credobaptism
(Anabaptists include the Amish, Apostolic, Mennonites, Hutterites, River Brethren and
Schwarzenau Brethren/German Baptist groups.)
The term Protestant also refers to any churches which formed later, with either the
Magisterial or Radical traditions. In the 18th century, for example, Methodism grew out
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of Anglican minister John Wesley's evangelical revival movement.Several Pentecostal
and non-denominational churches, which emphasize the cleansing power of the Holy
Spirit, in turn grew out of Methodism.Because Methodists, Pentecostals and other
evangelicals stress "accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior",which comes
from Wesley's emphasis of the New Birth,they often refer to themselves as being born-
again.
Protestantism is the second largest major group of Christians after Catholicism by
number of followers, although the Eastern Orthodox Church is larger than any single
Protestant denomination. Estimates vary, mainly over the question of which
denominations to classify as Protestant. Yet, the total number of Protestant Christians is
generally estimated between 800 million and 1 billion, corresponding to nearly 40% of
world's Christians. The majority of Protestants are members of just a handful of
denominational families, i.e. Adventists, Anglicans, Baptists, Reformed
(Calvinists),Lutherans, Methodists, Moravians/Hussites, and Pentecostals.
Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, neo-charismatic, independent, and other
churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity.
Some groups of individuals who hold basic Protestant tenets identify themselves simply
as "Christians" or "born-again Christians". They typically distance themselves from the
confessionalism and creedalism of other Christian communities by calling themselves
"non-denominational" or "evangelical". Often founded by individual pastors, they have
little affiliation with historic denominations.
Historical chart of the main Protestant branches
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A 19th-century drawing of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receiving the Aaronic
priesthood from John the Baptist. Latter Day Saints believe that the Priesthood ceased
to exist after the death of the apostles and therefore needed to be restored.
The Second Great Awakening, a period of religious revival that occurred in the United
States during the early 1800s, saw the development of a number of unrelated churches.
They generally saw themselves as restoring the original church of Jesus Christ rather
than reforming one of the existing churches. A common belief held by Restorationists
was that the other divisions of Christianity had introduced doctrinal defects into
Christianity, which was known as the Great Apostasy.In Asia, Iglesia ni Cristo is a
known restorationist religion that was established during the early 1900s.
Some of the churches originating during this period are historically connected to early
19th-century camp meetings in the Midwest and upstate New York. One of the largest
churches produced from the movement is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. American Millennialism and Adventism, which arose from Evangelical
Protestantism, influenced the Jehovah's Witnesses movement and, as a reaction
specifically to William Miller, the Seventh-day Adventists. Others, including the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, Churches of Christ,
and the Christian churches and churches of Christ, have their roots in the
contemporaneous Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, which was centered in
Kentucky and Tennessee. Other groups originating in this time period include the
Christadelphians and the previously mentioned Latter Day Saints movement. While the
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churches originating in the Second Great Awakening have some superficial similarities,
their doctrine and practices vary significantly.
Christianity has had a significant impact on education, as the church created the bases
of the Western system of education, and was the sponsor of founding universities in the
Western world, as the university is generally regarded as an institution that has its
origin in the Medieval Christian setting. Historically, Christianity has often been a patron
of science and medicine; many Catholic clergy,Jesuits in particular,have been active in
the sciences throughout history and have made significant contributions to the
development of science. Protestantism also has had an important influence on science.
According to the Merton Thesis, there was a positive correlation between the rise of
English Puritanism and German Pietism on the one hand, and early experimental
science on the other. The civilizing influence of Christianity includes social
welfare,founding hospitals, economics (as the Protestant work
ethic),architecture,politics, literature,personal hygiene (ablution), and family life.
Eastern Christians (particularly Nestorian Christians) contributed to the Arab Islamic
civilization during the reign of the Ummayad and the Abbasid, by translating works of
Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards, to Arabic. They also excelled in
philosophy, science, theology, and medicine.
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Christians have made a myriad of contributions to human progress in a broad and
diverse range of fields, including philosophy,science and technology, medicine, fine arts
and architecture,politics, literatures, music, and business.According to 100 Years of
Nobel Prizes a review of the Nobel Prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that
(65.4%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as
their religious preference.
Cultural Christians are secular people with a Christian heritage who may not believe in
the religious claims of Christianity, but who retain an affinity for the popular culture, art,
music, and so on related to the religion.
Postchristianity is the term for the decline of Christianity, particularly in Europe, Canada,
Australia, and to a minor degree the Southern Cone, in the 20th and 21st centuries,
considered in terms of postmodernism. It refers to the loss of Christianity's monopoly
on values and world view in historically Christian societies.
Ecumenism
The Christian Flag is an ecumenical flag designed in the early 20th century to represent
all of Christianity and Christendom.
Christian groups and denominations have long expressed ideals of being reconciled, and
in the 20th century, Christian ecumenism advanced in two ways.One way was greater
cooperation between groups, such as the World Evangelical Alliance founded in 1846 in
London or the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of Protestants in 1910, the Justice,
Peace and Creation Commission of the World Council of Churches founded in 1948 by
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Protestant and Orthodox churches, and similar national councils like the National
Council of Churches in Australia, which includes Catholics.
The other way was an institutional union with united churches, a practice that can be
traced back to unions between Lutherans and Calvinists in early 19th-century Germany.
Congregationalist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches united in 1925 to form the
United Church of Canada, and in 1977 to form the Uniting Church in Australia. The
Church of South India was formed in 1947 by the union of Anglican, Baptist, Methodist,
Congregationalist, and Presbyterian churches.
The Christian Flag is an ecumenical flag designed in the early 20th century to represent
all of Christianity and Christendom.
The ecumenical, monastic Taizé Community is notable for being composed of more
than one hundred brothers from Protestant and Catholic traditions. The community
emphasizes the reconciliation of all denominations and its main church, located in Taizé,
Saône-et-Loire, France, is named the "Church of Reconciliation".The community is
internationally known, attracting over 100,000 young pilgrims annually.
Steps towards reconciliation on a global level were taken in 1965 by the Catholic and
Orthodox churches, mutually revoking the excommunications that marked their Great
Schism in 1054;the Anglican Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) working
towards full communion between those churches since 1970; and some Lutheran and
Catholic churches signing the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999
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to address conflicts at the root of the Protestant Reformation. In 2006, the World
Methodist Council, representing all Methodist denominations, adopted the declaration.
Criticism, persecution, and apologetics
A copy of the Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas, a famous Christian apologetic
work.
Criticism of Christianity and Christians goes back to the Apostolic Age, with the New
Testament recording friction between the followers of Jesus and the Pharisees and
scribes (e.g. Matthew 15:1–20 and Mark 7:1–23).In the 2nd century, Christianity was
criticized by the Jews on various grounds, e.g. that the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible
could not have been fulfilled by Jesus, given that he did not have a successful life.
Additionally, a sacrifice to remove sins in advance, for everyone or as a human being,
did not fit to the Jewish sacrifice ritual; furthermore, God is said to judge people on
their deeds instead of their beliefs. One of the first comprehensive attacks on
Christianity came from the Greek philosopher Celsus, who wrote The True Word, a
polemic criticizing Christians as being unprofitable members of society. In response, the
church father Origen published his treatise Contra Celsum, or Against Celsus, a seminal
work of Christian apologetics, which systematically addressed Celsus's criticisms and
helped bring Christianity a level of academic respectability.
By the 3rd century, criticism of Christianity had mounted. Wild rumors about Christians
were widely circulated, claiming that they were atheists and that, as part of their rituals,
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they devoured human infants and engaged in incestuous orgies. The Neoplatonist
philosopher Porphyry wrote the fifteen-volume Adversus Christianos as a
comprehensive attack on Christianity, in part building on the teachings of Plotinus.
By the 12th century, the Mishneh Torah (i.e., Rabbi Moses Maimonides) was criticizing
Christianity on the grounds of idol worship, in that Christians attributed divinity to
Jesus, who had a physical body. In the 19th century, Nietzsche began to write a series
of polemics on the "unnatural" teachings of Christianity (e.g. sexual abstinence), and
continued his criticism of Christianity to the end of his life.In the 20th century, the
philosopher Bertrand Russell expressed his criticism of Christianity in Why I Am Not a
Christian, formulating his rejection of Christianity in the setting of logical arguments.
Criticism of Christianity continues to date, e.g. Jewish and Muslim theologians criticize
the doctrine of the Trinity held by most Christians, stating that this doctrine in effect
assumes that there are three gods, running against the basic tenet of monotheism. New
Testament scholar Robert M. Price has outlined the possibility that some Bible stories
are based partly on myth in The Christ Myth Theory and its problems.
Persecution
Christians fleeing their homes in the Ottoman Empire, circa 1922. Many Christians were
persecuted and/or killed during the Armenian genocide, Greek genocide, and Assyrian
genocide.
Christians are one of the most persecuted religious group in the world, especially in the
Middle-East, North Africa and South and East Asia. In 2017, Open Doors estimated
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approximately 260 million Christians are subjected annually to "high, very high, or
extreme persecution" with North Korea considered the most hazardous nation for
Christians. In 2019, a report commissioned by the United Kingdom's Secretary of State
of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to investigate global persecution of
Christians found persecution has increased, and is highest in the Middle East, North
Africa, India, China, North Korea, and Latin America, among others,and that it is global
and not limited to Islamic states. This investigation found that approximately 80% of
persecuted believers worldwide are Christians.
Apologetics
Christian apologetics aims to present a rational basis for Christianity. The word
"apologetic" (Greek: ἀπολογητικός apologētikos) comes from the Greek verb
ἀπολογέομαι apologeomai, meaning "(I) speak in defense of". Christian apologetics has
taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle. The philosopher
Thomas Aquinas presented five arguments for God's existence in the Summa
Theologica, while his Summa contra Gentiles was a major apologetic work. Another
famous apologist, G. K. Chesterton, wrote in the early twentieth century about the
benefits of religion and, specifically, Christianity. Famous for his use of paradox,
Chesterton explained that while Christianity had the most mysteries, it was the most
practical religion.He pointed to the advance of Christian civilizations as proof of its
practicality. The physicist and priest John Polkinghorne, in his Questions of Truth,
discusses the subject of religion and science, a topic that other Christian apologists such
as Ravi Zacharias, John Lennox, and William Lane Craig have engaged, with the latter
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two men opining that the inflationary Big Bang model is evidence for the existence of
God.
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. Now that you understand the history of Christianity. What teachings
of this religion, inspire you the most and why?
Reference
Christianity - Wikipedia retrieved August 29, 2021
Lesson 16. Hinduism
Pre-activity
Let us focus once again to another major religion in Asia, this is Hinduism, a just like
Christianity, a deeper understanding of this religion, this time from India could
somehow deepen our understanding this religion, and also to clarify some gray areas
we usually ignore in some of your readings.
Activity Proper
Hinduism
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Hinduism (/ˈ
hɪnduɪzəm/) is an Indian religion and dharma, or way of life. It is the
world's third-largest religion, with over 1.2 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global
population, known as Hindus.The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has
been called the oldest religion in the world,many practitioners refer to their religion as
Sanātana Dharma (Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म, lit. ''the Eternal Dharma''), which refers to the
idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts.Another,
though less fitting, self-designation is Vaidika dharma, the 'dharma related to the
Vedas.'
Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a range of philosophies and shared
concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites and shared textual sources
that discuss theology, metaphysics, mythology, Vedic yajna, yoga, agamic rituals, and
temple building, among other topics. Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four
Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life; namely, dharma (ethics/duties),
artha (prosperity/work), kama (desires/passions) and moksha (liberation/freedom from
the passions and the cycle of death and rebirth), as well as karma (action, intent and
consequences) and saṃsāra (cycle of death and rebirth). Hinduism prescribes the
eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings (Ahiṃsā),
patience, forbearance, self-restraint, virtue, and compassion, among others. Hindu
practices include rituals such as puja (worship) and recitations, japa, meditation
(dhyāna), family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages.
Along with the practice of various yogas, some Hindus leave their social world and
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material possessions and engage in lifelong Sannyasa (monasticism) in order to achieve
Moksha.
Hindu texts are classified into Śruti ("heard") and Smṛti ("remembered"), the major
scriptures of which are the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Purānas, the Mahābhārata, the
Rāmāyana, and the Āgamas.There are six āstika schools of Hindu philosophy, who
recognise the authority of the Vedas, namely Sānkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaisheshika,
Mimāmsā and Vedānta.While the Puranic chronology presents a genealogy of thousands
of years, starting with the Vedic rishis, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or
synthesis of Brahmanical orthopraxy with various Indian cultures, having diverse roots
and no specific founder. This Hindu synthesis emerged after the Vedic period, between
c. 500–200 BCE and c. 300 CE, in the period of the Second Urbanisation and the early
classical period of Hinduism, when the Epics and the first Purānas were composed. It
flourished in the medieval period, with the decline of Buddhism in India.
Currently, the four largest denominations of Hinduism are Vaishnavism, Shaivism,
Shaktism and Smartism. Sources of authority and eternal truths in the Hindu texts play
an important role, but there is also a strong Hindu tradition of questioning authority in
order to deepen the understanding of these truths and to further develop the
tradition.Hinduism is the most widely professed faith in India, Nepal and Mauritius.
Significant numbers of Hindu communities are found in Southeast Asia including in Bali,
Indonesia, the Caribbean, North America, Europe, Oceania, Africa, and other regions.
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Hinduism is the second fastest-growing religion in the world, after Islam with a growth
of 17%.
The word Hindū is derived from Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit root Sindhu. The Proto-Iranian
sound change *s > h occurred between 850 and 600 BCE, according to Asko Parpola.
The use of the English term "Hinduism" to describe a collection of practices and beliefs
is a fairly recent construction: it was first used by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1816–17.
The term "Hinduism" was coined in around 1830 by those Indians who opposed British
colonialism, and who wanted to distinguish themselves from other religious groups.
Before the British began to categorise communities strictly by religion, Indians generally
did not define themselves exclusively through their religious beliefs; instead identities
were largely segmented on the basis of locality, language, varṇa, jāti, occupation and
sect.
The word "Hindu" is much older, and it is believed that it was used as the name for the
Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent.According to Gavin
Flood, "The actual term Hindu first occurs as a Persian geographical term for the people
who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: Sindhu)", more specifically in the 6th-
century BCE inscription of Darius I (550–486 BCE). The term Hindu in these ancient
records is a geographical term and did not refer to a religion.Among the earliest known
records of 'Hindu' with connotations of religion may be in the 7th-century CE Chinese
text Record of the Western Regions by Xuanzang, and 14th-century Persian text
Futuhu's-salatin by 'Abd al-Malik Isami.
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Thapar states that the word Hindu is found as heptahindu in Avesta – equivalent to
Rigvedic sapta sindhu, while hndstn (pronounced Hindustan) is found in a Sasanian
inscription from the 3rd century CE, both of which refer to parts of northwestern South
Asia. The Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River
Indus.This Arabic term was itself taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū, which
refers to all Indians. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as a popular alternative
name of India, meaning the "land of Hindus".
The term Hindu was later used occasionally in some Sanskrit texts such as the later
Rajataranginis of Kashmir (Hinduka, c. 1450) and some 16th- to 18th-century Bengali
Gaudiya Vaishnava texts including Chaitanya Charitamrita and Chaitanya Bhagavata.
These texts used it to distinguish Hindus from Muslims who are called Yavanas
(foreigners) or Mlecchas (barbarians), with the 16th-century Chaitanya Charitamrita text
and the 17th-century Bhakta Mala text using the phrase "Hindu dharma". It was only
towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to
refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus.
The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language
in the 18th century to denote the religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions native
to India.
Definitions
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Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but has no
ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, no
prophet(s) nor any binding holy book; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic,
panentheistic, pandeistic, henotheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or
humanist.According to Doniger, "ideas about all the major issues of faith and lifestyle –
vegetarianism, nonviolence, belief in rebirth, even caste – are subjects of debate, not
dogma."
Because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism,
arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult.The religion "defies our desire to define
and categorize it". Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious
tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and "a way of life".From a Western lexical
standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion. In India,
the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the Western term religion.
The study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of "Hinduism", has
been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since
the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among
scholars of Hinduism,and have also been taken over by critics of the Western view on
India.
Typology
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Om, a stylized letter of Devanagari script, used as a religious symbol in Hinduism
Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents.
Of the historical division into six darsanas (philosophies), two schools, Vedanta and
Yoga, are currently the most prominent.Classified by primary deity or deities, four major
Hinduism modern currents are Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaivism (Shiva), Shaktism (Devi)
and Smartism (five deities treated as same). Hinduism also accepts numerous divine
beings, with many Hindus considering the deities to be aspects or manifestations of a
single impersonal absolute or ultimate reality or God, while some Hindus maintain that
a specific deity represents the supreme and various deities are lower manifestations of
this supreme. Other notable characteristics include a belief in the existence of ātman
(Self), reincarnation of one's ātman, and karma as well as a belief in dharma (duties,
rights, laws, conduct, virtues and right way of living).
McDaniel (2007) classifies Hinduism into six major kinds and numerous minor kinds, in
order to understand the expression of emotions among the Hindus.The major kinds,
according to McDaniel are Folk Hinduism, based on local traditions and cults of local
deities and is the oldest, non-literate system; Vedic Hinduism based on the earliest
layers of the Vedas traceable to 2nd millennium BCE; Vedantic Hinduism based on the
philosophy of the Upanishads, including Advaita Vedanta, emphasizing knowledge and
wisdom; Yogic Hinduism, following the text of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali emphasizing
introspective awareness; Dharmic Hinduism or "daily morality", which McDaniel states is
stereotyped in some books as the "only form of Hindu religion with a belief in karma,
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cows and caste"; and bhakti or devotional Hinduism, where intense emotions are
elaborately incorporated in the pursuit of the spiritual.
Michaels distinguishes three Hindu religions and four forms of Hindu religiosity. The
three Hindu religions are "Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism", "folk religions and tribal
religions", and "founded religions". The four forms of Hindu religiosity are the classical
"karma-marga", jnana-marga,bhakti-marga,and "heroism", which is rooted in militaristic
traditions. These militaristic traditions include Ramaism (the worship of a hero of epic
literature, Rama, believing him to be an incarnation of Vishnu) and parts of political
Hinduism. "Heroism" is also called virya-marga. According to Michaels, one out of nine
Hindu belongs by birth to one or both of the Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism and Folk
religion typology, whether practicing or non-practicing. He classifies most Hindus as
belonging by choice to one of the "founded religions" such as Vaishnavism and
Shaivism that are moksha-focussed and often de-emphasize Brahman priestly authority
yet incorporate ritual grammar of Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism.He includes among
"founded religions" Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism that are now distinct religions, syncretic
movements such as Brahmo Samaj and the Theosophical Society, as well as various
"Guru-isms" and new religious movements such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and ISKCON.
Inden states that the attempt to classify Hinduism by typology started in the imperial
times, when proselytizing missionaries and colonial officials sought to understand and
portray Hinduism from their interests. Hinduism was construed as emanating not from a
reason of spirit but fantasy and creative imagination, not conceptual but symbolical, not
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ethical but emotive, not rational or spiritual but of cognitive mysticism. This stereotype
followed and fit, states Inden, with the imperial imperatives of the era, providing the
moral justification for the colonial project. From tribal Animism to Buddhism, everything
was subsumed as part of Hinduism. The early reports set the tradition and scholarly
premises for the typology of Hinduism, as well as the major assumptions and flawed
presuppositions that have been at the foundation of Indology. Hinduism, according to
Inden, has been neither what imperial religionists stereotyped it to be, nor is it
appropriate to equate Hinduism to be merely the monist pantheism and philosophical
idealism of Advaita Vedanta.
Hindu views
Sanātana Dharma
To its adherents, Hinduism is a traditional way of life. Many practitioners refer to the
"orthodox" form of Hinduism as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal law" or the "eternal
way". Hindus regard Hinduism to be thousands of years old. The Puranic chronology,
the timeline of events in ancient Indian history as narrated in the Mahabaratha, the
Ramayana, and the Puranas, envisions a chronology of events related to Hinduism
starting well before 3000 BCE. The Sanskrit word dharma has a much broader meaning
than religion and is not its equivalent. All aspects of a Hindu life, namely acquiring
wealth (artha), fulfillment of desires (kama), and attaining liberation (moksha), are part
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of dharma, which encapsulates the "right way of living" and eternal harmonious
principles in their fulfillment.
According to the editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica, Sanātana Dharma historically
referred to the "eternal" duties religiously ordained in Hinduism, duties such as honesty,
refraining from injuring living beings (ahiṃsā), purity, goodwill, mercy, patience,
forbearance, self-restraint, generosity, and asceticism. These duties applied regardless
of a Hindu's class, caste, or sect, and they contrasted with svadharma, one's "own
duty", in accordance with one's class or caste (varṇa) and stage in life (puruṣārtha). In
recent years, the term has been used by Hindu leaders, reformers, and nationalists to
refer to Hinduism. Sanatana dharma has become a synonym for the "eternal" truth and
teachings of Hinduism, that transcend history and are "unchanging, indivisible and
ultimately nonsectarian".
According to other scholars such as Kim Knott and Brian Hatcher, Sanātana Dharma
refers to "timeless, eternal set of truths" and this is how Hindus view the origins of their
religion. It is viewed as those eternal truths and tradition with origins beyond human
history, truths divinely revealed (Shruti) in the Vedas – the most ancient of the world's
scriptures. To many Hindus, the Western term "religion" to the extent it means "dogma
and an institution traceable to a single founder" is inappropriate for their tradition,
states Hatcher. Hinduism, to them, is a tradition that can be traced at least to the
ancient Vedic era.
Vaidika dharma
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Some have referred to Hinduism as the Vaidika dharma.The word 'Vaidika' in Sanskrit
means 'derived from or conformable to the Veda' or 'relating to the Veda'. Traditional
scholars employed the terms Vaidika and Avaidika, those who accept the Vedas as a
source of authoritative knowledge and those who do not, to differentiate various Indian
schools from Jainism, Buddhism and Charvaka. According to Klaus Klostermaier, the
term Vaidika dharma is the earliest self-designation of Hinduism. According to Arvind
Sharma, the historical evidence suggests that "the Hindus were referring to their
religion by the term vaidika dharma or a variant thereof" by the 4th-century CE.
According to Brian K. Smith, "[i]t is 'debatable at the very least' as to whether the term
Vaidika Dharma cannot, with the proper concessions to historical, cultural and
ideological specificity, be comparable to and translated as 'Hinduism' or 'Hindu religion'.
According to Alexis Sanderson, the early Sanskrit texts differentiate between Vaidika,
Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta, Saura, Buddhist and Jaina traditions. However, the late 1st-
millennium CE Indic consensus had "indeed come to conceptualize a complex entity
corresponding to Hinduism as opposed to Buddhism and Jainism excluding only certain
forms of antinomian Shakta-Shaiva" from its fold. Some in the Mimamsa school of
Hindu philosophy considered the Agamas such as the Pancaratrika to be invalid because
it did not conform to the Vedas. Some Kashmiri scholars rejected the esoteric tantric
traditions to be a part of Vaidika dharma. The Atimarga Shaivism ascetic tradition,
datable to about 500 CE, challenged the Vaidika frame and insisted that their Agamas
and practices were not only valid, they were superior than those of the Vaidikas.
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However, adds Sanderson, this Shaiva ascetic tradition viewed themselves as being
genuinely true to the Vedic tradition and "held unanimously that the Śruti and Smṛti of
Brahmanism are universally and uniquely valid in their own sphere, and that as such
they [Vedas] are man's sole means of valid knowledge.
The term Vaidika dharma means a code of practice that is "based on the Vedas", but it
is unclear what "based on the Vedas" really implies, states Julius Lipner. The Vaidika
dharma or "Vedic way of life", states Lipner, does not mean "Hinduism is necessarily
religious" or that Hindus have a universally accepted "conventional or institutional
meaning" for that term. To many, it is as much a cultural term. Many Hindus do not
have a copy of the Vedas nor have they ever seen or personally read parts of a Veda,
like a Christian, might relate to the Bible or a Muslim might to the Quran. Yet, states
Lipner, "this does not mean that their [Hindus] whole life's orientation cannot be traced
to the Vedas or that it does not in some way derive from it".
Though many religious Hindus implicitly acknowledge the authority of the Vedas, this
acknowledgment is often "no more than a declaration that someone considers himself
[or herself] a Hindu," and "most Indians today pay lip service to the Veda and have no
regard for the contents of the text." Some Hindus challenge the authority of the Vedas,
thereby implicitly acknowledging its importance to the history of Hinduism, states
Lipner.
Hindu reform movements
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Swami Vivekananda was a key figure in introducing Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and
the United States, raising interfaith awareness and making Hinduism a world religion.
Beginning in the 19th century, Indian modernists re-asserted Hinduism as a major asset
of Indian civilisation, meanwhile "purifying" Hinduism from its Tantric elements and
elevating the Vedic elements. Western stereotypes were reversed, emphasizing the
universal aspects, and introducing modern approaches of social problems. This
approach had a great appeal, not only in India, but also in the west.Major
representatives of "Hindu modernism" are Raja Rammohan Roy, Vivekananda,
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Mahatma Gandhi. Raja Rammohan Roy is known as the
father of the Hindu Renaissance. He was a major influence on Swami Vivekananda
(1863–1902), who, according to Flood, was "a figure of great importance in the
development of a modern Hindu self-understanding and in formulating the West's view
of Hinduism". Central to his philosophy is the idea that the divine exists in all beings,
that all human beings can achieve union with this "innate divinity", and that seeing this
divine as the essence of others will further love and social harmony. According to
Vivekananda, there is an essential unity to Hinduism, which underlies the diversity of its
many forms. According to Flood, Vivekananda's vision of Hinduism "is one generally
accepted by most English-speaking middle-class Hindus today". Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan sought to reconcile western rationalism with Hinduism, "presenting
Hinduism as an essentially rationalistic and humanistic religious experience".
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This "Global Hinduism" has a worldwide appeal, transcending national boundaries and,
according to Flood, "becoming a world religion alongside Christianity, Islam and
Buddhism", both for the Hindu diaspora communities and for westerners who are
attracted to non-western cultures and religions. It emphasizes universal spiritual values
such as social justice, peace and "the spiritual transformation of humanity". It has
developed partly due to "re-enculturation", or the Pizza effect, in which elements of
Hindu culture have been exported to the West, gaining popularity there, and as a
consequence also gained greater popularity in India. This globalization of Hindu culture
brought "to the West teachings which have become an important cultural force in
western societies, and which in turn have become an important cultural force in India,
their place of origin".
Legal definitions
The definition of Hinduism in Indian Law is: "Acceptance of the Vedas with reverence;
recognition of the fact that the means or ways to Moksha are diverse; and realization of
the truth that the number of gods to be worshipped is large".
Scholarly views
The term Hinduism was coined in Western ethnography in the 18th century, and refers
to the fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots
and no founder.This Hindu synthesis emerged after the Vedic period, between c. 500–
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200 BCE and c. 300 CE, in the period of the Second Urbanisation and the early classical
period of Hinduism, when the Epics and the first Puranas were composed.It flourished
in the medieval period, with the decline of Buddhism in India. Hinduism's tolerance to
variations in belief and its broad range of traditions make it difficult to define as a
religion according to traditional Western conceptions.
Some academics suggest that Hinduism can be seen as a category with "fuzzy edges"
rather than as a well-defined and rigid entity. Some forms of religious expression are
central to Hinduism and others, while not as central, still remain within the category.
Based on this idea Gabriella Eichinger Ferro-Luzzi has developed a 'Prototype Theory
approach' to the definition of Hinduism.
Diversity and unity
Ganesha is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon
Hindu beliefs are vast and diverse, and thus Hinduism is often referred to as a family of
religions rather than a single religion. Within each religion in this family of religions,
there are different theologies, practices, and sacred texts.Hinduism does not have a
"unified system of belief encoded in a declaration of faith or a creed",but is rather an
umbrella term comprising the plurality of religious phenomena of India. According to
the Supreme Court of India,
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Unlike other religions in the World, the Hindu religion does not claim any one Prophet, it
does not worship any one God, it does not believe in any one philosophic concept, it
does not follow any one act of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not satisfy
the traditional features of a religion or creed. It is a way of life and nothing more".
Part of the problem with a single definition of the term Hinduism is the fact that
Hinduism does not have a founder. It is a synthesis of various traditions, the
"Brahmanical orthopraxy, the renouncer traditions and popular or local traditions".
Theism is also difficult to use as a unifying doctrine for Hinduism, because while some
Hindu philosophies postulate a theistic ontology of creation, other Hindus are or have
been atheists.
Sense of unity
Despite the differences, there is also a sense of unity.Most Hindu traditions revere a
body of religious or sacred literature, the Vedas, although there are exceptions. These
texts are a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride for Hindus, with
Louis Renou stating that "even in the most orthodox domains, the reverence to the
Vedas has come to be a simple raising of the hat".
Halbfass states that, although Shaivism and Vaishnavism may be regarded as "self-
contained religious constellations", there is a degree of interaction and reference
between the "theoreticians and literary representatives" of each tradition that indicates
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the presence of "a wider sense of identity, a sense of coherence in a shared context
and of inclusion in a common framework and horizon".
Classical Hinduism
Brahmins played an essential role in the development of the post-Vedic Hindu synthesis,
disseminating Vedic culture to local communities, and integrating local religiosity into
the trans-regional Brahmanic culture. In the post-Gupta period Vedanta developed in
southern India, where orthodox Brahmanic culture and the Hindu culture were
preserved,building on ancient Vedic traditions while "accommoda[ting] the multiple
demands of Hinduism."
Medieval developments
The notion of common denominators for several religions and traditions of India further
developed from the 12th century CE. Lorenzen traces the emergence of a "family
resemblance", and what he calls as "beginnings of medieval and modern Hinduism"
taking shape, at c. 300–600 CE, with the development of the early Puranas, and
continuities with the earlier Vedic religion. Lorenzen states that the establishment of a
Hindu self-identity took place "through a process of mutual self-definition with a
contrasting Muslim Other". According to Lorenzen, this "presence of the Other" is
necessary to recognise the "loose family resemblance" among the various traditions and
schools.
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According to the Indologist Alexis Sanderson, before Islam arrived in India, the
"Sanskrit sources differentiated Vaidika, Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, Śākta, Saura, Buddhist, and
Jaina traditions, but they had no name that denotes the first five of these as a collective
entity over and against Buddhism and Jainism". This absence of a formal name, states
Sanderson, does not mean that the corresponding concept of Hinduism did not exist. By
late 1st-millennium CE, the concept of a belief and tradition distinct from Buddhism and
Jainism had emerged. This complex tradition accepted in its identity almost all of what
is currently Hinduism, except certain antinomian tantric movements. Some conservative
thinkers of those times questioned whether certain Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta texts
or practices were consistent with the Vedas, or were invalid in their entirety. Moderates
then, and most orthoprax scholars later, agreed that though there are some variations,
the foundation of their beliefs, the ritual grammar, the spiritual premises, and the
soteriologies were the same. "This sense of greater unity", states Sanderson, "came to
be called Hinduism".
According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th centuries "certain
thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the
Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the 'six systems'
(saddarsana) of mainstream Hindu philosophy." The tendency of "a blurring of
philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by Burley. Hacker called this
"inclusivism" and Michaels speaks of "the identificatory habit". Lorenzen locates the
origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus, and a
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process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other", which started well
before 1800. Michaels notes:
As a counteraction to Islamic supremacy and as part of the continuing process of
regionalization, two religious innovations developed in the Hindu religions: the
formation of sects and a historicization which preceded later nationalism ... [S]aints and
sometimes militant sect leaders, such as the Marathi poet Tukaram (1609–1649) and
Ramdas (1608–1681), articulated ideas in which they glorified Hinduism and the past.
The Brahmins also produced increasingly historical texts, especially eulogies and
chronicles of sacred sites (Mahatmyas), or developed a reflexive passion for collecting
and compiling extensive collections of quotations on various subjects.
Colonial period and neo-Vedanta
This inclusivism was further developed in the 19th and 20th centuries by Hindu reform
movements and Neo-Vedanta, and has become characteristic of modern Hinduism.
The notion and reports on "Hinduism" as a "single world religious tradition"was also
popularised by 19th-century proselytizing missionaries and European Indologists, roles
sometimes served by the same person, who relied on texts preserved by Brahmins
(priests) for their information of Indian religions, and animist observations that the
missionary Orientalists presumed was Hinduism.These reports influenced perceptions
about Hinduism. Scholars such as Pennington state that the colonial polemical reports
led to fabricated stereotypes where Hinduism was mere mystic paganism devoted to
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the service of devils,while other scholars state that the colonial constructions influenced
the belief that the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, Manusmriti and such texts were the essence
of Hindu religiosity, and in the modern association of 'Hindu doctrine' with the schools
of Vedanta (in particular Advaita Vedanta) as a paradigmatic example of Hinduism's
mystical nature". Pennington, while concurring that the study of Hinduism as a world
religion began in the colonial era, disagrees that Hinduism is a colonial European era
invention. He states that the shared theology, common ritual grammar and way of life
of those who identify themselves as Hindus is traceable to ancient times.
Modern India and the world
The Hindutva movement has extensively argued for the unity of Hinduism, dismissing
the differences and regarding India as a Hindu-country since ancient times. And there
are assumptions of political dominance of Hindu nationalism in India, also known as
'Neo-Hindutva'.There have also been increase in pre-dominance of Hindutva in Nepal,
similar to that of India.The scope of Hinduism is also increasing in the other parts of the
world, due to the cultural influences such as Yoga and Hare Krishna movement by
many missionaries organisations, specially by Iskcon and this is also due to the
migration of Indian Hindus to the other nations of the world.Hinduism is growing fast in
many western nations and in some African nations.
Beliefs
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Temple wall panel relief sculpture at the Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu, representing
the Trimurti: Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu
Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include (but are not restricted to) Dharma
(ethics/duties), saṃsāra (the continuing cycle of entanglement in passions and the
resulting birth, life, death, and rebirth), Karma (action, intent, and consequences),
moksha (liberation from attachment and saṃsāra), and the various yogas (paths or
practices).
Purusharthas
Purusharthas refers to the objectives of human life. Classical Hindu thought accepts
four proper goals or aims of human life, known as Puruṣārthas:
Dharma is considered the foremost goal of a human being in Hinduism.The concept of
dharma includes behaviors that are considered to be in accord with rta, the order that
makes life and universe possible, and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and
"right way of living". Hindu dharma includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties
of each individual, as well as behaviors that enable social order, right conduct, and
those that are virtuous. Dharma, according to Van Buitenen, is that which all existing
beings must accept and respect to sustain harmony and order in the world. It is, states
Van Buitenen, the pursuit and execution of one's nature and true calling, thus playing
one's role in cosmic concert.The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states it as:
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Nothing is higher than Dharma. The weak overcomes the stronger by Dharma, as over
a king. Truly that Dharma is the Truth (Satya); Therefore, when a man speaks the
Truth, they say, "He speaks the Dharma"; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, "He
speaks the Truth!" For both are one.
In the Mahabharata, Krishna defines dharma as upholding both this-worldly and other-
worldly affairs. (Mbh 12.110.11). The word Sanātana means eternal, perennial, or
forever; thus, Sanātana Dharma signifies that it is the dharma that has neither
beginning nor end.
Artha (livelihood, wealth)
Artha is objective and virtuous pursuit of wealth for livelihood, obligations, and
economic prosperity. It is inclusive of political life, diplomacy, and material well-being.
The artha concept includes all "means of life", activities and resources that enables one
to be in a state one wants to be in, wealth, career and financial security. The proper
pursuit of artha is considered an important aim of human life in Hinduism.
Kāma (sensual pleasure)
Kāma (Sanskrit, Pali: काम) means desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the senses,
the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations.
In Hinduism, kama is considered an essential and healthy goal of human life when
pursued without sacrificing dharma, artha and moksha.
Mokṣa (liberation, freedom from saṃsāra)

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Moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष, romanized: mokṣa) or mukti (Sanskrit: मु क्ति) is the ultimate,
most important goal in Hinduism. In one sense, moksha is a concept associated with
liberation from sorrow, suffering and saṃsāra (birth-rebirth cycle). A release from this
eschatological cycle, in after life, particularly in theistic schools of Hinduism is called
moksha. Due to belief in the indestructibility of Atman c.q. purusha,death is deemed
insignificant with respect to the cosmic Self.
The meaning of moksha differs among the various Hindu schools of thought. For
example, Advaita Vedanta holds that after attaining moksha a person knows their
essence, Self as pure consciousness or the witness-consciousness and identifies it as
identical to Brahman.The followers of Dvaita (dualistic) schools, in moksha state,
identify individual essence as distinct from Brahman but infinitesimally close, and after
attaining moksha expect to spend eternity in a loka (heaven). To theistic schools of
Hinduism, moksha is liberation from saṃsāra, while for other schools such as the
monistic school, moksha is possible in current life and is a psychological
concept.According to Deutsch, moksha is transcendental consciousness to the latter,
the perfect state of being, of self-realization, of freedom and of "realizing the whole
universe as the Self".Moksha in these schools of Hinduism, suggests Klaus Klostermaier,
implies a setting free of hitherto fettered faculties, a removing of obstacles to an
unrestricted life, permitting a person to be more truly a person in the full sense; the
concept presumes an unused human potential of creativity, compassion and
understanding which had been blocked and shut out. Moksha is more than liberation
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from life-rebirth cycle of suffering (saṃsāra); Vedantic school separates this into
two:Jivanmukti (liberation in this life) and Videhamukti (liberation after death).
Karma and saṃsāra
Karma translates literally as action, work, or deed,and also refers to a Vedic theory of
"moral law of cause and effect".The theory is a combination of (1) causality that may
be ethical or non-ethical; (2) ethicization, that is good or bad actions have
consequences; and (3) rebirth. Karma theory is interpreted as explaining the present
circumstances of an individual with reference to his or her actions in the past. These
actions and their consequences may be in a person's current life, or, according to some
schools of Hinduism, in past lives.This cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth is called
saṃsāra. Liberation from saṃsāra through moksha is believed to ensure lasting
happiness and peace. Hindu scriptures teach that the future is both a function of
current human effort derived from free will and past human actions that set the
circumstances.
Concept of God
Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with a wide variety of beliefs; its concept of
God is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy
followed. It is sometimes referred to as henotheistic (i.e., involving devotion to a single
god while accepting the existence of others), but any such term is an
overgeneralization.
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Who really knows?
Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?
The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?
The Nasadiya Sukta (Creation Hymn) of the Rig Veda is one of the earliest texts which
"demonstrates a sense of metaphysical speculation" about what created the universe,
the concept of god(s) and The One, and whether even The One knows how the
universe came into being.The Rig Veda praises various deities, none superior nor
inferior, in a henotheistic manner.The hymns repeatedly refer to One Truth and One
Ultimate Reality. The "One Truth" of Vedic literature, in modern era scholarship, has
been interpreted as monotheism, monism, as well as a deified Hidden Principles behind
the great happenings and processes of nature.
Gods and Goddesses in Hinduism- Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi, Vishnu
Hindus believe that all living creatures have a Self. This true "Self" of every person, is
called the ātman. The Self is believed to be eternal. According to the
monistic/pantheistic (non-dualist) theologies of Hinduism (such as Advaita Vedanta
school), this Atman is indistinct from Brahman, the supreme spirit or the Ultimate
Reality.The goal of life, according to the Advaita school, is to realise that one's Self is
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identical to supreme Self, that the supreme Self is present in everything and everyone,
all life is interconnected and there is oneness in all life. Dualistic schools (Dvaita and
Bhakti) understand Brahman as a Supreme Being separate from individual Selfs.They
worship the Supreme Being variously as Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, or Shakti, depending
upon the sect. God is called Ishvara, Bhagavan, Parameshwara, Deva or Devi, and
these terms have different meanings in different schools of Hinduism.
Hindu texts accept a polytheistic framework, but this is generally conceptualized as the
divine essence or luminosity that gives vitality and animation to the inanimate natural
substances. There is a divine in everything, human beings, animals, trees and rivers. It
is observable in offerings to rivers, trees, tools of one's work, animals and birds, rising
sun, friends and guests, teachers and parents. It is the divine in these that makes each
sacred and worthy of reverence, rather than them being sacred in and of themselves.
This perception of divinity manifested in all things, as Buttimer and Wallin view it,
makes the Vedic foundations of Hinduism quite distinct from animism, in which all
things are themselves divine. The animistic premise sees multiplicity, and therefore an
equality of ability to compete for power when it comes to man and man, man and
animal, man and nature, etc. The Vedic view does not perceive this competition,
equality of man to nature, or multiplicity so much as an overwhelming and
interconnecting single divinity that unifies everyone and everything.
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The Hindu scriptures name celestial entities called Devas (or Devi in feminine form),
which may be translated into English as gods or heavenly beings. The devas are an
integral part of Hindu culture and are depicted in art, architecture and through icons,
and stories about them are related in the scriptures, particularly in Indian epic poetry
and the Puranas. They are, however, often distinguished from Ishvara, a personal god,
with many Hindus worshipping Ishvara in one of its particular manifestations as their
iṣṭa devatā, or chosen ideal.The choice is a matter of individual preference, and of
regional and family traditions. The multitude of Devas are considered manifestations of
Brahman.
The word avatar does not appear in the Vedic literature, but appears in verb forms in
post-Vedic literature, and as a noun particularly in the Puranic literature after the 6th
century CE. Theologically, the reincarnation idea is most often associated with the
avatars of Hindu god Vishnu, though the idea has been applied to other deities.Varying
lists of avatars of Vishnu appear in Hindu scriptures, including the ten Dashavatara of
the Garuda Purana and the twenty-two avatars in the Bhagavata Purana, though the
latter adds that the incarnations of Vishnu are innumerable.The avatars of Vishnu are
important in Vaishnavism theology. In the goddess-based Shaktism tradition, avatars of
the Devi are found and all goddesses are considered to be different aspects of the same
metaphysical Brahman and Shakti (energy).While avatars of other deities such as
Ganesha and Shiva are also mentioned in medieval Hindu texts, this is minor and
occasional.
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Both theistic and atheistic ideas, for epistemological and metaphysical reasons, are
profuse in different schools of Hinduism. The early Nyaya school of Hinduism, for
example, was non-theist/atheist, but later Nyaya school scholars argued that God exists
and offered proofs using its theory of logic. Other schools disagreed with Nyaya
scholars. Samkhya, Mimamsa and Carvaka schools of Hinduism, were
non-theist/atheist, arguing that "God was an unnecessary metaphysical assumption".
Its Vaisheshika school started as another non-theistic tradition relying on naturalism
and that all matter is eternal, but it later introduced the concept of a non-creator God.
The Yoga school of Hinduism accepted the concept of a "personal god" and left it to the
Hindu to define his or her god. Advaita Vedanta taught a monistic, abstract Self and
Oneness in everything, with no room for gods or deity, a perspective that Mohanty
calls, "spiritual, not religious". Bhakti sub-schools of Vedanta taught a creator God that
is distinct from each human being.
God in Hinduism is often represented, having both the feminine and masculine aspects.
The notion of the feminine in deity is much more pronounced and is evident in the
pairings of Shiva with Parvati(Ardhanarishvara), Vishnu accompanied by Lakshmi,
Radha with Krishna and Sita with Rama.
According to Graham Schweig, Hinduism has the strongest presence of the divine
feminine in world religion from ancient times to the present.The goddess is viewed as
the heart of the most esoteric Saiva traditions.
Authority
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Authority and eternal truths play an important role in Hinduism.Religious traditions and
truths are believed to be contained in its sacred texts, which are accessed and taught
by sages, gurus, saints or avatars. But there is also a strong tradition of the questioning
of authority, internal debate and challenging of religious texts in Hinduism. The Hindus
believe that this deepens the understanding of the eternal truths and further develops
the tradition. Authority "was mediated through [...] an intellectual culture that tended
to develop ideas collaboratively, and according to the shared logic of natural reason."
Narratives in the Upanishads present characters questioning persons of authority.The
Kena Upanishad repeatedly asks kena, 'by what' power something is the case. The
Katha Upanishad and Bhagavad Gita present narratives where the student criticizes the
teacher's inferior answers. In the Shiva Purana, Shiva questions Vishnu and
Brahma.Doubt plays a repeated role in the Mahabharata.Jayadeva's Gita Govinda
presents criticism via the character of Radha.
Denominations
A Ganesha-centric Panchayatana ("five deities", from the Smarta tradition): Ganesha
(centre) with Shiva (top left), Parvati (top right), Vishnu (bottom left) and Surya
(bottom right). All these deities also have separate sects dedicated to them.
Hinduism has no central doctrinal authority and many practising Hindus do not claim to
belong to any particular denomination or tradition. Four major denominations are,
however, used in scholarly studies: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism.
These denominations differ primarily in the central deity worshipped, the traditions and
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the soteriological outlook.The denominations of Hinduism, states Lipner, are unlike
those found in major religions of the world, because Hindu denominations are fuzzy
with individuals practicing more than one, and he suggests the term "Hindu
polycentrism".
Vaishnavism is the devotional religious tradition that worships Vishnu and his avatars,
particularly Krishna and Rama.The adherents of this sect are generally non-ascetic,
monastic, oriented towards community events and devotionalism practices inspired by
"intimate loving, joyous, playful" Krishna and other Vishnu avatars. These practices
sometimes include community dancing, singing of Kirtans and Bhajans, with sound and
music believed by some to have meditative and spiritual powers.Temple worship and
festivals are typically elaborate in Vaishnavism.The Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana,
along with Vishnu-oriented Puranas provide its theistic foundations. Philosophically,
their beliefs are rooted in the dualism sub-schools of Vedantic Hinduism.
Shaivism is the tradition that focuses on Shiva. Shaivas are more attracted to ascetic
individualism, and it has several sub-schools. Their practices include bhakti-style
devotionalism, yet their beliefs lean towards nondual, monistic schools of Hinduism such
as Advaita and Raja Yoga.Some Shaivas worship in temples, while others emphasize
yoga, striving to be one with Shiva within.Avatars are uncommon, and some Shaivas
visualize god as half male, half female, as a fusion of the male and female principles
(Ardhanarishvara). Shaivism is related to Shaktism, wherein Shakti is seen as spouse of
Shiva. Community celebrations include festivals, and participation, with Vaishnavas, in
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pilgrimages such as the Kumbh Mela. Shaivism has been more commonly practiced in
the Himalayan north from Kashmir to Nepal, and in south India.
Shaktism focuses on goddess worship of Shakti or Devi as cosmic mother, and it is
particularly common in northeastern and eastern states of India such as Assam and
Bengal. Devi is depicted as in gentler forms like Parvati, the consort of Shiva; or, as
fierce warrior goddesses like Kali and Durga. Followers of Shaktism recognize Shakti as
the power that underlies the male principle. Shaktism is also associated with Tantra
practices.Community celebrations include festivals, some of which include processions
and idol immersion into sea or other water bodies.
Smartism centers its worship simultaneously on all the major Hindu deities: Shiva,
Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha, Surya and Skanda. The Smarta tradition developed during the
(early) Classical Period of Hinduism around the beginning of the Common Era, when
Hinduism emerged from the interaction between Brahmanism and local traditions. The
Smarta tradition is aligned with Advaita Vedanta, and regards Adi Shankara as its
founder or reformer, who considered worship of God-with-attributes (Saguna Brahman)
as a journey towards ultimately realizing God-without-attributes (nirguna Brahman,
Atman, Self-knowledge). The term Smartism is derived from Smriti texts of Hinduism,
meaning those who remember the traditions in the texts.This Hindu sect practices a
philosophical Jnana yoga, scriptural studies, reflection, meditative path seeking an
understanding of Self's oneness with God.
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There are no census data available on demographic history or trends for the traditions
within Hinduism.Estimates vary on the relative number of adherents in the different
traditions of Hinduism. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, the
Vaishnavism tradition is the largest group with about 641 million or 67.6% of Hindus,
followed by Shaivism with 252 million or 26.6%, Shaktism with 30 million or 3.2% and
other traditions including Neo-Hinduism and Reform Hinduism with 25 million or 2.6%.
In contrast, according to Jones and Ryan, Shaivism is the largest tradition of Hinduism.
Ethnicities
A Russian Hindu girl
Hinduism is traditionally a multi- or polyethnic religion. On the Indian subcontinent, it is
widespread among many Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and other peoples, for example, the
Meitei people (Tibeto-Burman ethnicity in the northeastern Indian state Manipur).
In addition, in antiquity and the Middle Ages, Hinduism was the state religion in many
Indianized kingdoms of Asia, the so-called Greater India—from Afghanistan (Kabul) in
the West and including almost all of Southeast Asia in the East (Cambodia, Vietnam,
Indonesia, partly Philippines)—and only by 15th century was nearly everywhere
supplanted by Buddhism and Islam, except several still Hindu minor Austronesian ethnic
groups, such as the Balinese and Tenggerese people in Indonesia, and the Chams in
Vietnam. There are many ethnic Ghanaian Hindus in Ghana, who have converted to
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Hindusim due to the works of Swami Ghananand Saraswati and Hindu Monastery of
Africa
Scriptures
The Rigveda is the first among four Vedas and is one of the oldest religious texts. This
Rigveda manuscript is in Devanagari.
The ancient scriptures of Hinduism are in Sanskrit. These texts are classified into two:
Shruti and Smriti. Shruti is apauruṣeyā, "not made of a man" but revealed to the rishis
(seers), and regarded as having the highest authority, while the smriti are manmade
and have secondary authority. They are the two highest sources of dharma, the other
two being Śiṣṭa Āchāra/Sadāchara (conduct of noble people) and finally Ātma tuṣṭi
("what is pleasing to oneself")
Hindu scriptures were composed, memorized and transmitted verbally, across
generations, for many centuries before they were written down. Over many centuries,
sages refined the teachings and expanded the Shruti and Smriti, as well as developed
Shastras with epistemological and metaphysical theories of six classical schools of
Hinduism.
Shruti (lit. that which is heard) primarily refers to the Vedas, which form the earliest
record of the Hindu scriptures, and are regarded as eternal truths revealed to the
ancient sages (rishis). There are four Vedas – Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and
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Atharvaveda. Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the
Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies,
sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals,
ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy
and spiritual knowledge). The first two parts of the Vedas were subsequently called the
Karmakāṇḍa (ritualistic portion), while the last two form the Jñānakāṇḍa (knowledge
portion, discussing spiritual insight and philosophical teachings).
The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought, and have profoundly
influenced diverse traditions. Of the Shrutis (Vedic corpus), they alone are widely
influential among Hindus, considered scriptures par excellence of Hinduism, and their
central ideas have continued to influence its thoughts and traditions. Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan states that the Upanishads have played a dominating role ever since
their appearance. There are 108 Muktikā Upanishads in Hinduism, of which between 10
and 13 are variously counted by scholars as Principal Upanishads. The most notable of
the Smritis ("remembered") are the Hindu epics and the Puranas. The epics consist of
the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Bhagavad Gita is an integral part of the
Mahabharata and one of the most popular sacred texts of Hinduism. It is sometimes
called Gitopanishad, then placed in the Shruti ("heard") category, being Upanishadic in
content. The Puranas, which started to be composed from c. 300 CE onward,contain
extensive mythologies, and are central in the distribution of common themes of
Hinduism through vivid narratives. The Yoga Sutras is a classical text for the Hindu
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Yoga tradition, which gained a renewed popularity in the 20th century.Since the 19th-
century Indian modernists have re-asserted the 'Aryan origins' of Hinduism, "purifying"
Hinduism from its Tantric elements and elevating the Vedic elements. Hindu modernists
like Vivekananda see the Vedas as the laws of the spiritual world, which would still exist
even if they were not revealed to the sages.In Tantric tradition, the Agamas refer to
authoritative scriptures or the teachings of Shiva to Shakti,while Nigamas refers to the
Vedas and the teachings of Shakti to Shiva. In Agamic schools of Hinduism, the Vedic
literature and the Agamas are equally authoritative.
Practices
Rituals
A wedding is the most extensive personal ritual an adult Hindu undertakes in his or her
life. A typical Hindu wedding is solemnized before Vedic fire ritual (shown).
Most Hindus observe religious rituals at home.The rituals vary greatly among regions,
villages, and individuals. They are not mandatory in Hinduism. The nature and place of
rituals is an individual's choice. Some devout Hindus perform daily rituals such as
worshiping at dawn after bathing (usually at a family shrine, and typically includes
lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the images of deities), recitation from
religious scripts, singing bhajans (devotional hymns), yoga, meditation, chanting
mantras and others.
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Vedic rituals of fire-oblation (yajna) and chanting of Vedic hymns are observed on
special occasions, such as a Hindu wedding.Other major life-stage events, such as
rituals after death, include the yajña and chanting of Vedic mantras.
The words of the mantras are "themselves sacred," and "do not constitute linguistic
utterances." Instead, as Klostermaier notes, in their application in Vedic rituals they
become magical sounds, "means to an end." In the Brahmanical perspective, the
sounds have their own meaning, mantras are considered "primordial rhythms of
creation", preceding the forms to which they refer.By reciting them the cosmos is
regenerated, "by enlivening and nourishing the forms of creation at their base. As long
as the purity of the sounds is preserved, the recitation of the mantras will be
efficacious, irrespective of whether their discursive meaning is understood by human
beings."
Life-cycle rites of passage
Major life stage milestones are celebrated as sanskara (saṃskāra, rites of passage) in
Hinduism.The rites of passage are not mandatory, and vary in details by gender,
community and regionally. Gautama Dharmasutras composed in about the middle of 1st
millennium BCE lists 48 sanskaras,while Gryhasutra and other texts composed centuries
later list between 12 and 16 sanskaras.The list of sanskaras in Hinduism include both
external rituals such as those marking a baby's birth and a baby's name giving
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ceremony, as well as inner rites of resolutions and ethics such as compassion towards
all living beings and positive attitude. The major traditional rites of passage in Hinduism
include Garbhadhana (pregnancy), Pumsavana (rite before the fetus begins moving and
kicking in womb), Simantonnayana (parting of pregnant woman's hair, baby shower),
Jatakarman (rite celebrating the new born baby), Namakarana (naming the child),
Nishkramana (baby's first outing from home into the world), Annaprashana (baby's first
feeding of solid food), Chudakarana (baby's first haircut, tonsure), Karnavedha (ear
piercing), Vidyarambha (baby's start with knowledge), Upanayana (entry into a school
rite), Keshanta and Ritusuddhi (first shave for boys, menarche for girls), Samavartana
(graduation ceremony), Vivaha (wedding), Vratas (fasting, spiritual studies) and
Antyeshti (cremation for an adult, burial for a child).In contemporary times, there is
regional variation among Hindus as to which of these sanskaras are observed; in some
cases, additional regional rites of passage such as Śrāddha (ritual of feeding people
after cremation) are practiced.
Bhakti (worship)
A home shrine with offerings at a regional Vishu festival (left); a priest in a temple
(right).
Bhakti refers to devotion, participation in and the love of a personal god or a
representational god by a devotee.Bhakti-marga is considered in Hinduism to be one of
many possible paths of spirituality and alternative means to moksha. The other paths,
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left to the choice of a Hindu, are Jnana-marga (path of knowledge), Karma-marga (path
of works), Rāja-marga (path of contemplation and meditation).
Bhakti is practiced in a number of ways, ranging from reciting mantras, japas
(incantations), to individual private prayers in one's home shrine, or in a temple before
a murti or sacred image of a deity.Hindu temples and domestic altars, are important
elements of worship in contemporary theistic Hinduism.While many visit a temple on
special occasions, most offer daily prayers at a domestic altar, typically a dedicated part
of the home that includes sacred images of deities or gurus.
One form of daily worship is aarti, or “supplication,” a ritual in which a flame is offered
and “accompanied by a song of praise.” Notable aartis include Om Jai Jagdish Hare, a
prayer to Vishnu, Sukhakarta Dukhaharta, a prayer to Ganesha. Aarti can be used to
make offerings to entities ranging from deities to “human exemplar[s].” For instance,
Aarti is offered to Hanuman, a devotee of God, in many temples, including Balaji
temples, where the primary deity is an incarnation of Vishnu.[326] In Swaminarayan
temples and home shrines, aarti is offered to Swaminarayan, considered by followers to
be supreme God.
Other personal and community practices include puja as well as aarti, kirtan, or bhajan,
where devotional verses and hymns are read or poems are sung by a group of
devotees.While the choice of the deity is at the discretion of the Hindu, the most
observed traditions of Hindu devotion include Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism.A
Hindu may worship multiple deities, all as henotheistic manifestations of the same
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ultimate reality, cosmic spirit and absolute spiritual concept called Brahman.Bhakti-
marga, states Pechelis, is more than ritual devotionalism, it includes practices and
spiritual activities aimed at refining one's state of mind, knowing god, participating in
god, and internalizing god. While bhakti practices are popular and easily observable
aspect of Hinduism, not all Hindus practice bhakti, or believe in god-with-attributes
(saguna Brahman). Concurrent Hindu practices include a belief in god-without-
attributes, and god within oneself.
Festivals
Hindu festivals (Sanskrit: Utsava; literally: "to lift higher") are ceremonies that weave
individual and social life to dharma. Hinduism has many festivals throughout the year,
where the dates are set by the lunisolar Hindu calendar, many coinciding with either the
full moon (Holi) or the new moon (Diwali), often with seasonal changes.Some festivals
are found only regionally and they celebrate local traditions, while a few such as Holi
and Diwali are pan-Hindu.The festivals typically celebrate events from Hinduism,
connoting spiritual themes and celebrating aspects of human relationships such as the
Sister-Brother bond over the Raksha Bandhan (or Bhai Dooj) festival. The same festival
sometimes marks different stories depending on the Hindu denomination, and the
celebrations incorporate regional themes, traditional agriculture, local arts, family get
togethers, Puja rituals and feasts.
Pilgrimage
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Many adherents undertake pilgrimages, which have historically been an important part
of Hinduism and remain so today. Pilgrimage sites are called Tirtha, Kshetra, Gopitha or
Mahalaya. The process or journey associated with Tirtha is called Tirtha-yatra.
According to the Hindu text Skanda Purana, Tirtha are of three kinds: Jangam Tirtha is
to a place movable of a sadhu, a rishi, a guru; Sthawar Tirtha is to a place immovable,
like Benaras, Haridwar, Mount Kailash, holy rivers; while Manas Tirtha is to a place of
mind of truth, charity, patience, compassion, soft speech, Self. Tīrtha-yatra is, states
Knut A. Jacobsen, anything that has a salvific value to a Hindu, and includes pilgrimage
sites such as mountains or forests or seashore or rivers or ponds, as well as virtues,
actions, studies or state of mind.
Pilgrimage sites of Hinduism are mentioned in the epic Mahabharata and the Puranas.
Most Puranas include large sections on Tirtha Mahatmya along with tourist guides,
which describe sacred sites and places to visit.In these texts, Varanasi (Benares, Kashi),
Rameshwaram, Kanchipuram, Dwarka, Puri, Haridwar, Sri Rangam, Vrindavan,
Ayodhya, Tirupati, Mayapur, Nathdwara, twelve Jyotirlinga and Shakti Peetha have
been mentioned as particularly holy sites, along with geographies where major rivers
meet (sangam) or join the sea.Kumbhamela is another major pilgrimage on the eve of
the solar festival Makar Sankranti. This pilgrimage rotates at a gap of three years
among four sites: Prayag Raj at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers,
Haridwar near source of the Ganges, Ujjain on the Shipra river and Nasik on the bank
of the Godavari river. This is one of world's largest mass pilgrimage, with an estimated
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40 to 100 million people attending the event.At this event, they say a prayer to the sun
and bathe in the river, a tradition attributed to Adi Shankara.
Some pilgrimages are part of a Vrata (vow), which a Hindu may make for a number of
reasons. It may mark a special occasion, such as the birth of a baby, or as part of a rite
of passage such as a baby's first haircut, or after healing from a sickness.It may, states
Eck, also be the result of prayers answered.An alternative reason for Tirtha, for some
Hindus, is to respect wishes or in memory of a beloved person after his or her
death.This may include dispersing their cremation ashes in a Tirtha region in a stream,
river or sea to honor the wishes of the dead. The journey to a Tirtha, assert some
Hindu texts, helps one overcome the sorrow of the loss.
Other reasons for a Tirtha in Hinduism is to rejuvenate or gain spiritual merit by
traveling to famed temples or bathe in rivers such as the Ganges.Tirtha has been one of
the recommended means of addressing remorse and to perform penance, for
unintentional errors and intentional sins, in the Hindu tradition.The proper procedure for
a pilgrimage is widely discussed in Hindu texts.The most accepted view is that the
greatest austerity comes from traveling on foot, or part of the journey is on foot, and
that the use of a conveyance is only acceptable if the pilgrimage is otherwise
impossible.
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Culture
The term "Hindu culture" refers to mean aspects of culture that pertain to the religion,
such as festivals and dress codes followed by the Hindus which is mainly can be
inspired from the culture of India and Southeast Asia. Though there has been a mixture
of diffrent culture in Hinduism and has also influenced the cultures of many nations,
mainly of the part of Greater India.
Architecture
Hindu architecture is the traditional system of Indian architecture for structures such as
temples, monasteries, statues, homes, market places, gardens and town planning as
described in Hindu texts.The architectural guidelines survive in Sanskrit manuscripts
and in some cases also in other regional languages. These texts include the Vastu
shastras, Shilpa Shastras, the Brihat Samhita, architectural portions of the Puranas and
the Agamas, and regional texts such as the Manasara among others.
By far the most important, characteristic and numerous surviving examples of Hindu
architecture are Hindu temples, with an architectural tradition that has left surviving
examples in stone, brick, and rock-cut architecture dating back to the Gupta Empire.
These architectures had influence of Ancient Persian and Hellenistic architecture.Far
fewer secular Hindu architecture have survived into the modern era, such as palaces,
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homes and cities. Ruins and archaeological studies provide a view of early secular
architecture in India.
Studies on Indian palaces and civic architectural history have largely focussed on the
Mughal and Indo-Islamic architecture particularly of the northern and western India
given their relative abundance. In other regions of India, particularly the South, Hindu
architecture continued to thrive through the 16th-century, such as those exemplified by
the temples, ruined cities and secular spaces of the Vijayanagara Empire and the
Nayakas.The secular architecture was never opposed to the religious in India, and it is
the sacred architecture such as those found in the Hindu temples which were inspired
by and adaptations of the secular ones. Further, states Harle, it is in the reliefs on
temple walls, pillars, toranas and madapams where miniature version of the secular
architecture can be found.
Hindu art
The Hindu calendar or Panchang (Sanskrit: पञ्चाङ्ग), or Panjika, refers to a set of
various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and
South-east Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes.
They adopt a similar underlying concept for timekeeping based on sidereal year for
solar cycle and adjustment of lunar cycles in every three years, however also differ in
their relative emphasis to moon cycle or the sun cycle and the names of months and
when they consider the New Year to start. Of the various regional calendars, the most
studied and known Hindu calendars are the Shalivahana Shaka found in the Deccan
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region of Southern India, Vikram Samvat (Bikrami) found in Nepal, North and Central
regions of India – all of which emphasize the lunar cycle. Their new year starts in
spring. In contrast, in regions such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the solar cycle is
emphasized and this is called the Tamil Calendar (Though Tamil Calendar uses month
names like in Hindu Calendar) and Malayalam calendar, their new year starts in
autumn, and these have origins in the second half of the 1st millennium CE. A Hindu
calendar is sometimes referred to as Panchangam (पञ्चाङ्ग), which is known also
known as Panjika in Eastern India.
The ancient Hindu calendar conceptual design is also found in the Hebrew calendar, the
Chinese calendar, and the Babylonian calendar, but different from the Gregorian
calendar.[388] Unlike the Gregorian calendar which adds additional days to the lunar
month to adjust for the mismatch between twelve lunar cycles (354 lunar days)[389]
and nearly 365 solar days, the Hindu calendar maintains the integrity of the lunar
month, but inserts an extra full month by complex rules, once every 32–33 months, to
ensure that the festivals and crop-related rituals fall in the appropriate season.
The Hindu calendars have been in use in the Indian subcontinent since Vedic times, and
remain in use by the Hindus all over the world, particularly to set Hindu festival dates.
Early Buddhist communities of India adopted the ancient Vedic calendar, later Vikrami
calendar and then local Buddhist calendars. Buddhist festivals continue to be scheduled
according to a lunar system.The Buddhist calendar and the traditional lunisolar
calendars of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand are also based on an
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older version of the Hindu calendar. Similarly, the ancient Jain traditions have followed
the same lunisolar system as the Hindu calendar for festivals, texts and inscriptions.
However, the Buddhist and Jain timekeeping systems have attempted to use the
Buddha and the Mahavira's lifetimes as their reference points.
The Hindu calendar is also important to the practice of Hindu astrology and zodiac
system as well as observing special appearance days of the Lord and fasting days such
as Ekadasi.
Person and society
Varnas
Priests performing Kalyanam (marriage) of the holy deities at Bhadrachalam Temple, in
Telangana. It is one of the temples in India, where Kalyanam is done everyday
throughout the year.
Hindu society has been categorised into four classes, called varṇas. They are the
Brahmins: Vedic teachers and priests; the Kshatriyas: warriors and kings; the Vaishyas:
farmers and merchants; and the Shudras: servants and labourers.The Bhagavad Gītā
links the varṇa to an individual's duty (svadharma), inborn nature (svabhāva), and
natural tendencies (guṇa) The Manusmriti categorises the different castes. Some
mobility and flexibility within the varṇas challenge allegations of social discrimination in
the caste system, as has been pointed out by several sociologists,although some other
scholars disagree. Scholars debate whether the so-called caste system is part of
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Hinduism sanctioned by the scriptures or social custom.And various contemporary
scholars have argued that the caste system was constructed by the British colonial
regime. A renunciant man of knowledge is usually called Varṇatita or "beyond all
varṇas" in Vedantic works. The bhiksu is advised to not bother about the caste of the
family from which he begs his food. Scholars like Adi Sankara affirm that not only is
Brahman beyond all varṇas, the man who is identified with Him also transcends the
distinctions and limitations of caste.
Yoga
In whatever way a Hindu defines the goal of life, there are several methods (yogas)
that sages have taught for reaching that goal. Yoga is a Hindu discipline which trains
the body, mind, and consciousness for health, tranquility, and spiritual insight.Texts
dedicated to yoga include the Yoga Sutras, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Bhagavad
Gita and, as their philosophical and historical basis, the Upanishads. Yoga is means, and
the four major marga (paths) of Hinduism are: Bhakti Yoga (the path of love and
devotion), Karma Yoga (the path of right action), Rāja Yoga (the path of meditation),
and Jñāna Yoga (the path of wisdom) An individual may prefer one or some yogas over
others, according to his or her inclination and understanding. Practice of one yoga does
not exclude others. The modern practice of yoga as exercise (traditionally Hatha yoga)
has a contested relationship with Hinduism.
Symbolism
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Basic Hindu symbols: Shatkona, Padma, and Swastika.
Hinduism has a developed system of symbolism and iconography to represent the
sacred in art, architecture, literature and worship. These symbols gain their meaning
from the scriptures or cultural traditions. The syllable Om (which represents the
Brahman and Atman) has grown to represent Hinduism itself, while other markings
such as the Swastika sign represent auspiciousness, and Tilaka (literally, seed) on
forehead – considered to be the location of spiritual third eye, marks ceremonious
welcome, blessing or one's participation in a ritual or rite of passage. Elaborate Tilaka
with lines may also identify a devotee of a particular denomination. Flowers, birds,
animals, instruments, symmetric mandala drawings, objects, idols are all part of
symbolic iconography in Hinduism.
Ahiṃsā and food customs
Hindus advocate the practice of ahiṃsā (nonviolence) and respect for all life because
divinity is believed to permeate all beings, including plants and non-human animals. The
term ahiṃsā appears in the Upanishads, the epic Mahabharata and ahiṃsā is the first of
the five Yamas (vows of self-restraint) in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.
In accordance with ahiṃsā, many Hindus embrace vegetarianism to respect higher
forms of life. Estimates of strict lacto vegetarians in India (includes adherents of all
religions) who never eat any meat, fish or eggs vary between 20% and 42%, while
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others are either less strict vegetarians or non-vegetarians. Those who eat meat seek
Jhatka (quick death) method of meat production, and dislike Halal (slow bled death)
method, believing that quick death method reduces suffering to the animal.The food
habits vary with region, with Bengali Hindus and Hindus living in Himalayan regions, or
river delta regions, regularly eating meat and fish. Some avoid meat on specific festivals
or occasions.Observant Hindus who do eat meat almost always abstain from beef.
Hinduism specifically considers Bos indicus to be sacred. The cow in Hindu society is
traditionally identified as a caretaker and a maternal figure, and Hindu society honours
the cow as a symbol of unselfish giving. There are many Hindu groups that have
continued to abide by a strict vegetarian diet in modern times. Some adhere to a diet
that is devoid of meat, eggs, and seafood. Food affects body, mind and spirit in Hindu
beliefs. Hindu texts such as Śāṇḍilya Upanishad and Svātmārāma recommend Mitahara
(eating in moderation) as one of the Yamas (virtuous Self restraints). The Bhagavad
Gita links body and mind to food one consumes in verses 17.8 through 17.10.
Some Hindus such as those belonging to the Shaktism tradition, and Hindus in regions
such as Bali and Nepal practise animal sacrifice.The sacrificed animal is eaten as ritual
food. In contrast, the Vaishnava Hindus abhor and vigorously oppose animal sacrifice.
The principle of non-violence to animals has been so thoroughly adopted in Hinduism
that animal sacrifice is uncommon and historically reduced to a vestigial marginal
practice.
Institutions
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Temple
Illustration of Hindu temples in Asia
A Hindu temple is a house of god(s). It is a space and structure designed to bring
human beings and gods together, infused with symbolism to express the ideas and
beliefs of Hinduism.A temple incorporates all elements of Hindu cosmology, the highest
spire or dome representing Mount Meru – reminder of the abode of Brahma and the
center of spiritual universe,the carvings and iconography symbolically presenting
dharma, kama, artha, moksha and karma.The layout, the motifs, the plan and the
building process recite ancient rituals, geometric symbolisms, and reflect beliefs and
values innate within various schools of Hinduism.Hindu temples are spiritual
destinations for many Hindus (not all), as well as landmarks for arts, annual festivals,
rite of passage rituals, and community celebrations.
Hindu temples come in many styles, diverse locations, deploy different construction
methods and are adapted to different deities and regional beliefs.Two major styles of
Hindu temples include the Gopuram style found in south India, and Nagara style found
in north India. Other styles include cave, forest and mountain temples. Yet, despite
their differences, almost all Hindu temples share certain common architectural
principles, core ideas, symbolism and themes.Many temples feature one or more idols
(murtis). The idol and Grabhgriya in the Brahma-pada (the center of the temple), under
the main spire, serves as a focal point (darsana, a sight) in a Hindu temple. In larger
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temples, the central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the devotee to
walk around and ritually circumambulate the Purusa (Brahman), the universal essence.
Ashrama
Kauai Hindu monastery in Kauai Island in Hawaii is the only Hindu Monastery in the
North American continent.
Ashrama (stage)
Traditionally the life of a Hindu is divided into four Āśramas (phases or life stages;
another meaning includes monastery). The four ashramas are: Brahmacharya
(student), Grihastha (householder), Vanaprastha (retired) and Sannyasa
(renunciation).Brahmacharya represents the bachelor student stage of life. Grihastha
refers to the individual's married life, with the duties of maintaining a household, raising
a family, educating one's children, and leading a family-centred and a dharmic social
life. Grihastha stage starts with Hindu wedding, and has been considered the most
important of all stages in sociological context, as Hindus in this stage not only pursued
a virtuous life, they produced food and wealth that sustained people in other stages of
life, as well as the offsprings that continued mankind.Vanaprastha is the retirement
stage, where a person hands over household responsibilities to the next generation,
took an advisory role, and gradually withdrew from the world. The Sannyasa stage
marks renunciation and a state of disinterest and detachment from material life,
generally without any meaningful property or home (ascetic state), and focused on
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Moksha, peace and simple spiritual life.The Ashramas system has been one facet of the
dharma concept in Hinduism. Combined with four proper goals of human life
(Purusartha), the Ashramas system traditionally aimed at providing a Hindu with
fulfilling life and spiritual liberation. While these stages are typically sequential, any
person can enter Sannyasa (ascetic) stage and become an Ascetic at any time after the
Brahmacharya stage.Sannyasa is not religiously mandatory in Hinduism, and elderly
people are free to live with their families.
Monasticism
Some Hindus choose to live a monastic life (Sannyāsa) in pursuit of liberation (moksha)
or another form of spiritual perfection.Monastics commit themselves to a simple and
celibate life, detached from material pursuits, of meditation and spiritual contemplation.
A Hindu monk is called a Sanyāsī, Sādhu, or Swāmi. A female renunciate is called a
Sanyāsini. Renunciates receive high respect in Hindu society because of their simple
ahiṃsā-driven lifestyle and dedication to spiritual liberation (moksha) – believed to be
the ultimate goal of life in Hinduism.Some monastics live in monasteries, while others
wander from place to place, depending on donated food and charity for their needs.
History
The Hindu Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram was built by Narasimhavarman II.
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Hinduism 's varied history overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in the
Indian subcontinent since the Iron Age, with some of its traditions tracing back to
prehistoric religions such as those of the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization. It has
thus been called the "oldest religion" in the world.Scholars regard Hinduism as a
synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions,with diverse roots and no single
founder.
The history of Hinduism is often divided into periods of development. The first period is
the pre-Vedic period, which includes the Indus Valley Civilization and local pre-historic
religions, ending at about 1750 BCE. This period was followed in northern India by the
Vedic period, which saw the introduction of the historical Vedic religion with the Indo-
Aryan migrations, starting somewhere between 1900 BCE to 1400 BCE.The subsequent
period, between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, is "a turning point between the Vedic religion
and Hindu religions", and a formative period for Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The
Epic and Early Puranic period, from c. 200 BCE to 500 CE, saw the classical "Golden
Age" of Hinduism (c. 320-650 CE), which coincides with the Gupta Empire. In this
period the six branches of Hindu philosophy evolved, namely Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya,
Vaisheshika, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedanta. Monotheistic sects like Shaivism and Vaishnavism
developed during this same period through the Bhakti movement. The period from
roughly 650 to 1100 CE forms the late Classical period or early Middle Ages, in which
classical Puranic Hinduism is established, and Adi Shankara's influential consolidation of
Advaita Vedanta.
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Hinduism under both Hindu and Islamic rulers from c. 1250-1750 CE,saw the increasing
prominence of the Bhakti movement, which remains influential today. The colonial
period saw the emergence of various Hindu reform movements partly inspired by
western movements, such as Unitarianism and Theosophy. In the Kingdom of Nepal,
the Unification of Nepal by Rana dynasty was accompanied by the Hinduization of the
state and continued till the c. 1950s and after that the Shah dynasty also focused on the
basic Hinduization. Indians were hired as plantation labourers in British colonies such as
Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago.The Partition of India in 1947 was along religious
lines, with the Republic of India emerging with a Hindu majority. During the 20th
century, due to the Indian diaspora, Hindu minorities have formed in all continents,
with the largest communities in absolute numbers in the United States, and the United
Kingdom.
In the 21st century, many missionary organizations such as Isckon, Osho Movement,
etc. have been influential in spreading the core culture of Hinduism outside India. There
have also been an increase of Hindu identity in politics, mostly in India, Nepal and
Bangladesh in the form of Hindutva. The revivalist movement was mainly started and
encouraged by many organisations like RSS, BJP and other organisations of Sangh
Parivar in India, while there are also many Hindu nationalist parties and organisations
such as Shivsena Nepal and RPP in Nepal, HINDRAF in Malaysia, etc.
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Demographics
Hinduism by country
Hinduism is a major religion in India. Hinduism was followed by around 79.8% of the
country's population of 1.21 billion (2011 census) (966 million adherents). Other
significant populations are found in Nepal (23 million), Bangladesh (15 million) and the
Indonesian island of Bali (3.9 million) There is also a significant population of Hindus
are also present in Pakistan (4 million). The majority of the Vietnamese Cham people
also follow Hinduism, with the largest proportion in Ninh Thuận Province.
Hinduism – Percentage by country.
Countries with the greatest proportion of Hindus:
Nepal – 81.3%.
India – 79.8%.
Mauritius – 48.5%.
Guyana – 28.4%.
Fiji – 27.9%.
Bhutan – 22.6%.
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Suriname – 22.3%.
Trinidad and Tobago – 18.2%.
Qatar – 13.8%.
Sri Lanka – 12.6%.
Bahrain – 9.8%.
Bangladesh – 8.5%.
Réunion – 6.8%.
United Arab Emirates – 6.6%.
Malaysia – 6.3%.
Kuwait – 6%.
Oman – 5.5%.
Singapore – 5%.
Indonesia – 3.86%.
New Zealand – 2.62%.
Seychelles – 2.4%.
Pakistan – 2.14%.
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Demographically, Hinduism is the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and
Islam.
Demographics of major traditions within Hinduism (World Religion Database, 2010
data)
Tradition Followers % of the Hindu population % of the world population
Follower dynamics World dynamics
Vaishnavism 640,806,845 67.6 9.3 Increase Growing Decrease Declining
Shaivism 252,200,000 26.6 3.7 Increase Growing Increase Growing
Shaktism 30,000,000 3.2 0.4 Steady Stable Decrease Declining
Neo-Hinduism 20,300,000 2.1 0.3 Increase Growing Increase Growing
Reform Hinduism 5,200,000 0.5 0.1 Increase Growing Increase Growing
Cumulative 948,575,000 100 13.8 Increase Growing Increase Growing
Criticism, persecution, and debates
Hinduism has many a times criticised for the Brahmanism and attorney of upper-class
Brahmins in the Varna system, which is accompanied by discrimination of the Dalits (or
Shudra) as they were considered the lowest rung in the society. This was often
associated with practice of untouchability and distancing from the lower-caste citizens.
In modern days, the Ghar Wapsi (or reconversion) of Muslims and Christians back to
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Hinduism has also been criticised and called an act of Hindutva dominance, especially in
India. Hindu nationalism and Hindutva are often criticised for right-wing views and
sometimes violent acts, which some have compared with Nazism.
Persecution
Hindus have experienced both historical religious persecution, ongoing religious
persecution and systematic violence. These occur in the form of forced conversions,
documented massacres, demolition and desecration of temples.Historic persecutions of
Hindus happened under Muslim rulers and also by Christian Missionaries. In the Mughal
Period, Hindus were forced to pay the Jizya. In Goa, the 1560 inquisition by Portuguese
colonists is also considered one of the most brutal persecutions of Hindus.Between
200,000 and one million people, including both Muslims and Hindus, were killed during
the Partition of India. In modern times, Hindus face discrimination in many parts of the
world and also face persecution and forced conversion in many countries, especially in
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Fiji and others.
Conversion debate
In the modern era, religious conversion from and to Hinduism has been a controversial
subject. Some state the concept of missionary conversion, either way, is anathema to
the precepts of Hinduism.
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It is known that, unlike ethnic religions, which exist almost exclusively among, for
instance, the Japanese (Shinto), the Chinese (Taoism), or the Jews (Judaism), Hinduism
in India and Nepal is widespread among many, both Indo-Aryan and non-Aryan ethnic
groups. In addition, religious conversion to Hinduism has a long history outside India.
Merchants and traders of India, particularly from the Indian peninsula, carried their
religious ideas, which led to religious conversions to Hinduism outside India. In
antiquity and the Middle Ages, Hinduism was the state religion in many kingdoms of
Asia, the so-called Greater India: from Afghanistan (Kabul) in the West and including
almost all of Southeast Asia in the East (Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines),
and only by 15th century was nearly everywhere supplanted by Buddhism and
Islam.Therefore, it looks quite natural for the modern Hindu preaching in the world.
Within India, archeological and textual evidence such as the 2nd-century BCE
Heliodorus pillar suggest that Greeks and other foreigners converted to Hinduism. The
debate on proselytization and religious conversion between Christianity, Islam and
Hinduism is more recent, and started in the 19th century.
Religious leaders of some Hindu reform movements such as the Arya Samaj launched
Shuddhi movement to proselytize and reconvert Muslims and Christians back to
Hinduism,while those such as the Brahmo Samaj suggested Hinduism to be a non-
missionary religion. All these sects of Hinduism have welcomed new members to their
group, while other leaders of Hinduism's diverse schools have stated that given the
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intensive proselytization activities from missionary Islam and Christianity, this "there is
no such thing as proselytism in Hinduism" view must be re-examined.
The appropriateness of conversion from major religions to Hinduism, and vice versa,
has been and remains an actively debated topic in India, Nepal,and in Indonesia.
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. Based on what you read, how Hinduism differs from other religions you have
known and what do you think is the reason why millions love this religion.
Reference
Hinduism - Wikipedia retrieved August 29, 2021
Lesson 17. Judaism
Pre-activity
Judaism, is the mother religion of Christianity and Islam, it has received a lot of praises
and persecution alike, in this lengthy notes, we will learn more about this religion in
Southwest Asia, and understand not only its basic tenets but its persecution as well.
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Activity Proper
Judaism
Type Ethnic
Classification Abrahamic
Scripture Tanakh
Theology Monotheistic
Leaders Jewish leadership
Movements Jewish religious movements
Associations Jewish religious organizations
Region Predominant religion in Israel and widespread worldwide as minorities
Language Biblical Hebrew
HeadquartersJerusalem (Zion)
Founder Abraham
Origin 20th–18th century BCE
Mesopotamia
Members c. 14–15 million
Judaism (Hebrew: ‫יַהֲדּות‬, Yahadut; originally from Hebrew ‫י ְהּודָ ה‬, Yehudah, "Judah", via
Greek Ἰουδαϊσμός Ioudaismos; the term itself is of Anglo-Latin origin c. 1400) is an
Abrahamic ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition
and civilization of the Jewish people.Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the
expression of the covenant that God established with the Children of Israel. It
encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of
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organization. The Torah is part of the larger text known as the Tanakh or the Hebrew
Bible, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash
and the Talmud. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is
the tenth largest religion in the world.
Within Judaism there are a variety of religious movements, most of which emerged
from Rabbinic Judaism, which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to
Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah. Historically, all or
part of this assertion was challenged by various groups such as the Sadducees and
Hellenistic Judaism during the Second Temple period;the Karaites during the early and
later medieval period; and among segments of the modern non-Orthodox
denominations. Some modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be
considered secular or nontheistic. Today, the largest Jewish religious movements are
Orthodox Judaism (Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodox Judaism), Conservative
Judaism, and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between these groups are
their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition, and the
significance of the State of Israel.Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and
Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, and that they should be strictly
followed. Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism
generally promoting a more traditionalist interpretation of Judaism's requirements than
Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set
of general guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose
observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law;
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today, these courts still exist but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary. Authority
on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, but in
the sacred texts and the rabbis and scholars who interpret them.
Judaism has its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age.
Modern Judaism evolved from ancient Israelite religion around 500 BCE,and is
considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions. The Hebrews and Israelites were
already referred to as "Jews" in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther,
with the term Jews replacing the title "Children of Israel". Judaism's texts, traditions
and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and
Islam.Hebraism, like Hellenism, played a seminal role in the formation of Western
civilization through its impact as a core background element of Early Christianity.
Jews are an ethnoreligious group including those born Jewish, in addition to converts to
Judaism. In 2019, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.7 million, or
roughly 0.25% of the total world population.About 46.9% of all Jews reside in Israel
and another 38.8% reside in the United States and Canada, with most of the remainder
living in Europe, and other minority groups spread throughout Latin America, Asia,
Africa, and Australia.
Defining characteristics and principles of faith
God in Judaism
Kennicott Bible, a 1476 Spanish Tanakh
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Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and
solitary; consequently, the Hebrew God's principal relationships are not with other gods,
but with the world, and more specifically, with the people he created. Judaism thus
begins with ethical monotheism: the belief that God is one and is concerned with the
actions of mankind.According to the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), God promised Abraham to
make of his offspring a great nation. Many generations later, he commanded the nation
of Israel to love and worship only one God; that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate
God's concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to love one
another; that is, Jews are to imitate God's love for people.[41] These commandments
are but two of a large corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant,
which is the substance of Judaism.
Thus, although there is an esoteric tradition in Judaism (Kabbalah), Rabbinic scholar
Max Kadushin has characterized normative Judaism as "normal mysticism", because it
involves everyday personal experiences of God through ways or modes that are
common to all Jews. This is played out through the observance of the Halakha (Jewish
law) and given verbal expression in the Birkat Ha-Mizvot, the short blessings that are
spoken every time a positive commandment is to be fulfilled.
The ordinary, familiar, everyday things and occurrences we have, constitute occasions
for the experience of God. Such things as one's daily sustenance, the very day itself,
are felt as manifestations of God's loving-kindness, calling for the Berakhot. Kedushah,
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holiness, which is nothing else than the imitation of God, is concerned with daily
conduct, with being gracious and merciful, with keeping oneself from defilement by
idolatry, adultery, and the shedding of blood. The Birkat Ha-Mitzwot evokes the
consciousness of holiness at a rabbinic rite, but the objects employed in the majority of
these rites are non-holy and of general character, while the several holy objects are
non-theurgic. And not only do ordinary things and occurrences bring with them the
experience of God. Everything that happens to a man evokes that experience, evil as
well as good, for a Berakah is said also at evil tidings. Hence, although the experience
of God is like none other, the occasions for experiencing Him, for having a
consciousness of Him, are manifold, even if we consider only those that call for Berakot.
Whereas Jewish philosophers often debate whether God is immanent or transcendent,
and whether people have free will or their lives are determined, Halakha is a system
through which any Jew acts to bring God into the world.
Ethical monotheism is central in all sacred or normative texts of Judaism. However,
monotheism has not always been followed in practice. The Jewish Bible records and
repeatedly condemns the widespread worship of other gods in ancient Israel. In the
Greco-Roman era, many different interpretations of monotheism existed in Judaism,
including the interpretations that gave rise to Christianity.
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Moreover, some have argued that Judaism is a non-creedal religion that does not
require one to believe in God. For some, observance of Jewish law is more important
than belief in God per se. In modern times, some liberal Jewish movements do not
accept the existence of a personified deity active in history. The debate about whether
one can speak of authentic or normative Judaism is not only a debate among religious
Jews but also among historians.
Core tenets
Main article: Jewish principles of faith
13 Principles of Faith:
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the Creator and
Guide of everything that has been created; He alone has made, does make, and will
make all things.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is One, and that
there is no unity in any manner like His, and that He alone is our God, who was, and is,
and will be.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, has no body, and
that He is free from all the properties of matter, and that there can be no (physical)
comparison to Him whatsoever.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the first and the
last.
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I believe with perfect faith that to the Creator, Blessed be His Name, and to Him alone,
it is right to pray, and that it is not right to pray to any being besides Him.
I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.
I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, peace be upon him,
was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded him and
those who followed him.
I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is now in our possession is the
same that was given to Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.
I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be exchanged and that there will
never be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, knows all the deeds
of human beings and all their thoughts, as it is written, "Who fashioned the hearts of
them all, Who comprehends all their actions" (Psalms 33:15).
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who
keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them.
I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; and even though he may
tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.
I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead at the time when it
shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever
and ever.
—Maimonides
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In the strict sense, in Judaism, unlike Christianity and Islam, there are no fixed
universally binding articles of faith, due to their incorporation into the liturgy.[51]
Scholars throughout Jewish history have proposed numerous formulations of Judaism's
core tenets, all of which have met with criticism.[51][52][53] The most popular
formulation is Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith, developed in the 12th century.
[51][52] According to Maimonides, any Jew who rejects even one of these principles
would be considered an apostate and a heretic. Jewish scholars have held points of
view diverging in various ways from Maimonides' principles. Thus, within Reform
Judaism only the first five principles are endorsed.
In Maimonides' time, his list of tenets was criticized by Hasdai Crescas and Joseph Albo.
Albo and the Raavad argued that Maimonides' principles contained too many items that,
while true, were not fundamentals of the faith
Along these lines, the ancient historian Josephus emphasized practices and observances
rather than religious beliefs, associating apostasy with a failure to observe Jewish law
and maintaining that the requirements for conversion to Judaism included circumcision
and adherence to traditional customs. Maimonides' principles were largely ignored over
the next few centuries.Later, two poetic restatements of these principles ("Ani Ma'amin"
and "Yigdal") became integrated into many Jewish liturgies, leading to their eventual
near-universal acceptance.
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In modern times, Judaism lacks a centralized authority that would dictate an exact
religious dogma. Because of this, many different variations on the basic beliefs are
considered within the scope of Judaism. Even so, all Jewish religious movements are, to
a greater or lesser extent, based on the principles of the Hebrew Bible and various
commentaries such as the Talmud and Midrash. Judaism also universally recognizes the
Biblical Covenant between God and the Patriarch Abraham as well as the additional
aspects of the Covenant revealed to Moses, who is considered Judaism's greatest
prophet. In the Mishnah, a core text of Rabbinic Judaism, acceptance of the Divine
origins of this covenant is considered an essential aspect of Judaism and those who
reject the Covenant forfeit their share in the World to Come.
Establishing the core tenets of Judaism in the modern era is even more difficult, given
the number and diversity of the contemporary Jewish denominations. Even if to restrict
the problem to the most influential intellectual trends of the nineteenth and twentieth
century, the matter remains complicated. Thus for instance, Joseph Soloveitchik's
(associated with the Modern Orthodox movement) answer to modernity is constituted
upon the identification of Judaism with following the halakha whereas its ultimate goal
is to bring the holiness down to the world. Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of the
Reconstructionist Judaism, abandons the idea of religion for the sake of identifying
Judaism with civilization and by means of the latter term and secular translation of the
core ideas, he tries to embrace as many Jewish denominations as possible. In turn,
Solomon Schechter's Conservative Judaism was identical with the tradition understood
as the interpretation of Torah, in itself being the history of the constant updates and
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adjustment of the Law performed by means of the creative interpretation. Finally, David
Philipson draws the outlines of the Reform movement in Judaism by opposing it to the
strict and traditional rabbinical approach and thus comes to the conclusions similar to
that of the Conservative movement.
Jewish religious texts
Aleppo Codex, a Tanakh produced in Tiberias in the 10th century
The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and
thought.
Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Rabbinic literature
Mesorah
Targum
Jewish Biblical exegesis (also see Midrash below)
Works of the Talmudic Era (classic rabbinic literature)
Mishnah and commentaries
Tosefta and the minor tractates
Talmud:
The Babylonian Talmud and commentaries
Jerusalem Talmud and commentaries
Midrashic literature:
Halakhic Midrash
Aggadic Midrash
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Halakhic literature
Major Codes of Jewish Law and Custom
Mishneh Torah and commentaries
Tur and commentaries
Shulchan Aruch and commentaries
Responsa literature
Jewish Thought and Ethics
Jewish philosophy
Musar literature and other works of Jewish ethics
Kabbalah
Hasidic works
Siddur and Jewish liturgy
Piyyut (Classical Jewish poetry)
Many traditional Jewish texts are available online in various Torah databases (electronic
versions of the Traditional Jewish Bookshelf). Many of these have advanced search
options available.
A man holds up a Sephardi-style torah at the Western Wall, Jerusalem
Jewish legal literature
The basis of Jewish law and tradition (halakha) is the Torah (also known as the
Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition, there are 613
commandments in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to
women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, the Kohanim and Leviyim (members
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of the tribe of Levi), some only to farmers within the Land of Israel. Many laws were
only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and only 369 of these
commandments are still applicable today.
While there have been Jewish groups whose beliefs were based on the written text of
the Torah alone (e.g., the Sadducees, and the Karaites), most Jews believe in the oral
law. These oral traditions were transmitted by the Pharisee school of thought of ancient
Judaism and were later recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis.
According to Rabbinical Jewish tradition, God gave both the Written Law (the Torah)
and the Oral law to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Oral law is the oral tradition as relayed
by God to Moses and from him, transmitted and taught to the sages (rabbinic leaders)
of each subsequent generation.
For centuries, the Torah appeared only as a written text transmitted in parallel with the
oral tradition. Fearing that the oral teachings might be forgotten, Rabbi Judah haNasi
undertook the mission of consolidating the various opinions into one body of law which
became known as the Mishnah.
The Mishnah consists of 63 tractates codifying Jewish law, which are the basis of the
Talmud. According to Abraham ben David, the Mishnah was compiled by Rabbi Judah
haNasi after the destruction of Jerusalem, in anno mundi 3949, which corresponds to
189 CE.
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Over the next four centuries, the Mishnah underwent discussion and debate in both of
the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and Babylonia). The commentaries
from each of these communities were eventually compiled into the two Talmuds, the
Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi) and the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli).
These have been further expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during
the ages.
In the text of the Torah, many words are left undefined and many procedures are
mentioned without explanation or instructions. Such phenomena are sometimes offered
to validate the viewpoint that the Written Law has always been transmitted with a
parallel oral tradition, illustrating the assumption that the reader is already familiar with
the details from other, i.e., oral, sources.
Halakha, the rabbinic Jewish way of life, then, is based on a combined reading of the
Torah, and the oral tradition—the Mishnah, the halakhic Midrash, the Talmud and its
commentaries. The Halakha has developed slowly, through a precedent-based system.
The literature of questions to rabbis, and their considered answers, is referred to as
responsa (in Hebrew, Sheelot U-Teshuvot.) Over time, as practices develop, codes of
Jewish law are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the
Shulchan Aruch, largely determines Orthodox religious practice today.
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Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and
Jewish theology. Major Jewish philosophers include Philo of Alexandria, Solomon ibn
Gabirol, Saadia Gaon, Judah Halevi, Maimonides, and Gersonides. Major changes
occurred in response to the Enlightenment (late 18th to early 19th century) leading to
the post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers. Modern Jewish philosophy consists of both
Orthodox and non-Orthodox oriented philosophy. Notable among Orthodox Jewish
philosophers are Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and Yitzchok Hutner.
Well-known non-Orthodox Jewish philosophers include Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig,
Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Will Herberg, and Emmanuel Lévinas.
Rabbinic hermeneutics
13 Principles of Hermeneutics:
A law that operates under certain conditions will surely be operative in other situations
where the same conditions are present in a more acute form
A law operating in one situation will also be operative in another situation if the text
characterizes both situations in identical terms.
A law that clearly expresses the purpose it was meant to serve will also apply to other
situations where the identical purpose may be served.
When a general rule is followed by illustrative particulars, only those particulars are to
be embraced by it.
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A law that begins with specifying particular cases, and then proceeds to an all-
embracing generalization, is to be applied to particulars cases not specified but logically
falling into the same generalization.
A law that begins with a generalization as to its intended applications, then continues
with the specification of particular cases, and then concludes with a restatement of the
generalization, can be applied only to the particular cases specified.
The rules about a generalization being followed or preceded by specifying particulars
(rules 4 and 5) will not apply if it is apparent that the specification of the particular
cases or the statement of the generalization is meant purely for achieving a greater
clarity of language.
A particular case already covered in a generalization that is nevertheless treated
separately suggests that the same particularized treatment be applied to all other cases
which are covered in that generalization.
A penalty specified for a general category of wrongdoing is not to be automatically
applied to a particular case that is withdrawn from the general rule to be specifically
prohibited, but without any mention of the penalty.
A general prohibition followed by a specified penalty may be followed by a particular
case, normally included in the generalization, with a modification in the penalty, either
toward easing it or making it more severe.
A case logically falling into a general law but treated separately remains outside the
provisions of the general law except in those instances where it is specifically included
in them.
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Obscurities in Biblical texts may be cleared up from the immediate context or from
subsequently occurring passages
Contradictions in Biblical passages may be removed through the mediation of other
passages.
—R. Ishmael
Orthodox and many other Jews do not believe that the revealed Torah consists solely of
its written contents, but of its interpretations as well. The study of Torah (in its widest
sense, to include both poetry, narrative, and law, and both the Hebrew Bible and the
Talmud) is in Judaism itself a sacred act of central importance. For the sages of the
Mishnah and Talmud, and for their successors today, the study of Torah was therefore
not merely a means to learn the contents of God's revelation, but an end in itself.
According to the Talmud,
These are the things for which a person enjoys the dividends in this world while the
principal remains for the person to enjoy in the world to come; they are: honoring
parents, loving deeds of kindness, and making peace between one person and another.
But the study of the Torah is equal to them all. (Talmud Shabbat 127a).
In Judaism, "the study of Torah can be a means of experiencing God". Reflecting on the
contribution of the Amoraim and Tanaim to contemporary Judaism, Professor Jacob
Neusner observed:
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The rabbi's logical and rational inquiry is not mere logic-chopping. It is a most serious
and substantive effort to locate in trivialities the fundamental principles of the revealed
will of God to guide and sanctify the most specific and concrete actions in the workaday
world. ... Here is the mystery of Talmudic Judaism: the alien and remote conviction that
the intellect is an instrument not of unbelief and desacralization but of sanctification."
To study the Written Torah and the Oral Torah in light of each other is thus also to
study how to study the word of God.
In the study of Torah, the sages formulated and followed various logical and
hermeneutical principles. According to David Stern, all Rabbinic hermeneutics rest on
two basic axioms:
first, the belief in the omni-significance of Scripture, in the meaningfulness of its every
word, letter, even (according to one famous report) scribal flourish; second, the claim
of the essential unity of Scripture as the expression of the single divine will.
These two principles make possible a great variety of interpretations. According to the
Talmud,
A single verse has several meanings, but no two verses hold the same meaning. It was
taught in the school of R. Ishmael: 'Behold, My word is like fire—declares the Lord—and
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like a hammer that shatters rock' (Jer 23:29). Just as this hammer produces many
sparks (when it strikes the rock), so a single verse has several meanings." (Talmud
Sanhedrin 34a).
Observant Jews thus view the Torah as dynamic, because it contains within it a host of
interpretations.
According to Rabbinic tradition, all valid interpretations of the written Torah were
revealed to Moses at Sinai in oral form, and handed down from teacher to pupil (The
oral revelation is in effect coextensive with the Talmud itself). When different rabbis
forwarded conflicting interpretations, they sometimes appealed to hermeneutic
principles to legitimize their arguments; some rabbis claim that these principles were
themselves revealed by God to Moses at Sinai.
Thus, Hillel called attention to seven commonly used hermeneutical principles in the
interpretation of laws (baraita at the beginning of Sifra); R. Ishmael, thirteen (baraita at
the beginning of Sifra; this collection is largely an amplification of that of Hillel). Eliezer
b. Jose ha-Gelili listed 32, largely used for the exegesis of narrative elements of Torah.
All the hermeneutic rules scattered through the Talmudim and Midrashim have been
collected by Malbim in Ayyelet ha-Shachar, the introduction to his commentary on the
Sifra. Nevertheless, R. Ishmael's 13 principles are perhaps the ones most widely known;
they constitute an important, and one of Judaism's earliest, contributions to logic,
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hermeneutics, and jurisprudence.Judah Hadassi incorporated Ishmael's principles into
Karaite Judaism in the 12th century. Today R. Ishmael's 13 principles are incorporated
into the Jewish prayer book to be read by observant Jews on a daily basis.
Jewish identity
The term "Judaism" derives from Iudaismus, a Latinized form of the Ancient Greek
Ioudaismos (Ἰουδαϊσμός) (from the verb ἰουδαΐζειν, "to side with or imitate the
[Judeans]"). Its ultimate source was the Hebrew ‫יהודה‬, Yehudah, "Judah", which is also
the source of the Hebrew term for Judaism: ‫יַהֲדּות‬, Yahadut. The term Ἰουδαϊσμός first
appears in the Hellenistic Greek book of 2 Maccabees in the 2nd century BCE. In the
context of the age and period it meant "seeking or forming part of a cultural entity"and
it resembled its antonym hellenismos, a word that signified a people's submission to
Hellenic (Greek) cultural norms. The conflict between iudaismos and hellenismos lay
behind the Maccabean revolt and hence the invention of the term iudaismos.
Shaye J. D. Cohen writes in his book The Beginnings of Jewishness:
We are tempted, of course, to translate [Ioudaïsmós] as "Judaism," but this translation
is too narrow, because in this first occurrence of the term, Ioudaïsmós has not yet been
reduced to the designation of a religion. It means rather "the aggregate of all those
characteristics that makes Judaeans Judaean (or Jews Jewish)." Among these
characteristics, to be sure, are practices and beliefs that we would today call "religious,"
but these practices and beliefs are not the sole content of the term. Thus Ioudaïsmós
should be translated not as "Judaism" but as Judaeanness.
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According to the Oxford English Dictionary the earliest citation in English where the
term was used to mean "the profession or practice of the Jewish religion; the religious
system or polity of the Jews" is Robert Fabyan's The newe cronycles of Englande and of
Fraunce (1516). "Judaism" as a direct translation of the Latin Iudaismus first occurred
in a 1611 English translation of the apocrypha (Deuterocanon in Catholic and Eastern
Orthodoxy), 2 Macc. ii. 21: "Those that behaved themselves manfully to their honour
for Iudaisme."
Distinction between Jews as a people and Judaism
According to Daniel Boyarin, the underlying distinction between religion and ethnicity is
foreign to Judaism itself, and is one form of the dualism between spirit and flesh that
has its origin in Platonic philosophy and that permeated Hellenistic
Judaism.Consequently, in his view, Judaism does not fit easily into conventional
Western categories, such as religion, ethnicity, or culture. Boyarin suggests that this in
part reflects the fact that much of Judaism's more than 3,000-year history predates the
rise of Western culture and occurred outside the West (that is, Europe, particularly
medieval and modern Europe). During this time, Jews experienced slavery, anarchic
and theocratic self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile. In the Diaspora, they
were in contact with, and influenced by, ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, and
Hellenic cultures, as well as modern movements such as the Enlightenment (see
Haskalah) and the rise of nationalism, which would bear fruit in the form of a Jewish
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state in their ancient homeland, the Land of Israel. They also saw an elite population
convert to Judaism (the Khazars), only to disappear as the centers of power in the
lands once occupied by that elite fell to th people of Rus and then the Mongols.Thus,
Boyarin has argued that "Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it
is not national, not genealogical, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension."
In contrast to this point of view, practices such as Humanistic Judaism reject the
religious aspects of Judaism, while retaining certain cultural traditions.
Who is a Jew?
According to Rabbinic Judaism, a Jew is anyone who was either born of a Jewish
mother or who converted to Judaism in accordance with Jewish Law. Reconstructionist
Judaism and the larger denominations of worldwide Progressive Judaism (also known as
Liberal or Reform Judaism) accept the child as Jewish if one of the parents is Jewish, if
the parents raise the child with a Jewish identity, but not the smaller regional branches.
[clarification needed] All mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere
converts, although conversion has traditionally been discouraged since the time of the
Talmud. The conversion process is evaluated by an authority, and the convert is
examined on his or her sincerity and knowledge. Converts are called "ben Abraham" or
"bat Abraham", (son or daughter of Abraham). Conversions have on occasion been
overturned. In 2008, Israel's highest religious court invalidated the conversion of
40,000 Jews, mostly from Russian immigrant families, even though they had been
approved by an Orthodox rabbi.
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Rabbinical Judaism maintains that a Jew, whether by birth or conversion, is a Jew
forever. Thus a Jew who claims to be an atheist or converts to another religion is still
considered by traditional Judaism to be Jewish. According to some sources, the Reform
movement has maintained that a Jew who has converted to another religion is no
longer a Jew, and the Israeli Government has also taken that stance after Supreme
Court cases and statutes. However, the Reform movement has indicated that this is not
so cut and dried, and different situations call for consideration and differing actions. For
example, Jews who have converted under duress may be permitted to return to
Judaism "without any action on their part but their desire to rejoin the Jewish
community" and "A proselyte who has become an apostate remains, nevertheless, a
Jew".
Karaite Judaism believes that Jewish identity can only be transmitted by patrilineal
descent. Although a minority of modern Karaites believe that Jewish identity requires
that both parents be Jewish, and not only the father. They argue that only patrilineal
descent can transmit Jewish identity on the grounds that all descent in the Torah went
according to the male line.
The question of what determines Jewish identity in the State of Israel was given new
impetus when, in the 1950s, David Ben-Gurion requested opinions on mihu Yehudi
("Who is a Jew") from Jewish religious authorities and intellectuals worldwide in order
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to settle citizenship questions. This is still not settled, and occasionally resurfaces in
Israeli politics.
Historical definitions of Jewish identity have traditionally been based on halakhic
definitions of matrilineal descent, and halakhic conversions. Historical definitions of who
is a Jew date back to the codification of the Oral Torah into the Babylonian Talmud,
around 200 CE. Interpretations of sections of the Tanakh, such as Deuteronomy 7:1–5,
by Jewish sages, are used as a warning against intermarriage between Jews and
Canaanites because "[the non-Jewish husband] will cause your child to turn away from
Me and they will worship the gods (i.e., idols) of others." Leviticus 24 says that the son
in a marriage between a Hebrew woman and an Egyptian man is "of the community of
Israel."This is complemented by Ezra 10, where Israelites returning from Babylon vow
to put aside their gentile wives and their children. A popular theory is that the rape of
Jewish women in captivity brought about the law of Jewish identity being inherited
through the maternal line, although scholars challenge this theory citing the Talmudic
establishment of the law from the pre-exile period.Since the anti-religious Haskalah
movement of the late 18th and 19th centuries, halakhic interpretations of Jewish
identity have been challenged.
Jewish demographics
The total number of Jews worldwide is difficult to assess because the definition of "who
is a Jew" is problematic; not all Jews identify themselves as Jewish, and some who
identify as Jewish are not considered so by other Jews. According to the Jewish Year
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Book (1901), the global Jewish population in 1900 was around 11 million. The latest
available data is from the World Jewish Population Survey of 2002 and the Jewish Year
Calendar (2005). In 2002, according to the Jewish Population Survey, there were 13.3
million Jews around the world. The Jewish Year Calendar cites 14.6 million. It is 0.25%
of world population.Jewish population growth is currently near zero percent, with 0.3%
growth from 2000 to 2001.
Jewish religious movements
Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism (or in some Christian traditions, Rabbinism) (Hebrew: "Yahadut
Rabanit" – ‫ )יהדות רבנית‬has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th
century CE, after the codification of the Talmud. It is characterised by the belief that
the Written Torah (Written Law) cannot be correctly interpreted without reference to
the Oral Torah and the voluminous literature specifying what behavior is sanctioned by
the Law.
The Jewish Enlightenment of the late 18th century resulted in the division of Ashkenazi
(Western) Jewry into religious movements or denominations, especially in North
America and Anglophone countries. The main denominations today outside Israel
(where the situation is rather different) are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. The
notion "traditional Judaism" includes the Orthodox with Conservative or solely the
Orthodox Jews.
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Orthodox Judaism holds that both the Written and Oral Torah were divinely revealed to
Moses and that the laws within it are binding and unchanging. Orthodox Jews generally
consider commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch (a condensed codification of halakha
that largely favored Sephardic traditions) to be the definitive codification of Jewish law.
Orthodoxy places a high importance on Maimonides' 13 principles as a definition of
Jewish faith.
Orthodoxy is often divided into Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodox Judaism. Haredi is
less accommodating to modernity and has less interest in non-Jewish disciplines, and it
may be distinguished from Modern Orthodox Judaism in practice by its styles of dress
and more stringent practices. Subsets of Haredi Judaism include Hasidic Judaism, which
is rooted in the Kabbalah and distinguished by reliance on a Rebbe or religious teacher;
their opponents Misnagdim (Lithuanian); and Sephardic Haredi Judaism, which emerged
among Sephardic and Mizrahi (Asian and North African) Jews in Israel."Centrist"
Orthodoxy (Joseph B. Soloveitchik) is sometimes also distinguished.
Conservative Judaism is characterized by a commitment to traditional Jewish laws and
customs, including observance of Shabbat and kashrut, a deliberately non-
fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith, a positive attitude toward modern
culture, and an acceptance of both traditional rabbinic and modern scholarship when
considering Jewish religious texts. Conservative Judaism teaches that Jewish law is not
static, but has always developed in response to changing conditions. It holds that the
Torah is a divine document written by prophets inspired by God and reflecting his will,
but rejects the Orthodox position that it was dictated by God to Moses.Conservative
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Judaism holds that the Oral Law is divine and normative, but holds that both the
Written and Oral Law may be interpreted by the rabbis to reflect modern sensibilities
and suit modern conditions.
Reform Judaism, called Liberal or Progressive Judaism in many countries, defines
Judaism in relatively universalist terms, rejects most of the ritual and ceremonial laws of
the Torah while observing moral laws, and emphasizes the ethical call of the Prophets.
Reform Judaism has developed an egalitarian prayer service in the vernacular (along
with Hebrew in many cases) and emphasizes personal connection to Jewish tradition.
Reconstructionist Judaism, like Reform Judaism, does not hold that Jewish law, as such,
requires observance, but unlike Reform, Reconstructionist thought emphasizes the role
of the community in deciding what observances to follow.
Jewish Renewal is a recent North American movement which focuses on spirituality and
social justice but does not address issues of Jewish law. Men and women participate
equally in prayer.
Humanistic Judaism is a small non-theistic movement centered in North America and
Israel that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as the sources of Jewish identity.
Subbotniks (Sabbatarians) are a movement of Jews of Russian ethnic origin in the
18th–20th centuries, the majority of whom belonged to Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism.
Many settled in the Holy Land as part of the Zionist First Aliyah in order to escape
oppression in the Russian Empire and later mostly intermarried with other Jews, their
descendants included Alexander Zaïd, Major-General Alik Ron, and the mother of Ariel
Sharon.
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Sephardi and Mizrahi Judaism
While traditions and customs vary between discrete communities, it can be said that
Sephardi and Mizrahi Jewish communities do not generally adhere to the "movement"
framework popular in and among Ashkenazi Jewry. Historically, Sephardi and Mizrahi
communities have eschewed denominations in favour of a "big tent" approach.This is
particularly the case in contemporary Israel, which is home to the largest communities
of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in the world. (However, individual Sephardi and Mizrahi
Jews may be members of or attend synagogues that do adhere to one Ashkenazi-
inflected movement or another.)
Sephardi and Mizrahi observance of Judaism tends toward the conservative, and prayer
rites are reflective of this, with the text of each rite being largely unchanged since their
respective inception. Observant Sephardim may follow the teachings of a particular
rabbi or school of thought; for example, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Jewish movements in IsraelMost Jewish Israelis classify themselves as "secular" (hiloni),
"traditional" (masorti), "religious" (dati) or Haredi. The term "secular" is more popular
as a self-description among Israeli families of western (European) origin, whose Jewish
identity may be a very powerful force in their lives, but who see it as largely
independent of traditional religious belief and practice. This portion of the population
largely ignores organized religious life, be it of the official Israeli rabbinate (Orthodox)
or of the liberal movements common to diaspora Judaism (Reform, Conservative).
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The term "traditional" (masorti) is most common as a self-description among Israeli
families of "eastern" origin (i.e., the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa). This
term, as commonly used, has nothing to do with the Conservative Judaism, which also
names itself "Masorti" outside North America. There is a great deal of ambiguity in the
ways "secular" and "traditional" are used in Israel: they often overlap, and they cover
an extremely wide range in terms of worldview and practical religious observance. The
term "Orthodox" is not popular in Israeli discourse, although the percentage of Jews
who come under that category is far greater than in the diaspora. What would be called
"Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is commonly called dati (religious) or haredi
(ultra-Orthodox) in Israel. The former term includes what is called "Religious Zionism"
or the "National Religious" community, as well as what has become known over the
past decade or so as haredi-leumi (nationalist haredi), or "Hardal", which combines a
largely haredi lifestyle with nationalist ideology. (Some people, in Yiddish, also refer to
observant Orthodox Jews as frum, as opposed to frei (more liberal Jews)).
Haredi applies to a populace that can be roughly divided into three separate groups
along both ethnic and ideological lines: (1) "Lithuanian" (non-hasidic) haredim of
Ashkenazic origin; (2) Hasidic haredim of Ashkenazic origin; and (3) Sephardic haredim.
Karaites and Samaritans
Karaite Judaism defines itself as the remnants of the non-Rabbinic Jewish sects of the
Second Temple period, such as the Sadducees. The Karaites ("Scripturalists") accept
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only the Hebrew Bible and what they view as the Peshat ("simple" meaning); they do
not accept non-biblical writings as authoritative. Some European Karaites do not see
themselves as part of the Jewish community at all, although most do.
The Samaritans, a very small community located entirely around Mount Gerizim in the
Nablus/Shechem region of the West Bank and in Holon, near Tel Aviv in Israel, regard
themselves as the descendants of the Israelites of the Iron Age kingdom of Israel. Their
religious practices are based on the literal text of the written Torah (Five Books of
Moses), which they view as the only authoritative scripture (with a special regard also
for the Samaritan Book of Joshua).
Beta Israeli Kahen at the Western Wall
Haymanot (Ethiopian Judaism)
Haymanot (meaning "religion" in Ge'ez and Amharic) refers the Judaism practiced by
Ethiopian Jews. This version of Judaism differs substantially from Rabbinic, Karaite, and
Samaritan Judaisms, Ethiopian Jews having diverged from their coreligionists earlier.
Sacred scriptures (the Orit) are written in Ge'ez, not Hebrew, and dietary laws are
based strictly on the text of the Orit, without explication from ancillary commentaries.
Holidays also differ, with some Rabbinic holidays not observed in Ethiopian Jewish
communities, and some additional holidays, like Sigd.
Noahide (B'nei Noah movement)
Noahidism (/ˈ
noʊə.haɪd.ɪsm/) or Noachidism (/ˈ
noʊə.xaɪd.ɪsm/) is a Jewish religious
movement based on the Seven Laws of Noah and their traditional interpretations within
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Rabbinic Judaism. According to the Jewish law, non-Jews (Gentiles) are not obligated to
convert to Judaism, but they are required to observe the Seven Laws of Noah to be
assured of a place in the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba), the final reward of the
righteous. The divinely ordained penalty for violating any of the Laws of Noah is
discussed in the Talmud, but in practical terms it is subject to the working legal system
which is established by the society at large. Those who subscribe to the observance of
the Noahic Covenant are referred to as B'nei Noach (Hebrew: ‫בני נח‬, "Children of
Noah") or Noahides (/ˈ

noʊ.ə.haɪdɪs/). Supporting organizations have been established
around the world over the past decades by both Noahides and Orthodox Jews.
Historically, the Hebrew term B'nei Noach has applied to all non-Jews as descendants of
Noah. However, nowadays it's primarily used to refer specifically to those non-Jews who
observe the Seven Laws of Noah.
Jewish observances
Jewish ethics
Jewish ethics may be guided by halakhic traditions, by other moral principles, or by
central Jewish virtues. Jewish ethical practice is typically understood to be marked by
values such as justice, truth, peace, loving-kindness (chesed), compassion, humility,
and self-respect. Specific Jewish ethical practices include practices of charity (tzedakah)
and refraining from negative speech (lashon hara). Proper ethical practices regarding
sexuality and many other issues are subjects of dispute among Jews.
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Prayers
A Yemenite Jew at morning prayers, wearing a kippah skullcap, prayer shawl and tefillin
Traditionally, Jews recite prayers three times daily, Shacharit, Mincha, and Ma'ariv with
a fourth prayer, Mussaf added on Shabbat and holidays. At the heart of each service is
the Amidah or Shemoneh Esrei. Another key prayer in many services is the declaration
of faith, the Shema Yisrael (or Shema). The Shema is the recitation of a verse from the
Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4): Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad—"Hear, O
Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord is One!"
An Israeli female soldier prays at the Western Wall
Most of the prayers in a traditional Jewish service can be recited in solitary prayer,
although communal prayer is preferred. Communal prayer requires a quorum of ten
adult Jews, called a minyan. In nearly all Orthodox and a few Conservative circles, only
male Jews are counted toward a minyan; most Conservative Jews and members of
other Jewish denominations count female Jews as well.
In addition to prayer services, observant traditional Jews recite prayers and
benedictions throughout the day when performing various acts. Prayers are recited
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upon waking up in the morning, before eating or drinking different foods, after eating a
meal, and so on.
The approach to prayer varies among the Jewish denominations. Differences can
include the texts of prayers, the frequency of prayer, the number of prayers recited at
various religious events, the use of musical instruments and choral music, and whether
prayers are recited in the traditional liturgical languages or the vernacular. In general,
Orthodox and Conservative congregations adhere most closely to tradition, and Reform
and Reconstructionist synagogues are more likely to incorporate translations and
contemporary writings in their services. Also, in most Conservative synagogues, and all
Reform and Reconstructionist congregations, women participate in prayer services on
an equal basis with men, including roles traditionally filled only by men, such as reading
from the Torah. In addition, many Reform temples use musical accompaniment such as
organs and mixed choirs.
Religious clothing
Jewish boys wearing tzitzit and kippot play soccer in Jerusalem
Men wearing tallitot pray at the Western Wall
A kippah (Hebrew: ‫ִּכָּפה‬, plural kippot; Yiddish: ‫יַארמלקע‬, yarmulke) is a slightly
rounded brimless skullcap worn by many Jews while praying, eating, reciting blessings,
or studying Jewish religious texts, and at all times by some Jewish men. In Orthodox
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communities, only men wear kippot; in non-Orthodox communities, some women also
wear kippot. Kippot range in size from a small round beanie that covers only the back of
the head to a large, snug cap that covers the whole crown.
Tzitzit (Hebrew: ‫( )צִיצי ִת‬Ashkenazi pronunciation: tzitzis) are special knotted "fringes"
or "tassels" found on the four corners of the tallit (Hebrew: ‫טִּלית‬

ַ ) (Ashkenazi
pronunciation: tallis), or prayer shawl. The tallit is worn by Jewish men and some
Jewish women during the prayer service. Customs vary regarding when a Jew begins
wearing a tallit. In the Sephardi community, boys wear a tallit from bar mitzvah age. In
some Ashkenazi communities, it is customary to wear one only after marriage. A tallit
katan (small tallit) is a fringed garment worn under the clothing throughout the day. In
some Orthodox circles, the fringes are allowed to hang freely outside the clothing.
Tefillin (Hebrew: ‫תפִִּלין‬

ְ ), known in English as phylacteries (from the Greek word
φυλακτήριον, meaning safeguard or amulet), are two square leather boxes containing
biblical verses, attached to the forehead and wound around the left arm by leather
straps. They are worn during weekday morning prayer by observant Jewish men and
some Jewish women.
A kittel (Yiddish: ‫)קיטל‬, a white knee-length overgarment, is worn by prayer leaders
and some observant traditional Jews on the High Holidays. It is traditional for the head
of the household to wear a kittel at the Passover seder in some communities, and some
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grooms wear one under the wedding canopy. Jewish males are buried in a tallit and
sometimes also a kittel which are part of the tachrichim (burial garments).
Jewish holidays
Jewish holidays are special days in the Jewish calendar, which celebrate moments in
Jewish history, as well as central themes in the relationship between God and the
world, such as creation, revelation, and redemption.
Shabbat
Two braided Shabbat challahs placed under an embroidered challah cover at the start
of the Shabbat meal
Shabbat, the weekly day of rest lasting from shortly before sundown on Friday night to
nightfall on Saturday night, commemorates God's day of rest after six days of creation.
It plays a pivotal role in Jewish practice and is governed by a large corpus of religious
law. At sundown on Friday, the woman of the house welcomes the Shabbat by lighting
two or more candles and reciting a blessing. The evening meal begins with the Kiddush,
a blessing recited aloud over a cup of wine, and the Mohtzi, a blessing recited over the
bread. It is customary to have challah, two braided loaves of bread, on the table.
During Shabbat, Jews are forbidden to engage in any activity that falls under 39
categories of melakhah, translated literally as "work". In fact the activities banned on
the Sabbath are not "work" in the usual sense: They include such actions as lighting a
fire, writing, using money and carrying in the public domain. The prohibition of lighting
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a fire has been extended in the modern era to driving a car, which involves burning fuel
and using electricity.
Three pilgrimage festivals
Shalosh regalim
Jewish holy days (chaggim), celebrate landmark events in Jewish history, such as the
Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah, and sometimes mark the change of
seasons and transitions in the agricultural cycle. The three major festivals, Sukkot,
Passover and Shavuot, are called "regalim" (derived from the Hebrew word "regel", or
foot). On the three regalim, it was customary for the Israelites to make pilgrimages to
Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the Temple.
A haggadah used by the Jewish community of Cairo in Arabic
Passover (Pesach) is a week-long holiday beginning on the evening of the 14th day of
Nisan (the first month in the Hebrew calendar), that commemorates the Exodus from
Egypt. Outside Israel, Passover is celebrated for eight days. In ancient times, it
coincided with the barley harvest. It is the only holiday that centers on home-service,
the Seder. Leavened products (chametz) are removed from the house prior to the
holiday and are not consumed throughout the week. Homes are thoroughly cleaned to
ensure no bread or bread by-products remain, and a symbolic burning of the last
vestiges of chametz is conducted on the morning of the Seder. Matzo is eaten instead
of bread.
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Shavuot ("Pentecost" or "Feast of Weeks") celebrates the revelation of the Torah to the
Israelites on Mount Sinai. Also known as the Festival of Bikurim, or first fruits, it
coincided in biblical times with the wheat harvest. Shavuot customs include all-night
study marathons known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot, eating dairy foods (cheesecake and
blintzes are special favorites), reading the Book of Ruth, decorating homes and
synagogues with greenery, and wearing white clothing, symbolizing purity.
A sukkah
Sukkot ("Tabernacles" or "The Festival of Booths") commemorates the Israelites' forty
years of wandering through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. It is
celebrated through the construction of temporary booths called sukkot (sing. sukkah)
that represent the temporary shelters of the Israelites during their wandering. It
coincides with the fruit harvest and marks the end of the agricultural cycle. Jews around
the world eat in sukkot for seven days and nights. Sukkot concludes with Shemini
Atzeret, where Jews begin to pray for rain and Simchat Torah, "Rejoicing of the Torah",
a holiday which marks reaching the end of the Torah reading cycle and beginning all
over again. The occasion is celebrated with singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls.
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are technically considered to be a separate holiday
and not a part of Sukkot.
Jews in Mumbai break the Yom Kippur fast with roti and samosas
High Holy Days
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The High Holidays (Yamim Noraim or "Days of Awe") revolve around judgment and
forgiveness.
Rosh Hashanah, (also Yom Ha-Zikkaron or "Day of Remembrance", and Yom Teruah, or
"Day of the Sounding of the Shofar"). Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year (literally,
"head of the year"), although it falls on the first day of the seventh month of the
Hebrew calendar, Tishri. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the 10-day period of
atonement leading up to Yom Kippur, during which Jews are commanded to search
their souls and make amends for sins committed, intentionally or not, throughout the
year. Holiday customs include blowing the shofar, or ram's horn, in the synagogue,
eating apples and honey, and saying blessings over a variety of symbolic foods, such as
pomegranates.
Yom Kippur, ("Day of Atonement") is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is a day of
communal fasting and praying for forgiveness for one's sins. Observant Jews spend the
entire day in the synagogue, sometimes with a short break in the afternoon, reciting
prayers from a special holiday prayerbook called a "Machzor". Many non-religious Jews
make a point of attending synagogue services and fasting on Yom Kippur. On the eve of
Yom Kippur, before candles are lit, a prefast meal, the "seuda mafseket", is eaten.
Synagogue services on the eve of Yom Kippur begin with the Kol Nidre prayer. It is
customary to wear white on Yom Kippur, especially for Kol Nidre, and leather shoes are
not worn. The following day, prayers are held from morning to evening. The final
prayer service, called "Ne'ilah", ends with a long blast of the shofar.
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Purim
Jewish personnel of the US Navy light candles on Hanukkah
Purim (Hebrew: About this sound‫( פורים‬help·info) Pûrîm "lots") is a joyous Jewish
holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Persian Jews from the plot of the evil
Haman, who sought to exterminate them, as recorded in the biblical Book of Esther. It
is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, mutual gifts of food and
drink, charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22). Other customs include
drinking wine, eating special pastries called hamantashen, dressing up in masks and
costumes, and organizing carnivals and parties.
Purim has celebrated annually on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar, which occurs
in February or March of the Gregorian calendar.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah (Hebrew: ‫חנ ָֻּכה‬

ֲ , "dedication") also known as the Festival of Lights, is an
eight-day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev (Hebrew calendar). The
festival is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's
eight nights, one on the first night, two on the second night and so on.
The holiday was called Hanukkah (meaning "dedication") because it marks the re-
dedication of the Temple after its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Spiritually,
Hanukkah commemorates the "Miracle of the Oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-
dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem following the victory of the Maccabees over the
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Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated oil to fuel the eternal flame in the
Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days—which was the length
of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate new oil.
Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Bible and was never considered a major holiday in
Judaism, but it has become much more visible and widely celebrated in modern times,
mainly because it falls around the same time as Christmas and has national Jewish
overtones that have been emphasized since the establishment of the State of Israel.
Tisha B'Av, Seventeenth of Tamuz, 10th of Tevet, and Tzom Gedaliah
Tisha B'Av (Hebrew: ‫ תשעה באב‬or ‫ט׳ באב‬, "the Ninth of Av") is a day of mourning and
fasting commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples, and in later
times, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
There are three more minor Jewish fast days that commemorate various stages of the
destruction of the Temples. They are the 17th Tamuz, the 10th of Tevet and Tzom
Gedaliah (the 3rd of Tishrei).
Israeli holidays
Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, and Yom Ha'atzmaut
The modern holidays of Yom Ha-shoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom Hazikaron
(Israeli Memorial Day) and Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) commemorate
the horrors of the Holocaust, the fallen soldiers of Israel and victims of terrorism, and
Israeli independence, respectively.
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There are some who prefer to commemorate those who were killed in the Holocaust on
the 10th of Tevet.
Torah readings
The core of festival and Shabbat prayer services is the public reading of the Torah,
along with connected readings from the other books of the Tanakh, called Haftarah.
Over the course of a year, the whole Torah is read, with the cycle starting over in the
autumn, on Simchat Torah.
Synagogues and religious buildings
Synagogues are Jewish houses of prayer and study. They usually contain separate
rooms for prayer (the main sanctuary), smaller rooms for study, and often an area for
community or educational use. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the
architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. The Reform
movement mostly refer to their synagogues as temples. Some traditional features of a
synagogue arc.
The ark (called aron ha-kodesh by Ashkenazim and hekhal by Sephardim) where the
Torah scrolls are kept (the ark is often closed with an ornate curtain (parochet) outside
or inside the ark doors);
The elevated reader's platform (called bimah by Ashkenazim and tebah by Sephardim),
where the Torah is read (and services are conducted in Sephardi synagogues);
The eternal light (ner tamid), a continually lit lamp or lantern used as a reminder of the
constantly lit menorah of the Temple in Jerusalem
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The pulpit, or amud, a lectern facing the Ark where the hazzan or prayer leader stands
while praying.
In addition to synagogues, other buildings of significance in Judaism include yeshivas,
or institutions of Jewish learning, and mikvahs, which are ritual baths.
Dietary laws: kashrut
The Jewish dietary laws are known as kashrut. Food prepared in accordance with them
is termed kosher, and food that is not kosher is also known as treifah or treif. People
who observe these laws are colloquially said to be "keeping kosher".
Many of the laws apply to animal-based foods. For example, in order to be considered
kosher, mammals must have split hooves and chew their cud. The pig is arguably the
most well-known example of a non-kosher animal. Although it has split hooves, it does
not chew its cud. For seafood to be kosher, the animal must have fins and scales.
Certain types of seafood, such as shellfish, crustaceans, and eels, are therefore
considered non-kosher. Concerning birds, a list of non-kosher species is given in the
Torah. The exact translations of many of the species have not survived, and some non-
kosher birds' identities are no longer certain. However, traditions exist about the
kashrut status of a few birds. For example, both chickens and turkeys are permitted in
most communities. Other types of animals, such as amphibians, reptiles, and most
insects, are prohibited altogether.
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In addition to the requirement that the species be considered kosher, meat and poultry
(but not fish) must come from a healthy animal slaughtered in a process known as
shechitah. Without the proper slaughtering practices even an otherwise kosher animal
will be rendered treif. The slaughtering process is intended to be quick and relatively
painless to the animal. Forbidden parts of animals include the blood, some fats, and the
area in and around the sciatic nerve.
Jewish law also forbids the consumption of meat and dairy products together. The
waiting period between eating meat and eating dairy varies by the order in which they
are consumed and by community, and can extend for up to six hours. Based on the
Biblical injunction against cooking a kid in its mother's milk, this rule is mostly derived
from the Oral Torah, the Talmud and Rabbinic law. Chicken and other kosher birds are
considered the same as meat under the laws of kashrut, but the prohibition is Rabbinic,
not Biblical.
The use of dishes, serving utensils, and ovens may make food treif that would
otherwise be kosher. Utensils that have been used to prepare non-kosher food, or
dishes that have held meat and are now used for dairy products, render the food treif
under certain conditions.
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Furthermore, all Orthodox and some Conservative authorities forbid the consumption of
processed grape products made by non-Jews, due to ancient pagan practices of using
wine in rituals. Some Conservative authorities permit wine and grape juice made
without rabbinic supervision.
The Torah does not give specific reasons for most of the laws of kashrut. However, a
number of explanations have been offered, including maintaining ritual purity, teaching
impulse control, encouraging obedience to God, improving health, reducing cruelty to
animals and preserving the distinctness of the Jewish community. The various
categories of dietary laws may have developed for different reasons, and some may
exist for multiple reasons. For example, people are forbidden from consuming the blood
of birds and mammals because, according to the Torah, this is where animal souls are
contained. In contrast, the Torah forbids Israelites from eating non-kosher species
because "they are unclean". The Kabbalah describes sparks of holiness that are
released by the act of eating kosher foods, but are too tightly bound in non-kosher
foods to be released by eating.
Survival concerns supersede all the laws of kashrut, as they do for most halakhot.
Laws of ritual purity
Tumah
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The Tanakh describes circumstances in which a person who is tahor or ritually pure
may become tamei or ritually impure. Some of these circumstances are contact with
human corpses or graves, seminal flux, vaginal flux, menstruation, and contact with
people who have become impure from any of these. In Rabbinic Judaism, Kohanim,
members of the hereditary caste that served as priests in the time of the Temple, are
mostly restricted from entering grave sites and touching dead bodies. During the
Temple period, such priests (Kohanim) were required to eat their bread offering
(Terumah) in a state of ritual purity, which laws eventually led to more rigid laws being
enacted, such as hand-washing which became a requisite of all Jews before consuming
ordinary bread.
Family purity
18th-century circumcision chair Museum of Jewish Art and History
Niddah
Women in Judaism
An important subcategory of the ritual purity laws relates to the segregation of
menstruating women. These laws are also known as niddah, literally "separation", or
family purity. Vital aspects of halakha for traditionally observant Jews, they are not
usually followed by Jews in liberal denominations.
Especially in Orthodox Judaism, the Biblical laws are augmented by Rabbinical
injunctions. For example, the Torah mandates that a woman in her normal menstrual
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period must abstain from sexual intercourse for seven days. A woman whose
menstruation is prolonged must continue to abstain for seven more days after bleeding
has stopped. The Rabbis conflated ordinary niddah with this extended menstrual period,
known in the Torah as zavah, and mandated that a woman may not have sexual
intercourse with her husband from the time she begins her menstrual flow until seven
days after it ends. In addition, Rabbinical law forbids the husband from touching or
sharing a bed with his wife during this period. Afterwards, purification can occur in a
ritual bath called a mikveh
Traditional Ethiopian Jews keep menstruating women in separate huts and, similar to
Karaite practice, do not allow menstruating women into their temples because of a
temple's special sanctity. Emigration to Israel and the influence of other Jewish
denominations have led to Ethiopian Jews adopting more normative Jewish practices.
Two boys wearing tallit at a bar mitzvah. The torah is visible in the foreground.
Life-cycle events
Life-cycle events, or rites of passage, occur throughout a Jew's life that serves to
strengthen Jewish identity and bind him/her to the entire community.
Brit milah – Welcoming male babies into the covenant through the rite of circumcision
on their eighth day of life. The baby boy is also given his Hebrew name in the
ceremony. A naming ceremony intended as a parallel ritual for girls, named zeved habat
or brit bat, enjoys limited popularity.
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Bar mitzvah and Bat mitzvah – This passage from childhood to adulthood takes place
when a female Jew is twelve and a male Jew is thirteen years old among Orthodox and
some Conservative congregations. In the Reform movement, both girls and boys have
their bat/bar mitzvah at age thirteen. This is often commemorated by having the new
adults, male only in the Orthodox tradition, lead the congregation in prayer and publicly
read a "portion" of the Torah.
Marriage – Marriage is an extremely important lifecycle event. A wedding takes place
under a chuppah, or wedding canopy, which symbolizes a happy house. At the end of
the ceremony, the groom breaks a glass with his foot, symbolizing the continuous
mourning for the destruction of the Temple, and the scattering of the Jewish people.
The Bereavement (Yahrtzeit) Hasidic tish, Bnei Brak, Israel
Death and Mourning – Judaism has a multi-staged mourning practice. The first stage is
called the shiva (literally "seven", observed for one week) during which it is traditional
to sit at home and be comforted by friends and family, the second is the shloshim
(observed for one month) and for those who have lost one of their parents, there is a
third stage, avelut yud bet chodesh, which is observed for eleven months.
Community leadership
Classical priesthood
Jewish students with their teacher in Samarkand, Uzbekistan c. 1910.
The role of the priesthood in Judaism has significantly diminished since the destruction
of the Second Temple in 70 CE when priests attended to the Temple and sacrifices. The
priesthood is an inherited position, and although priests no longer have any but
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ceremonial duties, they are still honored in many Jewish communities. Many Orthodox
Jewish communities believe that they will be needed again for a future Third Temple
and need to remain in readiness for future duty.
Kohen (priest) – patrilineal descendant of Aaron, brother of Moses. In the Temple, the
kohanim were charged with performing the sacrifices. Today, a Kohen is the first one
called up at the reading of the Torah, performs the Priestly Blessing, as well as
complying with other unique laws and ceremonies, including the ceremony of
redemption of the first-born.
Levi (Levite) – Patrilineal descendant of Levi the son of Jacob. In the Temple in
Jerusalem, the levites sang Psalms, performed construction, maintenance, janitorial,
and guard duties, assisted the priests, and sometimes interpreted the law and Temple
ritual to the public. Today, a Levite is called up second to the reading of the Torah.
Prayer leaders
Magen David Synagogue in Kolkata, India
From the time of the Mishnah and Talmud to the present, Judaism has required
specialists or authorities for the practice of very few rituals or ceremonies. A Jew can
fulfill most requirements for prayer by himself. Some activities—reading the Torah and
haftarah (a supplementary portion from the Prophets or Writings), the prayer for
mourners, the blessings for bridegroom and bride, the complete grace after meals—
require a minyan, the presence of ten Jews.
The most common professional clergy in a synagogue are:
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Rabbi of a congregation – Jewish scholar who is charged with answering the legal
questions of a congregation. This role requires ordination by the congregation's
preferred authority (i.e., from a respected Orthodox rabbi or, if the congregation is
Conservative or Reform, from academic seminaries). A congregation does not
necessarily require a rabbi. Some congregations have a rabbi but also allow members of
the congregation to act as shatz or baal kriyah (see below).
Hassidic Rebbe – rabbi who is the head of a Hasidic dynasty.
Hazzan (note: the "h" denotes voiceless pharyngeal fricative) (cantor) – a trained
vocalist who acts as shatz. Chosen for a good voice, knowledge of traditional tunes,
understanding of the meaning of the prayers and sincerity in reciting them. A
congregation does not need to have a dedicated hazzan.
Jewish prayer services do involve two specified roles, which are sometimes, but not
always, filled by a rabbi or hazzan in many congregations. In other congregations these
roles are filled on an ad-hoc basis by members of the congregation who lead portions of
services on a rotating basis:
Shaliach tzibur or Shatz (leader—literally "agent" or "representative"—of the
congregation) leads those assembled in prayer and sometimes prays on behalf of the
community. When a shatz recites a prayer on behalf of the congregation, he is not
acting as an intermediary but rather as a facilitator. The entire congregation
participates in the recital of such prayers by saying amen at their conclusion; it is with
this act that the shatz's prayer becomes the prayer of the congregation. Any adult
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capable of reciting the prayers clearly may act as shatz. In Orthodox congregations and
some Conservative congregations, only men can be prayer leaders, but all Progressive
communities now allow women to serve in this function.
The Baal kriyah or baal koreh (master of the reading) reads the weekly Torah portion.
The requirements for being the baal kriyah are the same as those for the shatz. These
roles are not mutually exclusive. The same person is often qualified to fill more than
one role and often does. Often there are several people capable of filling these roles
and different services (or parts of services) will be led by each.
Many congregations, especially larger ones, also rely on a:
Gabbai (sexton) – Calls people up to the Torah, appoints the shatz for each prayer
session if there is no standard shatz, and makes certain that the synagogue is kept
clean and supplied.
The three preceding positions are usually voluntary and considered an honor. Since the
Enlightenment large synagogues have often adopted the practice of hiring rabbis and
hazzans to act as shatz and baal kriyah, and this is still typically the case in many
Conservative and Reform congregations. However, in most Orthodox synagogues these
positions are filled by laypeople on a rotating or ad-hoc basis. Although most
congregations hire one or more Rabbis, the use of a professional hazzan is generally
declining in American congregations, and the use of professionals for other offices is
rarer still.
Specialized religious roles
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Dayan (judge) – An ordained rabbi with special legal training who belongs to a beth din
(rabbinical court). In Israel, religious courts handle marriage and divorce cases,
conversion and financial disputes in the Jewish community.
Mohel (circumciser) – An expert in the laws of circumcision who has received training
from a previously qualified mohel and performs the brit milah (circumcision).
Shochet (ritual slaughterer) – In order for meat to be kosher, it must be slaughtered by
a shochet who is an expert in the laws of kashrut and has been trained by another
shochet.
Sofer (scribe) – Torah scrolls, tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot (scrolls put on doorposts),
and gittin (bills of divorce) must be written by a sofer who is an expert in Hebrew
calligraphy and has undergone rigorous training in the laws of writing sacred texts.
Rosh yeshiva – A Torah scholar who runs a yeshiva.
Mashgiach of a yeshiva – Depending on which yeshiva, might either be the person
responsible for ensuring attendance and proper conduct, or even supervise the
emotional and spiritual welfare of the students and give lectures on mussar (Jewish
ethics).
Mashgiach – Supervises manufacturers of kosher food, importers, caterers and
restaurants to ensure that the food is kosher. Must be an expert in the laws of kashrut
and trained by a rabbi, if not a rabbi himself.
Jewish history
Origins of Judaism
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At its core, the Tanakh is an account of the Israelites' relationship with God from their
earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (c. 535 BCE). Abraham is hailed
as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. As a reward for his act of faith
in one God, he was promised that Isaac, his second son, would inherit the Land of
Israel (then called Canaan). Later, the descendants of Isaac's son Jacob were enslaved
in Egypt, and God commanded Moses to lead the Exodus from Egypt. At Mount Sinai,
they received the Torah—the five books of Moses. These books, together with Nevi'im
and Ketuvim are known as Torah Shebikhtav as opposed to the Oral Torah, which
refers to the Mishnah and the Talmud. Eventually, God led them to the land of Israel
where the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh for over 300 years to rally the
nation against attacking enemies. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation
declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle. The
people of Israel then told Samuel the prophet that they needed to be governed by a
permanent king, and Samuel appointed Saul to be their King. When the people
pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told
Samuel to appoint David in his stead.
The Western Wall in Jerusalem is a remnant of the wall encircling the Second Temple.
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.
Once King David was established, he told the prophet Nathan that he would like to build
a permanent temple, and as a reward for his actions, God promised David that he
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would allow his son, Solomon, to build the First Temple and the throne would never
depart from his children.
Rabbinic tradition holds that the details and interpretation of the law, which are called
the Oral Torah or oral law, were originally an unwritten tradition based upon what God
told Moses on Mount Sinai. However, as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the
details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by Rabbi
Judah HaNasi (Judah the Prince) in the Mishnah, redacted circa 200 CE. The Talmud
was a compilation of both the Mishnah and the Gemara, rabbinic commentaries
redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of
Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia.Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis
developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation is called the
Jerusalem Talmud. It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in Palestine.The
Babylonian Talmud was compiled from discussions in the houses of study by the
scholars Ravina I, Ravina II, and Rav Ashi by 500 CE, although it continued to be edited
later.
According to critical scholars, the Torah consists of inconsistent texts edited together in
a way that calls attention to divergent accounts. Several of these scholars, such as
Professor Martin Rose and John Bright, suggest that during the First Temple period the
people of Israel believed that each nation had its own god, but that their god was
superior to other gods.Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the
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Babylonian Exile, perhaps in reaction to Zoroastrian dualism. In this view, it was only by
the Hellenic period that most Jews came to believe that their god was the only god and
that the notion of a clearly bounded Jewish nation identical with the Jewish religion
formed.John Day argues that the origins of biblical Yahweh, El, Asherah, and Ba'al, may
be rooted in earlier Canaanite religion, which was centered on a pantheon of gods
much like the Greek pantheon.
Ancient Israel and Judah, Babylonian captivity, Hellenistic Judaism,
Hasmonean Kingdom, Iudaea Province, and Bar Kokhba revolt
According to the Hebrew Bible, the United Monarchy was established under Saul and
continued under King David and Solomon with its capital in Jerusalem. After Solomon's
reign, the nation split into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel (in the north) and the
Kingdom of Judah (in the south). The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian
ruler Sargon II in the late 8th century BCE with many people from the capital Samaria
being taken captive to Media and the Khabur River valley. The Kingdom of Judah
continued as an independent state until it was conquered by a Babylonian army in the
early 6th century BCE, destroying the First Temple that was at the center of ancient
Jewish worship. The Judean elite was exiled to Babylonia and this is regarded as the
first Jewish Diaspora. Later many of them returned to their homeland after the
subsequent conquest of Babylonia by the Persians seventy years later, a period known
as the Babylonian Captivity. A new Second Temple was constructed, and old religious
practices were resumed.
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During the early years of the Second Temple, the highest religious authority was a
council known as the Great Assembly, led by Ezra of the Book of Ezra. Among other
accomplishments of the Great Assembly, the last books of the Bible were written at this
time and the canon sealed.
Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BCE. After the Great
Revolt (66–73 CE), the Romans destroyed the Temple. Hadrian built a pagan idol on the
Temple grounds and prohibited circumcision; these acts of ethnocide provoked the Bar
Kokhba revolt 132–136 CE after which the Romans banned the study of the Torah and
the celebration of Jewish holidays, and forcibly removed virtually all Jews from Judea.
In 200 CE, however, Jews were granted Roman citizenship and Judaism was recognized
as a religio licita ("legitimate religion") until the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity
in the fourth century.
Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship
stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice,
and worship was rebuilt around the community (represented by a minimum of ten adult
men) and the establishment of the authority of rabbis who acted as teachers and
leaders of individual communities (see Jewish diaspora).
Ashkenazi style torah
Historical Jewish groupings (to 1700)
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Around the 1st century CE, there were several small Jewish sects: the Pharisees,
Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes, and Christians. After the destruction of the Second
Temple in 70 CE, these sects vanished. Christianity survived, but by breaking with
Judaism and becoming a separate religion; the Pharisees survived but in the form of
Rabbinic Judaism (today, known simply as "Judaism").The Sadducees rejected the
divine inspiration of the Prophets and the Writings, relying only on the Torah as divinely
inspired. Consequently, a number of other core tenets of the Pharisees' belief system
(which became the basis for modern Judaism), were also dismissed by the Sadducees.
(The Samaritans practiced a similar religion, which is traditionally considered separate
from Judaism.)
Like the Sadducees who relied only on the Torah, some Jews in the 8th and 9th
centuries rejected the authority and divine inspiration of the oral law as recorded in the
Mishnah (and developed by later rabbis in the two Talmuds), relying instead only upon
the Tanakh. These included the Isunians, the Yudganites, the Malikites, and others.
They soon developed oral traditions of their own, which differed from the rabbinic
traditions, and eventually formed the Karaite sect. Karaites exist in small numbers
today, mostly living in Israel. Rabbinical and Karaite Jews each hold that the others are
Jews, but that the other faith is erroneous.
Over a long time, Jews formed distinct ethnic groups in several different geographic
areas—amongst others, the Ashkenazi Jews (of central and Eastern Europe), the
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Sephardi Jews (of Spain, Portugal, and North Africa), the Beta Israel of Ethiopia, the
Yemenite Jews from the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and the Malabari and
Cochin Jews from Kerala . Many of these groups have developed differences in their
prayers, traditions and accepted canons; however, these distinctions are mainly the
result of their being formed at some cultural distance from normative (rabbinic)
Judaism, rather than based on any doctrinal dispute.
Persecution of Jews, Antisemitism, and History of antisemitism
Antisemitism arose during the Middle Ages, in the form of persecutions, pogroms,
forced conversions, expulsions, social restrictions and ghettoization.
This was different in quality from the repressions of Jews which had occurred in ancient
times. Ancient repressions were politically motivated and Jews were treated the same
as members of other ethnic groups. With the rise of the Churches, the main motive for
attacks on Jews changed from politics to religion and the religious motive for such
attacks was specifically derived from Christian views about Jews and Judaism. During
the Middle Ages, Jewish people who lived under Muslim rule generally experienced
tolerance and integration, but there were occasional outbreaks of violence like
Almohad's persecutions.
Hasidic Judaism
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Hasidic Judaism was founded by Yisroel ben Eliezer (1700–1760), also known as the
Ba'al Shem Tov (or Besht). It originated in a time of persecution of the Jewish people
when European Jews had turned inward to Talmud study; many felt that most
expressions of Jewish life had become too "academic", and that they no longer had any
emphasis on spirituality or joy. Its adherents favored small and informal gatherings
called Shtiebel, which, in contrast to a traditional synagogue, could be used both as a
place of worship and for celebrations involving dancing, eating, and socializing. Ba'al
Shem Tov's disciples attracted many followers; they themselves established numerous
Hasidic sects across Europe. Unlike other religions, which typically expanded through
word of mouth or by use of print, Hasidism spread largely owing to Tzadiks, who used
their influence to encourage others to follow the movement. Hasidism appealed to
many Europeans because it was easy to learn, did not require full immediate
commitment, and presented a compelling spectacle. Hasidic Judaism eventually became
the way of life for many Jews in Eastern Europe. Waves of Jewish immigration in the
1880s carried it to the United States. The movement itself claims to be nothing new,
but a refreshment of original Judaism. As some have put it: "they merely re-emphasized
that which the generations had lost". Nevertheless, early on there was a serious schism
between Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews. European Jews who rejected the Hasidic
movement were dubbed by the Hasidim as Misnagdim, (lit. "opponents"). Some of the
reasons for the rejection of Hasidic Judaism were the exuberance of Hasidic worship, its
deviation from tradition in ascribing infallibility and miracles to their leaders, and the
concern that it might become a messianic sect. Over time differences between the
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Hasidim and their opponents have slowly diminished and both groups are now
considered part of Haredi Judaism.
The Enlightenment and new religious movements
Haskalah and Jewish religious movements
In the late 18th century CE, Europe was swept by a group of intellectual, social and
political movements known as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment led to reductions
in the European laws that prohibited Jews to interact with the wider secular world, thus
allowing Jews access to secular education and experience. A parallel Jewish movement,
Haskalah or the "Jewish Enlightenment", began, especially in Central Europe and
Western Europe, in response to both the Enlightenment and these new freedoms. It
placed an emphasis on integration with secular society and a pursuit of non-religious
knowledge through reason. With the promise of political emancipation, many Jews saw
no reason to continue to observe Jewish law and increasing numbers of Jews
assimilated into Christian Europe. Modern religious movements of Judaism all formed in
reaction to this trend.
In Central Europe, followed by Great Britain and the United States, Reform (or Liberal)
Judaism developed, relaxing legal obligations (especially those that limited Jewish
relations with non-Jews), emulating Protestant decorum in prayer, and emphasizing the
ethical values of Judaism's Prophetic tradition. Modern Orthodox Judaism developed in
reaction to Reform Judaism, by leaders who argued that Jews could participate in public
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life as citizens equal to Christians while maintaining the observance of Jewish law.
Meanwhile, in the United States, wealthy Reform Jews helped European scholars, who
were Orthodox in practice but critical (and skeptical) in their study of the Bible and
Talmud, to establish a seminary to train rabbis for immigrants from Eastern Europe.
These left-wing Orthodox rabbis were joined by right-wing Reform rabbis who felt that
Jewish law should not be entirely abandoned, to form the Conservative movement.
Orthodox Jews who opposed the Haskalah formed Haredi Orthodox Judaism. After
massive movements of Jews following The Holocaust and the creation of the state of
Israel, these movements have competed for followers from among traditional Jews in or
from other countries.
Spectrum of observance
Judaism is practiced around the world. This is an 1889 siddur published in Hebrew and
Marathi for use by the Bene Israel community
Countries such as the United States, Israel, Canada, United Kingdom, Argentina and
South Africa contain large Jewish populations. Jewish religious practice varies widely
through all levels of observance. According to the 2001 edition of the National Jewish
Population Survey, in the United States' Jewish community—the world's second largest
—4.3 million Jews out of 5.1 million had some sort of connection to the religion. Of that
population of connected Jews, 80% participated in some sort of Jewish religious
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observance, but only 48% belonged to a congregation, and fewer than 16% attend
regularly.
Birth rates for American Jews have dropped from 2.0 to 1.7.(Replacement rate is 2.1.)
Intermarriage rates range from 40–50% in the US, and only about a third of children of
intermarried couples are raised as Jews. Due to intermarriage and low birth rates, the
Jewish population in the US shrank from 5.5 million in 1990 to 5.1 million in 2001. This
is indicative of the general population trends among the Jewish community in the
Diaspora, but a focus on total population obscures growth trends in some
denominations and communities, such as Haredi Judaism. The Baal teshuva movement
is a movement of Jews who have "returned" to religion or become more observant.
Judaism and other religions
Christianity and Judaism
Christianity and antisemitism and Christian–Jewish reconciliation
The 12th century Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca in Toledo, Spain was converted
to a church shortly after anti-Jewish pogroms in 1391
Christianity was originally a sect of Second Temple Judaism, but the two religions
diverged in the first century. The differences between Christianity and Judaism
originally centered on whether Jesus was the Jewish Messiah but eventually became
irreconcilable. Major differences between the two faiths include the nature of the
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Messiah, of atonement and sin, the status of God's commandments to Israel, and
perhaps most significantly of the nature of God himself. Due to these differences,
Judaism traditionally regards Christianity as Shituf or worship of the God of Israel which
is not monotheistic. Christianity has traditionally regarded Judaism as obsolete with the
invention of Christianity and Jews as a people replaced by the Church, though a
Christian belief in dual-covenant theology emerged as a phenomenon following
Christian reflection on how their theology influenced the Nazi Holocaust.
Since the time of the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church upheld the Constitutio pro
Judæis (Formal Statement on the Jews), which stated
We decree that no Christian shall use violence to force them to be baptized, so long as
they are unwilling and refuse.…Without the judgment of the political authority of the
land, no Christian shall presume to wound them or kill them or rob them of their money
or change the good customs that they have thus far enjoyed in the place where they
live."
Until their emancipation in the late 18th and the 19th century, Jews in Christian lands
were subject to humiliating legal restrictions and limitations. They included provisions
requiring Jews to wear specific and identifying clothing such as the Jewish hat and the
yellow badge, restricting Jews to certain cities and towns or in certain parts of towns
(ghettos), and forbidding Jews to enter certain trades (for example selling new clothes
in medieval Sweden). Disabilities also included special taxes levied on Jews, exclusion
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from public life, restraints on the performance of religious ceremonies, and linguistic
censorship. Some countries went even further and completely expelled Jews, for
example, England in 1290 (Jews were readmitted in 1655) and Spain in 1492
(readmitted in 1868). The first Jewish settlers in North America arrived in the Dutch
colony of New Amsterdam in 1654; they were forbidden to hold public office, open a
retail shop, or establish a synagogue. When the colony was seized by the British in
1664 Jewish rights remained unchanged, but by 1671 Asser Levy was the first Jew to
serve on a jury in North America. In 1791, Revolutionary France was the first country to
abolish disabilities altogether, followed by Prussia in 1848. Emancipation of the Jews in
the United Kingdom was achieved in 1858 after an almost 30-year struggle championed
by Isaac Lyon Goldsmid with the ability of Jews to sit in parliament with the passing of
the Jews Relief Act 1858. The newly created German Empire in 1871 abolished Jewish
disabilities in Germany, which were reinstated in the Nuremberg Laws in 1935.
Jewish life in Christian lands was marked by frequent blood libels, expulsions, forced
conversions and massacres. Religious prejudice was an underlying source against Jews
in Europe. Christian rhetoric and antipathy towards Jews developed in the early years of
Christianity and was reinforced by ever increasing anti-Jewish measures over the
ensuing centuries. The action taken by Christians against Jews included acts of
violence, and murder culminating in the Holocaust. These attitudes were reinforced by
Christian preaching, in art and popular teaching for two millennia which expressed
contempt for Jews, as well as statutes which were designed to humiliate and stigmatise
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Jews. The Nazi Party was known for its persecution of Christian Churches; many of
them, such as the Protestant Confessing Church and the Catholic Church, as well as
Quakers and Jehovah's Witnesses, aided and rescued Jews who were being targeted by
the antireligious régime.
The attitude of Christians and Christian Churches toward the Jewish people and
Judaism have changed in a mostly positive direction since World War II. Pope John Paul
II and the Catholic Church have "upheld the Church's acceptance of the continuing and
permanent election of the Jewish people" as well as a reaffirmation of the covenant
between God and the Jews.In December 2015, the Vatican released a 10,000-word
document that, among other things, stated that Catholics should work with Jews to
fight antisemitism.
Islam and Judaism
Both Judaism and Islam track their origins from the patriarch Abraham, and they are
therefore considered Abrahamic religions. In both Jewish and Muslim tradition, the
Jewish and Arab peoples are descended from the two sons of Abraham—Isaac and
Ishmael, respectively. While both religions are monotheistic and share many
commonalities, they differ based on the fact that Jews do not consider Jesus or
Muhammad to be prophets. The religions' adherents have interacted with each other
since the 7th century when Islam originated and spread in the Arabian peninsula.
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Indeed, the years 712 to 1066 CE under the Ummayad and the Abbasid rulers have
been called the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. Non-Muslim monotheists living in
these countries, including Jews, were known as dhimmis. Dhimmis were allowed to
practice their own religions and administer their own internal affairs, but they were
subject to certain restrictions that were not imposed on Muslims. For example, they had
to pay the jizya, a per capita tax imposed on free adult non-Muslim males, and they
were also forbidden to bear arms or testify in court cases involving Muslims. Many of
the laws regarding dhimmis were highly symbolic. For example, dhimmis in some
countries were required to wear distinctive clothing, a practice not found in either the
Qur'an or the hadiths but invented in early medieval Baghdad and inconsistently
enforced. Jews in Muslim countries were not entirely free from persecution—for
example, many were killed, exiled or forcibly converted in the 12th century, in Persia,
and by the rulers of the Almohad dynasty in North Africa and Al-Andalus, as well as by
the Zaydi imams of Yemen in the 17th century (see: Mawza Exile). At times, Jews were
also restricted in their choice of residence—in Morocco, for example, Jews were
confined to walled quarters (mellahs) beginning in the 15th century and increasingly
since the early 19th century.
In the mid-20th century, Jews were expelled from nearly all of the Arab countries.Most
have chosen to live in Israel. Today, antisemitic themes including Holocaust denial have
become commonplace in the propaganda of Islamic movements such as Hizbullah and
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Hamas, in the pronouncements of various agencies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and
even in the newspapers and other publications of Refah Partisi.
Syncretic movements incorporating Judaism
There are some movements in other religions that include elements of Judaism. Among
Christianity these are a number of denominations of ancient and contemporary
Judaizers. The most well-known of these is Messianic Judaism, a religious movement,
which arose in the 1960s, -In this, elements of the messianic traditions in Judaism,are
incorporated in, and melded with the tenets of Christianity. The movement generally
states that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, that he is one of the Three Divine Persons, and
that salvation is only achieved through acceptance of Jesus as one's savior. Some
members of Messianic Judaism argue that it is a sect of Judaism.Jewish organizations of
every denomination reject this, stating that Messianic Judaism is a Christian sect,
because it teaches creeds which are identical to those of Pauline Christianity. Another
religious movement is the Black Hebrew Israelite group, which not to be confused with
less syncretic Black Judaism (a constellation of movements which, depending on their
adherence to normative Jewish tradition, receive varying degrees of recognition by the
broader Jewish community).
Other examples of syncretism include Semitic neopaganism, a loosely organized sect
which incorporates pagan or Wiccan beliefs with some Jewish religious practices; Jewish
Buddhists, another loosely organized group that incorporates elements of Asian
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spirituality in their faith; and some Renewal Jews who borrow freely and openly from
Buddhism, Sufism, Native American religions, and other faiths.
The Kabbalah Centre, which employs teachers from multiple religions, is a New Age
movement that claims to popularize the kabbalah, part of the Jewish esoteric tradition.
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. Judaism is the parent of Christianity and Islam, how it that so? Explain your
answer.
Reference
Judaism - Wikipedia retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 18. Buddhism
Pre-activity
Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism, but how come millions followed it after it split
with Hinduism.
Activity Proper
Buddhism
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"Buddhadharma" redirects here. For the magazine, see Buddhadharma: The
Buddhism (/ˈ
bʊdɪzəm/, US: /ˈ
buːd-/)[1][2] is an Indian religion based on a series of
original teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha. It originated in ancient India as a
Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading through
much of Asia. It is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or
over 7% of the global population, known as Buddhists.Buddhism encompasses a variety
of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on the Buddha's teachings
(born Siddhārtha Gautama in the 5th or 4th century BCE) and resulting interpreted
philosophies.
As expressed in the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, the goal of Buddhism is to overcome
suffering (duḥkha) caused by desire and ignorance of reality's true nature, including
impermanence (anicca) and the non-existence of the self (anattā).Most Buddhist
traditions emphasize transcending the individual self through the attainment of Nirvana
or by following the path of Buddhahood, ending the cycle of death and rebirth.Buddhist
schools vary in their interpretation of the path to liberation, the relative importance and
canonicity assigned to the various Buddhist texts, and their specific teachings and
practices.Widely observed practices include meditation, observance of moral precepts,
monasticism, taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, and the
cultivation of the Paramitas (perfections, or virtues).
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Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars:
Theravāda (Pali: "The School of the Elders") and Mahāyāna (Sanskrit: "The Great
Vehicle"). Theravada has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia such
as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of
Zen, Pure Land, Nichiren Buddhism, Tiantai Buddhism (Tendai), and Shingon, is
practiced prominently in Nepal, Malaysia, Bhutan, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and
Taiwan. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian adepts, may be viewed as a
separate branch or as an aspect of Mahayana Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism, which
preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth-century India, is practised in the countries
of the Himalayan region, Mongolia,and Kalmykia. Historically, until the early 2nd
millennium, Buddhism was also widely practised in Afghanistan and Pakistan; it also had
a foothold to some extent in other places including the Philippines, the Maldives, and
Uzbekistan.
Life of the Buddha
Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha (circa 500 BCE) -
modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan
The gilded "Emaciated Buddha statue" in an Ubosoth in Bangkok representing the stage
of his asceticism
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Enlightenment of Buddha, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century CE, Gandhara.
Gautama Buddha
Buddhism is an Indian religion[16] founded on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, a
Śramaṇa also called Shakyamuni (sage of the Shakya's), or "the Buddha" ("the
Awakened One"), who lived c. 5th to 4th century BCE.Early texts have the Buddha's
family name as "Gautama" (Pali: Gotama). The details of Buddha's life are mentioned in
many Early Buddhist Texts but are inconsistent. His social background and life details
are difficult to prove, and the precise dates are uncertain.
The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddharta Gautama was born in Lumbini,
present-day Nepal and grew up in Kapilavastu,a town in the Ganges Plain, near the
modern Nepal–India border, and that he spent his life in what is now modern Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named
Suddhodana, his mother was Queen Maya However, scholars such as Richard Gombrich
consider this a dubious claim because a combination of evidence suggests he was born
in the Shakya community, which was governed by a small oligarchy or republic-like
council where there were no ranks but where seniority mattered instead.Some of the
stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, and claims about the society he grew up in
may have been invented and interpolated at a later time into the Buddhist texts.
According to early texts such as the Pali Ariyapariyesanā-sutta ("The discourse on the
noble quest," MN 26) and its Chinese parallel at MĀ 204, Gautama was moved by the
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suffering (dukkha) of life and death, and its endless repetition due to rebirth. He thus
set out on a quest to find liberation from suffering (also known as "nirvana"). Early
texts and biographies state that Gautama first studied under two teachers of
meditation, namely Alara Kalama (Sanskrit: Arada Kalama) and Uddaka Ramaputta
(Sanskrit: Udraka Ramaputra), learning meditation and philosophy, particularly the
meditative attainment of "the sphere of nothingness" from the former, and "the sphere
of neither perception nor non-perception" from the latter.
Finding these teachings to be insufficient to attain his goal, he turned to the practice of
severe asceticism, which included a strict fasting regime and various forms of breath
control.This too fell short of attaining his goal, and then he turned to the meditative
practice of dhyana. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now
called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya and attained "Awakening" (Bodhi).
According to various early texts like the Mahāsaccaka-sutta, and the Samaññaphala
Sutta, on awakening, the Buddha gained insight into the workings of karma and his
former lives, as well as achieving the ending of the mental defilements (asavas), the
ending of suffering, and the end of rebirth in saṃsāra.This event also brought certainty
about the Middle Way as the right path of spiritual practice to end suffering.As a fully
enlightened Buddha, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha (monastic order). He
spent the rest of his life teaching the Dharma he had discovered, and then died,
achieving "final nirvana," at the age of 80 in Kushinagar, India.
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Buddha's teachings were propagated by his followers, which in the last centuries of the
1st millennium BCE became various Buddhist schools of thought, each with its own
basket of texts containing different interpretations and authentic teachings of the
Buddha;these over time evolved into many traditions of which the more well known and
widespread in the modern era are Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.
Worldview
The term "Buddhism" is an occidental neologism, commonly (and "rather roughly"
according to Donald S. Lopez Jr.) used as a translation for the Dharma of the Buddha,
fójiào in Chinese, bukkyō in Japanese, nang pa sangs rgyas pa'i chos in Tibetan,
buddhadharma in Sanskrit, buddhaśāsana in Pali.
Four Noble Truths – dukkha and its ending
Main articles: Dukkha and Four Noble Truths
color manuscript illustration of Buddha teaching the Four Noble Truths, Nalanda, Bihar,
India
The Buddha teaching the Four Noble Truths. Sanskrit manuscript. Nalanda, Bihar, India.
The Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism: we crave and cling to
impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, "incapable of satisfying" and
painful.This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the endless cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
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and dying again.But there is a way to liberation from this endless cycle to the state of
nirvana, namely following the Noble Eightfold Path.
The truth of dukkha is the basic insight that life in this mundane world, with its clinging
and craving to impermanent states and things is dukkha, and unsatisfactory.Dukkha
can be translated as "incapable of satisfying,""the unsatisfactory nature and the general
insecurity of all conditioned phenomena"; or "painful."Dukkha is most commonly
translated as "suffering," but this is inaccurate, since it refers not to episodic suffering,
but to the intrinsically unsatisfactory nature of temporary states and things, including
pleasant but temporary experiences. We expect happiness from states and things which
are impermanent, and therefore cannot attain real happiness.
In Buddhism, dukkha is one of the three marks of existence, along with impermanence
and anattā (non-self). Buddhism, like other major Indian religions, asserts that
everything is impermanent (anicca), but, unlike them, also asserts that there is no
permanent self or soul in living beings (anattā).The ignorance or misperception (avijjā)
that anything is permanent or that there is self in any being is considered a wrong
understanding, and the primary source of clinging and dukkha.
Dukkha arises when we crave (Pali: taṇhā) and cling to these changing phenomena.
The clinging and craving produces karma, which ties us to samsara, the cycle of death
and rebirth.Craving includes kama-tanha, craving for sense-pleasures; bhava-tanha,
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craving to continue the cycle of life and death, including rebirth; and vibhava-tanha,
craving to not experience the world and painful feelings.
Dukkha ceases, or can be confined, when craving and clinging cease or are confined.
This also means that no more karma is being produced, and rebirth ends.Cessation is
nirvana, "blowing out," and peace of mind.
By following the Buddhist path to moksha, liberation,one starts to disengage from
craving and clinging to impermanent states and things. The term "path" is usually taken
to mean the Noble Eightfold Path, but other versions of "the path" can also be found in
the Nikayas. The Theravada tradition regards insight into the four truths as liberating in
itself.
The cycle of rebirth
Traditional Tibetan Buddhist Thangka depicting the Wheel of Life with its six realms
Saṃsāra
Saṃsāra means "wandering" or "world", with the connotation of cyclic, circuitous
change.It refers to the theory of rebirth and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence", a
fundamental assumption of Buddhism, as with all major Indian religions.Samsara in
Buddhism is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful, perpetuated by desire
and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma.
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The theory of rebirths, and realms in which these rebirths can occur, is extensively
developed in Buddhism, in particular Tibetan Buddhism with its wheel of existence
(Bhavacakra) doctrine. Liberation from this cycle of existence, nirvana, has been the
foundation and the most important historical justification of Buddhism.
The later Buddhist texts assert that rebirth can occur in six realms of existence, namely
three good realms (heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms (animal, hungry
ghosts, hellish).Samsara ends if a person attains nirvana, the "blowing out" of the
desires and the gaining of true insight into impermanence and non-self reality.
Rebirth
A very large hill behind two palm trees and a boulevard, where the Buddha is believed
to have been cremated
Ramabhar Stupa in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India is regionally believed to be
Buddha's cremation site.
Rebirth refers to a process whereby beings go through a succession of lifetimes as one
of many possible forms of sentient life, each running from conception to death. In
Buddhist thought, this rebirth does not involve any soul, because of its doctrine of
anattā (Sanskrit: anātman, no-self doctrine) which rejects the concepts of a permanent
self or an unchanging, eternal soul, as it is called in Hinduism and Christianity.According
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to Buddhism there ultimately is no such thing as a self in any being or any essence in
any thing.
The Buddhist traditions have traditionally disagreed on what it is in a person that is
reborn, as well as how quickly the rebirth occurs after each death. Some Buddhist
traditions assert that "no self" doctrine means that there is no perduring self, but there
is avacya (inexpressible) self which migrates from one life to another. The majority of
Buddhist traditions, in contrast, assert that vijñāna (a person's consciousness) though
evolving, exists as a continuum and is the mechanistic basis of what undergoes rebirth,
rebecoming and redeath. The rebirth depends on the merit or demerit gained by one's
karma, as well as that accrued on one's behalf by a family member.
Each rebirth takes place within one of five realms according to Theravadins, or six
according to other schools – heavenly, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and
hellish.
In East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, rebirth is not instantaneous, and there is an
intermediate state (Tibetan "bardo") between one life and the next.The orthodox
Theravada position rejects the wait, and asserts that rebirth of a being is
immediate.However there are passages in the Samyutta Nikaya of the Pali Canon that
seem to lend support to the idea that the Buddha taught about an intermediate stage
between one life and the next.
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Karma
In Buddhism, karma (from Sanskrit: "action, work") drives saṃsāra – the endless cycle
of suffering and rebirth for each being. Good, skilful deeds (Pāli: kusala) and bad,
unskilful deeds (Pāli: akusala) produce "seeds" in the unconscious receptacle (ālaya)
that mature later either in this life or in a subsequent rebirth.The existence of karma is
a core belief in Buddhism, as with all major Indian religions, and it implies neither
fatalism nor that everything that happens to a person is caused by karma.
A central aspect of Buddhist theory of karma is that intent (cetanā) matters and is
essential to bring about a consequence or phala "fruit" or vipāka "result".However,
good or bad karma accumulates even if there is no physical action, and just having ill or
good thoughts creates karmic seeds; thus, actions of body, speech or mind all lead to
karmic seeds. In the Buddhist traditions, life aspects affected by the law of karma in
past and current births of a being include the form of rebirth, realm of rebirth, social
class, character and major circumstances of a lifetime. It operates like the laws of
physics, without external intervention, on every being in all six realms of existence
including human beings and gods.
A notable aspect of the karma theory in Buddhism is merit transfer. A person
accumulates merit not only through intentions and ethical living, but also is able to gain
merit from others by exchanging goods and services, such as through dāna (charity to
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monks or nuns).Further, a person can transfer one's own good karma to living family
members and ancestors.
Liberation
An aniconic depiction of the Buddha's spiritual liberation (moksha) or awakening
(bodhi), at Sanchi. The Buddha is not depicted, only symbolized by the Bodhi tree and
the empty seat.
Moksha and Nirvana (Buddhism)
The cessation of the kleshas and the attainment of nirvana (nibbāna), with which the
cycle of rebirth ends, has been the primary and the soteriological goal of the Buddhist
path for monastic life since the time of the Buddha. The term "path" is usually taken to
mean the Noble Eightfold Path, but other versions of "the path" can also be found in
the Nikayas. In some passages in the Pali Canon, a distinction is being made between
right knowledge or insight (sammā-ñāṇa), and right liberation or release (sammā-
vimutti), as the means to attain cessation and liberation.
Nirvana literally means "blowing out, quenching, becoming extinguished". In early
Buddhist texts, it is the state of restraint and self-control that leads to the "blowing out"
and the ending of the cycles of sufferings associated with rebirths and redeaths. Many
later Buddhist texts describe nirvana as identical with anatta with complete "emptiness,
nothingness".In some texts, the state is described with greater detail, such as passing
through the gate of emptiness (sunyata) – realising that there is no soul or self in any
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living being, then passing through the gate of signlessness (animitta) – realising that
nirvana cannot be perceived, and finally passing through the gate of wishlessness
(apranihita) – realising that nirvana is the state of not even wishing for nirvana.
The nirvana state has been described in Buddhist texts partly in a manner similar to
other Indian religions, as the state of complete liberation, enlightenment, highest
happiness, bliss, fearlessness, freedom, permanence, non-dependent origination,
unfathomable, and indescribable. It has also been described in part differently, as a
state of spiritual release marked by "emptiness" and realisation of non-self.
While Buddhism considers the liberation from saṃsāra as the ultimate spiritual goal, in
traditional practice, the primary focus of a vast majority of lay Buddhists has been to
seek and accumulate merit through good deeds, donations to monks and various
Buddhist rituals in order to gain better rebirths rather than nirvana.
Dependent arising
Pratityasamutpada, also called "dependent arising, or dependent origination", is the
Buddhist theory to explain the nature and relations of being, becoming, existence and
ultimate reality. Buddhism asserts that there is nothing independent, except the state of
nirvana. All physical and mental states depend on and arise from other pre-existing
states, and in turn from them arise other dependent states while they cease.
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The 'dependent arisings' have a causal conditioning, and thus Pratityasamutpada is the
Buddhist belief that causality is the basis of ontology, not a creator God nor the
ontological Vedic concept called universal Self (Brahman) nor any other 'transcendent
creative principle'.However, Buddhist thought does not understand causality in terms of
Newtonian mechanics, rather it understands it as conditioned arising.In Buddhism,
dependent arising refers to conditions created by a plurality of causes that necessarily
co-originate a phenomenon within and across lifetimes, such as karma in one life
creating conditions that lead to rebirth in one of the realms of existence for another
lifetime.
Buddhism applies the theory of dependent arising to explain origination of endless
cycles of dukkha and rebirth, through Twelve Nidānas or "twelve links". It states that
because Avidyā (ignorance) exists Saṃskāras (karmic formations) exists, because
Saṃskāras exists therefore Vijñāna (consciousness) exists, and in a similar manner it
links Nāmarūpa (sentient body), Ṣaḍāyatana (six senses), Sparśa (sensory stimulation),
Vedanā (feeling), Taṇhā (craving), Upādāna (grasping), Bhava (becoming), Jāti (birth),
and Jarāmaraṇa (old age, death, sorrow, pain). By breaking the circuitous links of the
Twelve Nidanas, Buddhism asserts that liberation from these endless cycles of rebirth
and dukkha can be attained.
Not-Self and Emptiness
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The Five Aggregates (pañca khandha)according to the Pali Canon.form (rūpa)4
elements (mahābhūta); contact(phassa)consciousness(viññāna); mental factors
(cetasika):feeling (vedanā) ; Perception(sañña); formation(saṅkhāra)
A related doctrine in Buddhism is that of anattā (Pali) or anātman (Sanskrit). It is the
view that there is no unchanging, permanent self, soul or essence in phenomena. The
Buddha and Buddhist philosophers who follow him such as Vasubandhu and
Buddhaghosa, generally argue for this view by analyzing the person through the
schema of the five aggregates, and then attempting to show that none of these five
components of personality can be permanent or absolute. This can be seen in Buddhist
discourses such as the Anattalakkhana Sutta.
"Emptiness" or "voidness" (Skt: Śūnyatā, Pali: Suññatā), is a related concept with many
different interpretations throughout the various Buddhisms. In early Buddhism, it was
commonly stated that all five aggregates are void (rittaka), hollow (tucchaka), coreless
(asāraka), for example as in the Pheṇapiṇḍūpama Sutta (SN 22:95). Similarly, in
Theravada Buddhism, it often simply means that the five aggregates are empty of a
Self.
Emptiness is a central concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism, especially in Nagarjuna's
Madhyamaka school, and in the Prajñāpāramitā sutras. In Madhyamaka philosophy,
emptiness is the view which holds that all phenomena (dharmas) are without any
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svabhava (literally "own-nature" or "self-nature"), and are thus without any underlying
essence, and so are "empty" of being independent. This doctrine sought to refute the
heterodox theories of svabhava circulating at the time.
The Three Jewels
All forms of Buddhism revere and take spiritual refuge in the "three jewels" (triratna):
Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Buddha
While all varieties of Buddhism revere "Buddha" and "buddhahood", they have different
views on what these are. Whatever that may be, "Buddha" is still central to all forms of
Buddhism.
In Theravada Buddhism, a Buddha is someone who has become awake through their
own efforts and insight. They have put an end to their cycle of rebirths and have ended
all unwholesome mental states which lead to bad action and thus are morally
perfected.While subject to the limitations of the human body in certain ways (for
example, in the early texts, the Buddha suffers from backaches), a Buddha is said to be
"deep, immeasurable, hard-to-fathom as is the great ocean," and also has immense
psychic powers (abhijñā).
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Theravada generally sees Gautama Buddha (the historical Buddha Sakyamuni) as the
only Buddha of the current era. While he is no longer in this world, he has left us the
Dharma (Teaching), the Vinaya (Discipline) and the Sangha (Community). There are
also said to be two types of Buddhas, a sammasambuddha is also said to teach the
Dharma to others, while a paccekabuddha (solitary buddha) does not teach.
Mahāyāna Buddhism meanwhile, has a vastly expanded cosmology, with various
Buddhas and other holy beings (aryas) residing in different realms. Mahāyāna texts not
only revere numerous Buddhas besides Sakyamuni, such as Amitabha and Vairocana,
but also see them as transcendental or supramundane (lokuttara) beings. Mahāyāna
Buddhism holds that these other Buddhas in other realms can be contacted and are
able to benefit beings in this world.[180] In Mahāyāna, a Buddha is a kind of "spiritual
king", a "protector of all creatures" with a lifetime that is countless of eons long, rather
than just a human teacher who has transcended the world after death. Buddha
Sakyamuni's life and death on earth is then usually understood as a "mere appearance"
or "a manifestation skilfully projected into earthly life by a long-enlightened
transcendent being, who is still available to teach the faithful through visionary
experiences."
Dharma
"Dharma" (Pali: Dhamma) in Buddhism refers to the Buddha's teaching, which includes
all of the main ideas outlined above. While this teaching reflects the true nature of
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reality, it is not a belief to be clung to, but a pragmatic teaching to be put into practice.
It is likened to a raft which is "for crossing over" (to nirvana) not for holding on to.
It also refers to the universal law and cosmic order which that teaching both reveals
and relies upon.It is an everlasting principle which applies to all beings and worlds. In
that sense it is also the ultimate truth and reality about the universe, it is thus "the way
that things really are."
The Dharma is the second of the three jewels which all Buddhists take refuge in. All
Buddhas in all worlds, in the past, present and in the future, are believed by Buddhists
to understand and teach the Dharma. Indeed, it is part of what makes them a Buddha
that they do so.
Sangha
Buddhist monks and nuns praying in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple of Singapore
The third "jewel" which Buddhists take refuge in is the "Sangha", which refers to the
monastic community of monks and nuns who follow Gautama Buddha's monastic
discipline which was "designed to shape the Sangha as an ideal community, with the
optimum conditions for spiritual growth."The Sangha consists of those who have chosen
to follow the Buddha's ideal way of life, which is one of celibate monastic renunciation
with minimal material possessions (such as an alms bowl and robes).
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The Sangha is seen as important because they preserve and pass down Buddha
Dharma. As Gethin states "the Sangha lives the teaching, preserves the teaching as
Scriptures and teaches the wider community. Without the Sangha there is no
Buddhism."
The Sangha also acts as a "field of merit" for laypersons, allowing them to make
spiritual merit or goodness by donating to the Sangha and supporting them. In return,
they keep their duty to preserve and spread the Dharma everywhere for the good of
the world.
The Sangha is also supposed to follow the Vinaya (monastic rule) of the Buddha,
thereby serving as an spiritual example for the world and future generations. The
Vinaya rules also force the Sangha to live in dependence on the rest of the lay
community (they must beg for food etc) and thus draw the Sangha into a relationship
with the lay community.
A depiction of Siddhartha Gautama in a previous life prostrating before the past Buddha
Dipankara. After making a resolve to be a Buddha, and receiving a prediction of future
Buddhahood, he becomes a "bodhisatta".
There is also a separate definition of Sangha, referring to those who have attained any
stage of awakening, whether or not they are monastics. This sangha is called the
āryasaṅgha "noble Sangha". All forms of Buddhism generally reveres these āryas (Pali:
ariya, "noble ones" or "holy ones") who are spiritually attained beings. Aryas have
attained the fruits of the Buddhist path.Becoming an arya is a goal in most forms of
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Buddhism. The āryasaṅgha includes holy beings such as bodhisattvas, arhats and
stream-enterers.
Bodhisattva Maitreya, Pakistan (3rd century), Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In early Buddhism and in Theravada Buddhism, an arhat (literally meaning "worthy") is
someone who reached the same awakening (bodhi) of a Buddha by following the
teaching of a Buddha.They are seen as having ended rebirth and all the mental
defilements. A bodhisattva ("a being bound for awakening") meanwhile, is simply a
name for someone who is working towards awakening (bodhi) as a Buddha. According
to all the early buddhist schools as well as Theravada, to be considered a bodhisattva
one has to have made a vow in front of a living Buddha and also has to have received a
confirmation of one's future Buddhahood.In Theravada, the future Buddha is called
Metteyya (Maitreya) and he is revered as a bodhisatta currently working for future
Buddhahood.
Mahāyāna Buddhism generally sees the attainment of the arhat as an inferior one, since
it is seen as being done only for the sake of individual liberation. It thus promotes the
bodhisattva path as the highest and most worthwhile. While in Mahāyāna, anyone who
has given rise to bodhicitta (the wish to become a Buddha that arises from a sense of
compassion for all beings) is considered a bodhisattva,some of these holy beings (such
as Maitreya and Avalokiteshvara) have reached very high levels of spiritual attainment
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and are seen as being very powerful supramundane beings who provide aid to
countless beings through their advanced powers.
Mahāyāna Buddhism also differs from Theravada and the other schools of early
Buddhism in promoting several unique doctrines which are contained in Mahāyāna
sutras and philosophical treatises.
One of these is the unique interpretation of emptiness and dependent origination found
in the Madhyamaka school. Another very influential doctrine for Mahāyāna is the main
philosophical view of the Yogācāra school variously, termed Vijñaptimātratā-vāda ("the
doctrine that there are only ideas" or "mental impressions") or Vijñānavāda ("the
doctrine of consciousness"). According to Mark Siderits, what classical Yogācāra
thinkers like Vasubandhu had in mind is that we are only ever aware of mental images
or impressions, which may appear as external objects, but "there is actually no such
thing outside the mind." There are several interpretations of this main theory, many
scholars see it as a type of Idealism, others as a kind of phenomenology.
Another very influential concept unique to Mahāyāna is that of "Buddha-nature"
(buddhadhātu) or "Tathagata-womb" (tathāgatagarbha). Buddha-nature is a concept
found in some 1st-millennium CE Buddhist texts, such as the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras.
According to Paul Williams these Sutras suggest that 'all sentient beings contain a
Tathagata' as their 'essence, core inner nature, Self'.According to Karl Brunnholzl "the
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earliest mahayana sutras that are based on and discuss the notion of tathāgatagarbha
as the buddha potential that is innate in all sentient beings began to appear in written
form in the late second and early third century." For some, the doctrine seems to
conflict with the Buddhist anatta doctrine (non-Self), leading scholars to posit that the
Tathāgatagarbha Sutras were written to promote Buddhism to non-Buddhists. This can
be seen in texts like the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, which state that Buddha-nature is taught to
help those who have fear when they listen to the teaching of anatta.Buddhist texts like
the Ratnagotravibhāga clarify that the "Self" implied in Tathagatagarbha doctrine is
actually "not-Self".Various interpretations of the concept have been advanced by
Buddhist thinkers throughout the history of Buddhist thought and most attempt to avoid
anything like the Hindu Atman doctrine.
These Indian Buddhist ideas, in various synthetic ways, form the basis of subsequent
Mahāyāna philosophy in Tibetan Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism.
Paths to liberation
While the Noble Eightfold Path is best-known in the West, a wide variety of paths and
models of progress have been used and described in the different Buddhist traditions.
However, they generally share basic practices such as sila (ethics), samadhi
(meditation, dhyana) and prajña (wisdom), which are known as the three trainings. An
important additional practice is a kind and compassionate attitude toward every living
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being and the world. Devotion is also important in some Buddhist traditions, and in the
Tibetan traditions visualisations of deities and mandalas are important. The value of
textual study is regarded differently in the various Buddhist traditions. It is central to
Theravada and highly important to Tibetan Buddhism, while the Zen tradition takes an
ambiguous stance.
An important guiding principle of Buddhist practice is the Middle Way
(madhyamapratipad). It was a part of Buddha's first sermon, where he presented the
Noble Eightfold Path that was a 'middle way' between the extremes of asceticism and
hedonistic sense pleasures. In Buddhism, states Harvey, the doctrine of "dependent
arising" (conditioned arising, pratītyasamutpāda) to explain rebirth is viewed as the
'middle way' between the doctrines that a being has a "permanent soul" involved in
rebirth (eternalism) and "death is final and there is no rebirth" (annihilationism).
Paths to liberation in the early texts
A common presentation style of the path (mārga) to liberation in the Early Buddhist
Texts is the "graduated talk", in which the Buddha lays out a step by step training.
In the early texts, numerous different sequences of the gradual path can be found.One
of the most important and widely used presentations among the various Buddhist
schools is The Noble Eightfold Path, or "Eightfold Path of the Noble Ones" (Skt.
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'āryāṣṭāṅgamārga'). This can be found in various discourses, most famously in the
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (The discourse on the turning of the Dharma wheel).
Other suttas such as the Tevijja Sutta, and the Cula-Hatthipadopama-sutta give a
different outline of the path, though with many similar elements such as ethics and
meditation.
According to Rupert Gethin, the path to awakening is also frequently summarized by
another a short formula: "abandoning the hindrances, practice of the four establishings
of mindfulness, and development of the awakening factors.
Noble Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path consists of a set of eight interconnected factors or conditions, that
when developed together, lead to the cessation of dukkha.These eight factors are:
Right View (or Right Understanding), Right Intention (or Right Thought), Right Speech,
Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
This Eightfold Path is the fourth of the Four Noble Truths, and asserts the path to the
cessation of dukkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness). The path teaches that the way
of the enlightened ones stopped their craving, clinging and karmic accumulations, and
thus ended their endless cycles of rebirth and suffering.
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The Noble Eightfold Path is grouped into three basic divisions, as follows:
Division Eightfold factor Sanskrit, Pali Description
Wisdom
(Sanskrit: prajñā,
Pāli: paññā) 1. Right view samyag dṛṣṭi,
sammā ditthi The belief that there is an afterlife and not everything ends with death,
that Buddha taught and followed a successful path to nirvana; according to Peter
Harvey, the right view is held in Buddhism as a belief in the Buddhist principles of
karma and rebirth, and the importance of the Four Noble Truths and the True Realities.
2. Right intention samyag saṃkalpa,
sammā saṅkappa Giving up home and adopting the life of a religious mendicant in
order to follow the path; this concept, states Harvey, aims at peaceful renunciation, into
an environment of non-sensuality, non-ill-will (to lovingkindness), away from cruelty (to
compassion).
Moral virtues
(Sanskrit: śīla,
Pāli: sīla) 3. Right speech samyag vāc,
sammā vāca No lying, no rude speech, no telling one person what another says about
him, speaking that which leads to salvation.
4. Right action samyag karman,
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sammā kammanta No killing or injuring, no taking what is not given; no sexual acts in
monastic pursuit, for lay Buddhists no sensual misconduct such as sexual involvement
with someone married, or with an unmarried woman protected by her parents or
relatives.
5. Right livelihood samyag ājīvana,
sammā ājīva For monks, beg to feed, only possessing what is essential to sustain
life.For lay Buddhists, the canonical texts state right livelihood as abstaining from wrong
livelihood, explained as not becoming a source or means of suffering to sentient beings
by cheating them, or harming or killing them in any way.
Meditation
(Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi) 6. Right effort samyag vyāyāma,
sammā vāyāma Guard against sensual thoughts; this concept, states Harvey, aims
at preventing unwholesome states that disrupt meditation.
7. Right mindfulness samyag smṛti,
sammā sati Never be absent minded, conscious of what one is doing; this, states
Harvey, encourages mindfulness about impermanence of the body, feelings and mind,
as well as to experience the five skandhas, the five hindrances, the four True Realities
and seven factors of awakening.
8. Right concentration samyag samādhi,
sammā samādhi Correct meditation or concentration (dhyana), explained as the four
jhānas.
Theravada presentations of the path
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Theravada Buddhism is a diverse tradition and thus includes different explanations of
the path to awakening. However, the teachings of the Buddha are often encapsulated
by Theravadins in the basic framework of the Four Noble Truths and the Eighthfold
Path.
Some Theravada Buddhists also follow the presentation of the path laid out in
Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga. This presentation is known as the "Seven Purifications"
(satta-visuddhi). This schema and its accompanying outline of "insight knowledges"
(vipassanā-ñāṇa) is used by modern influential Theravadin scholars, such Mahasi
Sayadaw (in his "The Progress of Insight") and Nyanatiloka Thera (in "The Buddha's
Path to Deliverance").
Mahayana presentations of the path
Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a Bodhisattva. A Bodhisattva
refers to one who is on the path to buddhahood. The term Mahāyāna was originally a
synonym for Bodhisattvayāna or "Bodhisattva Vehicle."
In the earliest texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the path of a bodhisattva was to awaken
the bodhicitta. Between the 1st and 3rd century CE, this tradition introduced the Ten
Bhumi doctrine, which means ten levels or stages of awakening.This development was
followed by the acceptance that it is impossible to achieve Buddhahood in one (current)
lifetime, and the best goal is not nirvana for oneself, but Buddhahood after climbing
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through the ten levels during multiple rebirths. Mahāyāna scholars then outlined an
elaborate path, for monks and laypeople, and the path includes the vow to help teach
Buddhist knowledge to other beings, so as to help them cross samsara and liberate
themselves, once one reaches the Buddhahood in a future rebirth.One part of this path
are the pāramitā (perfections, to cross over), derived from the Jatakas tales of Buddha's
numerous rebirths.
The doctrine of the bodhisattva bhūmis was also eventually merged with the
Sarvāstivāda Vaibhāṣika schema of the "five paths" by the Yogacara school. This
Mahāyāna "five paths" presentation can be seen in Asanga's Mahāyānasaṃgraha.
The Mahāyāna texts are inconsistent in their discussion of the pāramitās, and some
texts include lists of two, others four, six, ten and fifty-two. The six paramitas have
been most studied, and these are:
Dāna pāramitā: perfection of giving; primarily to monks, nuns and the Buddhist
monastic establishment dependent on the alms and gifts of the lay householders, in
return for generating religious merit; some texts recommend ritually transferring the
merit so accumulated for better rebirth to someone else
Śīla pāramitā: perfection of morality; it outlines ethical behaviour for both the laity and
the Mahayana monastic community; this list is similar to Śīla in the Eightfold Path (i.e.
Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood)
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Kṣānti pāramitā: perfection of patience, willingness to endure hardship
Vīrya pāramitā: perfection of vigour; this is similar to Right Effort in the Eightfold Path
Dhyāna pāramitā: perfection of meditation; this is similar to Right Concentration in the
Eightfold Path
Prajñā pāramitā: perfection of insight (wisdom), awakening to the characteristics of
existence such as karma, rebirths, impermanence, no-self, dependent origination and
emptiness; this is complete acceptance of the Buddha teaching, then conviction,
followed by ultimate realisation that "dharmas are non-arising".
In Mahāyāna Sutras that include ten pāramitā, the additional four perfections are
"skillful means, vow, power and knowledge". The most discussed pāramitā and the
highest rated perfection in Mahayana texts is the "Prajna-paramita", or the "perfection
of insight". This insight in the Mahāyāna tradition, states Shōhei Ichimura, has been the
"insight of non-duality or the absence of reality in all things".
East Asian Buddhism
East Asian Buddhism in influenced by both the classic Indian Buddhist presentations of
the path such as the eighth-fold path as well as classic Indian Mahāyāna presentations
such as that found in the Da zhidu lun.
There many different presentations of soteriology, including numerous paths and
vehicles (yanas) in the different traditions of East Asian Buddhism.There is no single
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dominant presentation. In Zen Buddhism for example, one can find outlines of the path
such as the Two Entrances and Four Practices, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism
In Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, the path to liberation is outlined in the genre known as
Lamrim ("Stages of the Path"). All the various Tibetan schools have their own Lamrim
presentations. This genre can be traced to Atiśa's 11th-century A Lamp for the Path to
Enlightenment (Bodhipathapradīpa).
Common Buddhist practices
In various suttas which present the graduated path taught by the Buddha, such as the
Samaññaphala Sutta and the Cula-Hatthipadopama Sutta, the first step on the path is
hearing the Buddha teach the Dharma.This then said to lead to the acquiring of
confidence or faith in the Buddha's teachings.
Mahayana Buddhist teachers such as Yin Shun also state that hearing the Dharma and
study of the Buddhist discourses is necessary "if one wants to learn and practice the
Buddha Dharma." Likewise, in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, the "Stages of the Path"
(Lamrim) texts generally place the activity of listening to the Buddhist teachings as an
important early practice.
Refuge
Traditionally, the first step in most Buddhist schools requires taking of the "Three
Refuges", also called the Three Jewels (Sanskrit: triratna, Pali: tiratana) as the
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foundation of one's religious practice.This practice may have been influenced by the
Brahmanical motif of the triple refuge, found in the Rigveda 9.97.47, Rigveda 6.46.9
and Chandogya Upanishad 2.22.3–4. Tibetan Buddhism sometimes adds a fourth
refuge, in the lama. The three refuges are believed by Buddhists to be protective and a
form of reverence.
The ancient formula which is repeated for taking refuge affirms that "I go to the
Buddha as refuge, I go to the Dhamma as refuge, I go to the Sangha as refuge."
Reciting the three refuges, according to Harvey, is considered not as a place to hide,
rather a thought that "purifies, uplifts and strengthens the heart".
Buddhist ethics
Buddhist monks collect alms in Si Phan Don, Laos. Giving is a key virtue in Buddhism.
Śīla (Sanskrit) or sīla (Pāli) is the concept of "moral virtues", that is the second group
and an integral part of the Noble Eightfold Path. It generally consists of right speech,
right action and right livelihood.
One of the most basic forms of ethics in Buddhism is the taking of "precepts". This
includes the Five Precepts for laypeople, Eight or Ten Precepts for monastic life, as well
as rules of Dhamma (Vinaya or Patimokkha) adopted by a monastery.
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Other important elements of Buddhist ethics include giving or charity (dāna), Mettā
(Good-Will), Heedfulness (Appamada), ‘self-respect’ (Hri) and 'regard for consequences'
(Apatrapya).
Five precepts
Buddhist scriptures explain the five precepts (Pali: pañcasīla; Sanskrit: pañcaśīla) as the
minimal standard of Buddhist morality. It is the most important system of morality in
Buddhism, together with the monastic rules.
The five precepts are seen as a basic training applicable to all Buddhists. They are:
"I undertake the training-precept (sikkha-padam) to abstain from onslaught on
breathing beings." This includes ordering or causing someone else to kill. The Pali
suttas also say one should not "approve of others killing" and that one should be
"scrupulous, compassionate, trembling for the welfare of all living beings."
"I undertake the training-precept to abstain from taking what is not given." According
to Harvey, this also covers fraud, cheating, forgery as well as "falsely denying that one
is in debt to someone."
"I undertake the training-precept to abstain from misconduct concerning sense-
pleasures." This generally refers to adultery, as well as rape and incest. It also applies
to sex with those who are legally under the protection of a guardian. It is also
interpreted in different ways in the varying Buddhist cultures.
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"I undertake the training-precept to abstain from false speech." According to Harvey
this includes "any form of lying, deception or exaggeration...even non-verbal deception
by gesture or other indication...or misleading statements."The precept is often also
seen as including other forms of wrong speech such as "divisive speech, harsh, abusive,
angry words, and even idle chatter."
"I undertake the training-precept to abstain from alcoholic drink or drugs that are an
opportunity for heedlessness." According to Harvey, intoxication is seen as a way to
mask rather than face the sufferings of life. It is seen as damaging to one's mental
clarity, mindfulness and ability to keep the other four precepts.
Undertaking and upholding the five precepts is based on the principle of non-harming
(Pāli and Sanskrit: ahiṃsa).The Pali Canon recommends one to compare oneself with
others, and on the basis of that, not to hurt others. Compassion and a belief in karmic
retribution form the foundation of the precepts. Undertaking the five precepts is part of
regular lay devotional practice, both at home and at the local temple. However, the
extent to which people keep them differs per region and time.They are sometimes
referred to as the śrāvakayāna precepts in the Mahāyāna tradition, contrasting them
with the bodhisattva precepts.
The five precepts are not commandments and transgressions do not invite religious
sanctions, but their power has been based on the Buddhist belief in karmic
consequences and their impact in the afterlife. Killing in Buddhist belief leads to rebirth
in the hell realms, and for a longer time in more severe conditions if the murder victim
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was a monk. Adultery, similarly, invites a rebirth as prostitute or in hell, depending on
whether the partner was unmarried or married. These moral precepts have been
voluntarily self-enforced in lay Buddhist culture through the associated belief in karma
and rebirth. Within the Buddhist doctrine, the precepts are meant to develop mind and
character to make progress on the path to enlightenment.
The monastic life in Buddhism has additional precepts as part of patimokkha, and unlike
lay people, transgressions by monks do invite sanctions. Full expulsion from sangha
follows any instance of killing, engaging in sexual intercourse, theft or false claims
about one's knowledge. Temporary expulsion follows a lesser offence. The sanctions
vary per monastic fraternity (nikaya).
Lay people and novices in many Buddhist fraternities also uphold eight (asta shila) or
ten (das shila) from time to time. Four of these are same as for the lay devotee: no
killing, no stealing, no lying, and no intoxicants.The other four precepts are:
No sexual activity;
Abstain from eating at the wrong time (e.g. only eat solid food before noon);
Abstain from jewellery, perfume, adornment, entertainment;
Abstain from sleeping on high bed i.e. to sleep on a mat on the ground.
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All eight precepts are sometimes observed by lay people on uposatha days: full moon,
new moon, the first and last quarter following the lunar calendar. The ten precepts also
include to abstain from accepting money.
In addition to these precepts, Buddhist monasteries have hundreds of rules of conduct,
which are a part of its patimokkha.
Vinaya
An ordination ceremony at Wat Yannawa in Bangkok. The Vinaya codes regulate the
various sangha acts, including ordination.
Vinaya is the specific code of conduct for a sangha of monks or nuns. It includes the
Patimokkha, a set of 227 offences including 75 rules of decorum for monks, along with
penalties for transgression, in the Theravadin tradition. The precise content of the
Vinaya Pitaka (scriptures on the Vinaya) differs in different schools and tradition, and
different monasteries set their own standards on its implementation. The list of
pattimokkha is recited every fortnight in a ritual gathering of all monks. Buddhist text
with vinaya rules for monasteries have been traced in all Buddhist traditions, with the
oldest surviving being the ancient Chinese translations.
Monastic communities in the Buddhist tradition cut normal social ties to family and
community, and live as "islands unto themselves". Within a monastic fraternity, a
sangha has its own rules. A monk abides by these institutionalised rules, and living life
as the vinaya prescribes it is not merely a means, but very nearly the end in itself.
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Transgressions by a monk on Sangha vinaya rules invites enforcement, which can
include temporary or permanent expulsion.
Restraint and renunciation
Living at the root of a tree (trukkhamulik'anga) is one of the dhutaṅgas, a series of
optional ascetic practices for Buddhist monastics.
Another important practice taught by the Buddha is the restraint of the senses
(indriyasamvara). In the various graduated paths, this is usually presented as a practice
which is taught prior to formal sitting meditation, and which supports meditation by
weakening sense desires that are a hindrance to meditation.According to Anālayo,
sense restraint is when one "guards the sense doors in order to prevent sense
impressions from leading to desires and discontent." This is not an avoidance of sense
impression, but a kind of mindful attention towards the sense impressions which does
not dwell on their main features or signs (nimitta). This is said to prevent harmful
influences from entering the mind. This practice is said to give rise to an inner peace
and happiness which forms a basis for concentration and insight.
A related Buddhist virtue and practice is renunciation, or the intent for desirelessness
(nekkhamma). Generally, renunciation is the giving up of actions and desires that are
seen as unwholesome on the path, such as lust for sensuality and worldly
things.Renunciation can be cultivated in different ways. The practice of giving for
example, is one form of cultivating renunciation. Another one is the giving up of lay life
and becoming a monastic (bhiksu o bhiksuni).Practicing celibacy (whether for life as a
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monk, or temporarily) is also a form of renunciation.Many Jataka stories such as the
focus on how the Buddha practiced renunciation in past lives.
One way of cultivating renunciation taught by the Buddha is the contemplation
(anupassana) of the "dangers" (or "negative consequences") of sensual pleasure
(kāmānaṃ ādīnava). As part of the graduated discourse, this contemplation is taught
after the practice of giving and morality.
Another related practice to renunciation and sense restraint taught by the Buddha is
"restraint in eating" or moderation with food, which for monks generally means not
eating after noon. Devout laypersons also follow this rule during special days of
religious observance (uposatha).Observing the Uposatha also includes other practices
dealing with renunciation, mainly the eight precepts.
For Buddhist monastics, renunciation can also be trained through several optional
ascetic practices called dhutaṅga.
In different Buddhist traditions, other related practices which focus on fasting are
followed.
Mindfulness and clear comprehension
The training of the faculty called "mindfulness" (Pali: sati, Sanskrit: smṛti, literally
meaning "recollection, remembering") is central in Buddhism. According to Analayo,
mindfulness is a full awareness of the present moment which enhances and strengthens
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memory.The Indian Buddhist philosopher Asanga defined mindfulness thus: "It is non-
forgetting by the mind with regard to the object experienced. Its function is non-
distraction." According to Rupert Gethin, sati is also "an awareness of things in relation
to things, and hence an awareness of their relative value."
There are different practices and exercises for training mindfulness in the early
discourses, such as the four Satipaṭṭhānas (Sanskrit: smṛtyupasthāna, "establishments
of mindfulness") and Ānāpānasati (Sanskrit: ānāpānasmṛti, "mindfulness of breathing")
A closely related mental faculty, which is often mentioned side by side with
mindfulness, is sampajañña ("clear comprehension"). This faculty is the ability to
comprehend what one is doing and is happening in the mind, and whether it is being
influenced by unwholesome states or wholesome ones.
Meditation – Samādhi and Dhyāna
A wide range of meditation practices has developed in the Buddhist traditions, but
"meditation" primarily refers to the attainment of samādhi and the practice of dhyāna
(Pali: jhāna). Samādhi is a calm, undistracted, unified and concentrated state of
consciousness. It is defined by Asanga as "one-pointedness of mind on the object to be
investigated. Its function consists of giving a basis to knowledge (jñāna)."Dhyāna is
"state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi)," reached
through focused mental training.
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The practice of dhyāna aids in maintaining a calm mind, and avoiding disturbance of
this calm mind by mindfulness of disturbing thoughts and feelings.
Origins
The earliest evidence of yogis and their meditative tradition, states Karel Werner, is
found in the Keśin hymn 10.136 of the Rigveda. While evidence suggests meditation
was practised in the centuries preceding the Buddha, the meditative methodologies
described in the Buddhist texts are some of the earliest among texts that have survived
into the modern era. These methodologies likely incorporate what existed before the
Buddha as well as those first developed within Buddhism.
There is no scholarly agreement on the origin and source of the practice of dhyāna.
Some scholars, like Bronkhorst, see the four dhyānas as a Buddhist invention.
Alexander Wynne argues that the Buddha learned dhyāna from brahmanical teachers.
Whatever the case, the Buddha taught meditation with a new focus and interpretation,
particularly through the four dhyānas methodology, in which mindfulness is
maintained.Further, the focus of meditation and the underlying theory of liberation
guiding the meditation has been different in Buddhism. For example, states Bronkhorst,
the verse 4.4.23 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad with its "become calm, subdued,
quiet, patiently enduring, concentrated, one sees soul in oneself" is most probably a
meditative state.The Buddhist discussion of meditation is without the concept of soul
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and the discussion criticises both the ascetic meditation of Jainism and the "real self,
soul" meditation of Hinduism.
Four rupa-jhāna
Buddhist texts teach various meditation schemas. One of the most prominent is that of
the four rupa-jhānas (four meditations in the realm of form), which are "stages of
progressively deepening concentration". According to Gethin, they are states of "perfect
mindfulness, stillness and lucidity." They are described in the Pali Canon as trance-like
states without desire. In the early texts, the Buddha is depicted as entering jhāna both
before his awakening under the bodhi tree and also before his final nirvana
The four rupa-jhānas are:
First jhāna: the first dhyana can be entered when one is secluded from sensuality and
unskillful qualities, due to withdrawal and right effort. There is pīti ("rapture") and non-
sensual sukha ("pleasure") as the result of seclusion, while vitarka-vicara (thought and
examination) continues.
Second jhāna: there is pīti ("rapture") and non-sensual sukha ("pleasure") as the result
of concentration (samadhi-ji, "born of samadhi"); ekaggata (unification of awareness)
free from vitarka-vicara ("discursive thought"); sampasadana ("inner tranquility").
Third jhāna: pīti drops away, there is upekkhā (equanimous; "affective detachment"),
and one is mindful, alert, and senses pleasure (sukha) with the body;
Fourth jhāna: a stage of "pure equanimity and mindfulness" (upekkhāsatipārisuddhi),
without any pleasure or pain, happiness or sadness.
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There is a wide variety of scholarly opinions (both from modern scholars and from
traditional Buddhists) on the interpretation of these meditative states as well as varying
opinions on how to practice them.
The formless attaiments
Often grouped into the jhāna-scheme are four other meditative states, referred to in
the early texts as arupa samāpattis (formless attainments). These are also referred to in
commentarial literature as immaterial/formless jhānas (arūpajhānas). The first formless
attainment is a place or realm of infinite space (ākāsānañcāyatana) without form or
colour or shape. The second is termed the realm of infinite consciousness
(viññāṇañcāyatana); the third is the realm of nothingness (ākiñcaññāyatana), while the
fourth is the realm of "neither perception nor non-perception". The four rupa-jhānas in
Buddhist practice lead to rebirth in successfully better rupa Brahma heavenly realms,
while arupa-jhānas lead into arupa heavens.
Meditation and insight
Kamakura Daibutsu, Kōtoku-in, Kamakura, Japan.
In the Pali canon, the Buddha outlines two meditative qualities which are mutually
supportive: samatha (Pāli; Sanskrit: śamatha; "calm") and vipassanā (Sanskrit:
vipaśyanā, insight). The Buddha compares these mental qualities to a "swift pair of
messengers" who together help deliver the message of nibbana (SN 35.245).
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The various Buddhist traditions generally see Buddhist meditation as being divided into
those two main types. Samatha is also called "calming meditation", and focuses on
stilling and concentrating the mind i.e. developing samadhi and the four dhyānas.
According to Damien Keown, vipassanā meanwhile, focuses on "the generation of
penetrating and critical insight (paññā)".
There are numerous doctrinal positions and disagreements within the different Buddhist
traditions regarding these qualities or forms of meditation. For example, in the Pali Four
Ways to Arahantship Sutta (AN 4.170), it is said that one can develop calm and then
insight, or insight and then calm, or both at the same time. Meanwhile, in Vasubandhu's
Abhidharmakośakārikā, vipaśyanā is said to be practiced once one has reached samadhi
by cultivating the four foundations of mindfulness (smṛtyupasthānas).
Beginning with comments by La Vallee Poussin, a series of scholars have argued that
these two meditation types reflect a tension between two different ancient Buddhist
traditions regarding the use of dhyāna, one which focused on insight based practice and
the other which focused purely on dhyāna. However, other scholars such as Analayo
and Rupert Gethin have disagreed with this "two paths" thesis, instead seeing both of
these practices as complementary.
The Brahma-vihara
Statue of Buddha in Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat, Phitsanulok, Thailand
The four immeasurables or four abodes, also called Brahma-viharas, are virtues or
directions for meditation in Buddhist traditions, which helps a person be reborn in the
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heavenly (Brahma) realm. These are traditionally believed to be a characteristic of the
deity Brahma and the heavenly abode he resides in.
The four Brahma-vihara are:
Loving-kindness (Pāli: mettā, Sanskrit: maitrī) is active good will towards all;
Compassion (Pāli and Sanskrit: karuṇā) results from metta; it is identifying the suffering
of others as one's own;
Empathetic joy (Pāli and Sanskrit: muditā): is the feeling of joy because others are
happy, even if one did not contribute to it; it is a form of sympathetic joy;
Equanimity (Pāli: upekkhā, Sanskrit: upekṣā): is even-mindedness and serenity, treating
everyone impartially.
According to Peter Harvey, the Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that the four
Brahmavihara meditation practices "did not originate within the Buddhist tradition".The
Brahmavihara (sometimes as Brahmaloka), along with the tradition of meditation and
the above four immeasurables are found in pre-Buddha and post-Buddha Vedic and
Sramanic literature.Aspects of the Brahmavihara practice for rebirths into the heavenly
realm have been an important part of Buddhist meditation tradition.
According to Gombrich, the Buddhist usage of the brahma-vihāra originally referred to
an awakened state of mind, and a concrete attitude toward other beings which was
equal to "living with Brahman" here and now. The later tradition took those descriptions
too literally, linking them to cosmology and understanding them as "living with
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Brahman" by rebirth in the Brahma-world. According to Gombrich, "the Buddha taught
that kindness – what Christians tend to call love – was a way to salvation."
Some Buddhist traditions, especially those associated with Tantric Buddhism (also
known as Vajrayana and Secret Mantra) use images and symbols of deities and
Buddhas in meditation. This is generally done by mentally visualizing a Buddha image
(or some other mental image, like a symbol, a mandala, a syllable, etc.), and using that
image to cultivate calm and insight. One may also visualize and identify oneself with the
imagined deity. While visualization practices have been particularly popular in
Vajrayana, they may also found in Mahayana and Theravada traditions.
In Tibetan Buddhism, unique tantric techniques which include visualization (but also
mantra recitation, mandalas, and other elements) are considered to be much more
effective than non-tantric meditations and they are one of the most popular meditation
methods.The methods of Unsurpassable Yoga Tantra, (anuttarayogatantra) are in turn
seen as the highest and most advanced. Anuttarayoga practice is divided into two
stages, the Generation Stage and the Completion Stage. In the Generation Stage, one
meditates on emptiness and visualizes oneself as a deity as well as visualizing its
mandala. The focus is on developing clear appearance and divine pride (the
understanding that oneself and the deity are one). This method is also known as deity
yoga (devata yoga). There are numerous meditation deities (yidam) used, each with a
mandala, a circular symbolic map used in meditation.
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In the Completion Stage, one meditates on ultimate reality based on the image that has
been generated. Completion Stage practices also include techniques such as tummo
and phowa. These are said to work with subtle body elements, like the energy channels
(nadi), vital essences (bindu), "vital winds" (vayu), and chakras. The subtle body
energies are seen as influencing consciousness in powerful ways, and are thus used in
order to generate the 'great bliss' (maha-sukha) which is used to attain the luminous
nature of the mind and realization of the empty and illusory nature of all phenomena
("the illusory body"), which leads to enlightenment.
Completion practices are often grouped into different systems, such as the six dharmas
of Naropa, and the six yogas of Kalachakra. In Tibetan Buddhism, there are also
practices and methods which are sometimes seen as being outside of the two tantric
stages, mainly Mahamudra and Dzogchen (Atiyoga).
According to Peter Harvey, whenever Buddhism has been healthy, not only ordained
but also more committed lay people have practised formal meditation. Loud devotional
chanting however, adds Harvey, has been the most prevalent Buddhist practice and
considered a form of meditation that produces "energy, joy, lovingkindness and calm",
purifies mind and benefits the chanter.
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Throughout most of Buddhist history, meditation has been primarily practised in
Buddhist monastic tradition, and historical evidence suggests that serious meditation by
lay people has been an exception. In recent history, sustained meditation has been
pursued by a minority of monks in Buddhist monasteries.Western interest in meditation
has led to a revival where ancient Buddhist ideas and precepts are adapted to Western
mores and interpreted liberally, presenting Buddhism as a meditation-based form of
spirituality.
Prajñā, Bodhi, Kenshō, Satori, Subitism, and Vipassana
Prajñā (Sanskrit) or paññā (Pāli) is wisdom, or knowledge of the true nature of
existence. Another term which is associated with prajñā and sometimes is equivalent to
it is vipassanā (Pāli) or vipaśyanā (Sanskrit), which is often translated as "insight". In
Buddhist texts, the faculty of insight is often said to be cultivated through the four
establishments of mindfulness.
In the early texts, Paññā is included as one of the "five faculties" (indriya) which are
commonly listed as important spiritual elements to be cultivated . Paññā along with
samadhi, is also listed as one of the "trainings in the higher states of mind"
(adhicittasikkha).
The Buddhist tradition regards ignorance (avidyā), a fundamental ignorance,
misunderstanding or mis-perception of the nature of reality, as one of the basic causes
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of dukkha and samsara. Overcoming this ignorance is part of the path to awakening.
This overcoming includes the contemplation of impermanence and the non-self nature
of reality,and this develops dispassion for the objects of clinging, and liberates a being
from dukkha and saṃsāra.
Prajñā is important in all Buddhist traditions. It is variously described as wisdom
regarding the impermanent and not-self nature of dharmas (phenomena), the
functioning of karma and rebirth, and knowledge of dependent origination. Likewise,
vipaśyanā is described in a similar way, such as in the Paṭisambhidāmagga, where it is
said to be the contemplation of things as impermanent, unsatisfactory and not-self.
Some scholars such as Bronkhorst and Vetter have argued that the idea that insight
leads to liberation was a later development in Buddhism and that there are
inconsistencies with the early Buddhist presentation of samadhi and insight. However,
others such as Collett Cox and Damien Keown have argued that insight is a key aspect
of the early Buddhist process of liberation, which cooperates with samadhi to remove
the obstacles to enlightenment (i.e., the āsavas).
In Theravāda Buddhism, the focus of vipassanā meditation is to continuously and
thoroughly know how phenomena (dhammas) are impermanent (annica), not-Self
(anatta) and dukkha.The most widely used method in modern Theravāda for the
practice of vipassanā is that found in the Satipatthana Sutta.There is some
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disagreement in contemporary Theravāda regarding samatha and vipassanā. Some in
the Vipassana Movement strongly emphasize the practice of insight over samatha, and
other Theravadins disagree with this.
In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the development of insight (vipaśyanā) and tranquility
(śamatha) are also taught and practiced. The many different schools of Mahāyāna
Buddhism have a large repertoire of meditation techniques to cultivate these qualities.
These include visualization of various Buddhas, recitation of a Buddha's name, the use
of tantric Buddhist mantras and dharanis. Insight in Mahāyāna Buddhism also includes
gaining a direct understanding of certain Mahāyāna philosophical views, such as the
emptiness view and the consciousness-only view. This can be seen in meditation texts
such as Kamalaśīla's Bhāvanākrama ( "Stages of Meditation", 9th century), which
teaches insight (vipaśyanā) from the Yogācāra-Madhyamaka perspective.
Devotion
Indo-Tibetan Buddhist prostration practice at Jokhang, Tibet.
According to Harvey, most forms of Buddhism "consider saddhā (Skt śraddhā), ‘trustful
confidence’ or ‘faith’, as a quality which must be balanced by wisdom, and as a
preparation for, or accompaniment of, meditation." Because of this devotion (Skt.
bhakti; Pali: bhatti) is an important part of the practice of most Buddhists. Devotional
practices include ritual prayer, prostration, offerings, pilgrimage, and chanting. Buddhist
devotion is usually focused on some object, image or location that is seen as holy or
spiritually influential. Examples of objects of devotion include paintings or statues of
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Buddhas and bodhisattvas, stupas, and bodhi trees. Public group chanting for
devotional and ceremonial is common to all Buddhist traditions and goes back to
ancient India where chanting aided in the memorization of the orally transmitted
teachings. Rosaries called malas are used in all Buddhist traditions to count repeated
chanting of common formulas or mantras. Chanting is thus a type of devotional group
meditation which leads to tranquility and communicates the Buddhist teachings.
In East Asian Pure Land Buddhism, devotion to the Buddha Amitabha is the main
practice. In Nichiren Buddhism, devotion to the Lotus Sutra is the main practice.
Devotional practices such as pujas have been a common practice in Theravada
Buddhism, where offerings and group prayers are made to deities and particularly
images of Buddha. According to Karel Werner and other scholars, devotional worship
has been a significant practice in Theravada Buddhism, and deep devotion is part of
Buddhist traditions starting from the earliest days.
Guru devotion is a central practice of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.The guru is considered
essential and to the Buddhist devotee, the guru is the "enlightened teacher and ritual
master" in Vajrayana spiritual pursuits. For someone seeking Buddhahood, the guru is
the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, wrote the 12th-century Buddhist scholar
Sadhanamala.
The veneration of and obedience to teachers is also important in Theravada and Zen
Buddhism.
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Vegetarianism and animal ethics
Vegetarian meal at Buddhist temple. East Asian Buddhism tends to promote
vegetarianism.
Based on the Indian principle of ahimsa (non-harming), the Buddha's ethics strongly
condemn the harming of all sentient beings, including all animals. He thus condemned
the animal sacrifice of the brahmins as well hunting, and killing animals for food. This
led to various policies by Buddhist kings such as Asoka meant to protect animals, such
as the establishing of 'no slaughter days' and the banning of hunting on certain
circumstances.
However, early Buddhist texts depict the Buddha as allowing monastics to eat meat.
This seems to be because monastics begged for their food and thus were supposed to
accept whatever food was offered to them. This was tempered by the rule that meat
had to be "three times clean" which meant that "they had not seen, had not heard, and
had no reason to suspect that the animal had been killed so that the meat could be
given to them". Also, while the Buddha did not explicitly promote vegetarianism in his
discourses, he did state that gaining one's livelihood from the meat trade was unethical.
However, this rule was not a promotion of a specific diet, but a rule against the actual
killing of animals for food. There was also a famed schism which occurred in the
Buddhist community when Devadatta attempted to make vegetarianism compulsory and
the Buddha disagreed.
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In contrast to this, various Mahayana sutras and texts like the Mahaparinirvana sutra,
Surangama sutra and the Lankavatara sutra state that the Buddha promoted
vegetarianism out of compassion. Indian Mahayana thinkers like Shantideva promoted
the avoidance of meat. Throughout history, the issue of whether Buddhists should be
vegetarian has remained a much debated topic and there is a variety of opinions on this
issue among modern Buddhists.
In the East Asian Buddhism, most monastics are expected to be vegetarian, and the
practice is seen as very virtuous and it is taken up by some devout laypersons. Most
Theravadins in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia do not practice vegetarianism and eat
whatever is offered by the lay community, who are mostly also not vegetarians. But
there are exceptions, some monks choose to be vegetarian and some abbots like Ajahn
Sumedho have encouraged the lay community to donate vegetarian food to the monks.
Mahasi Sayadaw meanwhile, has recommended vegetarianism as the best way to make
sure one's meal is pure in three ways. Also, the new religious movement Santi Asoke,
promotes vegetarianism. According to Peter Harvey, in the Theravada world,
vegetarianism is "universally admired, but little practiced." Because of the rule against
killing, in many Buddhist countries, most butchers and others who work in the meat
trade are non-Buddhists.
Likewise, most Tibetan Buddhists have historically tended not to be vegetarian,
however, there have been some strong debates and pro-vegetarian arguments by some
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pro-vegetarian Tibetans. Some influential figures have spoken and written in favor of
vegetarianism throughout history, including well known figures like Shabkar and the
17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who has mandated vegetarianism in all his
monasteries.
Buddhist texts.
Buddhism, like all Indian religions, was initially an oral tradition in ancient times The
Buddha's words, the early doctrines, concepts, and their traditional interpretations were
orally transmitted from one generation to the next. The earliest oral texts were
transmitted in Middle Indo-Aryan languages called Prakrits, such as Pali, through the
use of communal recitation and other mnemonic techniques.
The first Buddhist canonical texts were likely written down in Sri Lanka, about 400 years
after the Buddha died.The texts were part of the Tripitakas, and many versions
appeared thereafter claiming to be the words of the Buddha. Scholarly Buddhist
commentary texts, with named authors, appeared in India, around the 2nd century
CE.These texts were written in Pali or Sanskrit, sometimes regional languages, as palm-
leaf manuscripts, birch bark, painted scrolls, carved into temple walls, and later on
paper.
Unlike what the Bible is to Christianity and the Quran is to Islam, but like all major
ancient Indian religions, there is no consensus among the different Buddhist traditions
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as to what constitutes the scriptures or a common canon in Buddhism. The general
belief among Buddhists is that the canonical corpus is vast. This corpus includes the
ancient Sutras organised into Nikayas or Agamas, itself the part of three basket of texts
called the Tripitakas. Each Buddhist tradition has its own collection of texts, much of
which is translation of ancient Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist texts of India. The Chinese
Buddhist canon, for example, includes 2184 texts in 55 volumes, while the Tibetan
canon comprises 1108 texts – all claimed to have been spoken by the Buddha – and
another 3461 texts composed by Indian scholars revered in the Tibetan tradition.The
Buddhist textual history is vast; over 40,000 manuscripts – mostly Buddhist, some non-
Buddhist – were discovered in 1900 in the Dunhuang Chinese cave alone.
Early Buddhist texts
The Early Buddhist Texts refers to the literature which is considered by modern scholars
to be the earliest Buddhist material. The first four Pali Nikayas, and the corresponding
Chinese Āgamas are generally considered to be among the earliest material.Apart from
these, there are also fragmentary collections of EBT materials in other languages such
as Sanskrit, Khotanese, Tibetan and Gāndhārī. The modern study of early Buddhism
often relies on comparative scholarship using these various early Buddhist sources to
identify parallel texts and common doctrinal content.One feature of these early texts
are literary structures which reflect oral transmission, such as widespread repetition.
The Tripitakas
After the development of the different early Buddhist schools, these schools began to
develop their own textual collections, which were termed Tripiṭakas (Triple Baskets).
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Many early Tripiṭakas, like the Pāli Tipitaka, were divided into three sections: Vinaya
Pitaka (focuses on monastic rule), Sutta Pitaka (Buddhist discourses) and Abhidhamma
Pitaka, which contain expositions and commentaries on the doctrine.
The Pāli Tipitaka (also known as the Pali Canon) of the Theravada School constitutes
the only complete collection of Buddhist texts in an Indic language which has survived
until today. However, many Sutras, Vinayas and Abhidharma works from other schools
survive in Chinese translation, as part of the Chinese Buddhist Canon. According to
some sources, some early schools of Buddhism had five or seven pitakas.
Much of the material in the Pali Canon is not specifically "Theravadin", but is instead the
collection of teachings that this school preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of
teachings. According to Peter Harvey, it contains material at odds with later Theravadin
orthodoxy. He states: "The Theravadins, then, may have added texts to the Canon for
some time, but they do not appear to have tampered with what they already had from
an earlier period."
Abhidharma and the commentaries
A distinctive feature of many Tripitaka collections is the inclusion of a genre called
Abhidharma, which dates from the 3rd century BCE and later. According to Collett Cox,
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the genre began as explanations and elaborations of the teachings in the suttas but
over time evolved into an independent system of doctrinal exposition.
Over time, the various Abhidharma traditions developed various disagreements which
each other on points of doctrine, which were discussed in the different Abhidharma
texts of these schools.The major Abhidharma collections which modern scholars have
the most information about are those of the Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda schools.
In Sri Lanka and South India, the Theravāda Abhidhamma system was the most
influential. In addition to the Abhidharma project, some of the schools also began
accumulating a literary tradition of scriptural commentary on their respective Tripitakas.
These commentaries were particularly important in the Theravāda school, and the Pali
commentaries (Aṭṭhakathā) remain influential today. Both Abhidhamma and the Pali
commentaries influenced the Visuddhimagga, an important 5th-century text by the
Theravada scholar Buddhaghosa, who also translated and compiled many of the
Aṭṭhakathās from older Sinhalese sources.
The Sarvāstivāda school was one of the most influential Abhidharma traditions in North
India. The magnum opus of this tradition was the massive Abhidharma commentary
called the Mahāvibhaṣa ('Great Commentary'), compiled at a great synod in Kashmir
during the reign of Kanishka II (c. 158–176). The Abhidharmakosha of Vasubandhu is
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another very influential Abhidharma work from the northern tradition, which continues
to be studied in East Asian Buddhism and in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.
Mahāyāna texts
Tripiṭaka Koreana in South Korea, over 81,000 wood printing blocks stored in racks
The Tripiṭaka Koreana in South Korea, an edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon carved
and preserved in over 81,000 wood printing blocks
The Mahāyāna sūtras are a very broad genre of Buddhist scriptures that the Mahāyāna
Buddhist tradition holds are original teachings of the Buddha. Modern historians
generally hold that the first of these texts were composed probably around the 1st
century BCE or 1st century CE.
In Mahāyāna, these texts are generally given greater authority than the early Āgamas
and Abhidharma literature, which are called "Śrāvakayāna" or "Hinayana" to distinguish
them from Mahāyāna sūtras. Mahāyāna traditions mainly see these different classes of
texts as being designed for different types of persons, with different levels of spiritual
understanding. The Mahāyāna sūtras are mainly seen as being for those of "greater"
capacity.
The Mahāyāna sūtras often claim to articulate the Buddha's deeper, more advanced
doctrines, reserved for those who follow the bodhisattva path. That path is explained as
being built upon the motivation to liberate all living beings from unhappiness. Hence the
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name Mahāyāna (lit., the Great Vehicle). Besides the teaching of the bodhisattva,
Mahāyāna texts also contain expanded cosmologies and mythologies, with many more
Buddhas and powerful bodhisattvas, as well as new spiritual practices and ideas.
The modern Theravada school does not treat the Mahāyāna sūtras as authoritative or
authentic teachings of the Buddha. Likewise, these texts were not recognized as
authoritative by many early Buddhist schools and in some cases, communities such as
the Mahāsāṃghika school split up due to this disagreement.
Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu in red robe reads Mahayana sutras on stand
Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads Mahayana sutras from an old woodblock
copy of the Tibetan Kanjur.
Recent scholarship has discovered many early Mahāyāna texts which shed light into the
development of Mahāyāna. Among these is the Śālistamba Sutra which survives in
Tibetan and Chinese translation. This text contains numerous sections which are
remarkably similar to Pali suttas.The Śālistamba Sutra was cited by Mahāyāna scholars
such as the 8th-century Yasomitra to be authoritative. This suggests that Buddhist
literature of different traditions shared a common core of Buddhist texts in the early
centuries of its history, until Mahāyāna literature diverged about and after the 1st
century CE.
Mahāyāna also has a very large literature of philosophical and exegetical texts. These
are often called śāstra (treatises) or vrittis (commentaries). Some of this literature was
also written in verse form (karikās), the most famous of which is the Mūlamadhyamika-
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karikā (Root Verses on the Middle Way) by Nagarjuna, the foundational text of the
Madhyamika school.
Tantric texts
During the Gupta Empire, a new class of Buddhist sacred literature began to develop,
which are called the Tantras. By the 8th century, the tantric tradition was very
influential in India and beyond. Besides drawing on a Mahāyāna Buddhist framework,
these texts also borrowed deities and material from other Indian religious traditions,
such as the Śaiva and Pancharatra traditions, local god/goddess cults, and local spirit
worship (such as yaksha or nāga spirits).
Some features of these texts include the widespread use of mantras, meditation on the
subtle body, worship of fierce deities, and antinomian and transgressive practices such
as ingesting alcohol and performing sexual rituals.
Historical roots
Historically, the roots of Buddhism lie in the religious thought of Iron Age India around
the middle of the first millennium BCE.This was a period of great intellectual ferment
and socio-cultural change known as the "Second urbanisation", marked by the growth
of towns and trade, the composition of the Upanishads and the historical emergence of
the Śramaṇa traditions.
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New ideas developed both in the Vedic tradition in the form of the Upanishads, and
outside of the Vedic tradition through the Śramaṇa movements.The term Śramaṇa
refers to several Indian religious movements parallel to but separate from the historical
Vedic religion, including Buddhism, Jainism and others such as Ājīvika.
Several Śramaṇa movements are known to have existed in India before the 6th century
BCE (pre-Buddha, pre-Mahavira), and these influenced both the āstika and nāstika
traditions of Indian philosophy.According to Martin Wilshire, the Śramaṇa tradition
evolved in India over two phases, namely Paccekabuddha and Savaka phases, the
former being the tradition of individual ascetic and the latter of disciples, and that
Buddhism and Jainism ultimately emerged from these. Brahmanical and non-
Brahmanical ascetic groups shared and used several similar ideas, but the Śramaṇa
traditions also drew upon already established Brahmanical concepts and philosophical
roots, states Wiltshire, to formulate their own doctrines.Brahmanical motifs can be
found in the oldest Buddhist texts, using them to introduce and explain Buddhist ideas.
For example, prior to Buddhist developments, the Brahmanical tradition internalised and
variously reinterpreted the three Vedic sacrificial fires as concepts such as Truth, Rite,
Tranquility or Restraint. Buddhist texts also refer to the three Vedic sacrificial fires,
reinterpreting and explaining them as ethical conduct.
The Śramaṇa religions challenged and broke with the Brahmanic tradition on core
assumptions such as Atman (soul, self), Brahman, the nature of afterlife, and they
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rejected the authority of the Vedas and Upanishads. Buddhism was one among several
Indian religions that did so.
Indian Buddhism
The history of Indian Buddhism may be divided into five periods: Early Buddhism
(occasionally called pre-sectarian Buddhism), Nikaya Buddhism or Sectarian Buddhism:
The period of the early Buddhist schools, Early Mahayana Buddhism, Late Mahayana,
and the era of Vajrayana or the "Tantric Age".
Pre-sectarian Buddhism
According to Lambert Schmithausen Pre-sectarian Buddhism is "the canonical period
prior to the development of different schools with their different positions."
The early Buddhist Texts include the four principal Pali Nikāyas (and their parallel
Agamas found in the Chinese canon) together with the main body of monastic rules,
which survive in the various versions of the patimokkha.However, these texts were
revised over time, and it is unclear what constitutes the earliest layer of Buddhist
teachings. One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to
compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pāli Canon and other texts. The
reliability of the early sources, and the possibility to draw out a core of oldest teachings,
is a matter of dispute.According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods
must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies.
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According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can
be distinguished:
"Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a
considerable part of the Nikayic materials;"
"Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest
Buddhism;"
"Cautious optimism in this respect."
The Core teachings
According to Mitchell, certain basic teachings appear in many places throughout the
early texts, which has led most scholars to conclude that Gautama Buddha must have
taught something similar to the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, Nirvana,
the three marks of existence, the five aggregates, dependent origination, karma and
rebirth.
According to N. Ross Reat, all of these doctrines are shared by the Theravada Pali texts
and the Mahasamghika school's Śālistamba Sūtra. A recent study by Bhikkhu Analayo
concludes that the Theravada Majjhima Nikaya and Sarvastivada Madhyama Agama
contain mostly the same major doctrines. Richard Salomon, in his study of the
Gandharan texts (which are the earliest manuscripts containing early discourses), has
confirmed that their teachings are "consistent with non-Mahayana Buddhism, which
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survives today in the Theravada school of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, but which in
ancient times was represented by eighteen separate schools."
However, some scholars argue that critical analysis reveals discrepancies among the
various doctrines found in these early texts, which point to alternative possibilities for
early Buddhism.The authenticity of certain teachings and doctrines have been
questioned. For example, some scholars think that karma was not central to the
teaching of the historical Buddha, while other disagree with this position. Likewise,
there is scholarly disagreement on whether insight was seen as liberating in early
Buddhism or whether it was a later addition to the practice of the four jhānas. Scholars
such as Bronkhorst also think that the four noble truths may not have been formulated
in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of
"liberating insight".According to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially
have been as simple as the term "the middle way". In time, this short description was
elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path.
Ashokan Era and the early schools
According to numerous Buddhist scriptures, soon after the parinirvāṇa (from Sanskrit:
"highest extinguishment") of Gautama Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held to
collectively recite the teachings to ensure that no errors occurred in oral transmission.
Many modern scholars question the historicity of this event. However, Richard Gombrich
states that the monastic assembly recitations of the Buddha's teaching likely began
during Buddha's lifetime, and they served a similar role of codifying the teachings.
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The so called Second Buddhist council resulted in the first schism in the Sangha.
Modern scholars believe that this was probably caused when a group of reformists
called Sthaviras ("elders") sought to modify the Vinaya (monastic rule), and this caused
a split with the conservatives who rejected this change, they were called
Mahāsāṃghikas. While most scholars accept that this happened at some point, there is
no agreement on the dating, especially if it dates to before or after the reign of Ashoka.
Edicts of Ashoka.
Buddhism may have spread only slowly throughout India until the time of the Mauryan
emperor Ashoka (304–232 BCE), who was a public supporter of the religion. The
support of Aśoka and his descendants led to the construction of more stūpas (such as
at Sanchi and Bharhut), temples (such as the Mahabodhi Temple) and to its spread
throughout the Maurya Empire and into neighbouring lands such as Central Asia and to
the island of Sri Lanka.
During and after the Mauryan period (322–180 BCE), the Sthavira community gave rise
to several schools, one of which was the Theravada school which tended to congregate
in the south and another which was the Sarvāstivāda school, which was mainly in north
India. Likewise, the Mahāsāṃghika groups also eventually split into different Sanghas.
Originally, these schisms were caused by disputes over monastic disciplinary codes of
various fraternities, but eventually, by about 100 CE if not earlier, schisms were being
caused by doctrinal disagreements too.
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Following (or leading up to) the schisms, each Saṅgha started to accumulate their own
version of Tripiṭaka (triple basket of texts).In their Tripiṭaka, each school included the
Suttas of the Buddha, a Vinaya basket (disciplinary code) and some schools also added
an Abhidharma basket which were texts on detailed scholastic classification, summary
and interpretation of the Suttas. The doctrine details in the Abhidharmas of various
Buddhist schools differ significantly, and these were composed starting about the third
century BCE and through the 1st millennium CE.
Post-Ashoka expansion
Extent of Buddhism and trade routes in the 1st century CE.
According to the edicts of Aśoka, the Mauryan emperor sent emissaries to various
countries west of India to spread "Dharma", particularly in eastern provinces of the
neighbouring Seleucid Empire, and even farther to Hellenistic kingdoms of the
Mediterranean. It is a matter of disagreement among scholars whether or not these
emissaries were accompanied by Buddhist missionaries.
Buddhist expansion throughout Asia
In central and west Asia, Buddhist influence grew, through Greek-speaking Buddhist
monarchs and ancient Asian trade routes, a phenomenon known as Greco-Buddhism.
An example of this is evidenced in Chinese and Pali Buddhist records, such as
Milindapanha and the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhāra. The Milindapanha describes a
conversation between a Buddhist monk and the 2nd-century BCE Greek king Menander,
after which Menander abdicates and himself goes into monastic life in the pursuit of
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nirvana. Some scholars have questioned the Milindapanha version, expressing doubts
whether Menander was Buddhist or just favourably disposed to Buddhist monks.
The Kushan empire (30–375 CE) came to control the Silk Road trade through Central
and South Asia, which brought them to interact with Gandharan Buddhism and the
Buddhist institutions of these regions. The Kushans patronised Buddhism throughout
their lands, and many Buddhist centers were built or renovated (the Sarvastivada
school was particularly favored), especially by Emperor Kanishka (128–151 CE). Kushan
support helped Buddhism to expand into a world religion through their trade routes.
Buddhism spread to Khotan, the Tarim Basin, and China, eventually to other parts of
the far east. Some of the earliest written documents of the Buddhist faith are the
Gandharan Buddhist texts, dating from about the 1st century CE, and connected to the
Dharmaguptaka school.
The Islamic conquest of the Iranian Plateau in the 7th-century, followed by the Muslim
conquests of Afghanistan and the later establishment of the Ghaznavid kingdom with
Islam as the state religion in Central Asia between the 10th- and 12th-century led to
the decline and disappearance of Buddhism from most of these regions.
Mahāyāna Buddhism
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stone statue group, a Buddhist triad depicting, left to right, a Kushan, the future
buddha Maitreya, Gautama Buddha, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and a Buddhist
monk. 2nd–3rd century. Guimet Museum
A Buddhist triad depicting, left to right, a Kushan, the future buddha Maitreya, Gautama
Buddha, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and a monk. Second–third century. Guimet
Museum
The origins of Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") Buddhism are not well understood and there
are various competing theories about how and where this movement arose. Theories
include the idea that it began as various groups venerating certain texts or that it arose
as a strict forest ascetic movement.
The first Mahāyāna works were written sometime between the 1st century BCE and the
2nd century CE. Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes
from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts, mainly those of Lokakṣema. (2nd
century CE).Some scholars have traditionally considered the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras to
include the first versions of the Prajnaparamita series, along with texts concerning
Akṣobhya, which were probably composed in the 1st century BCE in the south of India.
There is no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school or sect of
Buddhism, with a separate monastic code (Vinaya), but rather that it existed as a
certain set of ideals, and later doctrines, for bodhisattvas. Records written by Chinese
monks visiting India indicate that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks could be
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found in the same monasteries, with the difference that Mahāyāna monks worshipped
figures of Bodhisattvas, while non-Mahayana monks did not.
Mahāyāna initially seems to have remained a small minority movement that was in
tension with other Buddhist groups, struggling for wider acceptance. However, during
the fifth and sixth centuries CE, there seems to have been a rapid growth of Mahāyāna
Buddhism, which is shown by a large increase in epigraphic and manuscript evidence in
this period. However, it still remained a minority in comparison to other Buddhist
schools.
Mahāyāna Buddhist institutions continued to grow in influence during the following
centuries, with large monastic university complexes such as Nalanda (established by the
5th-century CE Gupta emperor, Kumaragupta I) and Vikramashila (established under
Dharmapala c. 783 to 820) becoming quite powerful and influential. During this period
of Late Mahāyāna, four major types of thought developed: Mādhyamaka, Yogācāra,
Buddha-nature (Tathāgatagarbha), and the epistemological tradition of Dignaga and
Dharmakirti. According to Dan Lusthaus, Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra have a great deal
in common, and the commonality stems from early Buddhism.
Late Indian Buddhism and Tantra
Vajrayana adopted deities such as Bhairava, known as Yamantaka in Tibetan Buddhism.
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During the Gupta period (4th–6th centuries) and the empire of Harṣavardana (c. 590–
647 CE), Buddhism continued to be influential in India, and large Buddhist learning
institutions such as Nalanda and Valabahi Universities were at their peak. Buddhism
also flourished under the support of the Pāla Empire (8th–12th centuries). Under the
Guptas and Palas, Tantric Buddhism or Vajrayana developed and rose to prominence. It
promoted new practices such as the use of mantras, dharanis, mudras, mandalas and
the visualization of deities and Buddhas and developed a new class of literature, the
Buddhist Tantras. This new esoteric form of Buddhism can be traced back to groups of
wandering yogi magicians called mahasiddhas.
The question of the origins of early Vajrayana has been taken up by various scholars.
David Seyfort Ruegg has suggested that Buddhist tantra employed various elements of
a "pan-Indian religious substrate" which is not specifically Buddhist, Shaiva or
Vaishnava.
According to Indologist Alexis Sanderson, various classes of Vajrayana literature
developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism. Sanderson
has argued that Buddhist tantras can be shown to have borrowed practices, terms,
rituals and more form Shaiva tantras. He argues that Buddhist texts even directly
copied various Shaiva tantras, especially the Bhairava Vidyapitha tantras. Ronald M.
Davidson meanwhile, argues that Sanderson's claims for direct influence from Shaiva
Vidyapitha texts are problematic because "the chronology of the Vidyapitha tantras is
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by no means so well established" and that the Shaiva tradition also appropriated non-
Hindu deities, texts and traditions. Thus while "there can be no question that the
Buddhist tantras were heavily influenced by Kapalika and other Saiva movements"
argues Davidson, "the influence was apparently mutual."
Already during this later era, Buddhism was losing state support in other regions of
India, including the lands of the Karkotas, the Pratiharas, the Rashtrakutas, the
Pandyas and the Pallavas. This loss of support in favor of Hindu faiths like Vaishnavism
and Shaivism, is the beginning of the long and complex period of the Decline of
Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent. The Islamic invasions and conquest of India (10th
to 12th century), further damaged and destroyed many Buddhist institutions, leading to
its eventual near disappearance from India by the 1200s.
Spread to East and Southeast Asia
Angkor Thom build by Khmer King Jayavarman VII (c. 1120–1218).
The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China is most commonly thought to have
started in the late 2nd or the 1st century CE, though the literary sources are all open to
question.The first documented translation efforts by foreign Buddhist monks in China
were in the 2nd century CE, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan
Empire into the Chinese territory of the Tarim Basin.
The first documented Buddhist texts translated into Chinese are those of the Parthian
An Shigao (148–180 CE). The first known Mahāyāna scriptural texts are translations
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into Chinese by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema in Luoyang, between 178 and 189 CE.
From China, Buddhism was introduced into its neighbours Korea (4th century), Japan
(6th–7th centuries), and Vietnam (c. 1st–2nd centuries).
During the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907), Chinese Esoteric Buddhism was
introduced from India and Chan Buddhism (Zen) became a major religion. Chan
continued to grow in the Song dynasty (960–1279) and it was during this era that it
strongly influenced Korean Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism. Pure Land Buddhism
also became popular during this period and was often practised together with Chan. It
was also during the Song that the entire Chinese canon was printed using over 130,000
wooden printing blocks.
During the Indian period of Esoteric Buddhism (from the 8th century onwards),
Buddhism spread from India to Tibet and Mongolia. Johannes Bronkhorst states that
the esoteric form was attractive because it allowed both a secluded monastic
community as well as the social rites and rituals important to laypersons and to kings
for the maintenance of a political state during succession and wars to resist
invasion.During the Middle Ages, Buddhism slowly declined in India,while it vanished
from Persia and Central Asia as Islam became the state religion.
The Theravada school arrived in Sri Lanka sometime in the 3rd century BCE. Sri Lanka
became a base for its later spread to Southeast Asia after the 5th century CE
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(Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and coastal Vietnam). Theravada
Buddhism was the dominant religion in Burma during the Mon Hanthawaddy
Kingdom .It also became dominant in the Khmer Empire during the 13th and 14th
centuries and in the Thai Sukhothai Kingdom during the reign of Ram Khamhaeng
Schools and traditions
Buddhists generally classify themselves as either Theravāda or Mahāyāna.This
classification is also used by some scholars and is the one ordinarily used in the English
language.An alternative scheme used by some scholars divides Buddhism into the
following three traditions or geographical or cultural areas: Theravāda (or "Southern
Buddhism", "South Asian Buddhism"), East Asian Buddhism (or just "Eastern
Buddhism") and Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (or "Northern Buddhism").
Buddhists of various traditions, Yeunten Ling Tibetan Institute
Some scholars use other schemes. Buddhists themselves have a variety of other
schemes. Hinayana (literally "lesser or inferior vehicle") is sometimes used by Mahāyāna
followers to name the family of early philosophical schools and traditions from which
contemporary Theravāda emerged, but as the Hinayana term is considered derogatory,
a variety of other terms are used instead, including: Śrāvakayāna, Nikaya Buddhism,
early Buddhist schools, sectarian Buddhism and conservative Buddhism.
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Not all traditions of Buddhism share the same philosophical outlook, or treat the same
concepts as central. Each tradition, however, does have its own core concepts, and
some comparisons can be drawn between them:
Both Theravāda and Mahāyāna accept and revere the Buddha Sakyamuni as the
founder, Mahāyāna also reveres numerous other Buddhas, such as Amitabha or
Vairocana as well as many other bodhisattvas not revered in Theravāda.
Both accept the Middle Way, Dependent origination, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble
Eightfold Path, the Three Jewels, the Three marks of existence and the
Bodhipakṣadharmas (aids to awakening).
Mahāyāna focuses mainly on the bodhisattva path to Buddhahood which it sees as
universal and to be practiced by all persons, while Theravāda does not focus on
teaching this path and teaches the attainment of arhatship as a worthy goal to strive
towards. The bodhisattva path is not denied in Theravāda, it is generally seen as a long
and difficult path suitable for only a few.Thus the Bodhisattva path is normative in
Mahāyāna, while it is an optional path for a heroic few in Theravāda.
Mahāyāna sees the arhat's nirvana as being imperfect and inferior or preliminary to full
Buddhahood. It sees arhatship as selfish, since bodhisattvas vow to save all beings
while arhats save only themselves. Theravāda meanwhile does not accept that the
arhat's nirvana is an inferior or preliminary attainment, nor that it is a selfish deed to
attain arhatship since not only are arhats described as compassionate but they have
destroyed the root of greed, the sense of "I am".
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Mahāyāna accepts the authority of the many Mahāyāna sutras along with the other
Nikaya texts like the Agamas and the Pali canon (though it sees Mahāyāna texts as
primary), while Theravāda does not accept that the Mahāyāna sutras are buddhavacana
(word of the Buddha) at all.
Theravāda
The Theravāda tradition bases itself on the Pāli Canon, considers itself to be the more
orthodox form of Buddhism and tends to be more conservative in doctrine and monastic
discipline. The Pāli Canon is the only complete Buddhist canon surviving in an ancient
Indian language. This language, Pāli, serves as the school's sacred language and lingua
franca. Besides the Pāli Canon, Theravāda scholastics also often rely on a post-
canonical Pāli literature which comments on and interprets the Pāli Canon. These later
works such as the Visuddhimagga, a doctrinal summa written in the fifth century by the
exegete Buddhaghosa also remain influential today.
Theravāda derives from the Mahāvihāra (Tāmraparṇīya) sect, a Sri Lankan branch of
the Vibhajyavāda Sthaviras, which began to establish itself on the island from the 3rd
century BCE onwards.
Theravāda flourished in south India and Sri Lanka in ancient times; from there it spread
for the first time into mainland Southeast Asia about the 11th century into its elite
urban centres. By the 13th century, Theravāda had spread widely into the rural areas of
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mainland Southeast Asia,displacing Mahayana Buddhism and some traditions of
Hinduism.
In the modern era, Buddhist figures such as Anagarika Dhammapala and King Mongkut
sought to re-focus the tradition on the Pāli Canon, as well as emphasize the rational
and "scientific" nature of Theravāda while also opposing "superstition".This movement,
often termed Buddhist modernism, has influenced most forms of modern Theravāda.
Another influential modern turn in Theravāda is the Vipassana Movement, which led to
the widespread adoption of meditation by laypersons.
Theravāda is primarily practised today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia
as well as small portions of China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh. It has a growing
presence in the west, especially as part of the Vipassana Movement.
Mahāyāna traditions
Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") refers to all forms of Buddhism which consider the
Mahāyāna Sutras as authoritative scriptures and accurate rendering of Buddha's words.
These traditions have been the more liberal form of Buddhism allowing different and
new interpretations that emerged over time.The focus of Mahāyāna is the path of the
bodhisattva (bodhisattvayāna), though what this path means is interpreted in many
different ways.
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The first Mahāyāna texts date to sometime between the 1st century BCE and the 2st
century CE. It remained a minority movement until the time of the Guptas and Palas,
when great Mahāyāna monastic centres of learning such as Nālandā University were
established as evidenced by records left by three Chinese visitors to India. These
universities supported Buddhist scholarship, as well as studies into non-Buddhist
traditions and secular subjects such as medicine. They hosted visiting students who
then spread Buddhism to East and Central Asia.
Native Mahāyāna Buddhism is practised today in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, parts
of Russia and most of Vietnam (also commonly referred to as "Eastern Buddhism"). The
Buddhism practised in Tibet, the Himalayan regions, and Mongolia is also a form of
Mahāyāna, but is also different in many ways due to its adoption of tantric practices
and is discussed below under the heading of "Vajrayāna" (also commonly referred to as
"Northern Buddhism").
There are a variety of strands in Eastern Buddhism, of which "the Pure Land school of
Mahāyāna is the most widely practised today." In most of China, these different strands
and traditions are generally fused together. Vietnamese Mahāyāna is similarly very
eclectic. In Japan in particular, they form separate denominations with the five major
ones being: Nichiren, peculiar to Japan; Pure Land; Shingon, a form of Vajrayana;
Tendai, and Zen. In Korea, nearly all Buddhists belong to the Chogye school, which is
officially Son (Zen), but with substantial elements from other traditions.
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Vajrayāna traditions
The goal and philosophy of the Vajrayāna remains Mahāyānist, but its methods are
seen by its followers as far more powerful, so as to lead to Buddhahood in just one
lifetime. The practice of using mantras was adopted from Hinduism, where they were
first used in the Vedas.
Tibetan Buddhism preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth-century India. Tantric
Buddhism is largely concerned with ritual and meditative practices.A central feature of
Buddhist Tantra is deity yoga which includes visualisation and identification with an
enlightened yidam or meditation deity and its associated mandala. Another element of
Tantra is the need for ritual initiation or empowerment (abhiṣeka) by a Guru or Lama.
[Some Tantras like the Guhyasamāja Tantra features new forms of antinomian ritual
practice such as the use taboo substances like alcohol, sexual yoga, and charnel ground
practices which evoke wrathful deities.
Monasteries and temples
Buddhist institutions are often housed and centered around monasteries
(Sanskrit:viharas) and temples. Buddhist monastics originally followed a life of
wandering, never staying in one place for long. During the three month rainy season
(vassa) they would gather together in one place for a period of intense practice and
then depart again. Some of the earliest Buddhist monasteries were at groves (vanas) or
woods (araññas), such as Jetavana and Sarnath's Deer Park. There originally seems to
have been two main types of monasteries, monastic settlements (sangharamas) were
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built and supported by donors, and woodland camps (avasas) were set up by monks.
Whatever structures were built in these locales were made out of wood and were
sometimes temporary structures built for the rainy season.
Over time, the wandering community slowly adopted more settled cenobitic forms of
monasticism. Also, these monasteries slowly evolved from the simpler collections of
rustic dwellings of early Buddhism into larger more permanent structures meant to
house the entire community, who now lived in a more collective fashion. During the
Gupta era, even larger monastic university complexes (like Nalanda) arose,
with larger and more artistically ornate structures, as well as large land grants and
accumulated wealth.
There are many different forms of Buddhist structures. Classic Indian Buddhist
institutions mainly made use of the following structures: monasteries, rock-hewn
cave complexes (such as the Ajanta Caves), stupas (funerary mounds which
contained relics), and temples such as the Mahabodhi Temple.
In Southeast Asia, the most widespread institutions are centered on wats, which refers
to an establishment with various buildings such as an ordination hall, a library, monks'
quarters and stupas. East Asian Buddhist institutions also use various structures
including monastic halls, temples, lecture halls, bell towers and pagodas. In Japanese
Buddhist temples, these different structures are usually grouped together in an area
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termed the garan. In Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhist institutions are generally
housed in gompas. They include monastic quarters, stupas and prayer halls with
Buddha images.
The complexity of Buddhist institutions varies, ranging from minimalist and rustic forest
monasteries to large monastic centers like Tawang Monastery. The core of traditional
Buddhist institutions is the monastic community (Sangha) who manage and lead
religious services. They are supported by the lay community who visit temples and
monasteries for religious services and holidays.
In the modern era, the Buddhist "meditation centre", which is mostly used by
laypersons and often also staffed by them, has also become widespread.
Colonial era
Buddhism has faced various challenges and changes during the colonisation of Buddhist
states by Christian countries and its persecution under modern states. Like other
religions, the findings of modern science has challenged its basic premises. One
response to some of these challenges has come to be called Buddhist modernism. Early
Buddhist modernist figures such as the American convert Henry Olcott (1832–1907)
and Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933) reinterpreted and promoted Buddhism as a
scientific and rational religion which they saw as compatible with modern science.
East Asian Buddhism meanwhile suffered under various wars which ravaged China
during the modern era, such as the Taiping rebellion and World War II (which also
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affected Korean Buddhism). During the Republican period (1912–49), a new movement
called Humanistic Buddhism was developed by figures such as Taixu (1899–1947), and
though Buddhist institutions were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966–
76), there has been a revival of the religion in China after 1977. Japanese Buddhism
also went through a period of modernisation during the Meiji period. In Central Asia
meanwhile, the arrival of Communist repression to Tibet (1966–1980) and
Mongolia (between 1924–1990) had a strong negative impact on Buddhist institutions,
though the situation has improved somewhat since the 80s and 90s.
Buddhism in the West
1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago
While there were some encounters of Western travellers or missionaries such as St.
Francis Xavier and Ippolito Desideri with Buddhist cultures, it was not until the
19th century that Buddhism began to be studied by Western scholars. It was the work
of pioneering scholars such as Eugène Burnouf, Max Müller, Hermann Oldenberg
and Thomas William Rhys Davids that paved the way for modern Buddhist studies
in the West. The English words such as Buddhism, "Boudhist", "Bauddhist" and
Buddhist were coined in the early 19th-century in the West, while in 1881, Rhys
Davids founded the Pali Text Society – an influential Western resource of Buddhist
literature in the Pali language and one of the earliest publisher of a journal on Buddhist
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studies. It was also during the 19th century that Asian Buddhist immigrants (mainly
from China and Japan) began to arrive in Western countries such as the United States
and Canada, bringing with them their Buddhist religion. This period also saw the first
Westerners to formally convert to Buddhism, such as Helena Blavatsky and Henry
Steel Olcott.An important event in the introduction of Buddhism to the West was the
1893 World Parliament of Religions, which for the first time saw well-publicized
speeches by major Buddhist leaders alongside other religious leaders.
The 20th century saw a prolific growth of new Buddhist institutions in Western
countries, including the Buddhist Society, London (1924), Das Buddhistische
Haus (1924) and Datsan Gunzechoinei in St Petersburg. The publication and
translations of Buddhist literature in Western languages thereafter accelerated. After
the second world war, further immigration from Asia, globalisation, the secularisation
on Western culture as well a renewed interest in Buddhism among the 60s
counterculture led to further growth in Buddhist institutions. Influential figures on post-
war Western Buddhism include Shunryu Suzuki, Jack Kerouac, Alan Watts, Thích
Nhất Hạnh, and the 14th Dalai Lama. While Buddhist institutions have grown,
some of the central premises of Buddhism such as the cycles of rebirth and Four
Noble Truths have been problematic in the West. In contrast, states Christopher
Gowans, for "most ordinary Buddhists, today as well as in the past, their basic moral
orientation is governed by belief in karma and rebirth". Most Asian Buddhist
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laypersons, states Kevin Trainor, have historically pursued Buddhist rituals and practices
seeking better rebirth, not nirvana or freedom from rebirth.
After statue destroyed by Islamist Taliban in 2001
Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan in 1896 and after destruction in 2001 by the Taliban
Islamists.
Buddhism has spread across the world, and Buddhist texts are increasingly translated
into local languages. While Buddhism in the West is often seen as exotic and
progressive, in the East it is regarded as familiar and traditional. In countries such as
Cambodia and Bhutan, it is recognised as the state religion and receives government
support.In certain regions such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, militants have targeted
violence and destruction of historic Buddhist monuments.
Neo-Buddhism movements
A number of modern movements in Buddhism emerged during the second half of the
20th century. These new forms of Buddhism are diverse and significantly depart from
traditional beliefs and practices.
In India, B.R. Ambedkar launched the Navayana tradition – literally, "new vehicle".
Ambedkar's Buddhism rejects the foundational doctrines and historic practices of
traditional Theravada and Mahayana traditions, such as monk lifestyle after
renunciation, karma, rebirth, samsara, meditation, nirvana, Four Noble Truths and
others. Ambedkar's Navayana Buddhism considers these as superstitions and
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re-interprets the original Buddha as someone who taught about class struggle and
social equality. Ambedkar urged low caste Indian Dalits to convert to his Marxism-
inspired reinterpretation called the Navayana Buddhism, also known as
Bhimayana Buddhism. Ambedkar's effort led to the expansion of Navayana
Buddhism in India.
The Thai King Mongkut (r. 1851–68), and his son King Chulalongkorn (r. 1868–
1910), were responsible for modern reforms of Thai Buddhism. Modern Buddhist
movements include Secular Buddhism in many countries, Won Buddhism in Korea,
the Dhammakaya movement in Thailand and several Japanese organisations, such
as Shinnyo-en, Risshō Kōsei Kai or Soka Gakkai.
Some of these movements have brought internal disputes and strife within regional
Buddhist communities. For example, the Dhammakaya movement in Thailand
teaches a "true self" doctrine, which traditional Theravada monks consider as
heretically denying the fundamental anatta (not-self) doctrine of Buddhism.
Sexual abuse and misconduct
Buddhism has not been immune from sexual abuse and misconduct scandals, with
victims coming forward in various buddhist schools such as Zen and Tibetan. “There are
huge cover ups in the Catholic church, but what has happened within Tibetan Buddhism
is totally along the same lines,” says Mary Finnigan, an author and journalist who has
been chronicling such alleged abuses since the mid-80s. One notably covered case in
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media of various Western country was that of Sogyal Rinpoche which began in 1994,
and ended with his retirement from his position as Rigpa's spiritual director in 2017.
Cultural influence
Buddhism has had a profound influence on various cultures, especially in Asia. Buddhist
philosophy, Buddhist art, Buddhist architecture, Buddhist cuisine and Buddhist festivals
continue to be influential elements of the modern Culture of Asia, especially in East Asia
and the Sinosphere as well as in Southeast Asia and the Indosphere. According to Litian
Fang, Buddhism has "permeated a wide range of fields, such as politics, ethics,
philosophy, literature, art and customs," in these Asian regions.
Buddhist teachings influenced the development of modern Hinduism as well as other
Asian religions like Taoism and Confucianism. For example, various scholars have
argued that key Hindu thinkers such as Adi Shankara and Patanjali, author of the Yoga
sutras, were influenced by Buddhist ideas. Likewise, Buddhist practices were influential
in the early development of Indian Yoga.
Buddhist philosophers like Dignaga were very influential in the development of Indian
logic and epistemology. Buddhist educational institutions like Nalanda and
Vikramashila preserved various disciplines of classical Indian knowledge such as
Grammar and Medicine and taught foreign students from China.
Frontispiece of the Chinese Diamond Sūtra, the oldest known dated printed book in the
world. In an effort to preserve their sacred scriptures, Buddhist institutions such as
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temples and monasteries housed schools which educated the populace and promoted
writing and literacy. This led to high levels of literacy among some traditional Buddhist
societies such as Burma. According to David Steinberg, "Early British observers claimed
that Burma was the most literate state between Suez and Japan, and one British
traveler in the early nineteenth century believed that Burmese women had a higher
percentage of literacy than British women."
Buddhist institutions were also at the forefront of the adoption of Chinese technologies
related to bookmaking, including paper, and block printing which Buddhists sometimes
deployed on a large scale. The first surviving example of a printed text is a Buddhist
charm, the first full printed book is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra (c. 868) and the
first hand colored print is an illustration of Guanyin dated to 947.
Buddhists were also influential in the study and practice of traditional forms of Indian
medicine. Buddhists spread these traditional approaches to health, sometimes called
"Buddhist medicine", throughout East and Southeast Asia, where they remain influential
today in regions like Sri Lanka, Burma, Tibet and Thailand.
In the Western world, Buddhism has had a strong influence on modern New Age
spirituality and other alternative spiritualities. This began with its influence on 20th
century Theosophists such as Helena Blavatsky, which were some of the first
Westerners to take Buddhism seriously as a spiritual tradition.
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More recently, Buddhist meditation practices have influenced the development of
modern psychology, particularly the practice of Mindfulness-based stress reduction
(MBSR) and other similar mindfulness based modalities.The influence of Buddhism on
psychology can also be seen in certain forms of modern psychoanalysis.
Buddhism also influenced the modern avant-garde movements during the 1950s and
60s through people like D. T. Suzuki and his influence on figures like Jack Kerouac and
Allen Ginsberg.
Relationships with other religious traditions
Shamanism
Shamanism is a widespread practice in Buddhist societies. Buddhist monasteries have
long existed alongside local shamanic traditions. Lacking an institutional orthodoxy,
Buddhists adapted to the local cultures, blending their own traditions with pre-existing
shamanic culture. There was very little conflict between the sects, mostly limited to the
shamanic practice of animal sacrifice, which Buddhists see as equivalent to killing one's
parents. However, Buddhism requires acceptance of Buddha as the greatest being in
the cosmos, and local shamanic traditions were bestowed an inferior status.
Research into Himalayan religion has shown that Buddhist and shamanic traditions
overlap in many respects: the worship of localized deities, healing rituals and exorcisms.
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The shamanic Gurung people have adopted some of the Buddhist beliefs such and
rebirth but maintain the shamanic rites of "guiding the soul" after death. Geoffrey
Samuel describes Shamanic Buddhism: "Vajrayana Buddhism as practiced in Tibet may
be described as shamanic, in that it is centered around communication with an
alternative mode of reality via the alternative states of consciousness of Tantric Yoga".
Demographics
Buddhism is practised by an estimated 488 million, 495 million, or 535 million people as
of the 2010s, representing 7% to 8% of the world's total population. purple Percentage
of Buddhists by country, showing high in Burma to low in United StatesPercentage of
Buddhists by country, according to the Pew Research Center, as of 2010
China is the country with the largest population of Buddhists, approximately 244 million
or 18% of its total population. They are mostly followers of Chinese schools of
Mahayana, making this the largest body of Buddhist traditions. Mahayana, also
practised in broader East Asia, is followed by over half of world Buddhists.
According to a demographic analysis reported by Peter Harvey:Mahayana has 360
million adherents; Theravada has 150 million adherents; and Vajrayana has 18 million
adherents.
According to Johnson & Grim (2013), Buddhism has grown from a total of 138 million
adherents in 1910, of which 137 million were in Asia, to 495 million in 2010, of which
487 million are in Asia. Over 98% of all Buddhists live in the Asia-Pacific and South Asia
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region. North America had about 3.9 million Buddhists, Europe 1.3 million, while South
America, Africa and the Middle East had an estimated combined total of about 1 million
Buddhists in 2010.
Buddhism is the dominant religion in Bhutan, Myanmar, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan,
Tibet, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Large
Buddhist populations live in Mainland China, Taiwan, North Korea, Nepal and South
Korea. In Russia, Buddhists form majority in Tuva (52%) and Kalmykia (53%). Buryatia
(20%) and Zabaykalsky Krai (15%) also have significant Buddhist populations.
Buddhism is also growing by conversion. In New Zealand, about 25–35% of the total
Buddhists are converts to Buddhism. Buddhism has also spread to the Nordic countries;
for example, the Burmese Buddhists founded in the city of Kuopio in North Savonia the
first Buddhist monastery of Finland, named the Buddha Dhamma Ramsi monastery.
The 10 countries with the largest Buddhist population densities are:
Buddhism by percentage as of 2010
Country Estimated Buddhist population Buddhists as % of total population
Cambodia 13,690,000 97%
Thailand 64,420,000 93%
Burma 38,410,000 80%
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Bhutan 563,000 75%
Sri Lanka 14,450,000 70%
Laos 4,092,000 66%
Mongolia 1,521,000 55%
Japan 45,820,000
or 84,653,000 36% or 67%
Singapore 1,726,000 33%
Taiwan 4,946,000
or 8,000,000 21% or 35%
China 244,130,000 18%
India 7,955,207 0.8%
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. After reading the history and teachings of Buddhism, what were the things that
struct you the most and why?
Reference
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Buddhism - Wikipedia retrieved August 30, 2021
Lesson 19. Confucianism
Pre-activity
Another huge country and important religion but some scholars considers this as a
philosophy, is that of the Chinese Confucianism Philosophy.
Activity Proper
Confucianism
Confucianism
天將以夫子爲木鐸, "Heaven will instruct the master like a wooden-clapper bell (to
awaken everyone to the Way)" — Analects 3.24.
Early history
Fundamental concepts
Schools
Confucianism by country
Confucian texts
Organization
vte
Confucianism
Chinese 儒家
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儒教
Literal meaning "ru school of thought"
Transcriptions
Temple of Confucius of Jiangyin, Wuxi, Jiangsu. This is a wénmiào (文庙), that is to say
a temple where Confucius is worshipped as Wéndì, "God of Culture" (文帝).
Confucianism, also known as Ruism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in
ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or
rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or simply a way of life,Confucianism developed
from what was later called the Hundred Schools of Thought from the teachings of the
Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BCE).
Confucius considered himself a transmitter of cultural values inherited from the Xia (c.
2070–1600 BCE), Shang (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and Zhou dynasties (c. 1046–256 BCE).[2]
Confucianism was suppressed during the Legalist and autocratic Qin dynasty (221–206
BCE), but survived. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), Confucian approaches
edged out the "proto-Taoist" Huang–Lao as the official ideology, while the emperors
mixed both with the realist techniques of Legalism.
A Confucian revival began during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). In the late Tang,
Confucianism developed in response to Buddhism and Taoism and was reformulated as
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Neo-Confucianism. This reinvigorated form was adopted as the basis of the imperial
exams and the core philosophy of the scholar official class in the Song dynasty (960–
1297). The abolition of the examination system in 1905 marked the end of official
Confucianism. The intellectuals of the New Culture Movement of the early twentieth
century blamed Confucianism for China's weaknesses. They searched for new doctrines
to replace Confucian teachings; some of these new ideologies include the "Three
Principles of the People" with the establishment of the Republic of China, and then
Maoism under the People's Republic of China. In the late twentieth century, the
Confucian work ethic has been credited with the rise of the East Asian economy.
With particular emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony, rather
than on an otherworldly source of spiritual values, the core of Confucianism is
humanistic. According to Herbert Fingarette's conceptualisation of Confucianism as a
philosophical system which regards "the secular as sacred", Confucianism transcends
the dichotomy between religion and humanism, considering the ordinary activities of
human life—and especially human relationships—as a manifestation of the sacred,
because they are the expression of humanity's moral nature (xìng 性), which has a
transcendent anchorage in Heaven (Tiān 天). While Tiān has some characteristics that
overlap the category of godhead, it is primarily an impersonal absolute principle, like
the Dào (道) or the Brahman. Confucianism focuses on the practical order that is given
by a this-worldly awareness of the Tiān.Confucian liturgy (called 儒 rú, or sometimes
simplified Chinese: 正统; traditional Chinese: 正統; pinyin: zhèngtǒng, meaning

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'orthopraxy') led by Confucian priests or "sages of rites" (礼生; 禮生; lǐshēng) to
worship the gods in public and ancestral Chinese temples is preferred on certain
occasions, by Confucian religious groups and for civil religious rites, over Taoist or
popular ritual.
The worldly concern of Confucianism rests upon the belief that human beings are
fundamentally good, and teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal and
communal endeavor, especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian thought
focuses on the cultivation of virtue in a morally organised world. Some of the basic
Confucian ethical concepts and practices include rén, yì, and lǐ, and zhì. Rén (仁,
'benevolence' or 'humaneness') is the essence of the human being which manifests as
compassion. It is the virtue-form of Heaven.[11] Yì (义; 義) is the upholding of
righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. Lǐ (礼; 禮) is a system of ritual
norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life
in harmony with the law of Heaven. Zhì (智) is the ability to see what is right and fair,
or the converse, in the behaviors exhibited by others. Confucianism holds one in
contempt, either passively or actively, for failure to uphold the cardinal moral values of
rén and yì.
Traditionally, cultures and countries in the East Asian cultural sphere are strongly
influenced by Confucianism, including China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, as
well as various territories settled predominantly by Han Chinese people, such as

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Singapore. Today, it has been credited for shaping East Asian societies and overseas
Chinese communities, and to some extent, other parts of Asia.In the last decades there
have been talks of a "Confucian Revival" in the academic and the scholarly
community,and there has been a grassroots proliferation of various types of Confucian
churches. In late 2015 many Confucian personalities formally established a national
Holy Confucian Church (孔圣会; 孔聖會; Kǒngshènghuì) in China to unify the many
Confucian congregations and civil society organisations.
Small seal
Olden versions of the grapheme 儒 rú, meaning "scholar", "refined one", "Confucian". It
is composed of 人 rén ("man") and 需 xū ("to await"), itself composed of 雨 yǔ ("rain",
"instruction") and 而 ér ("sky"), graphically a "man under the rain". Its full meaning is
"man receiving instruction from Heaven". According to Kang Youwei, Hu Shih, and Yao
Xinzhong, they were the official shaman-priests (wu) experts in rites and astronomy of
the Shang, and later Zhou, dynasty.
Strictly speaking, there is no term in Chinese which directly corresponds to
"Confucianism". In the Chinese language, the character rú 儒 meaning "scholar" or
"learned" or "refined man" is generally used both in the past and the present to refer to
things related to Confucianism. The character rú in ancient China had diverse meanings.
Some examples include "to tame", "to mould", "to educate", "to refine". Several
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different terms, some of which with modern origin, are used in different situations to
express different facets of Confucianism, including:
儒家; Rújiā – "ru school of thought";
儒教; Rújiào – "ru religion" in the sense of "ru doctrine";
儒学; 儒學; Rúxué – "Ruology" or "ru learning";
孔教; Kǒngjiào – "Confucius's doctrine";
孔家店; Kǒngjiādiàn – "Kong family's business", a pejorative phrase used in the New
Culture Movement and the Cultural Revolution.
Three of them use rú. These names do not use the name "Confucius" at all, but instead
focus on the ideal of the Confucian man. The use of the term "Confucianism" has been
avoided by some modern scholars, who favor "Ruism" and "Ruists" instead. Robert Eno
argues that the term has been "burdened... with the ambiguities and irrelevant
traditional associations". Ruism, as he states, is more faithful to the original Chinese
name for the school.
According to Zhou Youguang, 儒 rú originally referred to shamanic methods of holding
rites and existed before Confucius's times, but with Confucius it came to mean devotion
to propagating such teachings to bring civilisation to the people. Confucianism was
initiated by Confucius, developed by Mencius (c. 372–289 BCE) and inherited by later
generations, undergoing constant transformations and restructuring since its
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establishment, but preserving the principles of humaneness and righteousness at its
core.
Five Classics (五經, Wǔjīng) and the Confucian vision
Confucius in a fresco from a Western Han tomb in Dongping, Shandong
Traditionally, Confucius was thought to be the author or editor of the Five Classics
which were the basic texts of Confucianism. The scholar Yao Xinzhong allows that there
are good reasons to believe that Confucian classics took shape in the hands of
Confucius, but that "nothing can be taken for granted in the matter of the early
versions of the classics". Professor Yao says that perhaps most scholars today hold the
"pragmatic" view that Confucius and his followers, although they did not intend to
create a system of classics, "contributed to their formation". In any case, it is
undisputed that for most of the last 2,000 years, Confucius was believed to have either
written or edited these texts.
The scholar Tu Weiming explains these classics as embodying "five visions" which
underlie the development of Confucianism:
I Ching or Classic of Change or Book of Changes, generally held to be the earliest of the
classics, shows a metaphysical vision which combines divinatory art with numerological
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technique and ethical insight; philosophy of change sees cosmos as interaction between
the two energies yin and yang; universe always shows organismic unity and dynamism.
Classic of Poetry or Book of Songs is the earliest anthology of Chinese poems and
songs. It shows the poetic vision in the belief that poetry and music convey common
human feelings and mutual responsiveness.
Book of Documents or Book of History Compilation of speeches of major figures and
records of events in ancient times embodies the political vision and addresses the kingly
way in terms of the ethical foundation for humane government. The documents show
the sagacity, filial piety, and work ethic of Yao, Shun, and Yu. They established a
political culture which was based on responsibility and trust. Their virtue formed a
covenant of social harmony which did not depend on punishment or coercion.
Book of Rites describes the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the
Zhou Dynasty. This social vision defined society not as an adversarial system based on
contractual relations but as a community of trust based on social responsibility. The
four functional occupations are cooperative (farmer, scholar, artisan, merchant).
Spring and Autumn Annals chronicles the period to which it gives its name, Spring and
Autumn period (771–476 BCE) and these events emphasise the significance of collective
memory for communal self-identification, for reanimating the old is the best way to
attain the new.
Doctrines
Theory and theology
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Zhou dynasty oracular version of the grapheme for Tiān, representing a man with a
head informed by the north celestial pole
Further information: Confucian theology
Confucianism revolves around the pursuit of the unity of the individual self and the God
of Heaven (Tiān 天), or, otherwise said, around the relationship between humanity and
Heaven.The principle of Heaven (Lǐ 理 or Dào 道), is the order of the creation and the
source of divine authority, monistic in its structure. Individuals may realise their
humanity and become one with Heaven through the contemplation of such order.This
transformation of the self may be extended to the family and society to create a
harmonious fiduciary community. Joël Thoraval studied Confucianism as a diffused civil
religion in contemporary China, finding that it expresses itself in the widespread
worship of five cosmological entities: Heaven and Earth (Di 地), the sovereign or the
government (jūn 君), ancestors (qīn 親) and masters (shī 師).
Heaven is not some being pre-existing the temporal world. According to the scholar
Stephan Feuchtwang, in Chinese cosmology, which is not merely Confucian but shared
by all Chinese religions, "the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material
energy" (hundun 混沌 and qi 氣), organising through the polarity of yin and yang which
characterises any thing and life. Creation is therefore a continuous ordering; it is not a
creation ex nihilo. "Yin and yang are the invisible and visible, the receptive and the
active, the unshaped and the shaped; they characterise the yearly cycle (winter and
summer), the landscape (shady and bright), the sexes (female and male), and even
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sociopolitical history (disorder and order). Confucianism is concerned with finding
"middle ways" between yin and yang at every new configuration of the world."
Confucianism conciliates both the inner and outer polarities of spiritual cultivation, that
is to say self-cultivation and world redemption, synthesised in the ideal of "sageliness
within and kingliness without".Rén, translated as "humaneness" or the essence proper
of a human being, is the character of compassionate mind; it is the virtue endowed by
Heaven and at the same time the means by which man may achieve oneness with
Heaven comprehending his own origin in Heaven and therefore divine essence. In the
Dàtóng shū (大同书; 大同書) it is defined as "to form one body with all things" and
"when the self and others are not separated ... compassion is aroused".
Tiān and the gods
Like other symbols such as the sauwastika,wàn 卍 ("all things") in Chinese, the
Mesopotamian 𒀭 Dingir/An ("Heaven"), and also the Chinese 巫 wū ("shaman"; in
Shang script represented by the cross potent ☩), Tiān refers to the northern celestial
pole (北極 Běijí), the pivot and the vault of the sky with its spinning constellations.[30]
Here is an approximate representation of the Tiānmén 天門 ("Gate of Heaven") or
Tiānshū 天樞 ("Pivot of Heaven") as the precessional north celestial pole, with α Ursae
Minoris as the pole star, with the spinning Chariot constellations in the four phases of
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time. According to Reza Assasi's theories, the wan may not only be centred in the
current precessional pole at α Ursae Minoris, but also very near to the north ecliptic
pole if Draco (Tiānlóng 天龙) is conceived as one of its two beams.
Tiān (天), a key concept in Chinese thought, refers to the God of Heaven, the northern
culmen of the skies and its spinning stars,earthly nature and its laws which come from
Heaven, to "Heaven and Earth" (that is, "all things"), and to the awe-inspiring forces
beyond human control.There are such a number of uses in Chinese thought that it is
not possible to give one translation into English.
Confucius used the term in a mystical way.He wrote in the Analects (7.23) that Tian
gave him life, and that Tian watched and judged (6.28; 9.12). In 9.5 Confucius says
that a person may know the movements of the Tian, and this provides with the sense
of having a special place in the universe. In 17.19 Confucius says that Tian spoke to
him, though not in words. The scholar Ronnie Littlejohn warns that Tian was not to be
interpreted as personal God comparable to that of the Abrahamic faiths, in the sense of
an otherworldly or transcendent creator.Rather it is similar to what Taoists meant by
Dao: "the way things are" or "the regularities of the world", which Stephan Feuchtwang
equates with the ancient Greek concept of physis, "nature" as the generation and
regenerations of things and of the moral order. Tian may also be compared to the
Brahman of Hindu and Vedic traditions.The scholar Promise Hsu, in the wake of Robert
B. Louden, explained 17:19 ("What does Tian ever say? Yet there are four seasons
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going round and there are the hundred things coming into being. What does Tian
say?") as implying that even though Tian is not a "speaking person", it constantly
"does" through the rhythms of nature, and communicates "how human beings ought to
live and act", at least to those who have learnt to carefully listen to it.
Zigong, a disciple of Confucius, said that Tian had set the master on the path to
become a wise man (9.6). In 7.23 Confucius says that he has no doubt left that the
Tian gave him life, and from it he had developed right virtue (德 dé). In 8.19 he says
that the lives of the sages are interwoven with Tian.
Regarding personal gods (shén, energies who emanate from and reproduce the Tian)
enliving nature, in the Analects Confucius says that it is appropriate (义; 義; yì) for
people to worship (敬 jìng) them, though through proper rites (礼; 禮; lǐ), implying
respect of positions and discretion. Confucius himself was a ritual and sacrificial master.
Answering to a disciple who asked whether it is better to sacrifice to the god of the
stove or to the god of the family (a popular saying), in 3.13 Confucius says that in order
to appropriately pray gods one should first know and respect Heaven. In 3.12 he
explains that religious rituals produce meaningful experiences, and one has to offer
sacrifices in person, acting in presence, otherwise "it is the same as not having
sacrificed at all". Rites and sacrifices to the gods have an ethical importance: they
generate good life, because taking part in them leads to the overcoming of the self.
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Analects 10.11 tells that Confucius always took a small part of his food and placed it on
the sacrificial bowls as an offering to his ancestors.
Other movements, such as Mohism which was later absorbed by Taoism, developed a
more theistic idea of Heaven. Feuchtwang explains that the difference between
Confucianism and Taoism primarily lies in the fact that the former focuses on the
realisation of the starry order of Heaven in human society, while the latter on the
contemplation of the Dao which spontaneously arises in nature.
Social morality and ethics
Further information: Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues
Worship at the Great Temple of Lord Zhang Hui (张挥公大殿 Zhāng Huī gōng dàdiàn),
the cathedral ancestral shrine of the Zhang lineage corporation, at their ancestral home
in Qinghe, Hebei
Ancestral temple of the Zeng lineage and Houxian village cultural centre, Cangnan,
Zhejiang
As explained by Stephan Feuchtwang, the order coming from Heaven preserves the
world, and has to be followed by humanity finding a "middle way" between yin and
yang forces in each new configuration of reality. Social harmony or morality is identified
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as patriarchy, which is expressed in the worship of ancestors and deified progenitors in
the male line, at ancestral shrines.
Confucian ethical codes are described as humanistic. They may be practiced by all the
members of a society. Confucian ethics is characterised by the promotion of virtues,
encompassed by the Five Constants, Wǔcháng (五常) in Chinese, elaborated by
Confucian scholars out of the inherited tradition during the Han dynasty.The Five
Constants are:
Rén (仁, benevolence, humaneness);
Yì (义; 義, righteousness or justice);
Lǐ (礼; 禮, proper rite);
Zhì (智, knowledge);
Xìn (信, integrity).
These are accompanied by the classical Sìzì (四字), that singles out four virtues, one of
which is included among the Five Constants:
Zhōng (忠, loyalty);
Xiào (孝, filial piety);
Jié (节; 節, continence/fidelity);
Yì (义; 義, righteousness).
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There are still many other elements, such as chéng (诚; 誠, honesty), shù (恕, kindness
and forgiveness), lián (廉, honesty and cleanness), chǐ (耻; 恥, shame, judge and sense
of right and wrong), yǒng (勇, bravery), wēn (温; 溫, kind and gentle), liáng (良, good,
kindhearted), gōng (恭, respectful, reverent), jiǎn (俭; 儉, frugal), ràng (让; 讓,
modestly, self-effacing).
Humaneness
Main article: Ren (Confucianism)
Rén (Chinese: 仁) is the Confucian virtue denoting the good feeling a virtuous human
experiences when being altruistic. It is exemplified by a normal adult's protective
feelings for children. It is considered the essence of the human being, endowed by
Heaven, and at the same time the means by which man may act according to the
principle of Heaven (天理, Tiān lǐ) and become one with it.
Yán Huí, Confucius's most outstanding student, once asked his master to describe the
rules of rén and Confucius replied, "one should see nothing improper, hear nothing
improper, say nothing improper, do nothing improper."Confucius also defined rén in the
following way: "wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others;
wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others."
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Another meaning of rén is "not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself.
Confucius also said, "rén is not far off; he who seeks it has already found it." Rén is
close to man and never leaves him.
Rite and centring
Temple of Confucius in Dujiangyan, Chengdu, Sichuan
Korean Confucian rite in Jeju
Main article: Li (Confucianism)
Li (礼; 禮) is a classical Chinese word which finds its most extensive use in Confucian
and post-Confucian Chinese philosophy. Li is variously translated as "rite" or "reason,"
"ratio" in the pure sense of Vedic ṛta ("right," "order") when referring to the cosmic law,
but when referring to its realisation in the context of human social behaviour it has also
been translated as "customs", "measures" and "rules", among other terms. Li also
means religious rites which establish relations between humanity and the gods.
According to Stephan Feuchtwang, rites are conceived as "what makes the invisible
visible", making possible for humans to cultivate the underlying order of nature.
Correctly performed rituals move society in alignment with earthly and heavenly (astral)
forces, establishing the harmony of the three realms—Heaven, Earth and humanity.
This practice is defined as "centring" (央 yāng or 中 zhōng). Among all things of
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creation, humans themselves are "central" because they have the ability to cultivate
and centre natural forces.
Li embodies the entire web of interaction between humanity, human objects, and
nature. Confucius includes in his discussions of li such diverse topics as learning, tea
drinking, titles, mourning, and governance. Xunzi cites "songs and laughter, weeping
and lamentation... rice and millet, fish and meat... the wearing of ceremonial caps,
embroidered robes, and patterned silks, or of fasting clothes and mourning clothes...
spacious rooms and secluded halls, soft mats, couches and benches" as vital parts of
the fabric of li.
Confucius envisioned proper government being guided by the principles of li. Some
Confucians proposed that all human beings may pursue perfection by learning and
practising li. Overall, Confucians believe that governments should place more emphasis
on li and rely much less on penal punishment when they govern.
Loyalty
Loyalty (忠, zhōng) is particularly relevant for the social class to which most of
Confucius's students belonged, because the most important way for an ambitious young
scholar to become a prominent official was to enter a ruler's civil service.
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Confucius himself did not propose that "might makes right," but rather that a superior
should be obeyed because of his moral rectitude. In addition, loyalty does not mean
subservience to authority. This is because reciprocity is demanded from the superior as
well. As Confucius stated "a prince should employ his minister according to the rules of
propriety; ministers should serve their prince with faithfulness (loyalty)."
Similarly, Mencius also said that "when the prince regards his ministers as his hands
and feet, his ministers regard their prince as their belly and heart; when he regards
them as his dogs and horses, they regard him as another man; when he regards them
as the ground or as grass, they regard him as a robber and an enemy." Moreover,
Mencius indicated that if the ruler is incompetent, he should be replaced. If the ruler is
evil, then the people have the right to overthrow him. A good Confucian is also
expected to remonstrate with his superiors when necessary.At the same time, a proper
Confucian ruler should also accept his ministers' advice, as this will help him govern the
realm better.
In later ages, however, emphasis was often placed more on the obligations of the ruled
to the ruler, and less on the ruler's obligations to the ruled. Like filial piety, loyalty was
often subverted by the autocratic regimes in China. Nonetheless, throughout the ages,
many Confucians continued to fight against unrighteous superiors and rulers. Many of
these Confucians suffered and sometimes died because of their conviction and action.
During the Ming-Qing era, prominent Confucians such as Wang Yangming promoted
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individuality and independent thinking as a counterweight to subservience to authority.
The famous thinker Huang Zongxi also strongly criticised the autocratic nature of the
imperial system and wanted to keep imperial power in check.
Many Confucians also realised that loyalty and filial piety have the potential of coming
into conflict with one another. This may be true especially in times of social chaos, such
as during the period of the Ming-Qing transition.[56]
Filial piety
Fourteenth of The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars
Filial piety
In Confucian philosophy, filial piety (孝, xiào) is a virtue of respect for one's parents and
ancestors, and of the hierarchies within society: father–son, elder–junior and male–
female.The Confucian classic Xiaojing ("Book of Piety"), thought to be written around
the Qin-Han period, has historically been the authoritative source on the Confucian
tenet of xiào. The book, a conversation between Confucius and his disciple Zeng Shen,
is about how to set up a good society using the principle of xiào.
In more general terms, filial piety means to be good to one's parents; to take care of
one's parents; to engage in good conduct not just towards parents but also outside the
home so as to bring a good name to one's parents and ancestors; to perform the duties
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of one's job well so as to obtain the material means to support parents as well as carry
out sacrifices to the ancestors; not be rebellious; show love, respect and support; the
wife in filial piety must obey her husband absolutely and take care of the whole family
wholeheartedly. display courtesy; ensure male heirs, uphold fraternity among brothers;
wisely advise one's parents, including dissuading them from moral unrighteousness, for
blindly following the parents' wishes is not considered to be xiao; display sorrow for
their sickness and death; and carry out sacrifices after their death.
Filial piety is considered a key virtue in Chinese culture, and it is the main concern of a
large number of stories. One of the most famous collections of such stories is "The
Twenty-four Filial Exemplars". These stories depict how children exercised their filial
piety in the past. While China has always had a diversity of religious beliefs, filial piety
has been common to almost all of them; historian Hugh D.R. Baker calls respect for the
family the only element common to almost all Chinese believers.
Relationships
Social harmony results in part from every individual knowing his or her place in the
natural order, and playing his or her part well. Reciprocity or responsibility (renqing)
extends beyond filial piety and involves the entire network of social relations, even the
respect for rulers.[38] This is shown in the story where Duke Jing of Qi asks Confucius
about government, by which he meant proper administration so as to bring social
harmony.
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齊景公問政於孔子。孔子對曰：君君，臣臣，父父，子子。
The duke Jing, of Qi, asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, "There is
government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is
father, and the son is son."
— Analects 12.11 (Legge translation).
Particular duties arise from one's particular situation in relation to others. The individual
stands simultaneously in several different relationships with different people: as a junior
in relation to parents and elders, and as a senior in relation to younger siblings,
students, and others. While juniors are considered in Confucianism to owe their seniors
reverence, seniors also have duties of benevolence and concern toward juniors. The
same is true with the husband and wife relationship where the husband needs to show
benevolence towards his wife and the wife needs to respect the husband in return. This
theme of mutuality still exists in East Asian cultures even to this day.
The Five Bonds are: ruler to ruled, father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to
younger brother, friend to friend. Specific duties were prescribed to each of the
participants in these sets of relationships. Such duties are also extended to the dead,
where the living stand as sons to their deceased family. The only relationship where
respect for elders isn't stressed was the friend to friend relationship, where mutual
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equal respect is emphasised instead. All these duties take the practical form of
prescribed rituals, for instance wedding and death rituals.
Junzi
The junzi (君子, jūnzǐ, "lord's son") is a Chinese philosophical term often translated as
"gentleman" or "superior person" and employed by Confucius in the Analects to
describe the ideal man.
In Confucianism, the sage or wise is the ideal personality; however, it is very hard to
become one of them. Confucius created the model of junzi, gentleman, which may be
achieved by any individual. Later, Zhu Xi defined junzi as second only to the sage.
There are many characteristics of the junzi: he may live in poverty, he does more and
speaks less, he is loyal, obedient and knowledgeable. The junzi disciplines himself. Ren
is fundamental to become a junzi.
As the potential leader of a nation, a son of the ruler is raised to have a superior ethical
and moral position while gaining inner peace through his virtue. To Confucius, the junzi
sustained the functions of government and social stratification through his ethical
values. Despite its literal meaning, any righteous man willing to improve himself may
become a junzi.
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On the contrary, the xiaoren (小人, xiăorén, "small or petty person") does not grasp the
value of virtues and seeks only immediate gains. The petty person is egotistic and does
not consider the consequences of his action in the overall scheme of things. Should the
ruler be surrounded by xiaoren as opposed to junzi, his governance and his people will
suffer due to their small-mindness. Examples of such xiaoren individuals may range
from those who continually indulge in sensual and emotional pleasures all day to the
politician who is interested merely in power and fame; neither sincerely aims for the
long-term benefit of others.
The junzi enforces his rule over his subjects by acting virtuously himself. It is thought
that his pure virtue would lead others to follow his example. The ultimate goal is that
the government behaves much like a family, the junzi being a beacon of filial piety.
Rectification of names
Priest paying homage to Confucius's tablet, c. 1900
Main article: Rectification of names
Confucius believed that social disorder often stemmed from failure to perceive,
understand, and deal with reality. Fundamentally, then, social disorder may stem from
the failure to call things by their proper names, and his solution to this was zhèngmíng
(正名; zhèngmíng; 'rectification of terms'). He gave an explanation of zhengming to one
of his disciples.
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Zi-lu said, "The vassal of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer
the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?"
The Master replied, "What is necessary to rectify names."
"So! indeed!" said Zi-lu. "You are wide off the mark! Why must there be such
rectification?"
The Master said, "How uncultivated you are, Yu! The superior man [Junzi] cannot care
about the everything, just as he cannot go to check all himself!
If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things.
If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried
on to success.
When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not
flourish.
When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly
awarded.
When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to
move hand or foot.
Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken
appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the
superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect."
(Analects XIII, 3, tr. Legge)
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Xun Zi chapter (22) "On the Rectification of Names" claims the ancient sage-kings
chose names (名; míng) that directly corresponded with actualities (實; shí), but later
generations confused terminology, coined new nomenclature, and thus could no longer
distinguish right from wrong. Since social harmony is of utmost importance, without the
proper rectification of names, society would essentially crumble and "undertakings
[would] not [be] completed."
History
The dragon is one of the oldest symbols of Chinese religious culture. It symbolises the
supreme godhead, Di or Tian, at the north ecliptic pole, around which it coils itself as
the homonymous constellation. It is a symbol of the "protean" supreme power which
has in itself both yin and yang.
Birth places of notable Chinese philosophers of the Hundred Schools of Thought in Zhou
dynasty. Confucians are marked by triangles in dark red.
According to He Guanghu, Confucianism may be identified as a continuation of the
Shang-Zhou (~1600–256 BCE) official religion, or the Chinese aboriginal religion which
has lasted uninterrupted for three thousand years.Both the dynasties worshipped the
supreme godhead, called Shangdi (上帝 "Highest Deity") or simply Dì (帝) by the Shang
and Tian (天 "Heaven") by the Zhou. Shangdi was conceived as the first ancestor of the
Shang royal house, an alternate name for him being the "Supreme Progenitor" (上甲
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Shàngjiǎ). In Shang theology, the multiplicity of gods of nature and ancestors were
viewed as parts of Di, and the four 方 fāng ("directions" or "sides") and their 風 fēng
("winds") as his cosmic will. With the Zhou dynasty, which overthrew the Shang, the
name for the supreme godhead became Tian (天 "Heaven"). While the Shang identified
Shangdi as their ancestor-god to assert their claim to power by divine right, the Zhou
transformed this claim into a legitimacy based on moral power, the Mandate of Heaven.
In Zhou theology, Tian had no singular earthly progeny, but bestowed divine favour on
virtuous rulers. Zhou kings declared that their victory over the Shang was because they
were virtuous and loved their people, while the Shang were tyrants and thus were
deprived of power by Tian.
John C. Didier and David Pankenier relate the shapes of both the ancient Chinese
characters for Di and Tian to the patterns of stars in the northern skies, either drawn, in
Didier's theory by connecting the constellations bracketing the north celestial pole as a
square, or in Pankenier's theory by connecting some of the stars which form the
constellations of the Big Dipper and broader Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor (Little Dipper).
Cultures in other parts of the world have also conceived these stars or constellations as
symbols of the origin of things, the supreme godhead, divinity and royal power.The
supreme godhead was also identified with the dragon, symbol of unlimited power (qi),
of the "protean" primordial power which embodies both yin and yang in unity,
associated to the constellation Draco which winds around the north ecliptic pole, and
slithers between the Little and Big Dipper.
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By the 6th century BCE the power of Tian and the symbols that represented it on earth
(architecture of cities, temples, altars and ritual cauldrons, and the Zhou ritual system)
became "diffuse" and claimed by different potentates in the Zhou states to legitimise
economic, political, and military ambitions. Divine right no longer was an exclusive
privilege of the Zhou royal house, but might be bought by anyone able to afford the
elaborate ceremonies and the old and new rites required to access the authority of
Tian.
Besides the waning Zhou ritual system, what may be defined as "wild" (野 yě)
traditions, or traditions "outside of the official system", developed as attempts to access
the will of Tian. The population had lost faith in the official tradition, which was no
longer perceived as an effective way to communicate with Heaven. The traditions of the
九野 ("Nine Fields") and of the Yijing flourished. Chinese thinkers, faced with this
challenge to legitimacy, diverged in a "Hundred Schools of Thought", each proposing its
own theories for the reconstruction of the Zhou moral order.
Confucius (551–479 BCE) appeared in this period of political decadence and spiritual
questioning. He was educated in Shang-Zhou theology, which he contributed to
transmit and reformulate giving centrality to self-cultivation and agency of humans, and
the educational power of the self-established individual in assisting others to establish
themselves (the principle of 愛人 àirén, "loving others"). As the Zhou reign collapsed,
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traditional values were abandoned resulting in a period of moral decline. Confucius saw
an opportunity to reinforce values of compassion and tradition into society. Disillusioned
with the widespread vulgarisation of the rituals to access Tian, he began to preach an
ethical interpretation of traditional Zhou religion. In his view, the power of Tian is
immanent, and responds positively to the sincere heart driven by humaneness and
rightness, decency and altruism. Confucius conceived these qualities as the foundation
needed to restore socio-political harmony. Like many contemporaries, Confucius saw
ritual practices as efficacious ways to access Tian, but he thought that the crucial knot
was the state of meditation that participants enter prior to engage in the ritual
acts.Confucius amended and recodified the classical books inherited from the Xia-
Shang-Zhou dynasties, and composed the Spring and Autumn Annals.
Philosophers in the Warring States period, both "inside the square" (focused on state-
endorsed ritual) and "outside the square" (non-aligned to state ritual) built upon
Confucius's legacy, compiled in the Analects, and formulated the classical metaphysics
that became the lash of Confucianism. In accordance with the Master, they identified
mental tranquility as the state of Tian, or the One (一 Yī), which in each individual is the
Heaven-bestowed divine power to rule one's own life and the world. Going beyond the
Master, they theorised the oneness of production and reabsorption into the cosmic
source, and the possibility to understand and therefore reattain it through meditation.
This line of thought would have influenced all Chinese individual and collective-political
mystical theories and practices thereafter.
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Organisation and liturgy
Confucius is worshiped as Wéndì (文帝), "God of Culture"
Since the 2000s, there has been a growing identification of the Chinese intellectual class
with Confucianism. In 2003, the Confucian intellectual Kang Xiaoguang published a
manifesto in which he made four suggestions: Confucian education should enter official
education at any level, from elementary to high school; the state should establish
Confucianism as the state religion by law; Confucian religion should enter the daily life
of ordinary people through standardisation and development of doctrines, rituals,
organisations, churches and activity sites; the Confucian religion should be spread
through non-governmental organisations. Another modern proponent of the
institutionalisation of Confucianism in a state church is Jiang Qing.
In 2005, the Center for the Study of Confucian Religion was established,and guoxue
started to be implemented in public schools on all levels. Being well received by the
population, even Confucian preachers have appeared on television since 2006. The
most enthusiastic New Confucians proclaim the uniqueness and superiority of Confucian
Chinese culture, and have generated some popular sentiment against Western cultural
influences in China.
The idea of a "Confucian Church" as the state religion of China has roots in the thought
of Kang Youwei, an exponent of the early New Confucian search for a regeneration of
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the social relevance of Confucianism, at a time when it was de-institutionalised with the
collapse of the Qing dynasty and the Chinese empire. Kang modeled his ideal
"Confucian Church" after European national Christian churches, as a hierarchic and
centralised institution, closely bound to the state, with local church branches, devoted
to the worship and the spread of the teachings of Confucius.
In contemporary China, the Confucian revival has developed into various interwoven
directions: the proliferation of Confucian schools or academies (shuyuan 书院), the
resurgence of Confucian rites (chuántǒng lǐyí 传统礼仪), and the birth of new forms of
Confucian activity on the popular level, such as the Confucian communities (shèqū
rúxué 社区儒学). Some scholars also consider the reconstruction of lineage churches
and their ancestral temples, as well as cults and temples of natural and national gods
within broader Chinese traditional religion, as part of the renewal of Confucianism.
Other forms of revival are salvationist folk religious movements groups with a
specifically Confucian focus, or Confucian churches, for example the Yidan xuetang (一
耽学堂) of Beijing,[80] the Mengmutang (孟母堂) of Shanghai,Confucian Shenism (儒宗
神教 Rúzōng Shénjiào) or the phoenix churches, the Confucian Fellowship (儒教道坛
Rújiào Dàotán) in northern Fujian which has spread rapidly over the years after its
foundation, and ancestral temples of the Kong kin (the lineage of the descendants of
Confucius himself) operating as Confucian-teaching churches.
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Also, the Hong Kong Confucian Academy, one of the direct heirs of Kang Youwei's
Confucian Church, has expanded its activities to the mainland, with the construction of
statues of Confucius, Confucian hospitals, restoration of temples and other activities.In
2009, Zhou Beichen founded another institution which inherits the idea of Kang
Youwei's Confucian Church, the Holy Hall of Confucius (孔圣堂 Kǒngshèngtáng) in
Shenzhen, affiliated with the Federation of Confucian Culture of Qufu City. It was the
first of a nationwide movement of congregations and civil organisations that was unified
in 2015 in the Holy Confucian Church (孔圣会 Kǒngshènghuì). The first spiritual leader
of the Holy Church is the renowned scholar Jiang Qing, the founder and manager of the
Yangming Confucian Abode (阳明精舍 Yángmíng jīngshě), a Confucian academy in
Guiyang, Guizhou.
Chinese folk religious temples and kinship ancestral shrines may, on peculiar occasions,
choose Confucian liturgy (called 儒 rú or 正统 zhèngtǒng, "orthopraxy") led by
Confucian ritual masters (礼生 lǐshēng) to worship the gods, instead of Taoist or popular
ritual. "Confucian businessmen" (儒商人 rúshāngrén, also "refined businessman") is a
recently rediscovered concept defining people of the economic-entrepreneurial elite who
recognise their social responsibility and therefore apply Confucian culture to their
business.
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Governance
Yushima Seidō in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
子曰：為政以德，譬如北辰，居其所而眾星共之。
The Master said, "He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be
compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards
it."
A key Confucian concept is that in order to govern others one must first govern oneself
according to the universal order. When actual, the king's personal virtue (de) spreads
beneficent influence throughout the kingdom. This idea is developed further in the
Great Learning, and is tightly linked with the Taoist concept of wu wei (无为; 無為; wú
wéi): the less the king does, the more gets done. By being the "calm center" around
which the kingdom turns, the king allows everything to function smoothly and avoids
having to tamper with the individual parts of the whole.
This idea may be traced back to the ancient shamanic beliefs of the king being the axle
between the sky, human beings, and the Earth. The emperors of China were considered
agents of Heaven, endowed with the Mandate of Heaven. They hold the power to
define the hierarchy of divinities, by bestowing titles upon mountains, rivers and dead
people, acknowledging them as powerful and therefore establishing their cults.
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Confucianism, despite supporting the importance of obeying national authority, places
this obedience under absolute moral principles that curbed the willful exercise of power,
rather than being unconditional. Submission to authority (tsun wang) was only taken
within the context of the moral obligations that rulers had toward their subjects, in
particular benevolence (jen). From the earliest periods of Confucianism, the Right of
revolution against tyranny was always recognised by Confucianism, including the most
pro-authoritarian scholars such as Xunzi.
Meritocracy
子曰：有教無類。
The Master said: "In teaching, there should be no distinction of classes."
Although Confucius claimed that he never invented anything but was only transmitting
ancient knowledge (Analects 7.1), he did produce a number of new ideas. Many
European and American admirers such as Voltaire and Herrlee G. Creel point to the
revolutionary idea of replacing nobility of blood with nobility of virtue. Jūnzǐ (君子, lit.
"lord's child"), which originally signified the younger, non-inheriting, offspring of a
noble, became, in Confucius's work, an epithet having much the same meaning and
evolution as the English "gentleman."
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A virtuous commoner who cultivates his qualities may be a "gentleman", while a
shameless son of the king is only a "small man." That he admitted students of different
classes as disciples is a clear demonstration that he fought against the feudal structures
that defined pre-imperial Chinese society.
Another new idea, that of meritocracy, led to the introduction of the imperial
examination system in China. This system allowed anyone who passed an examination
to become a government officer, a position which would bring wealth and honour to the
whole family. The Chinese imperial examination system started in the Sui dynasty. Over
the following centuries the system grew until finally almost anyone who wished to
become an official had to prove his worth by passing a set of written government
examinations. The practice of meritocracy still exists across China and East Asia today.
Influence
In 17th-century Europe
Life and Works of Confucius, by Prospero Intorcetta, 1687
The works of Confucius were translated into European languages through the agency of
Jesuit missionaries stationed in China. Matteo Ricci was among the very earliest to
report on the thoughts of Confucius, and father Prospero Intorcetta wrote about the life
and works of Confucius in Latin in 1687.
Translations of Confucian texts influenced European thinkers of the period, particularly
among the Deists and other philosophical groups of the Enlightenment who were
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interested by the integration of the system of morality of Confucius into Western
civilization.
Confucianism influenced the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who was
attracted to the philosophy because of its perceived similarity to his own. It is
postulated that certain elements of Leibniz's philosophy, such as "simple substance" and
"preestablished harmony," were borrowed from his interactions with Confucianism.The
French philosopher Voltaire was also influenced by Confucius, seeing the concept of
Confucian rationalism as an alternative to Christian dogma.He praised Confucian ethics
and politics, portraying the sociopolitical hierarchy of China as a model for Europe.
Confucius has no interest in falsehood; he did not pretend to be prophet; he claimed no
inspiration; he taught no new religion; he used no delusions; flattered not the emperor
under whom he lived...
— Voltaire
On Islamic thought
From the late 17th century onwards a whole body of literature known as the Han Kitab
developed amongst the Hui Muslims of China who infused Islamic thought with
Confucianism. Especially the works of Liu Zhi such as Tiānfāng Diǎnlǐ(天方典禮) sought
to harmonise Islam with not only Confucianism but also with Taoism and is considered
to be one of the crowning achievements of the Chinese Islamic culture.
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In modern times
Important military and political figures in modern Chinese history continued to be
influenced by Confucianism, like the Muslim warlord Ma Fuxiang. The New Life
Movement in the early 20th century was also influenced by Confucianism.
Referred to variously as the Confucian hypothesis and as a debated component of the
more all-encompassing Asian Development Model, there exists among political scientists
and economists a theory that Confucianism plays a large latent role in the ostensibly
non-Confucian cultures of modern-day East Asia, in the form of the rigorous work ethic
it endowed those cultures with. These scholars have held that, if not for Confucianism's
influence on these cultures, many of the people of the East Asia region would not have
been able to modernise and industrialise as quickly as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and even China have done.
For example, the impact of the Vietnam War on Vietnam was devastating, but over the
last few decades Vietnam has been re-developing in a very fast pace. Most scholars
attribute the origins of this idea to futurologist Herman Kahn's World Economic
Development: 1979 and Beyond.
Other studies, for example Cristobal Kay's Why East Asia Overtook Latin America:
Agrarian Reform, Industrialization, and Development, have attributed the Asian growth
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to other factors, for example the character of agrarian reforms, "state-craft" (state
capacity), and interaction between agriculture and industry.
On Chinese martial arts
After Confucianism had become the official 'state religion' in China, its influence
penetrated all walks of life and all streams of thought in Chinese society for the
generations to come. This did not exclude martial arts culture. Though in his own day,
Confucius had rejected the practice of Martial Arts (with the exception of Archery), he
did serve under rulers who used military power extensively to achieve their goals. In
later centuries, Confucianism heavily influenced many educated martial artists of great
influence, such as Sun Lutang, especially from the 19th century onwards, when bare-
handed martial arts in China became more widespread and had begun to more readily
absorb philosophical influences from Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. Some argue
therefore that despite Confucius's disdain with martial culture, his teachings became of
much relevance to it.
Criticism
Confucius and Confucianism were opposed or criticised from the start, including Laozi's
philosophy and Mozi's critique, and Legalists such as Han Fei ridiculed the idea that
virtue would lead people to be orderly. In modern times, waves of opposition and
vilification showed that Confucianism, instead of taking credit for the glories of Chinese
civilisation, now had to take blame for its failures. The Taiping Rebellion described
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Confucianism sages as well as gods in Taoism and Buddhism as devils. In the New
Culture Movement, Lu Xun criticised Confucianism for shaping Chinese people into the
condition they had reached by the late Qing Dynasty: his criticisms are dramatically
portrayed in "A Madman's Diary," which implies that Confucian society was cannibalistic.
Leftists during the Cultural Revolution described Confucius as the representative of the
class of slave owners.
In South Korea, there has long been criticism. Some South Koreans believe
Confucianism has not contributed to the modernisation of South Korea. For example,
South Korean writer Kim Kyong-il wrote an essay[when?] entitled "Confucius Must Die
For the Nation to Live" (공자가 죽어야 나라가 산다, gongjaga jug-eoya naraga sanda).
Kim said that filial piety is one-sided and blind, and if it continues, social problems will
continue as government keeps forcing Confucian filial obligations onto families.
Women in Confucian thought
Confucianism "largely defined the mainstream discourse on gender in China from the
Han dynasty onward. The gender roles prescribed in the Three Obediences and Four
Virtues became a cornerstone of the family, and thus, societal stability. Starting from
the Han period, Confucians began to teach that a virtuous woman was supposed to
follow the males in her family: the father before her marriage, the husband after she
marries, and her sons in widowhood. In the later dynasties, more emphasis was placed
on the virtue of chastity. The Song dynasty Confucian Cheng Yi stated that: "To starve
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to death is a small matter, but to lose one's chastity is a great matter. Chaste widows
were revered and memorialised during the Ming and Qing periods. This "cult of
chastity" accordingly condemned many widows to poverty and loneliness by placing a
social stigma on remarriage.
For years, many modern scholars have regarded Confucianism as a sexist, patriarchal
ideology that was historically damaging to Chinese women. It has also been argued by
some Chinese and Western writers that the rise of neo-Confucianism during the Song
dynasty had led to a decline of status of women. Some critics have also accused the
prominent Song neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi for believing in the inferiority of women
and that men and women need to be kept strictly separate, while Sima Guang also
believed that women should remain indoors and not deal with the matters of men in the
outside world. Finally, scholars have discussed the attitudes toward women in
Confucian texts such as Analects. In a much-discussed passage, women are grouped
together with xiaoren (小人, literally "small people", meaning people of low status or
low moral) and described as being difficult to cultivate or deal with. Many traditional
commentators and modern scholars have debated over the precise meaning of the
passage, and whether Confucius referred to all women or just certain groups of women.
Further analysis suggests, however, that women's place in Confucian society may be
more complex.During the Han dynasty period, the influential Confucian text Lessons for
Women (Nüjie), was written by Ban Zhao (45–114 CE) to instruct her daughters how to
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be proper Confucian wives and mothers, that is, to be silent, hard-working, and
compliant. She stresses the complementarity and equal importance of the male and
female roles according to yin-yang theory, but she clearly accepts the dominance of the
male. However, she does present education and literary power as important for women.
In later dynasties, a number of women took advantage of the Confucian
acknowledgment of education to become independent in thought.
Joseph A. Adler points out that "Neo-Confucian writings do not necessarily reflect either
the prevailing social practices or the scholars' own attitudes and practices in regard to
actual women." Matthew Sommers has also indicated that the Qing dynasty
government began to realise the utopian nature of enforcing the "cult of chastity" and
began to allow practices such as widow remarrying to stand. Moreover, some Confucian
texts like the Chunqiu Fanlu 春秋繁露 have passages that suggest a more equal
relationship between a husband and his wife. More recently, some scholars have also
begun to discuss the viability of constructing a "Confucian feminism".
Catholic controversy over Chinese rites
Ever since Europeans first encountered Confucianism, the issue of how Confucianism
should be classified has been subject to debate. In the 16th and the 17th centuries, the
earliest European arrivals in China, the Christian Jesuits, considered Confucianism to be
an ethical system, not a religion, and one that was compatible with Christianity.The
Jesuits, including Matteo Ricci, saw Chinese rituals as "civil rituals" that could co-exist
alongside the spiritual rituals of Catholicis
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By the early 18th century, this initial portrayal was rejected by the Dominicans and
Franciscans, creating a dispute among Catholics in East Asia that was known as the
"Rites Controversy."The Dominicans and Franciscans argued that Chinese ancestral
worship was a form of idolatry that was contradictory to the tenets of Christianity. This
view was reinforced by Pope Benedict XIV, who ordered a ban on Chinese rituals,
though this ban was re-assessed and repealed in 1939 by Pope Pius XII, provided that
such traditions harmonize with the true and authentic spirit of the liturgy.
Some critics view Confucianism as definitely pantheistic and nontheistic, in that it is not
based on the belief in the supernatural or in a personal god existing separate from the
temporal plane.Confucius views about Tiān 天 and about the divine providence ruling
the world, can be found above and in Analects 6:26, 7:22, and 9:12, for example. On
spirituality, Confucius said to Chi Lu, one of his students: "You are not yet able to serve
men, how can you serve spirits?" Attributes such as ancestor worship, ritual, and
sacrifice were advocated by Confucius as necessary for social harmony; these attributes
may be traced to the traditional Chinese folk religion.
Scholars recognise that classification ultimately depends on how one defines religion.
Using stricter definitions of religion, Confucianism has been described as a moral
science or philosophy.But using a broader definition, such as Frederick Streng's
characterisation of religion as "a means of ultimate transformation,"Confucianism could
be described as a "sociopolitical doctrine having religious qualities."With the latter
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definition, Confucianism is religious, even if non-theistic, in the sense that it "performs
some of the basic psycho-social functions of full-fledged religions."
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. After reading the discussion on Confucianism philosophy or religion.
What are the things that struct your attention and give your impression
about those followers that believed on it.
Research the meaning of the following concepts
Chinese folk religion, Confucian art, Confucian church, Confucian view of
marriage, Confucianism in Indonesia, Confucianism in the United States
Edo Neo-Confucianism, Family as a model for the state, Chinese cultrue
Taoism, Sinology, Confucius Institute, List of Confucian states and
dynasties
Neo-Confucianism, Radical orthodoxy, Religious humanism, Temple of
Confucius, Korean Confucianism, Korean shamanism, Vietnamese folk
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religion, Vietnamese philosophy
Reference
Confucianism - Wikipedia retrieved August 27, 2021
Lesson 20. Shintoism
Pre-activity
Let us learn one the notable religion founded in Asia and that is Shintoism.
Activity Proper
Shinto
The torii gateway to the Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Torii mark
the entrance to Shinto shrines and are recognizable symbols of the religion.
Shinto (Japanese: 神道, romanized: Shintō) is a religion which originated in Japan.
Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard
it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its
practitioners Shintoists, although adherents rarely use that term themselves. There is
no central authority in control of Shinto and much diversity exists among practitioners.
Shinto is polytheistic and revolves around the kami ("gods" or "spirits"), supernatural
entities believed to inhabit all things. The link between the kami and the natural world
has led to Shinto being considered animistic and pantheistic. The kami are worshiped at
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kamidana household shrines, family shrines, and jinja public shrines. The latter are
staffed by priests, known as kannushi, who oversee offerings of food and drink to the
specific kami enshrined at that location. This is done to cultivate harmony between
humans and kami and to solicit the latter's blessing. Other common rituals include the
kagura dances, rites of passage, and seasonal festivals. Public shrines also supply
religious paraphernalia such as amulets to the religion's adherents. Shinto does not
emphasize specific moral codes although it places a major conceptual focus on ensuring
purity, largely by cleaning practices such as ritual washing and bathing. Shinto has no
single creator or specific doctrinal text, but exists in a diverse range of local and
regional forms.
Although historians debate at what point it is suitable to refer to Shinto as a distinct
religion, kami veneration has been traced back to Japan's Yayoi period (300 BCE to 300
CE). Buddhism entered Japan at the end of the Kofun period (300 to 538 CE) and
spread rapidly. Religious syncretization made kami worship and Buddhism functionally
inseparable, a process called shinbutsu-shūgō. The kami came to be viewed as part of
Buddhist cosmology and were increasingly depicted anthropomorphically. The earliest
written tradition regarding kami worship was recorded in the 8th-century Kojiki and
Nihon Shoki. In ensuing centuries, shinbutsu-shūgō was adopted by Japan's Imperial
household. During the Meiji era (1868 to 1912 CE), Japan's nationalist leadership
expelled Buddhist influence from kami worship and formed State Shinto, which many
historians regard as the origin of Shinto as a distinct religion. Shrines came under
growing government influence and citizens were encouraged to worship the emperor as
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a kami. With the formation of the Japanese Empire in the early 20th century, Shinto
was exported to other areas of East Asia. Following Japan's defeat in World War II,
Shinto was formally separated from the state.
Shinto is primarily found in Japan, where there are around 100,000 public shrines,
although practitioners are also found abroad. Numerically, it is Japan's largest religion,
the second being Buddhism. Most of the country's population takes part in both Shinto
and Buddhist activities, especially festivals, reflecting a common view in Japanese
culture that the beliefs and practices of different religions need not be exclusive.
Aspects of Shinto have also been incorporated into various Japanese new religious
movements.
Definition
A torii gateway to the Yobito Shrine (Yobito-jinja) in Abashiri City, Hokkaido
There is no universally agreed definition of Shinto. However, the authors Joseph Cali
and John Dougill stated that if there was "one single, broad definition of Shinto" that
could be put forward, it would be that "Shinto is a belief in kami", the supernatural
entities at the centre of the religion. The Japanologist Helen Hardacre stated that
"Shinto encompasses doctrines, institutions, ritual, and communal life based on kami
worship", while the scholar of religion Inoue Nobutaka observed the term was "often
used" in "reference to kami worship and related theologies, rituals and practices."
Various scholars have referred to practitioners of Shinto as Shintoists, although this
term has no direct translation in the Japanese language.
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Scholars have debated at what point in history it is legitimate to start talking about
Shinto as a specific phenomenon. The scholar of religion Ninian Smart for instance
suggested that one could "speak of the kami religion of Japan, which lived symbiotically
with organized Buddhism, and only later was institutionalized as Shinto." While various
institutions and practices now associated with Shinto existed in Japan by the 8th
century, various scholars have argued that Shinto as a distinct religion was essentially
"invented" during the 19th century, in Japan's Meiji era. The scholar of religion Brian
Bocking stressed that, especially when dealing with periods before the Meiji era, the
term Shinto should "be approached with caution". Inoue Nobutaka stated that "Shinto
cannot be considered as a single religious system that existed from the ancient to the
modern period", while the historian Kuroda Toshio noted that "before modern times
Shinto did not exist as an independent religion".
Categorization
Many scholars describe Shinto as a religion. However, some practitioners prefer to view
Shinto as a "way", thus characterising it more as custom or tradition than religion,partly
as a pretence for attempting to circumvent the modern Japanese separation of religion
and state and restore Shinto's historical links with the Japanese state.Moreover, religion
as a concept arose in Europe and many of the connotations that the term has in
Western culture "do not readily apply" to Shinto.Unlike religions familiar in Western
countries, such as Christianity and Islam, Shinto has no single founder, nor any single
canonical text. Western religions tend to stress exclusivity, but in Japan, it has long
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been considered acceptable to practice different religious traditions
simultaneously.Japanese religion is therefore highly pluralistic.Shinto is often cited
alongside Buddhism as one of Japan's two main religions, and the two often differ in
focus, with Buddhism emphasising the idea of transcending the cosmos, which it
regards as being replete with suffering, while Shinto focuses on adapting to the
pragmatic requirements of life. Shinto has integrated elements from religious traditions
imported into Japan from mainland Asia, such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and
Chinese divination practices. It bears many similarities with other East Asian religions, in
particular through its belief in many deities.
Some scholars suggest we talk about types of Shintō such as popular Shintō, folk
Shintō, domestic Shintō, sectarian Shintō, imperial house Shintō, shrine Shintō, state
Shintō, new Shintō religions, etc. rather than regard Shintō as a single entity. This
approach can be helpful but begs the question of what is meant by 'Shintō' in each
case, particularly since each category incorporates or has incorporated Buddhist,
Confucian, Taoist, folk religious and other elements.
Scholars of religion have debated how to classify Shinto. Inoue considered it part of
"the family of East-Asian religions". The philosopher Stuart D. B. Picken suggested that
Shinto be classed as a world religion,while the historian H. Byron Earhart called it a
"major religion". In the early 21st century it became increasingly common for
practitioners to call Shinto a nature religion. It is also often described as an indigenous
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religion, although this generates debates over the various different definitions of
"indigenous" in the Japanese context. The notion of Shinto as Japan's "indigenous
religion" stemmed from the growth of modern nationalism in the Edo period to the Meiji
era;this view promoted the idea that Shinto's origins were prehistoric and that it
represented something like the "underlying will of Japanese culture". The prominent
Shinto theologian Sokyo Ono, for instance, said kami worship was "an expression" of
the Japanese "native racial faith which arose in the mystic days of remote antiquity"
and that it was "as indigenous as the people that brought the Japanese nation into
existence". Many scholars regard this classification as inaccurate. Earhart noted that
Shinto, in having absorbed much Chinese and Buddhist influence, was "too complex to
be labelled simply" as an "indigenous religion".
There is substantial local variation in how Shinto is practiced; the anthropologist John K.
Nelson noted it was "not a unified, monolithic entity that has a single center and system
all its own". Different types of Shinto have been identified. "Shrine Shinto" refers to the
practices centred around shrines, and "Domestic Shinto" to the ways in which kami are
venerated in the home. Some scholars have used the term "Folk Shinto" to designate
localised Shinto practices,or practices outside of an institutionalised setting. In various
eras of the past, there was also a "State Shinto", in which Shinto beliefs and practices
were closely interlinked with the Japanese state. In representing "a portmanteau term"
for many varied traditions across Japan, the term "Shinto" is similar to the term
"Hinduism", used to describe varied traditions across South Asia.
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Etymology
A torii gate at the Takachiho-gawara shrine near Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture,
which is associated with the mythological tale of Ninigi-no-Mikoto's descent to earth.
The term Shinto is often translated into English as "the way of the kami",[40] although
its meaning has varied throughout Japanese history.Other terms are sometimes used
synonymously with "Shinto"; these include kami no michi (神の道, "the way of the
kami"), kannagara no michi (神ながらの道, also written 随神の道 or 惟神の道, "the way
of the kami from time immemorial"), Kodō (古道, "the ancient way"), Daidō (大道, "the
great way"), and Teidō (帝道, "the imperial way").
The term Shinto derives from the combination of two Chinese characters: shen (神),
which means "spirit," and dao (道), which means "way", "road" or "path". The Chinese
term Shendao was originally adopted into Japanese as Jindō; this was possibly first
used as a Buddhist term to refer to non-Buddhist deities.Among the earliest known
appearances of the term Shinto in Japan is in the 8th-century text, Nihon Shoki. Here, it
may be a generic term for popular belief, or alternatively reference Taoism, as many
Taoist practices had recently been imported from mainland Asia.In these early Japanese
uses, the word Shinto did not apply to a distinct religious tradition nor to anything
uniquely Japanese; the 11th century Konjaku monogatarishui for instance refers to a
woman in China practicing Shinto, and also to people in India worshipping kami,
indicating these terms were being used to describe religions outside Japan itself.
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In medieval Japan, kami-worship was generally seen as being part of Japanese
Buddhism, with the kami themselves often interpreted as Buddhas. At this point, the
term Shinto increasingly referred to "the authority, power, or activity of a kami, being a
kami, or, in short, the state or attributes of a kami." It appears in this form in texts such
as Nakatomi no harai kunge and Shintōshū tales. In the Japanese Portuguese
Dictionary of 1603, Shinto is defined as referring to "kami or matters pertaining to
kami." The term Shinto became common in the 15th century. During the late Edo
period, the kokugaku scholars began using the term Shinto to describe what they
believed was an ancient, enduring and indigenous Japanese tradition that predated
Buddhism; they argued that Shinto should be used to distinguish kami worship from
traditions like Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.This use of the term Shinto became
increasingly popular from the 18th century.The term Shinto has been commonly used
only since the early 20th century, when it superseded the term taikyō ('great religion')
as the name for the Japanese state religion.
Beliefs
Kami
An artistic depiction of the kami Inari appearing to a man
Shinto is polytheistic, involving the veneration of many deities known as kami,or
sometimes as jingi. As is often the case in the Japanese language, no distinction is
made here between singular and plural, and hence the term kami refers both to
individual kami and the collective group of kami. Although lacking a direct English
translation, kami has sometimes been rendered as "god" or "spirit"; the historian of
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religion Joseph Kitagawa stated that these English translations were "quite
unsatisfactory and misleading",and various scholars urge against translating kami into
English.In Japanese, it is often said that there are eight million kami,and Shinto
practitioners believe that they are present everywhere. They are not regarded as
omnipotent, omniscient, or necessarily immortal.
The term kami is "conceptually fluid", and "vague and imprecise". In Japanese it is
often applied to the power of phenomena that inspire a sense of wonder and awe in the
beholder. Kitagawa referred to this as "the kami nature", stating that he thought it
"somewhat analogous" to the Western ideas of the numinous and the sacred. Kami are
seen to inhabit both the living and the dead, organic and inorganic matter, and natural
disasters like earthquakes, droughts, and plagues; their presence is seen in natural
forces such as the wind, rain, fire, and sunshine. Accordingly, Nelson commented that
Shinto regards "the actual phenomena of the world itself" as being "divine". The Shinto
understanding of kami has also been characterised as being both pantheistic, and
animistic.
In Japan, kami have been venerated since prehistory, and in the Yayoi period were
regarded as being formless and invisible. It was only under the influence of Buddhism
that they were depicted anthropomorphically; statues of the kami are known as shinzo.
Kami are usually associated with a specific place, often one that is noted as a prominent
feature in the landscape such as a waterfall, volcano, large rock, or distinctive tree.
Physical objects or places in which the kami are believed to have a presence are termed
shintai;objects inhabited by the kami that are placed in the shrine are known as go-
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shintai.Objects commonly chosen for this purpose include mirrors, swords, stones,
beads, and inscribed tablets. These go-shintai are concealed from the view of
visitors,and may be hidden inside boxes so that even the priests do not know what they
look like.
Kami are believed to be capable of both benevolent and destructive deeds; if warnings
about good conduct are ignored, the kami can mete out punishment called shinbatsu,
often taking the form of illness or sudden death. Some kami, referred to as the
magatsuhi-no-kami or araburu kami, are regarded as being essentially malevolent and
destructive. Offerings and prayers are given to the kami to gain their blessings and to
dissuade them from engaging in destructive actions. Shinto seeks to cultivate and
ensure a harmonious relationship between humans and the kami and thus with the
natural world. More localised kami may be subject to feelings of intimacy and familiarity
from members of the local community that are not directed towards more widespread
kami like Amaterasu. The kami of a particular community is referred to it as their
ujigami, while that of a particular house is the yashikigami.
Kami are not understood as being metaphysically different from humanity, with it being
possible for humans to become kami. Dead humans are sometimes venerated as kami,
being regarded as protector or ancestral figures. One of the most prominent examples
is that of the Emperor Ōjin, who on his death was enshrined as the kami Hachiman,
believed to be a protector of Japan and a kami of war. In Japanese culture, ancestors
can be viewed as a form of kami. In Western Japan, the term jigami is used to describe
the enshrined kami of a village founder. In some cases, living human beings were also
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viewed as kami;these were called akitsumi kami or arahito-gami. In the State Shinto
system of the Meiji era, the emperor of Japan was declared to be a kami,while several
Shinto sects have also viewed their leaders as living kami.
Although some kami are venerated only in a single location, others have shrines
devoted to them across many areas of Japan.Hachiman for instance has around 25,000
shrines dedicated to him.The act of establishing a new shrine to a kami who already
has one is called bunrei ("dividing the spirit"). As part of this, the kami is invited to
enter a new place, where it can be venerated, with the instalment ceremony being
known as a kanjo. The new, subsidiary shrine is known as a bunsha. Individual kami
are not believed to have their power diminished by their residence in multiple locations,
and there is no limit on the number of places a kami can be enshrined. In some
periods, fees were charged for the right to enshrine a particular kami in a new place.
Shrines are not necessarily always designed as permanent structures.
Many kami are believed to have messengers, known as kami no tsukai or tsuka
washime, and these are generally depicted as taking animal forms. The messenger of
Inari, for example, is depicted as a fox (kitsune), while the messenger of Hachiman is a
dove. Shinto cosmology also includes bakemono, spirits who cause malevolent acts.
Bakemono include oni, tengu, kappa, mononoke, and yamanba. Japanese folklore also
incorporates belief in the goryō or onryō, unquiet or vengeful spirits, particularly of
those who have died violently and without appropriate funerary rites. These are
believed to inflict suffering on the living, meaning that they must be pacified, usually
through Buddhist rites but sometimes through enshrining them as a kami.Other
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Japanese supernatural figures include the tanuki, animal like creatures who can take
human form.
Cosmology and afterlife
Amenominakanushi and Japanese creation myth
Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanagi-no-Mikoto, by Kobayashi Eitaku, late 19th century
The origin of the kami and of Japan itself are recounted in two eighth-century texts,
Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, although the accounts they provide differ in part. Drawing
heavily on Chinese influence,these texts were commissioned by ruling elites to
legitimize and consolidate their rule. Although never of great importance to Japanese
religious life, in the early 20th century the government proclaimed that their accounts
were factual.
The Kojiki recounts that the universe started with ame-tsuchi, the separation of light
and pure elements (ame, "heaven") from heavy elements (tsuchi, "earth"). Three kami
then appeared: Amenominakanushi, Takamimusuhi no Mikoto, and Kamimusuhi no
Mikoto. Other kami followed, including a brother and sister, Izanagi and Izanami.The
kami instructed Izanagi and Izanami to create land on earth. To this end, the siblings
stirred the briny sea with a jewelled spear, from which Onogoro Island was formed.
Izanagi and Izanami then descended to Earth, where the latter gave birth to further
kami. One of these was a fire kami, whose birth killed Izanami. Izanagi then descended
to the netherworld (yomi) to retrieve his sister, but there he saw her body putrefying.
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Embarrassed to be seen in this state, she chased him out of yomi, and he closed its
entrance with a boulder.
Izanagi bathed in the sea to rid himself from the pollution brought about by witnessing
Izanami's putrefaction. Through this act, further kami emerged from his body:
Amaterasu (the sun kami) was born from his left eye, Tsukuyomi (the moon kami) from
his right eye, and Susanoo (the storm kami) from his nose.Susanoo behaved in a
destructive manner, and to escape him Amaterasu hid herself within a cave, plunging
the earth into darkness. The other kami eventually succeeded in coaxing her
out.Susanoo was then banished to earth, where he married and had children.According
to the Kojiki, Amaterasu then sent her grandson, Ninigi, to rule Japan, giving him
curved beads, a mirror, and a sword: the symbols of Japanese imperial authority.
In Shinto, the creative principle permeating all life is known as musubi, and is
associated with its own kami. Within traditional Japanese thought, there is no concept
of an overarching duality between good and evil.The concept of aki encompasses
misfortune, unhappiness, and disaster, although does not correspond precisely with the
Western concept of evil. There is no eschatology in Shinto. There is a belief in a human
spirit or soul, called the mitama or tamashii, which contains four aspects.
Texts such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki attest to the presence of multiple realms in
Shinto cosmology.These present a universe divided into three parts: the Plain of High
Heaven (Takama-no-hara), where the kami live; the Phenomenal or Manifested World
(Utsushi-yo), where humans dwell; and the Nether World (Yomotsu-kuni), where
unclean spirits reside.The mythological texts nevertheless do not draw firm
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demarcations between these realms. Shinto places greater emphasis on this life than on
any afterlife. As the historian of religion Joseph Kitagawa noted, "Japanese religion has
been singularly preoccupied with this world, with its emphasis on finding ways to
cohabit with the kami and with other human beings". Mythological stories describe
yomi-no-kuni as a realm of the dead, while another belief formerly widespread in Japan
was that the spirits of the dead resided in the mountains, from where they would
descend to take part in agricultural events. A common view among Shinto priests is that
the dead continue to inhabit our world and work towards the prosperity of their
descendants and the land.
Purity and impurity
A key theme in Shinto is the avoidance of kegare ("pollution" or "impurity"), while
ensuring harae ("purity"). In Japanese thought, humans are seen as fundamentally
pure.Kegare is therefore seen as being a temporary condition that can be corrected
through achieving harae. Rites of purification are conducted so as to restore an
individual to "spiritual" health and render them useful to society.
This notion of purity is present in many facets of Japanese culture, such as the focus it
places on bathing. Purification is for instance regarded as important in preparation for
the planting season, while performers of noh theatre undergo a purification rite before
they carry out their performances.Among the things regarded as particular pollutants in
Shinto are death, disease, witchcraft, the flaying alive of an animal, incest, bestiality,
excrement, and blood associated with either menstruation or childbirth. To avoid
kegare, priests and other practitioners may engage in abstinence and avoid various
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activities prior to a festival or ritual.Various words, termed imi-kotoba, are also regarded
as taboo, and people avoid speaking them when at a shrine; these include shi (death),
byō (illness), and shishi (meat).
A purification ceremony known as misogi involves the use of fresh water, salt water, or
salt to remove kegare.Full immersion in the sea is often regarded as the most ancient
and efficacious form of purification. This act links with the mythological tale in which
Izanagi immersed himself in the sea to purify himself after discovering his deceased
wife; it was from this act that other kami sprang from his body.An alternative is
immersion beneath a waterfall. Salt is often regarded as a purifying substance; some
Shinto practitioners will for instance sprinkle salt on themselves after a funeral,while
those running restaurants may put a small pile of salt outside before business
commences each day. Fire, also, is perceived as a source of purification. The yaku-barai
is a form of harae designed to prevent misfortune, while the oharae, or "ceremony of
great purification", is often used for end-of-year purification rites, and is conducted
twice a year at many shrines. Before the Meiji period, rites of purification were
generally performed by onmyōji, a type of diviner whose practices derived from the
Chinese yin and yang philosophy.
Kannagara, morality, and ethics
In Shinto, kannagara ("way of the kami") describes the law of the natural order.Shinto
incorporates morality tales and myths but no overarching, codified ethical doctrine;
Offner noted that Shinto specified no "unified, systematized code of behaviour". Its
views of kannagara influence certain ethical views, focused on sincerity (makoto) and
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honesty (tadashii). Makoto is regarded as a cardinal virtue in Japanese religion more
broadly. Shinto sometimes includes reference to four virtues known as the akaki kiyoki
kokoro or sei-mei-shin, meaning "purity and cheerfulness of heart", which are linked to
the state of harae.Offner believed that in Shinto, ideas about goodness linked to "that
which possesses, or relates to, beauty, brightness, excellence, good fortune, nobility,
purity, suitability, harmony, conformity, [and] productivity." Shojiki is regarded as a
virtue, encompassing honesty, uprightness, veracity, and frankness. Shinto's flexibility
regarding morality and ethics has been a source of frequent criticism, especially from
those arguing that the religion can readily become a pawn for those wishing to use it to
legitimise their authority and power.
Throughout Japanese history, the notion of saisei-itchi, or the union of religious
authority and political authority, has long been prominent.Cali and Dougill noted that
Shinto had long been associated with "an insular and protective view" of Japanese
society.They added that in the modern world, Shinto tends toward conservatism and
nationalism. In the late 1990s, Bocking noted that "an apparently regressive nationalism
still seems the natural ally of some central elements" of Shinto.As a result of these
associations, Shinto is still viewed suspiciously by various civil liberties groups in Japan
and by many of Japan's neighbors.
Shinto priests may face various ethical conundrums. In the 1980s, for instance, the
priests at the Suwa Shrine in Nagasaki debated whether to invite the crew of a U.S.
Navy vessel docked at the port city to their festival celebrations given the sensitivities
surrounding the 1945 U.S. use of the atomic bomb on the city. In other cases, priests
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have opposed construction projects on shrine-owned land, sometimes putting them at
odds with other interest groups. At Kaminoseki in the early 2000s, a priest opposed the
sale of shrine lands to build a nuclear power plant; he was eventually pressured to
resign over the issue. Another issue of considerable debate has been the activities of
the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. The shrine is devoted to Japan's war dead, and in 1979 it
enshrined 14 men, including Hideki Tojo, who had been declared Class-A defendants at
the 1946 Tokyo War Crimes Trials. This generated both domestic and international
condemnation, particularly from China and Korea.
In the 21st century, Shinto has increasingly been portrayed as a nature-centred
spirituality with environmentalist credentials. Shinto shrines have increasingly
emphasised the preservation of the forests surrounding many of them, and several
shrines have collaborated with local environmentalist campaigns. In 2014, an
international interreligious conference on environmental sustainability was held at the
Ise shrine, attended by United Nations representatives and around 700 Shinto priests.
Critical commentators have characterised the presentation of Shinto as an
environmentalist movement as a rhetorical ploy rather than a concerted effort by Shinto
institutions to become environmentally sustainable.The scholar Aike P. Rots suggested
that the repositioning of Shinto as a "nature religion" may have grown in popularity as a
means of disassociating the religion from controversial issues "related to war memory
and imperial patronage."
Practice
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Shinto tends to focus on ritual behavior rather than doctrine. The philosophers James
W. Boyd and Ron G. Williams stated that Shinto is "first and foremost a ritual tradition",
while Picken observed that "Shinto is interested not in credenda but in agenda, not in
things that should be believed but in things that should be done."The scholar of religion
Clark B. Offner stated that Shinto's focus was on "maintaining communal, ceremonial
traditions for the purpose of human (communal) well-being". It is often difficult to
distinguish Shinto practices from Japanese customs more broadly, with Picken
observing that the "worldview of Shinto" provided the "principal source of self-
understanding within the Japanese way of life". Nelson stated that "Shinto-based
orientations and values lie at the core of Japanese culture, society, and character".
Shrines
Public spaces in which the kami are worshipped are often known under the generic
term jinja ("kami-place");term applies to the location rather than to a specific building.
Jinja is usually translated as "shrine" in English, although in earlier literature was
sometimes translated as "temple", a term now more commonly reserved for Japan's
Buddhist structures. There are around 100,000 public shrines in Japan; about 80,000
are affiliated with the Association of Shinto Shrines, with another 20,000 being
unaffiliated. They are found all over the country, from isolated rural areas to dense
metropolitan ones More specific terms are sometimes used for certain shrines
depending on their function; some of the grand shrines with imperial associations are
termed jingū, those devoted to the war dead are termed shokonsha, and those linked
to mountains deemed to be inhabited by kami are yama-miya.
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The architectural styles of Shinto shrines had largely developed by the Heian period.The
inner sanctuary in which the kami is believed to live is known as a honden.Inside the
honden may be stored material regarded as belonging to the kami; known as shinpo,
this can include artworks, clothing, weapons, musical instruments, bells, and
mirrors.Typically, worshippers carry out their acts outside of the honden. Near the
honden can sometimes be found a subsidiary shrine, the bekkū, to another kami; the
kami inhabiting this shrine is not necessarily perceived as being inferior to that in the
honden. At some places, halls of worship have been erected, termed haiden. On a
lower level can be found the hall of offerings, known as a heiden. Together, the
building housing the honden, haiden, and heiden is called a hongū.In some shrines,
there is a separate building in which to conduct additional ceremonies, such as
weddings, known as a gishikiden, or a specific building in which the kagura dance is
performed, known as the kagura-den. Collectively, the central buildings of a shrine are
known as the shaden,while its precincts are known as the keidaichi or shin'en. This
precinct is surrounded by the tamagaki fence, with entry via a shinmon gate, which can
be closed at night.
Shrine entrances are marked by a two-post gateway with either one or two crossbeams
atop it, known as torii. The exact details of these torii varies and there are at least
twenty different styles.These are regarded as demarcating the area where the kami
resides; passing under them is often viewed as a form of purification.More broadly, torii
are internationally recognised symbols of Japan. Their architectural form is distinctly
Japanese, although the decision to paint most of them in vermillion reflects a Chinese
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influence dating from the Nara period. Also set at the entrances to many shrines are
komainu, statues of lion or dog like animals perceived to scare off malevolent spirits;
typically these will come as a pair, one with its mouth open, the other with its mouth
closed.
Shrines are often set within gardens, even in cities. Others are surrounded by wooded
groves, referred to as chinju no mori ("forest of the tutelary kami"). These vary in size,
from just a few trees to sizeable areas of woodland stretching over mountain
slopes.Large lanterns, known as tōrō, are often found within these precincts.Shrines
often have an office, known as a shamusho, a saikan where priests undergo forms of
abstinence and purification prior to conducting rituals, and other buildings such as a
priests' quarters and a storehouse. Various kiosks often sell amulets to visitors. Since
the late 1940s, shrines have had to be financially self-sufficient, relying on the
donations of worshippers and visitors. These funds are used to pay the wages of the
priests, to finance the upkeep of the buildings, to cover the shrine's membership fees of
various regional and national Shinto groups, and to contribute to disaster relief funds.
In Shinto, it is seen as important that the places in which kami are venerated be kept
clean and not neglected.Through to the Edo period, it was common for kami shrines to
be demolished and rebuilt at a nearby location in order to remove any pollutants and
ensure purity. This has continued into recent times at certain sites, such as the Ise
Grand Shrine, which is moved to an adjacent site every two decades.Separate shrines
can also be merged in a process known as jinja gappei, while the act of transferring the
kami from one building to another is called sengu. Shrines may have legends about
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their foundation, which are known as en-gi. These sometimes also record miracles
associated with the shrine. From the Heian period on, the en-gi were often retold on
picture scrolls known as emakimono.
Priesthood and miko
Shrines may be cared for by priests, by local communities, or by families on whose
property the shrine is found. Shinto priests are known in Japanese as kannushi,
meaning "proprietor of kami", or alternatively as shinshoku or shinkan. Many kannushi
take on the role in a line of hereditary succession traced down specific families. In
contemporary Japan, there are two main training universities for those wishing to
become kannushi, at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo and at Kogakkan University in Mie
Prefecture. Priests can rise through the ranks over the course of their careers. The
number of priests at a particular shrine can vary; some shrines can have over 12
priests, and others have none, instead being administered by local lay volunteers. Some
priests earn a living administering to multiple small shrines, sometimes over ten or
more.
Priestly costume is largely based on the clothes worn at the imperial court during the
Heian period.It includes a tall, rounded hat known as an eboshi, and black lacquered
wooden clogs known as asagutsu.The outer garment worn by a priest, usually colored
black, red, or light blue, is the hō, or the ikan. A white silk version of the ikan, used for
formal occasions, is known as the saifuku. Another priestly robe is the kariginu, which is
modeled on heian-style hunting garments. Also part of standard priestly attire is a hiōgi
fan, while during rituals, priests carry a flat piece of wood known as a shaku. This
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costume is generally more ornate than the sombre garments worn by Japanese
Buddhist monks.
The chief priest at a shrine is known as a gūji. Larger shrines may also have an
assistant head priest, the gon-gūji.As with teachers, instructors, and Buddhist clergy,
Shinto priests are often referred to as sensei by lay practitioners.Historically, there were
various female priests although they were largely pushed out of their positions in 1868.
During the Second World War, women were again allowed to become priests to fill the
void caused by large numbers of men being enlisted in the military. In the early 21st
century, male priests have still dominated Shinto institutions.Male priests are free to
marry and have children. At smaller shrines, priests often have other full-time jobs, and
serve only as priests during special occasions.Before certain major festivals, priests may
undergo a period of abstinence from sexual relations. Some of those involved in
festivals also abstain from a range of other things, such as consuming tea, coffee, or
alcohol, immediately prior to the events.
The priests are assisted by jinja miko, sometimes referred to as "shrine-maidens" in
English.These miko are typically unmarried, although not necessarily virgins. In many
cases they are the daughters of a priest or a practitioner. They are subordinate to the
priests in the shrine hierarchy. Their most important role is in the kagura dance, known
as otome-mai. Miko receive only a small salary but gain respect from members of the
local community and learn skills such as cooking, calligraphy, painting, and etiquette
which can benefit them when later searching for employment or a marriage
partner.They generally do not live at the shrines.Sometimes they fill other roles, such as
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being secretaries in the shrine offices or clerks at the information desks, or as
waitresses at the naorai feasts. They also assist Kannushi in ceremonial rites.
Visits to shrines
A generic name for a visit to the shrine, whether on a pilgrimage or as part of a regular
activity, is sankei. Individual worship conducted at a shrine is known as hairei. A visit to
a shrine, which is known as jinja mairi in Japanese, typically takes only a few minutes.
Some individuals visit the shrines every day, often on their route to work each morning.
These rituals usually take place not inside the honden itself but in an oratory in front of
it.The general procedure entails an individual approaching the honden, where the
practitioners places a monetary offering in a box before ringing a bell to call the
attention of the kami.Then, they bow, clap, and stand while silently offering a
prayer.The clapping is known as kashiwade or hakushu; the prayers or supplications as
kigan.More broadly, ritual prayers to the kami are called norito, while the coins offered
are saisen.When at the shrine, individuals offering prayers are not necessarily praying
to a specific kami. A worshipper may not know the name of a kami residing at the
shrine nor how many kami are believed to dwell there. Unlike in certain other religious
traditions such as Christianity and Islam, Shinto shrines do not have weekly services
that practitioners are expected to attend.
Some Shinto practitioners do not offer their prayers to the kami directly, but rather
request that a priest offer them on their behalf; these prayers are known as kitō. Many
individuals approach the kami asking for pragmatic requests. Requests for rain, known
as amagoi ('rain-soliciting') have been found across Japan, with Inari a popular choice
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for such requests. Other prayers reflect more contemporary concerns. For instance,
people may ask that the priest approaches the kami so as to purify their car in the hope
that this will prevent it from being involved in an accident. Similarly, transport
companies often request purification rites for new buses or airplanes which are about to
go into service.Before a building is constructed, it is common for either private
individuals or the construction company to employ a Shinto priest to come to the land
being developed and perform the jichinsai, or earth sanctification ritual. This purifies the
site and asks the kami to bless it.
People often ask the kami to help offset inauspicious events that may affect them. For
instance, in Japanese culture, the age 33 is seen as being unlucky for women and the
age 42 for men, and thus people can ask the kami to offset any ill-fortune associated
with being this age. Certain directions can also be seen as being inauspicious for certain
people at certain times and thus people can approach the kami asking them to offset
this problem if they have to travel in one of these unlucky directions.
Pilgrimage has long been an important facet of Japanese religion,and Shinto features
pilgrimages to shrines, which are known as junrei.A round of pilgrimages, whereby
individuals visit a series of shrines and other sacred sites that are part of an established
circuit, is known as a junpai.An individual leading these pilgrims, is sometimes termed a
sendatsu. For many centuries, people have also visited the shrines for primarily cultural
and recreational reasons, as opposed to spiritual ones. Many of the shrines are
recognised as sites of historical importance and some are classified as UNESCO World
Heritage Sites.Shrines such as Shimogamo Jinja and Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, Meiji
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Jingū in Tokyo, and Atsuta Jingū in Nagoya are among Japan's most popular tourist
sites. Many shrines have a unique rubber-stamp seal which visitors can get printed into
their sutanpu bukku or stamp book, demonstrating the different shrines they have
visited.
Harae and hōbei
Shinto rituals begin with a process of purification, often involving the washing of the
hands and mouth at the temizu basin; this example is at Itsukushima Jinja.
Shinto rituals begin with a process of purification, or harae.Using fresh water or salt
water, this is known as misogi. At shrines, this entails sprinkling this water onto the
face and hands, a procedure known as temizu, using a font known as a
temizuya.Another form of purification at the start of a Shinto rite entails waving a white
paper streamer or wand known as the haraigushi. When not in use, the haraigushi is
usually kept in a stand.The priest waves the haraigushi horizontally over a person or
object being purified in a movement known as sa-yu-sa ("left-right-left").Sometimes,
instead of a haraigushi, the purification is carried out with an o-nusa, a branch of
evergreen to which strips of paper have been attached. The waving of the haraigushi is
often followed by an additional act of purification, the shubatsu, in which the priest
sprinkles water, salt, or brine over those assembled from a wooden box called the en-
to-oke or magemono.
The acts of purification accomplished, petitions known as norito are spoken to the kami.
This is followed by an appearance by the miko, who commence in a slow circular
motion before the main altar. Offerings are then presented to the kami by being placed
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on a table.This act is known as hōbei; the offerings themselves as saimotsu or sonae-
mono. Historically, the offerings given the kami included food, cloth, swords, and
horses. In the contemporary period, lay worshippers usually give gifts of money to the
kami while priests generally offer them food, drink, and sprigs of the sacred sakaki tree.
Animal sacrifices are not considered appropriate offerings, as the shedding of blood is
seen as a polluting act that necessitates purification.The offerings presented are
sometimes simple and sometimes more elaborate; at the Grand Shrine of Ise, for
instance, 100 styles of food are laid out as offerings. The choice of offerings will often
be tailored to the specific kami and occasion.
Offerings of food and drink are specifically termed shinsen.Sake, or rice wine, is a very
common offering to the kami. After the offerings have been given, people often sip rice
wine known as o-miki.Drinking the o-miki wine is seen as a form of communion with
the kami. On important occasions, a feast is then held, known as naorai, inside a
banquet hall attached to the shrine complex.
The Kami are believed to enjoy music.One style of music performed at shrines is
gagaku. Instruments used include three reeds (fue, sho, and hichiriki), the yamato-
koto, and the "three drums" (taiko, kakko, and shōko). Other musical styles performed
at shrines can have a more limited focus. At shrines such as Ōharano Shrine in Kyoto,
azuma-asobi ('eastern entertainment') music is performed on April 8. Also in Kyoto,
various festivals make use of the dengaku style of music and dance, which originated
from rice-planting songs.During rituals, people visiting the shrine are expected to sit in
the seiza style, with their legs tucked beneath their bottom. To avoid cramps,
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individuals who hold this position for a lengthy period of time may periodically move
their legs and flex their heels.
Home shrines
Many Shinto practitioners also have a kamidana or family shrine in their home.These
usually consist of shelves placed at an elevated position in the living room. The
popularity of kamidana increased greatly during the Meiji era. Kamidana can also be
found in workplaces, restaurants, shops, and ocean-going ships. Some public shrines
sell entire kamidana. Along with the kamidana, many Japanese households also have
butsudan, Buddhist altars enshrining the ancestors of the family; ancestral reverence
remains an important aspect of Japanese religious tradition. In the rare instances where
Japanese individuals are given a Shinto funeral rather than a Buddhist one, a tama-ya,
mitama-ya, or sorei-sha shrine may be erected in the home in place of a butsudan. This
will be typically placed below the kamidana and includes symbols of the resident
ancestral spirit, for instance a mirror or a scroll.
Kamidana often enshrine the kami of a nearby public shrine as well as a tutelary kami
associated with the house's occupants or their profession.They can be decorated with
miniature torii and shimenawa and include amulets obtained from public shrines. They
often contain a stand on which to place offerings; daily offerings of rice, salt, and water
are placed there, with sake and other items also offered on special days. Prior to giving
these offerings, practitioners often bathe, rinse their mouth, or wash their hands as a
form of purification.
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Household Shinto can focus attention on the dōzoku-shin, kami who are perceived to be
ancestral to the dōzoku or extended kinship group. A small shrine for the ancestors of a
household are known as soreisha.Small village shrines containing the tutelary kami of
an extended family are known as iwai-den. In addition to the temple shrines and the
household shrines, Shinto also features small wayside shrines known as hokora. Other
open spaces used for the worship of kami are iwasaka, an area surrounded by sacred
rocks.
Ema, divination, and amulets
A common feature of Shinto shrines is the provision of ema, small wooden plaques onto
which practitioners will write a wish or desire that they would like to see fulfilled. The
practitioner's message is written on one side of the plaque, while on the other is usually
a printed picture or pattern related to the shrine itself. Ema are provided both at Shinto
shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan; unlike most amulets, which are taken away
from the shrine, the ema are typically left there as a message for the resident
kami.Those administering the shrine will then often burn all of the collected ema at new
year.
Divination is the focus of many Shinto rituals, with various forms of divination used by
its practitioners, some introduced from China.Among the ancient forms of divination
found in Japan are rokuboku and kiboku. Several forms of divination entailing archery
are also practiced in Shintō, known as yabusame, omato-shinji, and mato-i. Kitagawa
stated that there could be "no doubt" that various types of "shamanic diviners" played a
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role in early Japanese religion.A form of divination previously common in Japan was
bokusen or uranai, which often used tortoise shells; it is still used in some places.
A form of divination that is popular at Shinto shrines are the omikuji.These are small
slips of paper which are obtained from the shrine (for a donation) and which are then
read to reveal a prediction for the future. Those who receive a bad prediction often
then tie the omikuji to a nearby tree or frame set up for the purpose. This act is seen as
rejecting the prediction, a process called sute-mikuji, and thus avoiding the misfortune
it predicted.
The use of amulets are widely sanctioned and popular in Japan. These may be made of
paper, wood, cloth, metal, or plastic.Ofuda act as amulets to keep off misfortune and
also serve as talismans to bring benefits and good luck.They typically comprise a
tapering piece of wood onto which the name of the shrine and its enshrined kami are
written or printed. The ofuda is then wrapped inside white paper and tied up with a
colored thread. Ofuda are provided both at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.
Another type of amulet provided at shrines and temples are the omamori, which are
traditionally small, brightly colored drawstring bags with the name of the shrine written
on it. Omamori and ofuda are sometimes placed within a charm bag known as a
kinchaku, typically worn by small children.
At new year, many shrines sell hamaya (an "evil-destroying arrows"), which people can
purchase and keep in their home over the coming year to bring good luck.A daruma is a
round, paper doll of the Indian monk, Bodhidharma. The recipient makes a wish and
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paints one eye; when the goal is accomplished, the recipient paints the other eye. While
this is a Buddhist practice, darumas can be found at shrines, as well. These dolls are
very common.Other protective items include dorei, which are earthenware bells that are
used to pray for good fortune. These bells are usually in the shapes of the zodiacal
animals. Inuhariko are paper dogs that are used to induce and to bless good
births.Collectively, these talismans through which home to manipulate events and
influence spirits, as well as related mantras and rites for the same purpose, are known
as majinai.
Kagura
A kagura traditional dance performed at the Yamanashi-oka shrine
Kagura describes the music and dance performed for the kami; the term may have
originally derived from kami no kura or "seat of the kami". Throughout Japanese
history, dance has played an important culture role and in Shinto it is regarded as
having the capacity to pacify kami. There is a mythological tale of how kagura dance
came into existence. According to the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, Ame-no-Uzume
performed a dance to entice Amaterasu out of the cave in which she had hidden
herself.
There are two broad types of kagura. One is Imperial kagura, also known as mikagura.
This style was developed in the imperial court and is still performed on imperial grounds
every December. It is also performed at the Imperial harvest festival and at major
shrines such as Ise, Kamo, and Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū. It is performed by singers
and musicians using shakubyoshi wooden clappers, a hichiriki, a kagura-bue flute, and
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a six-stringed zither.The other main type is sato-kagura, descended from mikagura and
performed at shrines across Japan. Depending on the style, it is performed by miko or
by actors wearing masks to portray various mythological figures.These actors are
accompanied by a hayashi band using flutes and drums.There are also other, regional
types of kagura.
Music plays a very important role in the kagura performance. Everything from the setup
of the instruments to the most subtle sounds and the arrangement of the music is
crucial to encouraging the kami to come down and dance. The songs are used as
magical devices to summon the kami and as prayers for blessings. Rhythm patterns of
five and seven are common, possibly relating to the Shinto belief of the twelve
generations of heavenly and earthly deities. There is also vocal accompaniment called
kami uta in which the drummer sings sacred songs to the kami. Often the vocal
accompaniment is overshadowed by the drumming and instruments, reinforcing that
the vocal aspect of the music is more for incantation rather than aesthetics.
Festivals
Participants in a procession for Aoi Matsuri in Kyoto
Public festivals are commonly termed matsuri, although this term has varied meanings
—"festival," "worship," "celebration," "rite," or "prayer"—and no direct translation into
English. Picken suggested that the festival was "the central act of Shinto worship"
because Shinto was a "community- and family-based" religion. Most mark the seasons
of the agricultural year and involve offerings being directed to the kami in
thanks.According to a traditional lunar calendar, Shinto shrines should hold their festival
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celebrations on hare-no-hi or "clear" days", the days of the new, full, and half
moons.Other days, known as ke-no-hi, were generally avoided for festivities. However,
since the late 20th century, many shrines have held their festival celebrations on the
Saturday or Sunday closest to the date so that fewer individuals will be working and will
be able to attend. Many festivals are specific to particular shrines or regions. For
instance, the Aoi Matsuri festival, held on 15 May to pray for an abundant grain harvest,
takes place at shrines in Kyoto, while the Chichibu Yo-Matsuri takes place on 2–3
December in Chichibu.
Spring festivals are called haru-matsuri and often incorporate prayers for a good
harvest.They sometimes involve ta-asobi ceremonies, in which rice is ritually
planted.Summer festivals are termed natsu-matsuri and are usually focused on
protecting the crops against pests and other threats.Autumn festivals are known as aki-
matsuri and primarily focus on thanking the kami for the rice or other harvest.The
Niiname-sai, or festival of new rice, is held across many Shinto shrines on 23
November.The emperor also conducts a ceremony to mark this festival, at which he
presents the first fruits of the harvest to the kami at midnight.Winter festivals, called
fuyu no matsuri often feature on welcoming in the spring, expelling evil, and calling in
good influences for the future.There is little difference between winter festivals and
specific new year festivals.
Procession of the kami as part of the Fukagawa Matsuri festival in Tokyo
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The season of the new year is called shogatsu. On the last day of the year (31
December), omisoka, practitioners usually clean their household shrines in preparation
for new year's day (1 January), ganjitsu. Many people visit public shrines to celebrate
new year; this "first visit" of the year is known as hatsumōde or hatsumairi.There, they
buy amulets and talismans to bring them good fortune over the coming year. To
celebrate this festival, many Japanese put up rope known as shimenawa on their homes
and places of business.Some also put up kadomatsu ("gateway pine"), an arrangement
of pine branches, plum tree, and bamboo sticks. Also displayed are kazari, which are
smaller and more colourful; their purpose is to keep away misfortune and attract good
fortune. In many places, new year celebrations incorporate hadaka matsuri ("naked
festivals") in which men dressed only in a fundoshi loincloth engage in a particular
activity, such as fighting over a specific object or immersing themselves in a river.
A common feature of festivals are processions or parades known as gyōretsu. During
public processions, the kami travel in portable shrines known as mikoshi. The
processions for matsuri can be raucous, with many of the participants being drunk;
Breen and Teeuwen characterised them as having a "carnivalesque atmosphere".They
are often understood as having a regenerative effect on both the participants and the
community. In various cases the mikoshi undergo hamaori ("going down to the
beach"), a process by which they are carried to the sea shore and sometimes into the
sea, either by bearers or a boat.For instance, in the Okunchi festival held in the
southwestern city of Nagasaki, the kami of the Suwa Shrine are paraded down to
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Ohato, where they are placed in a shrine there for several days before being paraded
back to Suwa.These sort of celebrations are often organized largely by members of the
local community rather than by the priests themselves.
Rites of passage
The formal recognition of events is given great importance in Japanese culture.A
common ritual, the hatsumiyamairi, entails a child's first visit to a Shinto shrine. A
tradition holds that, if a boy he should be brought to the shrine on the thirty-second
day after birth, and if a girl she should be brought on the thirty-third day. Historically,
the child was commonly brought to the shrine not by the mother, who was considered
impure after birth, but by another female relative; since the late 20th century it has
been more common for the mother to do so. Another rite of passage, the saiten-sai or
seijin shiki, is a coming of age ritual marking the transition to adulthood and occurs
when an individual is around twenty.Wedding ceremonies are often carried out at
Shinto shrines. These are called shinzen kekkon ("a wedding before the kami") and
were popularised in the Meiji period; prior to this, weddings were commonly performed
in the home.
In Japan, funerals tend to take place at Buddhist temples,with Shinto funerals being
rare.Bocking noted that most Japanese people are "still 'born Shinto' yet 'die
Buddhist'."In Shinto thought, contact with death is seen as imparting impurity (kegare);
the period following this contact is known as kibuku and is associated with various
taboos. In cases when dead humans are enshrined as kami, the physical remains of the
dead are not stored at the shrine. Although not common, there have been examples of
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funerals conducted through Shinto rites. The earliest examples are known from the
mid-17th century; these occurred in certain areas of Japan and had the support of the
local authorities. Following the Meiji Restoration, in 1868 the government recognised
specifically Shinto funerals for Shinto priests. Five years later, this was extended to
cover the entire Japanese population. Despite this Meiji promotion of Shinto funerals,
the majority of the population continued to have Buddhist funeral rites. In recent
decades, Shinto funerals have usually been reserved for Shinto priests and for members
of certain Shinto sects. After cremation, the normal funerary process in Japan, the
ashes of a priest may be interred near to the shrine, but not inside its precincts.
Ancestral reverence remains an important part of Japanese religious custom. The
invocation of the dead, and especially the war dead, is known as shо̄ kon. Various rites
reference this. For instance, at the largely Buddhist festival of Bon, the souls of the
ancestors are believed to visit the living, and are then sent away in a ritual called shо̄ rо̄
nagashi, by which lanterns are inserted into small boats, often made of paper, and
placed in a river to float downstream.
Spirit mediumship and healing
An itako at the autumn Inako Taisai festival at Mount Osore, Aomori Prefecture, Japan
Shinto practitioners believe that the kami can possess a human being and then speak
through them, a process known as kami-gakari. Several new religious movements
drawing upon Shinto, such as Tenrikyo and Oomoto, were founded by individuals
claiming to be guided by a possessing kami.The takusen is an oracle that is passed
from the kami via the medium.
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The itako and ichiko are blind women who train to become spiritual mediums,
traditionally in Japan's northern Tohoku region. Itako train under other itako from
childhood, memorialising sacred texts and prayers, fasting, and undertaking acts of
severe asceticism, through which they are believed to cultivate supernatural powers. In
an initiation ceremony, a kami is believed to possess the young woman, and the two
are then ritually "married". After this, the kami becomes her tutelary spirit and she will
henceforth be able to call upon it, and a range of other spirits, in future. Through
contacting these spirits, she is able to convey their messages to the living. Itako usually
carry out their rituals independent of the shrine system.Japanese culture also includes
spiritual healers known as ogamiya-san whose work involves invoking both kami and
Buddhas.
History
A Yayoi period dotaku bell; these probably played a key role in kami rites at the time.
Earhart commented that Shinto ultimately "emerged from the beliefs and practices of
prehistoric Japan", although Kitagawa noted that it was questionable whether
prehistoric Japanese religions could be accurately termed "early Shinto". The historian
Helen Hardacre observed that it was the Yayoi period of Japanese prehistory which was
the "first to leave artifacts that can reasonably be linked to the later development of
Shinto".Kami were worshipped at various landscape features during this period; at this
point, their worship consisted largely of beseeching and placating them, with little
evidence that they were viewed as compassionate entities.Archaeological evidence
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suggests that dotaku bronze bells, bronze weapons, and metal mirrors played an
important role in kami-based ritual during the Yayoi period.
In this early period, Japan was not a unified state; by the Kofun period it was divided
among Uji (clans), each with their own tutelary kami, the ujigami.Korean migration
during the Kofun period brought Confucianism and Buddhism to Japan. Buddhism had a
particular impact on the kami cults.Migrant groups and Japanese who increasingly
aligned with these foreign influences built Buddhist temples in various parts of the
Japanese islands. Several rival clans who were more hostile to these foreign influences
began adapting the shrines of their kami to more closely resemble the new Buddhist
structures. In the late 5th century, the Yamato clan leader Yūryaku declared himself
daiō ("great king") and established hegemony over much of Japan. From the early 6th
century CE, the style of ritual favored by the Yamato began spreading to other kami
shrines around Japan as the Yamato extended their territorial influence.Buddhism was
also growing. According to the Nihon Shoki, in 587 Emperor Yōmei converted to
Buddhism and under his sponsorship Buddhism spread.
In the mid-7th century, a legal code called Ritsuryō was adopted to establish a Chinese-
style centralised government. As part of this, the Jingikan ("Council of Kami") was
created to conduct rites of state and coordinate provincial ritual with that in the capital.
This was done according to a code of kami law called the Jingiryō, itself modelled on
the Chinese Book of Rites. The Jingikan was located in the palace precincts and
maintained a register of shrines and priests. An annual calendar of state rites were
introduced to help unify Japan through kami worship. These legally mandated rites
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were outlined in the Yōrō Code of 718,and expanded in the Jogan Gishiki of circa 872
and the Engi Shiki of 927. Under the Jingikan, some shrines were designated as kansha
("official shrines") and given specific privileges and responsibilities. Hardacre saw the
Jingikan as "the institutional origin of Shinto".
In the early 8th century, the Emperor Tenmu commissioned a compilation of the
legends and genealogies of Japan's clans, resulting in the completion of the Kojiki in
712. Designed to legitimate the ruling dynasty, this text created a fixed version of
various stories previously circulating in oral tradition. The Kojiki omits any reference to
Buddhism, in part because it sought to ignore foreign influences and emphasise a
narrative stressing indigenous elements of Japanese culture. Several years later, the
Nihon shoki was written. Unlike the Kojiki, this made various references to
Buddhism,and was aimed at a foreign audience. Both of these texts sought to establish
the imperial clan's descent from the sun kami Amaterasu,although there were many
differences in the cosmogonic narrative they provided. Quickly, the Nihon shoki eclipsed
the Kojiki in terms of its influence. Other texts written at this time also drew on oral
traditions regarding the kami. The Sendari kuji hongi for example was probably
composed by the Mononobe clan while the Kogoshui was probably put together for the
Imibe clan, and in both cases they were designed to highlight the divine origins of these
respective lineages. A government order in 713 called on each region to produce fudoki,
records of local geography, products, and stories, with the latter revealing more
traditions about the kami which were present at this time.
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From the 8th century, kami worship and Buddhism were thoroughly intertwined in
Japanese society.While the emperor and court performed Buddhist rites, they also
performed others to honor the kami.Tenmu for example appointed a virginal imperial
princess to serve as the saiō, a form of priestess, at the Ise Shrine on his behalf, a
tradition continued by subsequent emperors. From the 8th century onward up until the
Meiji era, the kami were incorporated into a Buddhist cosmology in various ways.One
view is that the kami realised that like all other life-forms, they too were trapped in the
cycle of samsara (rebirth) and that to escape this they had to follow Buddhist
teachings.Alternative approaches viewed the kami as benevolent entities who protected
Buddhism, or that the kami were themselves Buddhas, or beings who had achieved
enlightenment. In this, they could be either hongaku, the pure spirits of the Buddhas,
or honji suijaku, transformations of the Buddhas in their attempt to help all sentient
beings.
Nara period
This period hosted many changes to the country, government, and religion. The capital
is moved again to Heijō-kyō (modern-day Nara), in AD 710 by Empress Genmei due to
the death of the emperor. This practice was necessary due to the Shinto belief in the
impurity of death and the need to avoid this pollution. However, this practice of moving
the capital due to "death impurity" is then abolished by the Taihō Code and rise in
Buddhist influence.The establishment of the imperial city in partnership with Taihō Code
is important to Shinto as the office of the Shinto rites becomes more powerful in
assimilating local clan shrines into the imperial fold. New shrines are built and
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assimilated each time the city is moved. All of the grand shrines are regulated under
Taihō and are required to account for incomes, priests, and practices due to their
national contributions.
Meiji era and the Empire of Japan
The Chōsen Jingū in Seoul, Korea, established during the Japanese occupation of the
peninsula
Breen and Teeuwen characterise the period between 1868 and 1915, during the Meiji
era, as being the "formative years" of modern Shinto. It is in this period that various
scholars have argued that Shinto was essentially "invented".Fridell argues that scholars
call the period from 1868–1945 the "State Shinto period" because, "during these
decades, Shinto elements came under a great deal of overt state influence and control
as the Japanese government systematically utilized shrine worship as a major force for
mobilizing imperial loyalties on behalf of modern nation-building. However, the
government had already been treating shrines as an extension of government before
Meiji; see for example the Tenpō Reforms. Moreover, according to the scholar Jason
Ānanda Josephson, It is inaccurate to describe shrines as constituting a "state religion"
or a "theocracy" during this period since they had neither organization, nor doctrine,
and were uninterested in conversion.
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 was fuelled by a renewal of Confucian ethics and imperial
patriotism among Japan's ruling class. Among these reformers, Buddhism was seen as a
corrupting influence that had undermined what they envisioned as Japan's original
purity and greatness. They wanted to place a renewed emphasis on kami worship as an
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indigenous form of ritual, an attitude that was also fuelled by anxieties about Western
expansionism and fear that Christianity would take hold in Japan.
1868, all shrine priests were placed under the authority of the new Jingikan, or Council
of Kami Affairs.A project of forcible separating kami worship from Buddhism as
implemented, with Buddhist monks, deities, buildings, and rituals being banned from
kami shrines. Buddhist imagery, scriptures, and ritual equipment were burnt, covered in
excrement, or otherwise destroyed. In 1871, a new hierarchy of shrines was
introduced, with imperial and national shrines at the top. Hereditary priesthoods were
abolished and a new state-sanctioned system for appointing priests was introduced. In
1872, the Jingikan was closed and replaced with the Kyobusho, or Ministry of
Edification. This coordinated a campaign whereby kyodoshoku ("national evangelists")
were sent through the country to promote Japan's "Great Teaching," which included
respect for the kami and obedience to the emperor. This campaign was discontinued in
1884. In 1906, thousands of village shrines were merged so that most small
communities had only a single shrine, where rites in honor of the emperor could be
held. Shinto effectively became the state cult, one promoted with growing zeal in the
build-up to the Second World War.
In 1882, the Meiji government designated 13 religious movements that were neither
Buddhist nor Christian to be forms of "Sect Shinto". The number and name of the sects
given this formal designation varied. In the Meiji period, many local traditions died out
and were replaced by nationally standardised practices encouraged from Tokyo.
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Although the government sponsorship of shrines declined, Japanese nationalism
remained closely linked to the legends of foundation and emperors, as developed by
the kokugaku scholars. In 1890, the Imperial Rescript on Education was issued, and
students were required to ritually recite its oath to "offer yourselves courageously to the
State" as well as to protect the Imperial family. Such processes continued to deepen
throughout the early Shōwa era, coming to an abrupt end in August 1945 when Japan
lost the war in the Pacific. On 1 January 1946, Emperor Shōwa issued the Ningen-
sengen, in which he quoted the Five Charter Oath of Emperor Meiji and declared that
he was not an akitsumikami (a deity in human form).
Post-war
The headquarters of the Association of Shinto Shrines in Shibuya, Tokyo.
During the U.S. occupation, a new constitution was drawn up. This enshrined freedom
of religion in Japan and initiated the separation of church and state, a measure
designed to eradicate State Shinto. As part of this, the emperor formally declared that
he was not a kami; any Shinto rituals performed by the imperial family became their
own private affair. This disestablishment ended government subsidies to shrines and
gave them renewed freedom to organise their own affairs In 1946 many shrines formed
a voluntary organisation, the Association of Shinto Shrines (Jinja Honchō). In 1956 the
association issued a creedal statement, the keishin seikatsu no kōryō ("general
characteristics of a life lived in reverence of the kami"), to summarise what they
regarded as Shinto's principles. By the late 1990s around 80% of Japan's Shinto shrines
were part of this association.
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In the post-war decades, many Japanese blamed Shinto for encouraging the militaristic
policy which had resulted in defeat and occupation.Others remained nostalgic for State
Shinto, and concerns were repeatedly expressed that sectors of Japanese society were
conspiring to restore it. Post-war, various legal debates have occurred over the
involvement of public officials in Shinto. In 1965, for instance, the city of Tsu, Mie
Prefecture paid four Shinto priests to purify the site where the municipal athletic hall
was to be built. Critics brought the case to court, claiming it contravened the
constitutional separation of church and state; in 1971 the high court ruled that the city
administration's act had been unconstitutional, although this was overturned by the
Supreme Court in 1977.
In the post-war period, Shinto themes were often blended into Japanese new religious
movements; of the Sect Shinto groups, Tenrikyo was probably the most successful in
the post-war decades,although in 1970 it repudiated its Shinto identity. Shinto
perspectives also influenced Japanese popular culture. The film director Hayao Miyazaki
of Studio Ghibli for instance acknowledged Shinto influences on his films such as
Spirited Away.Shinto also spread abroad through both Japanese migrants and
conversion by non-Japanese;The Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, was
the first to establish a branch abroad: the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, initially
located in California and then moved to Granite Falls, Washington.
Demographics
A Shinto rite carried out at a jinja in San Marino, Western Europe
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Shinto is primarily found in Japan, although the period of the empire it was introduced
to various Japanese colonies and in the present is also practiced by members of the
Japanese diaspora.
Most Japanese participate in several religious traditions,with Breen and Teeuwen noting
that, "with few exceptions", it is not possible to differentiate between Shintoists and
Buddhists in Japan. The main exceptions are members of minority religious groups,
including Christianity, which promote exclusivist worldviews.Determining the
proportions of the country's population who engage in Shinto activity is hindered by the
fact that, if asked, Japanese people will often say "I have no religion". Many Japanese
avoid the term "religion", in part because they dislike the connotations of the word
which most closely matches it in the Japanese language, shūkyō. The latter term
derives from shū ('sect') and kyō ('doctrine').
Official statistics show Shinto to be Japan's largest religion, with over 80 percent of the
country's population identified as engaging in Shinto activities. Conversely, in
questionnaires only a small minority of Japanese describe themselves as
"Shintoists."This indicates that a far larger number of people engage in Shinto activities
than cite Shinto as their religious identity.There are no formal rituals to become a
practitioner of "folk Shinto". Thus, "Shinto membership" is often estimated counting
only those who do join organised Shinto sects.Shinto has about 81,000 shrines and
about 85,000 priests in the country. According to surveys carried out in 2006 and
2008, less than 40% of the population of Japan identifies with an organised religion:
around 35% are Buddhists, 30% to 40% are members of Shinto sects and derived
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religions. In 2008, 26% of the participants reported often visiting Shinto shrines, while
only 16.2% expressed belief in the existence of kami in general.
Outside Japan
Jinja outside Japan are termed kaigai jinja ("overseas shrines"), a term coined by
Ogasawara Shōzō. These were established both in territories conquered by the
Japanese and in areas where Japanese migrants settled. When the Japanese Empire
collapsed in the 1940s, there were over 600 public shrines, and over 1,000 smaller
shrines, within Japan's conquered territories. Many of these were then disbanded.
Shinto has attracted interest outside of Japan, in part because it lacks the doctrinal
focus of major religions found in other parts of the world. Shinto was introduced to
United States largely by interested European Americans rather than by Japanese
migrants. Japanese migrants established several shrines in Brazil.
Study of Shinto
A fox statue guarding the Inari shrine at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Kamakura
In the early twentieth century, and to a lesser extent in the second half, Shinto was
depicted as monolithic and intensely indigenous by the Japanese State institution and
there were various state induced taboos influencing academic research into Shinto in
Japan. Japanese secular academics who questioned the historical claims made by the
Imperial institution for various Shinto historical facts and ceremonies, or who personally
refused to take part in certain Shinto rituals, could lose their jobs and livelihood. During
the 20th century, most academic research on Shinto was conducted by Shinto
theologians, often priests.
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Following the Second World War, many scholars writing on Shinto were also priests;
they wrote from the perspective of active proponents. The result of this practice was to
depict the actual history of a dynamic and diverse set of beliefs interacting with
knowledge and religion from mainland China as static and unchanging formed by the
imperial family centuries ago. Some secular scholars accused these individuals of
blurring theology with historical analysis. In the late 1970s and 1980s the work of a
secular historian Kuroda Toshio attempted to frame the prior held historical views of
Shinto not as a timeless "indigenous" entity, but rather an amalgam of various local
beliefs infused over time with outside influences through waves of Buddhism, Taoism,
and Confucianism. Part of his analysis is that this obfuscation was a cloak for Japanese
ethnic nationalism used by state institutions especially in the Meiji and post war era to
underpin the Japanese national identity. From the 1980s onward, there was a renewed
academic interest in Shinto both in Japan and abroad.
Post Activity
Name:_______________________________________ Day : _________
Essay. What do you think are the outstanding features of Shintoism? What
do you think are the reasons why the Japanese are attracted to it.
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Research the Following:
Dōsojin, Hari-Kuyo, Iwakura (Shinto) – rock formation where a kami is
invited to descend
Kodama (spirit), List of Japanese deities, Raijin. Ryukyuan religion (Ryukyu
Shinto), Shide (Shinto), Shinto in popular culture, Shinto architecture,
Shinto in Taiwan, Shinto music, Twenty-Two Shrines, Women in Shinto,
Yōsei
Reference
Shinto - Wikipediaretrieved August 27, 2021
Final Examination
Test I. Multiple Choices. Instruction. Read the following sentences or phrases carefully. Choose the
best answer and write them on the blanks provided before each item.
_____ 1. This religion is alsi called “ the school of the elder monks”.
A. Mahayana B. Theravada C. Confucianism D. Shintoism
_____2. The sacred text of Theravada Buddhism is known as ______________.
A. Analects B. Tao Te Ching C. Kojiki D. Pali Canon
_____3. This type of religion is also called “the school of the ancients”.
A. Shintoism B. Confucianism C. Hinduism D. Theravada Buddhism
_____4. This type of religion adheres to the original practices and doctrines of Buddhism.
A. Mahayana B. Islam C. Theravada D. Christianity
______5. Which of the following country Theravada Buddhism is being practiced.
A. China B. Japan C. South Korea D. Thailand
______6. Which of the following country Mahayana Buddhism is being practiced.
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A. Myanmar B. Thailand C. China D. Sri Lanka

______7. Theravada Buddhism believes that salvation can be attained without the help of God or
Supreme being.
A. True B. False C. Partly True D. Partly False
_____8. Siddaharta Gautama belongs to this tribe.
A. Ati B. Koliya C. Aryan D. Sakya
_____9. Which of the following caste system Siddharta Gautama belongs.
A. Vaishyas B. Ksatriyas C. Bhramas D. Sudras
____10. The birthplace of Siddharta Gautama is presently known as _________________.
A. Nepal B. Bhutan C. India D. Tibet
Test II. Matching Type. Instruction. Match Column A with Column B. Write the letter of your choice on
the blanks provided before each item.
Part 1.
Column A Column B
_____ 11. KAPILAVASTU A. MAHAMAYA
_____12. SUDDHODANA B.BODHI
_____13. GOTAMA C. HE WHO ACHIEVES HIS DREAM
_____14. AWAKENING D. AWAKENED ONE
_____15. BUDDHA E. BUDDHAS’ WIFE
_____16. ASITA F.BUDDHAS’ DAUGTHER
_____17. YASODHARA G. TOWN IN LUMBINI OR NEPAL
_____18. SAGE OF SAKYA H. SAKYAMUNI
_____19. SIDDHARTA I. THE SEER
_____20. BUDDHAS’ MOTHER J.BUDDHAS’ FAMILY NAME
A. BUDDHAS’ FATHER
Part 2.
Column A
Column B
_____ 21. SIDDHARTAS’ BIRTH A. BUDDHAS’ SON
_____22.SIDDHARTA REACHED ENLIGHTENMENT B. 10 MONTHS BEFORE MOTHER’S DREAM
_____23. BIMBISARA C. 16 YEARS OLD
_____24. SHRAMANA D. 35 YEARS OLD
_____25. DYSENTERY E. 80 YEARS OLD
_____26. BO F. BUDDHAS’ AUNT
_____27. MAHAPAJAPATI G. CAUSE OF BUDDHAS’ DEATH
_____28. AGE OF BUDDHA’S DEATH H. RULER OF MAGADHA EMPIRE
_____29. AGE OF BUDHHA WHEN HE MARRIED I. PIPAL
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_____30. RAHULA J. ASCETIC MONK

K.81 YEARS OLD
Part 3.
Column A
Column B
_____ 31. THREE BASKETS OF WISDOM A. STUPA
_____32. SIDDHARTAS’ DEATH B. MAHAKASYAPA
_____33. SRI LANKAN KING C. TIPITAKA
_____34. MEMORIAL MOUND D. PARINIRVANA
_____35. DISCIPLINE E. DHAMMA
_____36. DISCOURSE F. VALAGAMBA
_____37. MARA G. ABHIDAHAMMA PITAKA
_____38. SIDDHARTA’S TEACHINGS H. VINAYA PITAKA
_____39. LEAD FIRST BUDDHIST COUNCIL I. GOOD
_____40. ULTIMATE DOCTRINE J. EVIL
K.SUTTA PITAKA
TEST III. Instruction: Enumerate what is being ask. Write your answer on the blanks provided before
each item.
Give at least two of Siddharta Gautama’s education

41.__________________________________________
42.__________________________________________
Enumerate the four signs or four encounters of Buddha

1. ____________________________________
44.____________________________________________
45.____________________________________
46.____________________________________________
Give four out five mental or physical parts of the Human soul in Buddhism
1. ____________________________________
48.______________________________________________
49____________________________________ 50.
______________________________________________
Enumerate the four Noble Truths in Buddhism
1. ___________________________________
52._______________________________________________
53.___________________________________ 54.
_______________________________________________
Enumerate the Eight Fold Path
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1. ____________________56.__________________57._________________58.
_____________________
1. ____________________ 60.__________________ 61._________________
Test IV. True or False. Instruction. Write the letter T if the statement is True and F if the
statement is False.
___________62.Buddhism has no place for God or Savior.
___________63.In Buddhism, salvation entirely lies within anyone’s control.
___________64.Siddharta claimed to be one of the Supernatural person or God.
___________65.In Buddhism, soul does not exists in a state of non-soulness or anatman.
___________66.Buddha is preaching that humans have eternal soul.
___________67.According to Buddhism, nothing is permanent in this world.
___________68. In Buddhism soul is being reborn.
___________69. In Buddhism, they believe that death, illness, old age, conflict and emptiness is always
present.
___________70. In Buddhism, man is always thirsty of things, experiences and ideas.
Test V. Fill in the blanks . Instruction. Read carefully the sentences or phrases and identify it.
Write the word on the blanks provided before each item but the choices could be found below.
Part 1.
Bhikkus Bhikkunis
Sangha Vesakha
Amitabha Dalai Lama
Vesak or Vesakha Bodhisattva
Arhat Dao
Qi or Chi Wu Wei
Dao De Jing Zhou
Analects
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___________________________71. A Pali word which means “sharer” or monks who share in general
fund of alms provided by the community.
___________________________72. Ordained Buddhists Monk
___________________________73. Buddhists nuns.
___________________________74. Known as “Buddha Day”
___________________________75. Enlightened existence in Mahayana Buddhism
___________________________76. Perfected one in Theravada Buddhism
___________________________77. god who supervises over Western paradise in the Pure land Sect
Buddhism
___________________________78. Leader of Tibetan Buddhism who escaped to India
___________________________79. This word means “the way”.
___________________________80. Dynasty of China who produced outstanding philosophers.
___________________________81. Sacred text of Confucianism
___________________________82. Book written by Laozi
___________________________83. No behavior, doing nothing or action-less activity
___________________________84. refers to the natural energy or life force that sustains living beings
also called “ air” or “vapor”.
Part 2.
State of Lu now Shantung, Qufu, China I-Ching

Tian Xin
Ren capping
Bon Mengzi or Mencius
li Great Leap Forward
Tenzin Gyastso De
yi Tibetan Buddhism
Thich Quang Duc zhi
582
POTOTAN CAMPUS
Pototan, Iloilo
___________________________85. Mao Zedong’s program who killed between 200,000 to 1 million

Tibetans.
___________________________86. Book of Changes
___________________________87. heaven
___________________________88.birthplace of Confucius
___________________________89. The pre-Buddhistic religion of Tibet
___________________________90. Benevolencewa
___________________________91. A Vietnamese Mahayana monk who burned himself to death in

1963.
___________________________92.knowledge
___________________________93. The current and fourteenth Dalai Lama
___________________________94. refers to doing male teenager’s hair in a bun
___________________________95. This was founded during the reign of Songstan Gampo
___________________________96. Mandate of heaven is also mandate of people
___________________________97.it means virtue.
___________________________98.fidelity
___________________________99.propriety
___________________________100. righteousness
583
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Pototan, Iloilo
About the Author
584
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Pototan, Iloilo
Dr. Romeo Felarca Detaro is an Instructor 1 and Chairman of the Social Science
Department, Program Head of the BSED Program and College of Education Research
Coordinator, of West Visayas State University, Pototan Campus. A former Master
Teacher 1, Faculty Association President and Board of Director of the Parent Teacher
Association (PTA) and as Chairman of the Gender and Development Committee and
Debate and Chess Coach of Jaro National High School. He is also the President of
Newhomes Phase III Residents Association and founder of Saint Martin of Tours Soup
Kitchen Project, former President of Philippine Association of Teachers in Humanities
and Social Sciences (PATH-HUMSS Inc. ) and member of Alliance of Concerned
Teachers (ACT) and Ugnayang pang-Agham Tao (UGAT) or Anthropological
Associations of the Philippines. He was also a former Field Scout Executive of the BSP
Iloilo Council, and taught at Central Philippine University.
A product of Quinangyana, Elementary School, Bingawan, Iloilo, and Capiz National
High School, Roxas City. A graduate of Bachelor of Science Major in Social Studies and
585
POTOTAN CAMPUS
Pototan, Iloilo
Master of Arts in Sociology of Central Philippine University and finished his Doctor of
Philosophy in Social Science at West Visayas State University.
He is the president of Asosasyon ng Mga Dalubhasa May Hilig at Interes sa Kasaysayan
ng Pilipinas Incorporated ( ADHIKA ng Pilipinas Inc. Iloilo Balangay). He had
presented his research paper in 24th National Conference of ADHIKA,“ History of the
Relocation Sites in Iloilo City” in the 7th Regional Conference on Culture and the Arts, “
Ang Bombo Radyo at ang Kanyang Corporate Social Responsibility”, another paper
during the 29th Pambansang Kumperensya sa Kasaysayan at Kultura, and “ Ang Mga
Ordinaryong Mangangayaw mula sa Quinangyana, Bingawan, Iloilo, was presented to
the ADHIKA National last November 28-30, 2019 at Romblon State University,
Odiongan, Romblon. He had presented also his research entitled “The Out-of-School
Youth Phenomenon” was presented in the 40th UGAT International Conference held at
Palawan State University (November 5-7, 2018), and his paper entitled “ A Study of
Filipino Chinese Associations in Iloilo City” last October 3-5, 2019 during the 17th
Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day Conference held at University of the Philippines
NISMED, University of Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.
Among the books he published were as follows: Ang Mga Bulubundukin ng Antique sa
Paghubog ng Kasaysayan ng Antique- Isang Batayang Aklat sa Pagsusulat at
Pananaliksik sa Practical Research 1 para sa Senior High (2017); Changed Lives in
Relocation Sites (2017); Mga Paranan-awan kag Panghuna-huna ni Romeo Felarca
Detaro Una nga Edisyon (2017). Mga Panumduman kag Paranan-awan Ikaduwa ng
Edisyon (2018), The Out of School Youth Phenomenon (2018), Tips in Doing
586
POTOTAN CAMPUS
Pototan, Iloilo
Anthropological Studies (2018). Ang Pundasyon (2018); Ang Bombo Radyo at Ang
Kanyang Corporate Social Responsibilities (2018); Ang Pundasyon Book of Abstracts
(2018); 7th Regional Conference for Culture and the Arts (2018). Ang Mga Kabundukan
ng Aklan at Antique sa Pagbabalangkas ng Programang Panturismo Shuntug: Mga
Kabundukan sa Kasaysayan at Kalinangang Pilipino Lars Raymund C. Ubaldo Patnugot,
ADHIKA ng Pilipinas Inc. At National Commission for Culture and the Arts , (2015)
; Mga Panumduman kag Paranan-awan ni Dr. Romeo Felarca Detaro, Ika-tatlo nga
Edisyon, Central Philippine University Printing Press, (2020); Filipino-Chinese
Associations In Iloilo City, (2020);Ang Feminismo sa Simbahang Katoliko sa ng Iloilo,
(2020); Iloilo City: A Model Approach for Combatting Covid-19, (2020); Mga
Mangangayaw Mula Quinangyana, Bingawan, Iloilo, (2020).
587

Final Module SSE 206 Asian Studies

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Final Module SSE 206 Asian Studies

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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

SOCIAL SCIENCE 206:

SOCIAL SCIENCE 206:

First Issue: August 23, 2021

Dr. Romeo F. Detaro

Notes to the Students

the present pressing issues and contemporary history. It is a course designed to

light of historical and global forces at work in Asia.

Romeo Felarca Detaro PhD.

Notes to the Students ------------------------ 10

Unit 1. Introduction to Asian Origin ------------------------ 10

Lesson 1. Ancient Civilization in Asia ------------------------ 10

Lesson proper ------------------------ 11

Post activity ------------------------ 16

Lesson 2. Ancient Iraq or Mesopotamia ------------------------ 18

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 19

Post activity ------------------------ 22

Lesson 3. Ancient India ------------------------ 24

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 24

Post Activity ------------------------ 27

Unit II. Asian Geography ------------------------ 29

Lesson. 4. Geographical features of Asia ------------------------ 29

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 29

Post Activity ------------------------ 31

Lesson 5. Natural Resources in Asia ------------------------ 32

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 32

Post Activity ------------------------ 38

Lesson 6. Landforms of Asia ------------------------ 40

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 40

Post Activity ------------------------ 43

Lesson 7. Waterforms of Asia ------------------------ 45

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 45

Post Activity ------------------------ 48

Lesson 8. Economy of Asia ------------------------ 49

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 49

Post Activity ------------------------ 49

Unit 3. Culture of Asia ------------------------ 52

Lesson 9. Population of Asia ------------------------ 52

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 52

Post Activity ------------------------ 55

Lesson 10. Asian Migration ------------------------ 56

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 56

Post Activity ------------------------ 59

Unit 4. Ethnic Groups in Asia ------------------------ 60

Lesson 11. Asian Families ------------------------ 60

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 60

Post Activity ------------------------ 62

Lesson 12. Political Organizations in Asia ------------------------ 63

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 63

Post Activity ------------------------ 67

Lesson 13. Asian Environmental Issues ------------------------ 67

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 68

Post Activity ------------------------ 68

Lesson 14. Conflicts in Asia ------------------------ 71

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 71

Post Activity ------------------------ 74

MIDTERM PERIOD ------------------------ 77

Unit 5. Asian Religion ------------------------ 78

Lesson 15. Christianity ------------------------ 79

Lesson Proper ------------------------ 81

Post Activity ------------------------ 82

Lesson 16. Hinduism ------------------------ 84

Lesson Proper ------------------------

Post Activity ------------------------ 85