How did Daoism affect Chinese culture?

Answer 1

SHi wandi influences Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism in Chinese Culture

Daoism accompanied Confucianism as an influential ethical system within Chinese society. The development of Daoism is linked to a contemporary of Confucius, Lao-Zi (meaning "Old One"). Its major text is the Dao De Ching. Daoism assumed what has been called a passive or "laissez-faire" approach towards life, encouraging its adherents to complacently accept life's experiences and its unavoidable burdens. Faced with this inevitability, it frowned upon government interference and moralization. In this respect, Daoism differed from Confucianism's activism and emphasis on social reform based on the five relationships. Daoism replaced Confucianism's emphasis on education by preaching an acceptance of life as it stood. In fact, these differences helped both schools co-exist within dynastic China by appealing to pre-existing ideas of a balance between yin and yang. (Yin symbolizes the negative, feminine, cool, dark, secret, and submissive. Yang symbolizes the positive, masculine, warm, bright, active, and aggressive. Both elements were said to be found within every natural object and are considered the major forces of life.) Both Daoists and Confucianists concurred that man and nature also needed to strive for a harmonious balance between the elements of yin and yang. Although many Confucianists disavowed Daoism's emphasis on superstition, they nonetheless embraced elements of the philosophy and integrated it with their Confucian beliefs. As a result, despite Daoism's appeals, Confucianism remained the primary belief system underpinning Chinese society at the dawn of the imperial age. China incorporated Buddhism into its society during the 1st century A.D. Buddhism, which originated in India, encourages a respect for life; in China it helped modify the cruel punishments called for under the Legalist philosophy. Buddhism espoused respect for all forms of life. Buddhism encouraged the people to be charitable. Buddhist monasteries became the cultural centers of learning and scholarship. Many Chinese Buddhist monks traveled to India to study their religion in more depth. They brought important Buddhist scrolls and writings from India back to China. Like Confucianism and Daoism, Buddhism tried to encourage the spread of peace and harmony in society. Both Daoism and Buddhism placed an emphasis on the importance of living in harmony with nature and the respect for all forms of life. As a result, many adherents of Daoism and Buddhism became vegetarians because they believed in non-violence. They ate no meat and used no animal products. However, not all Daoists became complete vegetarians. Some ate meat on occasion and many would simply choose not to eat the meat of an animal which was used to work the fields (such as an oxen or buffalo). Confucianism and Legalism in Chinese Government

Confucianism did not emerge as an official ideology in China until the establishment of the Han dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.). The first dynasty to unify all of China under one emperor, the Qin (221-207 B.C.), adopted a harsh ruling philosophy called Legalism. Legalism placed an emphasis on strict rules and harsh punishments (even for minor crimes). Legalists believed such harshness would deter people from committing criminal offenses. This practice, it was thought, would serve to strengthen the status and power of the emperor. In reality, the Qin dynasty's ruthlessness bore upon the people excessively and soon alienated them from the dynasty. Following the death of China's first emperor Qin Shihuang in 210 B.C., the empire soon collapsed and was replaced by the Han. The Han modified the Legalist excesses of the Qin by incorporating Confucianism into the ruling ideology. The resulting combination of Legalism and Confucianism has been referred to as "Imperial Confucianism" -- a way of distinguishing it from the original teachings of Confucius. Imperial Confucianism recognized that a ruler could not exercise power solely through the threat of violence; the ruler needed to set a positive moral example for his subjects, encouraging others to embrace his leadership. Nonetheless, this form of Confucianism embraced an important aspect of Legalism by recognizing the ruler's right to use violence as a means of maintaining order among his subjects -- as long as such violence was exercised in order to maintain a righteous and moral government. In sum, Confucian ideals demanded that the emperor's subjects demonstrate loyalty to the throne. At the same time, Confucianism called on the emperor to rule from an enlightened perspective, to rule for the benefit of his subjects (an ideal not always realized in practice, which thereby presented an opening for rebellions against a dynasty without renouncing Confucianism itself). Confucianism remained the primary governing ideology adhered to in China until the collapse of the dynastic system in 1911. Family and the Confucian Ideal in China

Confucianism greatly affected the development of family structure in Imperial China. During the dynastic era, many people lived in extended families -- multi-generational families with parents, children, grandparents, and other relatives living in the same household. The oldest male was the head of the family. Demonstrating the power of parents over their children, marriages were frequently arranged; the bride and groom had no say in the decision to marry. Following the marriage, the bride moved into her husband's house and had to obey not only her husband but also her husband's parents. Responsibility for running the household fell to the bride's mother-in-law, to whom the new bride had to defer. Because of these dynamics, brothers often stayed together throughout their lives, while women rarely saw their birth family again after marriage. Although large families represented the ideal, throughout history many of China's poorer peasants chose not to have many children, the result of limited land and other economic constraints. Within the family, the Confucian ideal of "filial piety" expressed the attitude of respect and devotion to one's immediate relatives. Filial piety pre-dated Confucianism, but was incorporated as a main tenet of Confucian thought. In particular, a person was expected to obey and respect one's parents even as an adult. Filial piety was such an important ideal within the family that stories were written describing an exaggerated concern for parents. One such collection of stories, known as the "Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety," was designed to teach children their responsibilities to their parents. In fact, one of the reasons for having large families in China was the belief that many children would provide for comfortable support in the parents' old age. Ancestor worship, practiced throughout Imperial China, logically followed the ideal of filial piety; a son looked after his parents in this world (filial piety) as well as the next (ancestor worship). Every home had a family shrine dedicated to their ancestors; the oldest male led the prayers. Influenced by a "polytheistic" religious system in which the Chinese worshipped many gods and spirits, family members made offerings of rice and wine to their ancestors at the shrine. It was hoped that they would bless the family with a long life, good health, and many sons. Those who died with no families were thought to wander the earth as ghosts. Chinese Language

The Chinese language is very different from most other languages in that it is a tonal language. The same word can have more than one meaning, depending on whether the speaker's voice ascends, descends, or stays level in pitch. It is this tonal quality which gives the spoken language a "sing-song" quality. It also makes the spoken Chinese language very difficult for foreigners to learn. Other than Chinese, there is only one other major tonal language spoken in the world today -- Maya, spoken by the Mayan Indians in Mesoamerica. Instead of using a phonetic system of writing like in English, the Chinese writing system uses characters. Characters (ideograms) are pictures or symbols that represent a meaning or a word. When these characters are combined, a more complicated meaning is created. For instance, if you combine the character for "north" and the character for "capital" the result is "Beijing" which literally means "north capital."

Answer 2

it would influence Chinese culture cause now people of china would all have their belief in Confucianism and daoism

Answer 3

By creating new beliefs and the way the Chinese culture is today.

-Caleb