184 lines
11 KiB
HTML
184 lines
11 KiB
HTML
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
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<title></title>
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<meta name="generator" content="LibreOffice 6.0.5.2 (Linux)"/>
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<meta name="created" content="2018-01-05T14:03:39.991112897"/>
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<meta name="changed" content="2018-04-22T14:00:46.669506171"/>
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<style type="text/css">
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@page { margin: 1in }
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p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120% }
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</head>
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<body lang="en-US" dir="ltr">
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<div title="header">
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<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0.2in; line-height: 100%">ASIAN
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CULTURE <sdfield type=PAGE subtype=RANDOM format=PAGE>0</sdfield></p>
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</div>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><br/>
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</p>
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</p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><br/>
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</p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><br/>
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</p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><br/>
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</p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><br/>
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</p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><br/>
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</p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><br/>
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</p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Asian
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Culture in Religion</font></p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Joseph
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J. Green</font></p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Northern
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Arizona University</font></p>
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<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%; page-break-before: always">
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<font face="Times New Roman, serif"> Asian cultures are lush with
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traditions that have been canonized or reinforced by their various
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philosophies and religions. Traditions such as group welfare,
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importance of the past, importance of agriculture, societal
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hierarchy, subjugation of women, and the importance of extended
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family. Three of the major Asian religions, Confucianism, Hinduism,
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and Shinto contain many of these cultural tendencies.</font></p>
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<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"> Mainly
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in China, while it is debatable whether it is more of a philosophy or
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a religion, Confucianism took hold early on, and it has helped govern
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Chinese life ever sense. The Chinese have always maintained a strict
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hierarchical order, and Confucius and Mencius, a major contributor to
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Confucianism, canonized the common practice as the right and moral
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thing to do. Confucianism also encourages people to organize and
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rebel against the unjust for the good all, though in practice, people
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rarely rebelled against unjust fathers. Confucius also stressed that,
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while people are born moral, they must also study the histories and
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educate themselves if they have any chance of remaining moral
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throughout life. The general positive outlook on life that the
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Chinese maintained was also embraced in Confucianism by encouraging
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people to follow the traditions of a good long life and to die only
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when surrounded by descendants. Indeed, Mencius said that the
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greatest filial sin is to have no descendants, which, of course,
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meant specifically male descendants as women were married off to
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become part of someone else’s household which is one way
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Confucianism supported, somewhat, the subjugated role of women in
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Chinese society (Murphey, Rhodes and Stapleton, 2014). Along with
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educating and culturing one’s self, Confucius also promoted the
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cultivation of the land (Tucker, n.d.), which is the base importance
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of an agrarian society as the Chinese were and largely still are.</font></p>
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<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"> While
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Confucianism incorporated much of Chinese culture and has had such
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profound influence on them, no religion is as closely tied with its
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people as Hinduism is with the people of the Indian subcontinent.
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Hinduism defines the caste system that the Indian people follow. In
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an effort to maintain a hierarchical order, leadership, and
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economics, Hinduism defines what group of people are responsible for
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what tasks which greatly protects both group welfare, and the
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hierarchical order. The caste system consists of four primary
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societal ranks to maintain society and a pseud fifth class which is
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for people without a caste. The first two castes define the order of
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leadership, first the priestly class and then the ruling class. The
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third class is reserved for the farmers and merchants of society to
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keep the people fed and the economy strong, this also shows that
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farmers are regarded as the highest rank under the leadership which
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shows just how important agriculture is to the faith. The last true
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rank is that of their laborers who provide labor and service for the
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top three rungs of society. Hinduism also professes a love of all
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living things, and recommends against taking life. This is embodied
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for their reverence of past living things and the concept of
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reincarnation. No one knows if the animal (s)he kills was an honored
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ancestor, so it is best to avoid it. Unfortunately for women, they do
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not fit very highly in the Hindu culture. It is declared that women
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must never be independent, that they must first be subjects of their
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fathers, then husbands, and then, if her husband is dead, her sons
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(Murphey, Rhodes and Stapleton, 2014; Nigosian, 2000). Hindus also
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typically place importance on the extended family which can be seen
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by the fact that multiple generations of families have a tendency to
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live together (Iskconeducationalservices.org, n.d.).</font></p>
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<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"> Japan,
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which is the primary basin of Shinto, holds a special place in Asian
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culture by being a largely isolated island throughout much of the
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development of Asia. Unlike other Asian cultures, Japanese women
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actually had the ability to hold some amount of power instead of
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being largely subjugated. For much of its history, Shinto actually
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required women to take an active part in the religion in order for it
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to work. Though there was a short period of Shinto history where
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women were no longer required in the practice of Shinto, throughout
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history women have enjoyed the ability to take on high roles in
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Japanese culture which is reflected in Shinto (Haruko, n.d.). Unlike
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other religions, Shinto is much more localized and therefore only
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shares a few common Kami across the country. This also means that,
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unlike the other religions discussed, Shinto doesn’t look for group
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welfare in quite the same all-encompassing way, but has a focus on
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the welfare of the local communities that build the shrines. Shinto
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also professes an attachment to the past in the form of ancestor
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worship. Shinto practitioners often worship ancestors of particular
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clans or lineages as Kami for good fortune. Being an animistic
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religion, it shouldn’t be surprising that Shinto puts a great
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influence on agriculture as agriculture is the source of life which
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makes it only natural to ascribe Kami to it for good tidings. Also
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unlike other Asian religions, Shinto does little to promote a
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hierarchical structuring of society, but it was used for some time to
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give legitimacy to the ruling clan of Japan (Littleton, 1999).</font></p>
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<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"> As
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we can see, tradition and religion are highly mingled in Asian
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society. Indeed, in some cases such as Hindi, it can be hard to
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separate the religion from the culture. However, three of the major
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religions of the area, Hindi, Confucianism, and Shinto, all in
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someway embody the cultural traditions of the local people and
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reinforce them. In Asia, it would appear that religion is more of a
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philosophical view on how to live life based on cultural tradition,
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than some grand aspirations to a bountiful afterlife.</font></p>
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<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><br/>
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</p>
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<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%; page-break-before: always">
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<br/>
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</p>
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<p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">RESOURCES</font></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 0.2in; text-indent: -0.2in; margin-bottom: 0.08in; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">Haruko, O.
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(n.d.). <i>Women and Sexism in Shinto</i>. [online]
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Nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp. Available at:
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https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/3517 [Accessed 22 Apr. 2018].</font></font></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 0.2in; text-indent: -0.2in; margin-bottom: 0.08in; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">Iskconeducationalservices.org.
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(n.d.). <i>Heart of Hinduism: Family Life</i>. [online]
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Available at:
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http://iskconeducationalservices.org/HoH/lifestyle/904.htm [Accessed
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22 Apr. 2018].</font></font></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 0.2in; text-indent: -0.2in; margin-bottom: 0.08in; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">Littleton, S.
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(1999). <i>Shinto</i>. pp.144-161.</font></font></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 0.2in; text-indent: -0.2in; margin-bottom: 0.08in; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">Murphey, Rhodes
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and Stapleton, K. (2014). <i>Asian Religions and Their Cultures.
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In A History of Asia</i>. 7th ed. New York: NY: Taylor & Francis
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Group, pp.28-46.</font></font></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 0.2in; text-indent: -0.2in; margin-bottom: 0.08in; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">Nigosian, S.
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(2000). <i>World Religions: A Historical Approach</i>. 3rd ed.
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Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, pp.20-57.</font></font></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 0.2in; text-indent: -0.2in; margin-bottom: 0.08in; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">Tucker, M.
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(n.d.). <i>Confucianism | Religion | Yale Forum on Religion and
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Ecology</i>. [online] Fore.yale.edu. Available at:
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http://fore.yale.edu/religion/confucianism/ [Accessed 22 Apr. 2018].</font></font></p>
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<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 200%"><br/>
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</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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