3 ms·

It's interesting to appreciate that the Chinese had their ethical views completely different than the Abrahamic religions at least as early as 2500 years ago (a

by acqq 11y ago

It's interesting to appreciate that the Chinese had their ethical views completely different than the Abrahamic religions at least as early as 2500 years ago (all quotes from Wikipedia): "Some of the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include rén, yì, and lǐ, and zhì. Ren ("humaneness") is the essence of the human being which manifests as compassion, it is the virtue-form of Heaven.[15] Yi is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. Li is a system of ritual norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life according to the law of Heaven. Zhi 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 ren and yi." Also, even competing ideologies weren't as primitive: "Taoism tends to emphasize various themes (...) such as naturalness, spontaneity, simplicity, detachment from desires, and most important of all, wu wei (inaction)" Also, the obligation of the rulers: "If the emperor did not behave according to proper ritual, ethics, and morals, he could disrupt the fine balance of these cosmological cycles and cause calamities such as earthquakes, floods, droughts, epidemics, and swarms of locusts"

douche 11y ago
It's worth noting that the Abrahamic religions have only been in the ascendancy in the Mediterranean and Middle East for approximately 1500 years. Before then, there was considerably more variation. Likewise, it would be a similar generalization to assume that Chinese thought has always stayed on the rails of Confucianism. There's Mohism, Legalism, Daoism, various schools of Buddhism (some of the pants-on-head-crazy Millenarian variety), clumps of Islam, Christianity (again, sometimes pants-on-head-crazy, see the Taiping...) as well as shamanistic and animalistic traditions retained by various invading foreign dynasties.
- acqq 11y ago
  > the Abrahamic religions have only been in the ascendancy in the Mediterranean and Middle East for approximately 1500 years Judaism transitioned to the form familiar to the current one 2500 years before now. Christianity became a state religion more than 1600 years before now, Islam started its conquests some 1300 years before now. > it would be a similar generalization to assume that Chinese thought has always stayed on the rails of Confucianism And nobody claimed that. Just that all Chinese schools of thought weren't so primitive as the Abrahamic ones. I quoted Confucianism and Taoism in my post. That the Abrahamic ideologies managed to poison even Chinese territories isn't anything to brag about, in my humble opinion.

by acqq 11y ago

douche 11y ago

It's worth noting that the Abrahamic religions have only been in the ascendancy in the Mediterranean and Middle East for approximately 1500 years. Before then, there was considerably more variation. Likewise, it would be a similar generalization to assume that Chinese thought has always stayed on the rails of Confucianism. There's Mohism, Legalism, Daoism, various schools of Buddhism (some of the pants-on-head-crazy Millenarian variety), clumps of Islam, Christianity (again, sometimes pants-on-head-crazy, see the Taiping...) as well as shamanistic and animalistic traditions retained by various invading foreign dynasties.

acqq 11y ago
> the Abrahamic religions have only been in the ascendancy in the Mediterranean and Middle East for approximately 1500 years Judaism transitioned to the form familiar to the current one 2500 years before now. Christianity became a state religion more than 1600 years before now, Islam started its conquests some 1300 years before now. > it would be a similar generalization to assume that Chinese thought has always stayed on the rails of Confucianism And nobody claimed that. Just that all Chinese schools of thought weren't so primitive as the Abrahamic ones. I quoted Confucianism and Taoism in my post. That the Abrahamic ideologies managed to poison even Chinese territories isn't anything to brag about, in my humble opinion.