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Keeping You Informed Of Chinese Culture In Colorado Springs

Newsletter March 2024| Issue 2024-03

Chinese Culture: Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism

Like many cultures in the world, the Chinese culture is rooted in and shaped by some fundamental ideas across time and space. Three dominant philosophies: Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, not only helped establish political and societal structures in China over the past two thousand years, but also helped create traditions, arts, music, literature, and diverse lifestyles among people.

In this newsletter, we will focus on Buddhism.

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy that originated from the teachings of the Buddha, a legendary prince in northern India (6th- 4th centuries BC). In Sanskrit, Buddha means "Awakened One...from the sleep of ignorance and achieves freedom from suffering". Later on, Buddhism spread all over Asia and had a significant impact on Asian cultures.

Buddhism probably was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty around 100 AD. Many dynasties and emperors supported Buddhism by establishing many Buddhist temples and translating Buddha's teachings. Chinese Buddhism eventually became a main branch of Buddhism, including a unique contribution to Zen Buddhism.

The essence of Buddhism is about suffering in life (birth, aging, sickness, and death), the causes, the truth of the world, and the path to enlightenment.

The following video shares the Four Nobel Truths of Buddhism.