>China traditionally has a polytheistic, pagan civilization (with a Buddhist filter over it imported from India since the Han dynasty)>People like Confucius, Laozi, and various generals, monks, and geniuses are commonly given temples and worshipped as deities (also the Buddha, of course, but again, that's Indian)>Confucius grew up in a chaotic time, and looked back to a "Golden Age" when society worked, and people worshipped "Shangdi" ("god above")>"Shangdi" worship seemed suspiciously like monotheism>Shangdi was a deity who brought down rain, calamities to remove corrupt rulers who oppressed the weak, and no one could stop his decree>the Chinese "Shangdi" sounds suspiciously like the Hebrew "Shaddai">Chinese people are Jews confirmed?
>>18753285>>Confucius grew up in a chaotic time, and looked back to a "Golden Age" when society worked, and people worshipped "Shangdi" ("god above")>>"Shangdi" worship seemed suspiciously like monotheism>>Shangdi was a deity who brought down rain, calamities to remove corrupt rulers who oppressed the weak, and no one could stop his decreeWhy the fuck do people even compare Confucius with Buddha the athiest if this is the case???
>>18753295Confucius didn't care for the god(s) or spirits per se. He only insisted the rituals must be performed, the faith or the lack thereof wasn't something important to him. In fact, he was probably agnostic. When asked about understanding the spirits, he answered "how can you understand spirits if you cannot understand men?"
From the analects of confucius>The concept of Heaven (Tian) is pervasive in Confucianism. Confucius had a deep trust in Heaven and believed that Heaven overruled human efforts. He also believed that he was carrying out the will of Heaven, and that Heaven would not allow its servant, Confucius, to be killed until his work was done. Many attributes of Heaven were delineated in his Analects.>Confucius honored Heaven as the supreme source of goodness:>The Master said, "Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign! How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand, and only Yao corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue! The people could find no name for it. How majestic was he in the works which he accomplished! How glorious in the elegant regulations which he instituted!" (VIII, xix, tr. Legge 1893:214)>Confucius felt himself personally dependent upon Heaven (VI, xxviii, tr. Legge 1893:193): "Wherein I have done improperly, may Heaven reject me! may Heaven reject me!">Confucius believed that Heaven cannot be deceived:>The Master being very ill, Zi Lu wished the disciples to act as ministers to him. During a remission of his illness, he said, "Long has the conduct of You been deceitful! By pretending to have ministers when I have them not, whom should I impose upon? Should I impose upon Heaven? Moreover, than that I should die in the hands of ministers, is it not better that I should die in the hands of you, my disciples? And though I may not get a great burial, shall I die upon the road?" (IX, xi, tr. Legge 1893:220-221)
>>18753302>Confucius believed that Heaven gives people tasks to perform to teach them of virtues and morality:>The Master said, "At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right." (II, iv, tr. Legge 1893:146)>He believed that Heaven knew what he was doing and approved of him, even though none of the rulers on earth might want him as a guide:>The Master said, "Alas! there is no one that knows me." Zi Gong said, "What do you mean by thus saying - that no one knows you?" The Master replied, "I do not murmur against Heaven. I do not grumble against men. My studies lie low, and my penetration rises high. But there is Heaven - that knows me!" (XIV, xxxv, tr. Legge 1893:288-9)>Perhaps the most remarkable saying, recorded twice, is one in which Confucius expresses complete trust in the overruling providence of Heaven:>The Master was put in fear in Kuang. He said, "After the death of King Wen, was not the cause of truth lodged here in me? If Heaven had wished to let this cause of truth perish, then I, a future mortal, should not have got such a relation to that cause. While Heaven does not let the cause of truth perish, what can the people of Kuang do to me?" (IX, v and VII, xxii, tr. Legge 1893:217-8)
>>18753295Western philosophers wanted to reform Confucius to be aligned with their thinking like they did with Buddism which they saw as a champion of athiestm, but this goes a bit earlier when later chinese rulers slowly removed the spiritual aspects of the teachings of Confucius, based on the early findings in 2011 he had a much more intimate relationship with Tian
>>18753295>with Buddha the athiestNo evidence for that
>According to traditional legend and historical records like Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, Lao Tzu (Laozi) vanished into the western wilderness and his ultimate fate remains unknownwhere did he go, bros?
>>18753285>Chinese "Shangdi" sounds suspiciously like the Hebrew "Shaddai"Not really? I mean I see the similarity but "ng" isn't a sound that tends to slide its way into words for no reason.
>>18754071The bigger question is why did his followers love to make humilation ritual stories with Lao tzu mogging Confucius?
>>18754078Even if you're right, there's something called "Phono-Semantic Matching" which refers to when languages make words from other languages sound like words from their own languages when importing them.Chinese says "mai dang lao" for "McDonald's" which means "wheat as labor".Chinese also says "hei ke" for "hacker" which means "black guest". (based)Interestingly, unlike "Shangdi" in Chinese, "Shaddai" in Hebrew doesn't actually have a clear meaning. Some experts have theorized its meaning to be "mountains", "wilderness", "destroyer", or even "breasts"!Who knows, maybe they borrowed it FROM Chinese. China = Garden of Eden confirmed?(j)Also, only a few cultures have ever come up with monotheism, I think? Akhnaten in Egypt, the Jews, and possibly Islam if you believe the traditional accounts.
>>18754083>Who knows, maybe they borrowed it FROM Chineseif they did they wouldn't seethe about pork that much o algo
>>18753285Nice idea but the Torah was likely written after this golden age.
>>18754119It's an indepenent traditon if anything
>>18753285Chinese folk religion, Tian worhsip is a version of the oldest form of theism thinkable, directly tied to the sky as it even survived in common perception to this day, probably originating with the Turks hand in hand as it is manifested and can be read in their language and everyday philosophical approaches.Heaven worship serves the navigation through time and space, in its most dense form emerging with nomads of the steppes, for them space-time navigation is most important, it's also displayed in their complete mythology which is tied astronomical events (ie: Nardugan) and even displayed in their shelter, which gets aligned according to the cardinal directions and at times is understood as a ship.The opening time dimension, from tying events to celestial phenomena, allows transcendental thought: that what extends personal to the ego confined space (in time included) and increases survival likelihood. Survival is ensured by ''kut'', what Turks call life force which is located in the sky, a leader, one who is best at navigating through time and space, is blessed with especially.
