China has always been a
'secular' system using
PanGu grew between the light and dark
and eventually died, creating the universe
from his body.
Bureaucrats and aristocracy (those made from the clay)
Human world divided into two halves
Everyone Else (the grains of sand)
didn't have enough in the one to the north
(northern star) and the heavens slipped
(where Beijing is, thus Beijing is Heaven
on Earth)
Lunar Year due to agrarian base
Each Zodiac occurs once every 12 years
and rotates through the five elements
making a 60 year cycle.
Chinese Zodiacs also play a role
China.mmap - 9/20/2007 -
Sac is representative of Chaos (Wonton),
but physically similar to a lymph-node
Light rose, Dark Sank and each day the
distance between the two objects grew
larger and larger
A Sac grew, pulsated and eventually burst
Kneeling down on the banks of the yellow
river and making people out of the yellow
earth, got frustrated and 'whipped sand
into heaps' and animated all of them
Repaired the pillars of heaven by using
the Five Elements
A combination of the elements plus
yin/yang create objects
Creative and Destructive Cycle
Divided according to the year
Five Elements
Govern Time
Yin: Dark, Feminine, Negative
Yang: Light, Masculine, Positive
Confucius as the main spiritual
leader
Honor and Dishonor affect the
like a tidal force, the effects can children and ancestors
be felt through successive
generations
Ancestors
Ancestor Worship - Most important Family in 3 parts Contemporaries
Descendants
Want worship, ritual and notice from
descendants in MALE line
Sac Theory Dead have personalities
Many were human and deified
"Translated" by rising up to heaven in the
Gods presence of thousands of people Worshipped in Taiwan/Fujian areas
Chinese Popular Religion Matsu - Brings fish and protects against Typhoon
Male or Female (orig. Female) who can
go into a trance and either cross into
other world or channel other spirits
Creation Myths Children appeared to her in a dream
Fatty - Hong Kong Group seance - going to heavenly flower
Woman Gua
garden and learned to see future
China
Shamans prevented son from having children
Brothers son was to take over his worship Shaman retrieved remains, put them into
when he died, didn't an urn, found a place to put the urn and
Uncle who did not marry, have children etc then spoke with the spirit to reach an
accord
Complimentary Forces
Each person developed a
significant aspect of Chinese
Yin/Yang Universe is Binary Culture
Fu Xi - Marries sister starting family Be all and End All of Chinese Culture
Shen Nong (Lit. Divine farmer) starts agriculture
Yellow Emperor (Huang Diyi) First Imperial Ruler
Great Men Theory Over 2000 years old
Great Men and Women Created society Evolved a complex legal system
Gao Yao The Judge
Quan Xu the Bureaucrat Created the idea of forms in triplicate
Yao - Yielded his thrown to the best
successor, not the son Xun - Model of filial piety
Cultural Heroes Yu - Conquered the great flood by Not to be confused with Huang Di YI
First Emperor
draining china