In this essay, two world religions will be compared to see how similar and/or how different they are; these two religions are Confucianism and Buddhism. Confucianism speaks about the wise thoughts that Confucius came across throughout his life.
Buddhism speaks about how to acquire great knowledge throughout life. Confucianism was founded by a Chinese man, but Buddhism was founded by an Indian man. These quick comparisons show how the religions differ, but more detailed comparisons will be seen throughout the essay. The origins and founders of these two religions are quite similar, which will be explained in this paragraph.Confucianism was founded by a man named Confucius; which is how the religion got its name.
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama but was called Buddhism because Buddha means the one who has awakened. Confucianism was founded in the Chinese state of Lu, where Confucius was born in 551 BCE. Buddhism was founded in Northern India where Siddhartha was born in 563 BCE. Both of the religions were formed in the mid-500s BCE just a couple of countries apart and their concepts were similar but they differ as well as seen in this paragraph.This paragraph will compare the basic beliefs of Confucianism and Buddhism. Confucianism’s beliefs are quite basic and they are only single words or phrases that mean a virtue.
Buddhism’s beliefs are more like life paths because they tell you how to live the way Buddha did. Confucianism’s beliefs are: Li which is rituals and etiquette, Hsiao which means love within the family, Yi which is righteousness, Xin which is honesty and trustworthiness, Jen which is benevolence and humaneness towards others and Chung which is loyalty to the state.Buddhism’s beliefs are: Karma which is the sum total of action of body, speech and mind and says if you do good things then good things happen to you, Dharma which has two meanings; the teaching of the Buddha or path of enlightenment and the fundamental principles that control the universe and Reincarnation which is the rebirth of a human soul in a new form after death which can be born into a human, animal or supernatural being.Through the explanation of these two religions basic beliefs you can ee that the religions are quite different because Confucianism’s beliefs are virtues and Buddhism’s beliefs are more like life lessons or paths. This paragraph will be comparing the symbols and rituals of Buddhism and Confucianism.
Confucianism’s symbols are also ancient Chinese symbols that were associated with the religion because of similarities between the meaning and the religion’s beliefs. Buddhist symbols were created by Buddhist followers and were created to symbolize Buddha and his teachings. Confucianism has only three main symbols but Buddhism has many symbols.Confucianism’s symbols are: This symbol is the Chinese ideogram for water and means life in Chinese philosophy.
This symbol is often used in Chinese wedding ceremonies. It means total harmony, righteousness, in your relationships in life. This yin-yang symbol is used in Taoism is also used in Confucianism. It symbolizes balance in nature between opposing forces because unbalance can lead to disarray.
Buddhist symbols are: Eight-Spoked Dharma Wheel or Dharmachakra symbolizes the Buddha turning the wheel of law or truth.The Dharmachakra symbolizes the Eight-fold Noble Path and symbolizes Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The Bodhi tree is used as a symbol because it was under a Bodhi tree that Buddha gained his enlightenment. The Throne symbolizes two things in Buddhism; Siddhartha’s royal ancestry and Buddha’s spiritual kingship. The Lion symbolizes royalty, strength and power and is associated with Buddhism because Siddhartha was a royal prince. The Buddha’s teachings were sometime called the “Lion’s Roar” because of the strength and power of his teachings.
The Buddha’s Footprints or Buddhapada is used as a symbol to represent that Buddha lived on Earth because it is said that he made the imprints just before his death to prove his presence on Earth. The begging-bowl symbolizes Buddha entering the final steps of enlightenment because it is said that a woman offered him a bowl of milk rice while he was practicing austerity but accepted the bowl because he needed the energy to enter the final steps. The Buddha’s Eyes – especially on stupas – face in all four directions and symbolizes the omniscient mind of the Buddha.Through showing all the main symbols in each religion, you can see that Buddhism has man more symbols and their symbols mean more than a word or phrase in Chinese. The sacred writings differ between Buddhism and Confucianism.
In Confucianism the writings are mainly Confucius’ teachings but Buddhism’s writings are mainly written by followers explaining how Buddha lived. Confucianism’s scared writings are mainly written by Confucius himself and are about his teachings to his followers although some are written by followers.Buddhism’s sacred writings are written mostly by his followers and were written and were written so that people could read about Buddha and how he lived his life. Confucianism has two main books for sacred writings the Si Shu (Four Books) and the Wu Jing (Five Classics).
The Si Shu is broken down into 4 books which cover: Confucius’ analects, Doctrine of the Mean, Great Learning and the writings of a man similar to Confucius named Meng Tzu. The Wu Jing is broken down into 5 parts which cover: Classic of History, Classic of Odes, Classic of Changes, Spring and Autumn Annals and the Classic of Rites.Buddhism’s sacred writing are different because there is the Tripitaka or Three Baskets, which is broken down into 3 parts; Vinaya-Pitaka, Sutta-Pitaka, and Abhidhamma-Pitaka. These three parts are then broken down themselves; the Vinaya-Pitaka contains five books written about discipline and conduct, the Sutta-Pitaka contains five collections of the Buddha’s teachings and is the most important basket in Buddhism, and the Abhidhamma-Pitaka which cover the nature of consciousness and makes technical explanations of the Sutta-Pitaka.Through more detailed scriptures and Confucianism’s scriptures are short but meaningful.
The Rites of Passage or Milestones in these two religions are being compared in this paragraph to show how the two religions aim their lives. Confucianism contains Birth, upon reaching maturity (coming of age), marriage which is broken up into six parts, and death. Buddhism contains some of the similar and some different; the similar ones are marriage and death but the unique ones are naming a child, a child’s first outing, first solid food, and first haircut.Buddhism contains two milestones about death; there is death and death anniversary, but Confucianism includes both of these under death.
Confucianism has a birth milestone unlike Buddhism; in the birth milestone there is said to be a T’ai-shen (spirit of the fetus) which protects the expectant mother and makes people who harm her suffer. In Buddhism marriage is a single milestones but in Confucianism marriage is broken down into 6 parts; it contains proposal, engagement, dowry, procession, marriage/reception and morning after.Through showing these milestones you can see that in Buddhism the growing up of a child and death are important milestones but in Confucianism marriage is the most important milestone. This paragraph will be explaining and comparing some other interesting facts about Confucianism and Buddhism. In Confucianism, there are six schools; Han Confucianism, Neo- Confucianism, Contemporary Neo- Confucianism, Korean Confucianism, Japanese Confucianism and Singapore Confucianism.In Buddhism, there are only three main schools but also has two smaller schools; Theravada School (Southern), Mahayana School (Northern), and Vajrayana School (Western or Central) are the three main schools but the two smaller schools come from Zen Buddhism and are the Rinzai school and Soto school.
Confucianism has two types which are basically the same; main religion which is when Confucianism is your main or only religion and side religion which is when people follow Confucianism but also follow a different main religion.Buddhism has 5 types; General Buddhism, Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, and Zen Buddhism. In Confucianism, there are different schools to cover the different parts of East Asia but in Buddhism the different schools all teach Buddhism under a different light but are also separated throughout East Asia. These two interesting facts just show how the two differ in teaching and worship. In conclusion, Confucianism and Buddhism are similar yet different and that has been explained throughout this essay.The origins are similar because they were both found in East Asia in the mid-500s BCE.
Though the explanation of the beliefs you can see how the religions start to differ; Buddhist beliefs are life lessons and Confucianism’s beliefs are morals or virtues. The symbols of the two religions show that Confucianism basically shows morals but Buddhism’s symbols are based on how the Buddha lived and were created to worship the Buddha. Through the comparison of the scriptures you can see that Buddhism is a more detailed religion and covers bothBuddha’s life and his teachings almost equally, but Confucianism was written mainly by Confucius about his teachings. The milestones are quite different because Buddhism’s main milestones are death and maturity, but Confucianism’s main milestone is marriage, which consist of 6 parts. In the other interesting facts paragraph, schools and types were explained which showed how Confucianism is more of a side religion, but Buddhism is a main religion.
Through the comparisons it is seen that Buddhism and Confucianism are different religions but do have their similarities.
