RELIGST 2M03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Fierce Deities, Noble Eightfold Path, Thangka
20 Dec 2017
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Week 9 - nov. 8th chinese death traditions. Death results in one of two options ancestor or ghost: proper method of burial = peaceful spirit and good fortune for future generations (via ancestor) Improper method of burial = unhappy spirit = havoc and bad luck for all (associated with ghosts and bad ghosts, leads to illness, poverty etc. ) Ancestor reverence in chinese tradition death rituals serious concern transition to ancestor. The local way of thinking: 1500 bcs 9ce = classical period. Then we had three different ideologies: confucianism, buddhism, taosim: collectively created the chinese tradition that we know and understand today. Complementary negative yin and positive yang forces: yang: heat and light, the power that starts things, yin: cold, dark power that completes them. Chinese gods and animated nature and human spirits: negotiating relationship. Gods: nature and cosmic deities, semidivine humans: all-encompassing deity of heaven (tian) > the emperor.
