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The Chinese religious traditions of Daoism and Confucianism have been interwoven together in the souls of the people whose reverence for ancestors and striving for harmony with nature have been elevated by the ethics and ideals of them both. The two traditions coexisted peacefully, even within the individual follower. Daoism (Taoism), which was based on the teachings of Lao Zi (Laozi), was more of a Way to achieve personal enlightenment; while, the Confucian teachings of Kong Fuzi (Kongzi, Kong Zi, Venerable Master Kong, Virtuous Teacher Kong, Confucius), dealt more with ethics and education. Daoism (Taoism), the Way of the Dao (Tao) teachings of Lao Zi has provided a synergetic complement to the traditional Confucianism teachings of Kong Fuzi in China. Over the years, Daoism and Confucianism have also been harmoniously synthesized with Buddhism throughout the Chinese cultural traditions. The well balanced congruent integration of the three illustrious pathways of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism in China has been confirmed by the recurrent presence of aligned groupings of sculptures of the three esteemed founding personages (Buddha, Kong Fuzi, Lao Zi) in many temples and rock carvings.
The image of the Dazu Rock
Sculptures (Dàzú Shíkè) on Mount Baoding below dates from around the 7th Century
ACE. The rock sculptures depicted three stellar religious personages (Guatama
Buddha, Kong Fuzi, Lao Zi), who were renowned respectively for their
inspirationally insightful Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist Ways of Living.
Situated near the city of Chongqing, China, on the steep hillsides of Dazu County, the Dazu Rock Carvings were comprised of around 50,000 sculptures with inscriptions and epigraphs consisting of more than 100,000 Chinese characters. Although the initial rock carvings occurred during the early Tang Dynasty in 605 ACE, the majority of the rock carvings on Mount Beishan were initiated by Wei Junjing, the Prefect of Changzhou in the late Ninth Century. From 907-965 ACE during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, monks, nuns, and other local people continued to emulate his exemplary works. Then in the Twelfth Century during the Song Dynasty, Zhao Zhifeng, a devoted Buddhist monk, worked on the intricately crafted Mount Baoding rock carvings and sculptures for seventy years. A World Heritage Site since 1999 because of their artistic excellence, their abundant secular and spiritual multiplicity, and their illumination of Chinese cultural traditions, the Dazu Rock Carvings on Mount Baoding and Mount Beishan were particularly noteworthy. They provide outstanding evidence of the harmonious synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.
Kong Fuzi (Kongzi, Kong Zi, Venerable Master Kong, Confucius) and Lao
Zi (Laozi) were contemporaries in China (6th
century BCE). Born in the state of Lu, Philosopher Kong Fuzi (551-479 BCE) was a
Chinese educator and reformer of exemplary vision, who endeavored to elevate the most refined elements in the prevailing societal
and governmental traditions by traveling throughout China, giving advice to its
rulers, and teaching morality and ethics... Continue on
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