Chinese history and culture

ShyAngel

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What is it with you ABDC (s), you can take your comment below as told by your pears when they were speaking to you metaphorically, but you cannot take what your mom told you metaphorically.

If there is one wise man/woman or woman/man in china and amongst HAN, and i am sure there have been, he is your buddha.

What do you want to prove to whom?

Ok back! I was busy talking on phone with my fiance....... :)

Ummm my buddha? Excuse me?????? I'm not here to prove that Buddha only belongs to me or what so ever, or even not here to make up the fake stories about Buddha of wisdom. God or Buddha, the enlightened one belongs to all the human being in this earth and he, only he has whole right to come back to whomever or which ever form he would like to. Be if he has to born in low caste or high caste, its completely his choice. The only reason why I said my buddha is because modern chinese is a atheist nation and doesn't believe in any sort of god or buddha. And this is the thread where we can talk about ancient chinese civilization and its culture, wither they like the idea or fact about the existence of god/buddhas or not. We are simply hear to share how much we know! Thanks to my mom, buddhist scriptures were tough to her ever since she is 8 years old ok. And I've no doubt to not believe how she had raised us and what she has tough us on my religion. About Buddha Dharma, only Tibetan Lama are consider to have the most advance up to date knowledge about buddhism and to be able to teach other buddhist followers around the world, and specially the chinese who are still buddhist follower. Tibetan Lamas share very special priest and student relationship with the ancient chinese empire. Now, if chinese doesn't have any problem believing in what we tibetans believe then what's your problem? And *rolles eyes*
 

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It was during his time that Samye, the first monastery in Tibet, was founded by Guru Padmasambhava, who also established the supremacy of Buddhism and covered the indigenous deities into guardians of the Dharma. King Trisong Detsen also expelled the Chinese monk (Hoshang) and banished the Chinese Chan school of Buddhism from Tibet forever and adopted the Indian system. He also declared Buddhism as the state religion of Tibet.

During the reign of King Ralpachen (815-36) the Tibetan armies won many victories and in 821-2 a peace treaty was concluded with China. The inscription of the text of the treaty exists in three places: One outside the Chinese Emperor's palace gate in Ch'ang-an, another before the main gate of Jokhang temple in Lhasa and the third on the Tibetan-China border at Mount Guru Meru. Eminent Tibetan scholars, Kawa Paltsek and Chogru Lui Gyaltsen, worked with Indian scholars, invited them to Tibet and prepared the first Sanskrit-Tibetan lexicon called the Mahavyutpatti.

Tibetan history

Ummmmm this happened during prehistoric era. King Ralpachen's great great son Lang Dharma has horn on his head and he was pro bon orthodox and he killed his own brother and took over the throne and destroyed our buddha dharma that was formed by Padmasambava. Later the most famous anti bon follower his minister Lha-lung-pai-ke-Dorjee assassinate him. Lha-Lung-Pai-ke Dorjee shot him arrow in middle of his forehead. After that, Tibet had no religion for more then thousand year until the great indian pundit started to come to Tibet from Nalanda University and buddhism raised in tibet again. Bengali Pundit Atisha was great master and it is believed that goddess arya tara guided him with his studies and in mastering buddha dharma and goddess tara sent him to Tibet to guide her descended who were in deeply lost in their own little world. So antisha crossed the great himalayas and made himself in Tibet and lived and tough there until the age of late 60s and founded the Dalai Lama Geluk yellow hat sect. When Atisha passed away, Tibetan regents kept his ash for many years and later return it to his families in bay of bengal.
 

ShyAngel

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so there goes friendship goes long. :sarcastic:

If only the tibetan had kept a wary eye on the HAN MAN.


The relationship was only with Tibetan Lama, not with china or Chinese monk! So what friendship are there between chinese and indian? NONE! Unless you can't differentiate between Tibetan and Chinese!
 

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I wonder whether it is real or just someone's photoshop work?
Even if its real what's wrong with it? I don't think there's any problem with this picture. I would more then happy and it be fun to ride on top of train or by the window or just hang by the door. Imagine all these fresh air coming to your face.... I think its pretty cool. Simply better then riding bicycle. Not that I hate bicycle......:d_training:
 

ShyAngel

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The green trian(the cheapest train) during spring transport rush
The cheapest train were always like that! In india we call it challo. hehehehe
The one that you posted. The only difference must be chinese prefer riding bicycle then train therefor, it eliminates the passenger in these cheap train. Where as in India only cheap labor people rides rakshow, which is something similar to how you ride bicycle so they rather like riding train then bicycle. What you say? Agree? he he he I think so!
 

masterofsea

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The only reason why I said my buddha is because modern chinese is a atheist nation and doesn't believe in any sort of god or buddha.
In fact,ancient chinese were atheists too.If you know China's history.
Traditionally,if one go into any religion,he/she were considered to be a hopeless man/woman.But,religion did exist in people's life all the time in some kind of forms.But a educated man as Confucius said “A gentleman don't talk about god and ghost".

I think traditional Chinese should de defined as skeptics,because my elder families told me "if you believe,there would be;if you don't belive,there won't be" when i asked "is there ghost and god".
 

masterofsea

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Even if its real what's wrong with it? I don't think there's any problem with this picture. I would more then happy and it be fun to ride on top of train or by the window or just hang by the door. Imagine all these fresh air coming to your face.... I think its pretty cool. Simply better then riding bicycle. Not that I hate bicycle......:d_training:
Don't you think there is a little bit of danger for those people?
 

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Our king Songtsen Gampo conquered all the way to the biggest city of ancient china before there was political married btw Chinese Princess and him. This particular place was described in our history! Thanks for posting it!
 

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Don't you think there is a little bit of danger for those people?
Nop! They can take care of themselves!

They are happy people who likes to ride on their train the way they wanted just like a free saul. Nobody will say anything or do anything against them for living their life the way they wanted. I think its pretty cool! I think I, myself have ride in one of those when once we miss our train. So if I'm fine, I'm sure nothing will happen to them. Atleast I feel more safe riding these train then being in CHINA. :viannen_10:


:)
 

masterofsea

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Our king Songtsen Gampo conquered all the way to the biggest city of ancient china before there was political married btw Chinese Princess and him. This particular place was described in our history! Thanks for posting it!
If i am not wrong Songtsen Gampo was lived in the time of Tang dynasy.
But do you know where the Tian Tan is? Which empire built ir during which dynasty?What's the use of it?
 

Ray

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Modern style Buddhist temple.

Tian Wang Dian (Hall of the Heavenly King) in Qibao, China

Religion is alive in China.

Inspite of the CCP attempting to control religion and their heads, there are underground Churches and Mosques functioning in houses.

Here is what a Chinese blogger writes:

Religion in China: A Matter of Faith?
« H E » News and Politics :: Human rights and personal freedoms :: Sino-Tibet :: News and Perspectives :: email
posted Sunday, 12 July 2009
Contrary to what atheists and so-called secularists might have you believe, religion is one of the strongest and most central forces of human civilization.

Throughout history various regimes have tried and failed to destroy individual faiths, or even to destroy religious belief as a whole. They have declared religion to be an outmoded superstition, have closed places of worship, turned away worshipers, and have persecuted those who maintain them. Some have even put the faithful to death. But none have ever come close to their goal by anything short of genocide.

Even in cases where the influence of organized religions has been significant reduced people have simply migrated to other outlets. Replacing the mainstream religion beliefs with alternatives that fill similar mental niches, such as New Age beliefs and paranormal superstitions or, in extreme cases, the belief that shape changing Reptilian aliens are using episodes of Spongebob Square Pants “to make their children gay” (ACB finds that it's best not to make eye contact with people like this).

As ever, China is no exception to this rule.

Since the time of Mao, Beijing has - as with communists the world over - tried to stamp out organized religion. Partly because Communists are supposed to be “rational thinkers who shun primitive superstitions” but also, and in no small part, due to the fact that organized religion represents an alternative source or authority and leadership. Which is something that your average dictatorships cannot brook.

However, after 50 years of trying to stamp out religious beliefs the most that Beijing ever achieved was to push faith underground. When the monasteries and temples burned the faithful simply went elsewhere and worshiped in secret.

However, that was then and this is now. With many of the restrictions of the Mao era lifted, the faithful are coming up for air, and China's traditional religions are seeing a revival.
Religion Can't be Stamped Out
There is no doubt that the CCP fears any other organised power centres. That is why they went hard and fast to wipe out the Falun Gong movement since they were very organised and could be a threat to the CCP control!!
 

Ray

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This is on the Falun Gong and some of the reasons and how they were wiped out.

In April 1999 over ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners gathered at Communist Party of China headquarters, Zhongnanhai, in a silent protest against beatings and arrests in Tianjin.[16][17][18] Two months later the People's Republic of China government, led by Jiang Zemin, banned the practice, began a crackdown, and started what Amnesty International described as a "massive propaganda campaign."[19][20][21] Since 1999, reports of torture,[22] illegal imprisonment,[23] beatings, forced labor, and psychiatric abuses have been widespread.[24][25] Two thirds of all reported torture cases in China concern Falun Gong practitioners, who are also estimated to comprise at least half of China's labor camp population according to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, and the US Department of State respectively.[26][27][28] In 2006, human rights lawyer David Matas and former Canadian secretary of state David Kilgour published an investigative report concluding that a large number of Falun Gong practitioners have become victims of systematic organ harvesting in China and that the practice is still ongoing.[29] In November 2008, The United Nations Committee on Torture called on the Chinese State party to commission an independent investigation of the reports and to "ensure that those responsible for such abuses are prosecuted and punished."[30]
Falun Gong Wipe Out
 

ShyAngel

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In fact,ancient chinese were atheists too. If you know China's history.
Traditionally,if one go into any religion,he/she were considered to be a hopeless man/woman.But,religion did exist in people's life all the time in some kind of forms.But a educated man as Confucius said “A gentleman don't talk about god and ghost".

I think traditional Chinese should de defined as skeptics,because my elder families told me "if you believe,there would be;if you don't believe,there won't be" when i asked "is there ghost and god".
Ancient chinese were never atheist as far as my knowledge. But I'm sure how you were tough on bases of religion can make something so different from what I know and believe. About believing in god you are right, its totally up to the level of individual's believe. But I disagree with your so call "A gentleman don't talk about god and ghost." If that's the case today Dr. Deepak Chopra, one of the most famous world's spiritual guru won't be who he is if he doesn't believe in the existence of god or ghost. Mind you that he is the former scientist from california. So there's no right or wrong answer to someone's devotion towards their almighty and neither all spiritual people are not necessarily stupid or uneducated. It's just the mind set!!!!!!


P.S. Lord Buddha only comes once in life time! Not every prince will be able to leave the luxury life and go on to search for the truth and reality of world. It's the matter of going to the next level so if its not your cup of tea you will never get it! Period!:Laie_39:
 

Ray

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In China, the practice of ancestor worship has existed since ancient times, and it emphasized continuity of family lines. Filial piety, advocated by the Confucian teachings of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.E., emphasized respect for senior family members .

The practice of ancestor worship, therefore, can be seen as an extension of this reverence. Additionally, the family was viewed as a closely united group of living and dead relatives. Unity of the entire kin group was also reinforced through religious acts at temples that honoured all ancestral spirits.

Read more:

Ancestor Worship in China
 

Ray

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Religion and national identity


Introduction

Tibet's earliest religion is Bön, founded by Shenrab Miwo of Shangshung in Western Tibet. With the advent of Buddhism, the Bön religion diminished in influence, but it continues to thrive today with an active community of Tibetan refugees still practising their faith in India and Nepal. Tashi Menri, Yungdrungling, and Kharna were some of the major Bön monasteries in Tibet. The Bön religion has imbibed many characteristics of Buddhism over the course of its historical development. Tibetan Buddhism, in turn, has also taken much from Bön.

Buddhism flourished in Tibet in the seventh century. Receiving royal patronage, it spread throughout Tibet. With the assumption of power by the Dalai Lamas from 1642 onwards, the era of "harmonious blend of religion and politics" was established in Tibet. Since then, for three-and-a-half centuries, ten successive Dalai Lamas have been the spiritual and temporal rulers of Tibet.

The cumulative effect of its long patronage by successive kings of Tibet, and the country being later ruled by successive religious heads, has been immense, both to Tibet as a nation and to its people. Buddhism has not been a mere system of belief to the Tibetans; it encompasses the entirety of their culture and civilisation and constitutes the very essence of their lives. Buddhism permeated the daily lives of the Tibetan people and formed the social fabric connecting them to the land. Of all the bonds which defined Tibetans as a people and as a nation, religion was undoubtedly the strongest.

Through the centuries, highly qualified Tibetans studied, practised, expounded, preserved, and taught the meaning of this religion and its social and spiritual relevance to peoples throughout the Asian regions sharing the Tibetan cultural tradition, including Mongolia.

In the words of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Buddhism thus caused the "metamorphosis that changed the entire course of Tibet's history. Generations of Tibetan intellectuals studied and developed a profound culture that closely accorded with the original principles and philosophy of the Dharma. Down through the centuries their dedicated services brought about extraordinary developments which are unique among the literary and cultural achievements of the nations of the world."

Monasteries, temples, and hermitages were founded in every village and town throughout Tibet, together with resident monks and, as the case may be, nuns. Every Tibetan Buddhist home had its altar. Huge monasteries, which were more like monastic cities, such as Drepung, Sera, and Gaden in Lhasa, Tashilhunpo in Shigatse, Sakya Monastery in Sakya, Tsurphu in central Tibet, Mindroling in central Tibet, Tashi-kyil in Amdo Labrang, Gaden Jampaling in Chamdo, Lithang Gonchen, etc, became high seats of learning.

By 1959 there were more than a total of 6,259 monasteries with about 592,558 resident monks and nuns. These religious centres also housed tens and thousands of statues, religious artifacts made of gold, silver and other metals - studded with jewels. Similarly, tens and thousands of chorten (stupas) were built out of precious metal. Besides texts on Buddhism, these centres were store-houses of works on literature, medicine, astrology, art, politics, etc, and thus were the real "treasure houses" of the Tibetan people.

Tibetan national identity became indistinguishable from its religion. Buddhist folklore and teachings regulated the people's lives, festivals, holidays, work ethics, family chores as well as national issues. Tibet remained a proud and independent Buddhist nation until its occupation by China. Tibet also had a compact community of Muslims, who had their own mosques. These, too, suffered damage at the hands of the Chinese. In addition, there were small numbers of followers of Hinduism and Christianity. They were all tolerated and given equal rights.

Violation of religious freedom: 1949-79

The Chinese Government initially proclaimed that while complete consolidation of its annexation of Tibet was underway, no restrictions would be imposed on the practice of religion. Their formal pledge to protect and respect Tibet's religious tradition was set forth even in the "17-Point Agreement" of 1951. This "Agreement" explicitly stated that the traditional status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama would not be altered and that "the policy of freedom of religious beliefs laid down in the Common Programme of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will be protected."

However, the Chinese soon began to undermine the traditional social system and religion of Tibet. People were told that "Religion is the enemy of our materialist ideology and believing in religion is blind faith. Therefore, you should not only not have faith in religion but should also condemn it." While the Chinese constitution and initial assurances made to the Tibetans purported to allow a semblance of religious freedom, their resolve to undermine Tibetan religion was absolute from the very beginning. The Chinese Government pronounced:

The Chinese Communist Party considers that its ideology and that of religion are two forces that cannot co-exist and occupy the same spot at the same time. ... the differences between the two (ie, science and religion) can be likened to those between light and darkness, between truth and falsehood. There is absolutely no possibility to reconcile the mutually-opposed world views of science and religion.

This Communist Chinese view was all-pervasive. In Mao Zedong's own words, "... but of course, religion is poison. It has two great defects: It undermines the race ...(and) retards the progress of the country. Tibet and Mongolia have both been poisoned by it."

By the middle of the 1950s, the Chinese authorities realised that religion was the principal obstacle to their control of Tibet. Therefore, from the beginning of 1956, a so-called "Democratic Reform" was carried out, first in Kham and Amdo, and later (in 1959) in Central Tibet. Monasteries, temples, and cultural centres were systematically looted of all articles of value and then dismantled.

First, special teams of mineralogists visited religious buildings to locate and extract all the precious stones. Next came the metallurgists who marked all metal objects which were subsequently carted away in trucks requisitioned from army head- quarters. The walls were then dynamited and all the wooden beams and pillars taken away. Clay images were destroyed in the expectation of finding precious metals inside. Finally, whatever remained - bits of wood and stone - were removed. Literally, hundreds of tons of valuable religious statues, thangkas (scroll paintings), metal artifacts, and other treasures were shipped to China either to be sold in international antique markets or to be melted down.

When a team of Tibetans visited China in 1982-83 to retrieve Tibetan artifacts, a Chinese man in Beijing told them that "(m)ost of the Tibetan cultural artifacts carted to China were destroyed. The statues and ritual objects of pure gold and silver were never seen again. Those of gilded copper, bell-metal, red copper, brass, etc, were ferried to Luyun, from where they were eventually sold to foundries in Shanghai, Sichuan, Tai Yun, Beijing, Tianjin, etc. The foundry called Xi-you Qing-shu Tie (precious metal foundry) situated about five kilometers to the east of Beijing city, alone purchased about 600 tons of Tibetan crafted metals." The team found out that almost all artifacts taken by other foundries had already been melted down.

This physical desecration and destruction was accompanied by public condemnation of religion, and humiliation and ridicule of religious persons. Religious texts were burnt and mixed with field manure; the sacred mani stones (stones or slates with prayer inscriptions) were used for making toilets and pavements; monks and nuns were forced to have sex in public and demanded to perform miracles; ruined monasteries and temples were turned into pigsties; starving monks and nuns in Chinese prisons were told to get "food from the Buddha".

Destructions before the Cultural Revolution

Contrary to official Chinese assertions, much of Tibet's culture and religion was destroyed between 1955 and 1961, and not during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) alone. This was confirmed by Bhuchung, the then Vice-President of the so-called TAR People's Government, at a press conference on 17 July 1987, when he stated that what little remained to be destroyed was obliterated during the Cultural Revolution under the slogan "Smash the Four Olds".

Out of Tibet's total of 6,259 monasteries and nunneries only about eight remained by 1976. Among those destroyed were the seventh-century Samye, the first monastery in Tibet; Gaden, the earliest and holiest monastic university of the Gelugpas; Sakya, the main seat of the Sakyas; Tsurphu, one of the holiest monasteries of the Kagyus; Mindroling, one of the most famous monasteries of the Nyingmapas; Menri, the earliest and most sacred Bön monastery, etc. Out of 592,558 monks, nuns, rinpoches (reincarnates) and ngagpas (tantric practitioners), over 110,000 were tortured and put to death, and over 250,000 were forcibly disrobed.

The extent of religious destruction in Tibet was referred to by the late Panchen Lama in 1988 in Beijing during the first General Meeting of China's Institute of Tibetology. He said:

The destruction suffered by monasteries in the Tibetan inhabited areas was total and hundred per cent. About 99 percent suffered total destruction. Those seven or eight which remained also did not escape damage. The condition of the Potala Palace was the best among those which remained. But it too suffered damage. Therefore, I say that the destruction caused was hundred per cent.

1979-92: Religious freedom, a ritualistic facade

Since 1979, a much-heralded programme of "liberalisation" began in Tibet under which some superficial facade of religious freedom was allowed. This included limited and selective renovation of places of worship, and allowing people a degree of ritual practices - such as making prostrations, circumambulating places of worship, offering butter lamps, reciting mantras, turning prayer wheels, burning incense, putting up prayer flags, etc. These are only external acts of worship. But propagation of the teachings of the Buddha is either banned or, when permitted, strictly controlled.

The essence of Buddhism lies in mental and spiritual development achieved through intensive study with qualified lamas, understanding and practice. But the Chinese discourage this in their campaign to misrepresent the Tibetan religion as nothing more than practices in superstition and blind faith rather than what it really is: a functional and scientific philosophy. The Dalai Lama, in his 10 March 1987 statement, said:

The so-called religious freedom in Tibet today amounts to permitting our people to worship and practice religion in a merely ritualistic and devotional way. There are both direct and indirect restrictions on the teaching and study of Buddhist philosophy. Buddhism, thus, is being reduced to blind faith which is exactly how the Communist Chinese view and define religion.

Today's Chinese policy is aimed at bringing about a gradual and natural death of Tibetan culture and religion, thus reducing the Tibetans to an uncultured, superstitious nation, fit only to be ruled and reformed by them. In this way they hope to validate their "liberation" of - and claim to - Tibet.

Reconstruction and renovation

Almost all Chinese state-sponsored reconstruction of Tibetan monuments has been highly selective, intended only to serve their political and economic aims. These serve as museums for tourist attraction rather than living cultural and religious institutions. Also, contrary to the Chinese claim, most of the rebuilt or renovated monasteries, including the "state-sponsored" ones, came through the initiative of Tibetans who contributed their labour and finances. The aid sanctioned by the Chinese Government forms only a very small fraction of the total expenses incurred. On the other hand, China confiscates income of the monasteries from entry fees (imposed by the Chinese) and offerings made by pilgrims. Reconstruction and renovation of monasteries can be done only after receiving permission from the Chinese Bureau of Religious Affairs. Such permission is given with great reluctance following a long period of bureaucratic red tape during which Tibetans have to make repeated appeals and listen, in return, to constant lectures about the negative influences of religion to "national interest". The limited number of monks allowed in them serve more as showpieces and, in most cases, caretakers rather than religious students and practitioners.

In independent Tibet, the major Tibetan monastic universities served as cultural and learning centres for large numbers of students from Inner Asia. These institutions each had from three to ten thousand students and the rigorous curriculum began around the age of eighteen and culminated around the age of forty-five. The basic units of Tibet's monastic universities were its colleges, each university having at least two. These had their own administration, faculty and textbooks. For centuries, the monastic colleges functioned to promote critical and creative spiritual thoughts.

Chinese government control over religious institutions

China today refuses to let the colleges - the functioning units of the monastic universities - to continue in the traditional way. It has also placed a ceiling on the number of monks allowed in each university. Before the Chinese invasion, Sera had 7,997 monks on its rolls; it is now permitted to have only about 300; Drepung which used to have 10,000 monks is now permitted only 400; and Gaden which numbered 5,600 monks is now permitted only 150. In addition, the daily functions of the monasteries are regimented through a maze of state bureaucracies, such as the United Front Work Department, Religious Affairs Bureau, Tibetan Buddhist Association, Democratic Management Committee, political education and investigation Work Inspection Teams, security organs, etc.

China has, in part, laid down the following criteria for admission in a monastery: The candidate should be at least 18 years old; should "love" the country and the Communist Party; should have the consent of parents; should obtain formal approval from the monasteries' Democratic Management Committee; should have consent of local authorities; should have consent of county or provincial authorities; should obtain clearance from Public Security Bureau; the candidate and the candidate's parents should have "good political background"; should have been raised in a certain geographical area (eg, Tibetans from Kham and Amdo may not be admitted to monasteries in Central Tibet); should study Marxism; should be aware that materialism and spiritualism are contradictory, etc, etc.

Admit only the "politically correct"

China's guiding principle behind admission is that "We must foster a large number of fervent patriots in every religion who accept the leadership of the Party and government, firmly support the Socialist path, and safeguard national and ethnic unity", and that "seminaries should hold entrance examinations and admit upright, patriotic young people ... who have reached a certain level of cultural development." These principles are clearly laid down in the Chinese "Basic Viewpoint and Policy on the Religious Question during Our Country's Socialist Period," and "Rules for Democratic Management of Temples," etc. Yet another organ known as the Tibetan Buddhism Guidance Committee is being set up to "oversee the practice of Buddhism in Tibet (TAR), Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan (Amdo and Kham parts of Tibet incorporated into Chinese provinces). Foremost among its tasks will be the implementation of government policies, education of monks and nuns in the patriotic mould, and supervision over monastery management."

In addition to the above, there are other subtle and insidious methods of undermining religion which are not easily discerned by the uninformed. These include: persistent anti-religious publications and theatrical performances, restricting religious teachings, educating Tibetan youths along Marxist lines with heavy anti-religious overtones, lack of regular curriculum in the monasteries, lack of textbooks and teachers, forcing monks to perform for tourists, keeping police and para-military forces at the monasteries, arresting and torturing those suspected of having independent thoughts, planting informers in the monasteries, conducting political education and investigation in the monasteries by Work Inspection teams, ban on prayers composed by the Dalai Lama though being utterly devoid of any political overtone, etc. On account of such restrictions, the Panchen Lama, on 28 September 1988, called for the eradication of Chinese "administrative interference in the religious activities in Tibet (read TAR) and other Tibetan-inhabited regions and increased Tibetan regulation of religious affairs."

Conclusion

Though China no longer bombs or sends Red Guards to destroy Tibet's monasteries, its aim still remains the same as before: total elimination of Tibetan religion and culture. This is clear official document, Policy on Religious Freedom, prepared by Ganze (Kanze) Prefectural Propaganda Committee and dated February 1990, which states: "With the development of our socialist system, the social system for the natural extinction of religion was established." Yet, another official document licy on Nationalities and Religion brought out in 1991, states: "We should oppose all those who work to split the motherland in the name of nationality and religion. There should be no hesitation in taking harsh decision to deal with any political disturbance carried out in the name of nationality and religion, and in doing so the state's political, judiciary, and even military powers should be used."

In carrying out its unremitting persecution of Tibetan religion, China continues to violate not only the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also all the clauses of the United Nation's Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion and Belief. In its reports of 1959 and 1960, the Legal Inquiry Committee of the International Commission of Jurists said:

The Committee found that acts of Genocide had been committed in Tibet in an attempt to destroy the Tibetans as a religious group, and that such acts are acts of genocide independently of any conventional obligation."

Tibet and Religion
This sort of indicate that there is an attempt to 'secularise'Tibet!
 

ShyAngel

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In China, the practice of ancestor worship has existed since ancient times, and it emphasized continuity of family lines. Filial piety, advocated by the Confucian teachings of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.E., emphasized respect for senior family members .

The practice of ancestor worship, therefore, can be seen as an extension of this reverence. Additionally, the family was viewed as a closely united group of living and dead relatives. Unity of the entire kin group was also reinforced through religious acts at temples that honoured all ancestral spirits.

Read more:

Ancestor Worship in China
Why do people worship their ancestor? Scary! lol
 

Ray

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Why do people worship their ancestor? Scary! lol
The answer is simple.

Do you respect your parents?

Do they respect their parents?

And did their parents respect their parents?

If so, it is just a case of respecting their lineage and heritage!

Even the Muslim festival of Shab e Barat is organised in similar lines!

We all respect our parents and our heritage!

Call it a religious practice or a social obligation, it does not matter!
 

Ray

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Even in Buddhist Japan!

THE nature of the opposition which the ancient religion of Japan could offer to the introduction of any hostile alien creed, should now be obvious. The family being founded upon ancestor-worship, the commune being regulated by ancestor-worship, the clan-group or tribe being governed by ancestor-worship, and the Supreme Ruler being at once the high-priest and deity of an ancestral cult which united all the other cults in one common tradition, it must be evident that the promulgation of any religion essentially opposed to Shintô would have signified nothing less than an attack upon the whole system of society. Considering these circumstances, it may well seem strange that Buddhism should have succeeded, after some preliminary struggles (which included one bloody battle), in getting itself accepted as a second national faith. But although the original Buddhist doctrine was essentially in disaccord with Shintô beliefs, Buddhism had learned in India, in China, in Korea, and in divers adjacent countries, how to meet the spiritual needs of peoples maintaining a persistent ancestor-worship. {p. 184} Intolerance of ancestor-worship would have long, ago resulted in the extinction of Buddhism; for its vast conquests have all been made among ancestor-worshipping races. Neither in India nor in China nor in Korea,--neither in Siam nor Burmah nor Annam,--did it attempt to extinguish ancestor-worship. Everywhere it made itself accepted as an ally, nowhere as an enemy, of social custom. In Japan it adopted the same policy which had secured its progress on the continent; and in order to form any clear conception of Japanese religious conditions, this fact must be kept in mind.
Buddhist Ancestor Worship
 

advaita

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Ray sir i am waiting for you to point out Pitrapaksh/Shradh amongst Hindus, to the respected lady.
 

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