Chinese philosophy

In Chinese philosophy, water (Chinese: 水; pinyin: shuǐ) is one of the five concepts that conform the wuxing. It is the low point of matter, and is considered matter's dying or hiding stage.

Among the five elements, water is the old yin symbol of the yinyang character. Its motion is downward and inward, and its energy is stillness and conserving.

In Chinese philosophy, wood (Chinese: 木; pinyin: mù), sometimes more accurately translated as tree, is one of the five concepts that conform the wuxing. It is the growing of the matter, or the matter's growing expanding stage. Wood is the young yang symbol of the Yinyang philosophy, it can be seen as the fuelling Fire. It stands for the season of spring, the eastern direction, the planet Jupiter, the color green, windy weather, and the Azure Dragon (Qing Long) in Four Symbols. Blue and cyan-type colors also represent wood.

In Chinese philosophy, metal or gold (Chinese: 金; pinyin: jīn) is one of the five concepts that conform the wuxing. It is the return or the declining stage, and is associated with the west, dusk, autumn, loss, grief, and the White Tiger. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Metal is the young yin symbol of Yinyang philosophy, its motion is going inwards and its energy is contracting. It is related to the Zung solid organ the lungs, and the fu or hollow organ the large intestine, the noses, and the skin. The archetypal metals are silver or gold denoting something special or valuable.

In Chinese philosophy, earth or soil (Chinese: 土; pinyin: tǔ) is one of the five concepts that conform the wuxing. Earth is the Qi balance of both yin and yang in the Wuxing philosophy, as well as the changing or central point of physical matter or a subject. Its motion is centralising, and its energy is stabilizing and conserving.

Earth is associated with the colour yellow or ochre and the planet Saturn and it lies at the centre of the four directions of the compass in Chinese cosmology. It is associated with late summer and also the turning point of each of the four seasons, as Earth is prone to being over burdened or stuck Its climate is that of dampness causing the body-mind to be clouded through a deficiency of yang qi. In traditional Chinese medicine, earth governs the yin, Zang organ the spleen, and the yang, Fu organ stomach, mouth and muscles. Its Primal Spirit is the Yi, and emotion of happiness and is represented by the Yellow Dragon or Qilin, color yellow and golden.

In the study of comparative religion, the East Asian religions, form a subset of the Eastern religions which originated in East Asia.

This group includes Chinese religion overall, which further includes ancestor veneration, Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, Taoism and popular salvationist organisations (such as Yiguandao and Weixinism), as well as elements drawn from Mahayana Buddhism that form the core of Chinese and East Asian Buddhism at large. The group also includes Shinto and Tenrikyo of Japan, and Korean Shamanism, all of which combine shamanistic elements and indigenous ancestral worship with various influences from Chinese religions. Chinese salvationist religions have influenced the rise of Japanese new religions such Tenriism and Korean Jeungsanism; as these new religious movements draw upon indigenous traditions but are heavily influenced by Chinese philosophy and theology. All these religious traditions generally share core concepts of spirituality, divinity and world order, including Tao ('way') and Tian ('heaven').

In the Sinosphere and Chinese philosophy, qi (/ˈtʃiː/ CHEE) is a vital force traditionally believed to be a part of all living entities. Literally meaning 'vapor', 'air', 'gas', or 'breath', the word qi is polysemous, often translated as 'vital energy', 'vital force', 'material energy', or simply 'energy'. Qi is also a concept in traditional Chinese medicine and in Chinese martial arts. The attempt to cultivate and balance qi is called qigong.

Believers in qi describe it as a vital force, with one's good health requiring its flow to be unimpeded. Originally prescientific, today it is a pseudoscientific concept, i.e. not corresponding to the concept of energy as used in the physical sciences.

Neo-Confucianism (Chinese: 宋明理學; pinyin: Sòng-Míng lǐxué, often shortened to lǐxué 理學, literally "School of Principle") is the cultural revival of Confucianism as an ethical, social and religious system, which dominated Chinese philosophy from the 13th through the 19th century. Although its origin lie in the Tang dynasty, it was fully developed during the Song dynasty under the formulations of Zhu Xi (1130–1200), the tradition's central figure. Zhu, alongside Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao, comprises the dominant Cheng–Zhu school, in opposition to the later Lu–Wang school led by Wang Yangming and Lu Xiangshan.

Neo-Confucianism could have been an attempt to create a more rationalist and secular form of Confucianism by rejecting mystical elements of Taoism and Buddhism that had influenced Confucianism during and after the Han dynasty. Although the neo-Confucianists were critical of Taoism and Buddhism, the two did have an influence on the philosophy, and the neo-Confucianists borrowed terms and concepts. However, unlike the Buddhists and Taoists, who saw metaphysics as a catalyst for spiritual development, religious enlightenment, and immortality, the neo-Confucianists used metaphysics as a guide for developing a rationalist ethical philosophy. After the Mongol conquest of China in the thirteenth century, Chinese scholars and officials restored and preserved neo-Confucianism as a way to safeguard the cultural heritage of China.

Wing-tsit Chan (Chinese: 陳榮捷; 18 August 1901 – 12 August 1994) was a Chinese scholar and professor best known for his studies of Chinese philosophy and his translations of Chinese philosophical texts. Chan was born in China in 1901 and went to the United States in 1924, earning a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1929. Chan taught at Dartmouth College and Chatham University for most of his academic career. Chan's 1963 book A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy was highly influential in the English-speaking world, and was often used as a source for quotations from Chinese philosophical classics.

Shangdi (Chinese: 上帝; pinyin: Shàngdì; Wade–Giles: Shang Ti), also called simply Di (Chinese: 帝; pinyin: Dì; lit. 'Lord'), is the name of the Chinese Highest Deity or "Lord Above" in the theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later Tiān ("Heaven" or "Great Whole") of Zhou theology.

Although the use of "Tian" to refer to the absolute God of the universe is predominant in Chinese religion today, "Shangdi" continues to be used in a variety of traditions, including certain philosophical schools, certain strains of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, some Chinese salvationist religions (notably Yiguandao) and Chinese Protestant Christianity. In addition, it is commonly used by contemporary Chinese (both mainland and overseas) and by religious and secular groups in East Asia, as a name of a singular universal deity and as a non-religious translation for God in Abrahamic religions.

Di (Chinese: 地; pinyin: dì; Wade–Giles: ti; lit. 'earth') is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the earth and a key concept or figure in Chinese philosophy and religion. It is widely considered to be one of three powers (sāncái, 三才) which are Heaven, Earth, and Humanity (tiān-dì-rén, 天地人).

There is a significant belief in Taoism which focuses on tian, as well as the forces of di (earth) and water, which are held to be equally powerful, instead of earth and humanity.