Final Assignment

경영학부 20200837 예정원

1. Why is Confucianism considered as a philosophy rather than a religion, despite the fact
that there are religious teachings in it? Explain your answer based on at least three quotes
from the Analects.

Confucianism was thought of as a religion, because in Korean history, there was a time when
Confucianism was the nationally believed religion. It still has its characteristics smeared in Korean society, its
beliefs being sent down through generations. However, Confucianism is considered as a philosophy rather
than as a religion even though there are contents that deals with religious teachings. Looking at one of the
quotes from the Analects, [“Wherein I have done improperly, may Heaven reject me! May Heaven reject me!
(Book VI – Yung Yey:26)], it causes curiosity of that statement. Before thinking about why it is considered as
so, it is necessary to know what ‘religion’ is. According to three well-known people(Friedrich Schleiermacher,
Edward B. Tylor, Emilie Durkheim), ‘religion’ would be ‘showing respect, belief, dependence for
sacred/supernatural beings. There are some reasons of why Confucianism is considered as a philosophy.

To begin with, Confucius, one of the most influential people in Confucianism, emphasized ethical
or philosophical issues rather than dealing with religious issues. [“The Master never spoke of the
supernatural, violence, disorder, or gods and spirits.” (Book VII – Shu R:20)] This is cited in the Analects, and
it shows that Confucianism isn’t concentrated in having a sacred being to rely on; rather, it is more realistic
than what other ‘religions’ turn out to be. Such an unusual characteristic for a religion to have has made
Confucianism being considered as a philosophy. [“Chi Lu asked about serving the spirits of the dead. The
Master said, ‘While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?’ Chi Lu added, ‘I venture
to ask about death?’ He was answered, ‘While you do not know life, how can you know about death?’ (Book
XI – Hsien Tsin:11)”] This quote also shows the unique characteristic. In addition, there was a mistake of
Chinese Communist Party’s policy. According to Confucius, a government is leaded in a proper way when the
freedom of individual is promised. However, the Chinese Communist Party actually controlled their people’s
speech and press unlike his teachings. Since China is well-known to be as the main country of Confucianism,
this kind of policy has ffected the change in the view of Confusianism. 1

2. Explain Anti-Semitism and causes of it (at least three). Please be sure to Include the story
of the Merchant of Venice in your answer.

Anti-Semitism is the rejection for Jews. ‘The Diaspora’, according to Cambridge

Dictionary, refers to ‘the Jews living in different parts of the world outside Israel, or the various
places outside Israel in which they live.’ These people don’t have a home country, as said in the
definition, had to go through serious persecution. In addition to this, the Jewish Diaspora had a
strict ethno-religious community. So, what caused the Anti-Semitism to happen?

One of the causes of Anti-Semitism would be ‘economic problems.’ Economic problems

deal with trade, commerce, moneylending, etc. Since Jews showed a talent for these fields, there
were fear of others who faced competition with them. This problem can be seen also in the novel,
『The Merchant of Venice』. In this story, Antonio who is Christian, the main character, gets in
trouble due to Shylock the Jewish merchant’s contract. Bassanio and Portia who appear as the
1
Johnathan English, 『Confusius Corrects The Communist Party』, The SAIS Review of International Affairs, 접속일자
2020.06.19, http://www.saisreview.org/2019/06/24/confucius-corrects-the-communist-party/
helper of Antonio, finds a way to get Antonio out of trouble with their wisdom. This story looks
like punishing the evil just like any other stories known. However, looking into it, it is found that
Jewish is the ‘evil’ character who shows jealousy to a Christian because of economic problems.
This novel addresses the Anti-Semitism because it makes readers feel like Jewish merchants are
‘evil.’

In addition, in the perspective of Christianity, Jewish people took part in rejecting and
killing Jesus Christ. So the Anti-Semitism is caused also by ‘Jewish Deicide.’ 2 It is the belief of
people that all Jewish people are responsible of Jesus’s death, and treat them as Christ-killer.
Since they believe this way, it causes them to have hatred for Jews, the cause of their God’s
suffering. Lastly, there is a racial cause of Anti-Semitism. Some believe that the Jews are an
inferior race, who can be treated badly.

3. Who was Marcion of Sinope? Explain his thoughts in relation to continuity and
discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments.

‘Marcion of Sinope’, (c.85~c.160), is an important person in Christianity. He is crucial

person because he was the first person to lead the Christian world to start canonization of the
New Testament. His canon is the following. In this, he sectioned out the New Testament into
eleven books. Its content contained gospel of Luke, and ten Pauline Epistles (Romans, Galatians, 1
Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon,
Phillippians).

He also revealed his thoughts about continuity and discontinuity between the Old and
the New Testaments.3 He had made his point that if we think the Old and New Testaments being
completely in continuity, there was a chance of this religion going in the wrong direction. 4
Marcion thought that kind of belief may lead this religion to Judaizing heresy which denies Jesus’s
accomplishments. That is why he had separated the God of New and Old Testaments. The God of
the old testament is as he put it, is ‘Demiurge’ (“in some early belief systems such as Platonic
philosophy and Gnosticism, a god who creates, shapes, or controls the physical world” –
Cambridge Dictionary). On the other hand, he defined the God of new testament as a ‘Heavenly
God.’ This heavenly God in the New testament was named as so because he shows love and
compassion for human-kind by showing his mercy to even those who make mistakes. However,
Marcion doesn’t say that new and old testaments are completely in discontinuity. This quote from
Matthew 22.31~32, “Have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” shows how he was against the total discontinuity of new
and old testaments. This actually proves that he uses the knowledge of the old testaments in
creating the new testaments, and does not deny it completely.

4. Describe the historical/philosophical context in which the thoughts of Laozi

& Confucius were developed and the core teachings of them as well.
The Zhou dynasty can be separated into two periods. First they started out with Western
Zhou which lasted from 1046BC to 771BC. It had led to the creation of Eastern Zhou starting from
2
『Jewish deicide』, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_deicide

3
R.C. Sproul, 『How Then Shall We Worship?: Biblical Principles to Guide Us Today』, p.171

4
『Marcion of Sinope』, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcion_of_Sinope
770 BC to 256BC. In the process of moving from Western Zhou to Eastern Zhou, there was a
period of conflict and chaos. It started from the creation of Eastern Zhou to almost the end of
this dynasty. In this time of history, from ‘The Spring & Autumn period’ to ‘The Warring States
period’, the original concept of ‘Mandate of heaven’ was improper. The mandate of heaven refers
to the head of the society, who claims himself as the son of heaven, who was sent by the
Heavenly God. But the violence and social conflict caused this concept to be rejected. So, in the
search for a new way of thinking, two figures ‘Confucius’ and ‘Laozi’ had created a new concept
of ‘Tao.’ Confucius focused his interests in human-being while Laozi focused on the nature itself.

Tao Te Ching, a sacred document, contains lessons that Tao teaches people. In chapter 4,
it is defined that “The Tao is like the emptiness of a vessel. It might appear to have been before
God.” So, it refers to ‘the way’ the world should follow. Even Confucius stated in Analects “If I can
hear the Way in the morning, in the evening I can die content.” Also, Tao focuses its interest in
something ‘natural.’ It is shown in the following. “Man follows the earth. Earth follows heaven.
Heaven follows the Tao. Tao follows what is natural.”(Tao Te Ching 25:19~22) This reveals the fact
that Tao is something that is the most powerful, something that everything, including the heaven,
should follow. The creation of the concept of Tao putting it place over the heaven, was needed
due to the situations of the society that even heaven has made people go towards wrong
direction.

5. Why is “Dowry Death” still prevalent in contemporary India? State three reasons in
support of your answer.

A lot of people, including some of those born in India, agrees with the fact that being
born as a girl in India means that they can’t live a peaceful, perfect life. In India, there is a
tradition of ‘dowry.’ It is, according to Cambridge Dictionary, ‘an amount of money or property
that a woman’s parents give to the man she marries in some societies.’ So, why is there a term
called ‘Dowry Death’ if it is just a transmission of a money in the process of marriage? It is
because there has been many deaths regarding the problem of dowry. Dowry death, as stated in
Oxford Dictionary, is the murder or suicide of a married woman caused by a dispute over her
dowry. Why does this happen?

One reason why it is prevalent in contemporary India is because of ‘The Legacy of

Hinduism.’ In Hinduism, there is an ancestor veneration ritual called Shraddha. It should be
performed by male descendants, and females are not allowed. This kind of tradition leads to the
preference for male children since the presence of male child means they cannot perform
Shraddha anymore. Also, the Laws of Manu include some verses that discriminates female. One
example is the following. In 5:148, it is stated : “In childhood a woman should be under her
father’s control, in youth under her husband’s and when her husband is dead, under her sons’.
She should not have independence.” This kind of verses lead to the justification of discriminating
women.

In addition, the change from stridhan 5 to dowry has effected ‘Dowry Death’ to keep
happening. A stridhan is a property that a woman can acquire, and which she can keep it with her
when a divorce happens. It can be obtained only when it meets certain condition. It should be
given from her relatives, or from strangers, or from self-exertion. However, as time passed, the
practice of stridhan actually changed to be the concept of dowry. So, it would contribute to more
5
『Stridhana』, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stridhana
happenings of dispute over properties.

Lastly, the British colonial regime’s policy has caused ‘Dowry Death’ to continue. 6 British
understood that the caste system was something that can’t be changed in Hindu society, and
made a conclusion that their hypergamy and its economic situation wasn’t separable.

6. Describe the concept of “portable sanctity” in the study of Buddhism. Be sure to include
the example of the Temple of the Tooth and the Esala Perahera in Kandy, Sri Lanka as well
as Tongdosa in Yangsan, South Korea in your answer.

Buddhism is well-known to be widely spread. What made it possible for this religion to
be successfully spread? It would be ‘Portable Sanctity.’ This is the opposite of ‘Fixed Sanctity.’ The
fixed sanctity refers to a sanctity which lies in a specific location, which makes it hard to move
around. Unlike this, Buddhism can be said that it has a ‘portable sanctity’ because its remains can
be placed anywhere. This characteristic made it easier for Buddhism to spread, since the sacred
things, teachings, etc can set itself in various locations.

Here are some burial places of founders of world religions ; (Religion – Burial places) :
Christianity – Jerusalem, Islam – Medina, Confucianism – Qufu. Like stated earlier in the
paragraph, Buddhism doesn’t have a specific location of the founders’ burial places. It is because
the body has been in cremation. When Buddha gets cremated, its body turns to ashes, and makes
‘Sarira.’ Sariras are Buddhist relics which are crystalline bead-shaped objects. These objects are
separated and are kept in ‘Stupa,’ a mound-like structure. It is known that King Ashoka was
impressed by a monk, so he built about 84000 stupas. He was originally a leader who frequently
did brutal slaughters. But after learning the teachings of Buddhism, he was moved, and eventually
converted to this religion.

So, ‘portable sanctity’ has made possible for many countries to have stupas. One
example is the Temple of the Tooth and the Esala Perehera located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is one
of the most visited religious places. The sacred tooth in the temple actually is the canine of
Buddha, and since it is a unique part, many find this place. Also, there is ‘Esala Perehera’ which is
a festival held in Sri Lanka. It is held between July and August, and there are many visitors during
this season because it is a big Buddhist festival with incredible parade. During this parade, the
sacred tooth is held by an elephant decorated with garments. Another example would be
Tongdosa located in Yangsan, South Korea. In many Buddhism-related places in Korea, Buddha
statue is easily found. However, Tongdosa preserves Buddha’s relics, so there are no statues, since
more sacred thing is in the temple.

7. Unlike Western society, shamanism is prevalent even in contemporary South Korea.

Explain three reasons for it.

In South Korea, shamanism is prevalent in contemporary society. It is absorbed by

Korean society. For example, people perform ‘Gosa’ to ensure themselves to have a safe trip. Even
in Catholic, there turns out to be a rite of blessing for a vehicle, because of the influence of
shamanism. Not only that, we hear from diverse sources about ‘Gut’, a Shamanic Ritual, to get rid
of unfortune or some evil-being that will make their lives miserable. However, in other countries
such as the Western society, it is not found. To begin with, ‘Witch Hunt’ was prevalent in
European societies during 15th ~ 18th century. Nearly 100,000 to 200,000 women were burnt by
this hunting. They believed such people who did or did not believe in shamanism were unfilthy.

6
Veena Talwar Oldenburg, 『Dowry Murder: The Imperial Origins of a Cultural Crime』, p.57
This has caused many in Europe to obtain fear and anxiety of Shamanism, since believing in it can
be a life-threating act.

In addition, Shamanism came in Joseon Dynasty, was widely spread because of its low
barriers to entry. People don’t need a formal training to become a Shaman, there is no centralized
control. This has made many to be a fake shaman, spreading out Shamanism in our society. This
religion did a counseling to ordinary women, and it even had a connection with a royal family.
Since it was known regardless of one’s spot, South Korea had more chance to accept Shamanism
unlike Europe.

Also, there are common ground between Shamanism and Confucianism, which
contributed to the spreading of Shamanism. One similarity would be relying on, and keep
showing respect to deceased ancestors by doing a ritual ‘Jesa.’ Another similarity is Jongmyo
Sajik, which means that protecting King-related place to protect the whole country. Since they
share these characteristics, it allowed Korean society to have Shamanism prevent even in present
world.

8. What aspects of Buddhism did Neo-Confucian scholars criticize and why?

Neo-Confucianism is a big term which includes all of diverse Confucianism schools

started in Song and Ming Dynasties.7 It can be divided into two-different parts. One is 性理學, and
the other one is 陽明學. The first school started from teachings of Zhu Xi. He emphasized social
harmony, and that people should practice academically and philosophically. Some believers were
Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi. Another school started from Wang Hangming’s
teachings. Lu Jiuyuan is one of the believers.

One aspect of Buddhism that Neo-Confucian scholars criticized is that Buddhism

emphasized ‘emptiness.’ Buddhist monks used most of their time in trying to empty out, and to
get enlightenment. However, Neo-Confucian scholars criticized this fact because its scholars
focused in realness. Since its base is Confucianism, it wanted people to recognize the realness,
and not try to empty out the natural human desires.

Another aspect of Buddhism that was criticized by Neo-Confucian scholars was that
Buddhism was interested in monastic life. Those Buddhist monks mostly spent time alone,
thinking about themselves, the truth, the enlightenment, etc. Monks didn’t put emphasis in
bonding with their families, rather acting alone. This was the point that Neo-Confucian scholars
criticized. Neo-Confucianism focused on the family life, and emphasized social harmony. Zhu Xi
even wrote a book called ‘Family Rituals’ to guide the believers to do family ceremonies such as
wedding properly.

Lastly, Neo-Confucian scholars criticized Buddhism because the teachings of Buddhism

was more about the ‘self.’ It doesn’t deal with other people’s relationship, and rather teaches each
person to go to nirvana. This is done by practicing oneself, training on own, trying to get to a
state of painless. On the other hand, Neo-Confucianism teaches about ‘society.’ It deals problems
that happens not just by yourself, but by the interaction of those around you.

9. Describe the characteristics of meditation techniques of three branches of

Buddhism. In addition, explain about Kanhua Chan (Ganhwa Seon) and its
7
『Neo-Confucianism』, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Confucianism#Neo-Confucianism_in_Korea
process by which a practitioner may attain awakening.
There are three main branches of Buddhism. Each of them has different characteristics of
meditation techniques. The first main branch would be ‘Theravada.’ It is widely believed in areas
of Indochina and Sri Lanka. Here, they have unique meditation techniques. One of the techniques
is ‘Vipassana Meditation.’ Vipassana, as a Pali word, means insight or clear-seeing. Just like the
definition, it focuses on insight meditation. It is done through disciplined attention to the physical
sensations. The second technique done by Theravada is ‘Mantra recitation.’ As said in the
Cambridge Dictionary, mantra is ‘a word or sound that is believed to have a special spiritual
power, especially in Hinduism and Buddhism.’ So, in this meditation, they would recite a sound
repeatedly since it has a spiritual power in it.

The second main branch of Buddhism is ‘Vajrayana.’ This branch is mostly believed in
Tibet and Bhutan. Their meditation techniques include ‘Diety yoga’ and ‘Mantra recitation.’ First,
‘Diety Yoga’ is only done by this kind of Buddhist branch. This meditation deals with visualization.
It is a way to get identification with a divine reality and to realize the emptiness of the world.
Another meditation which is ‘Mantra recitation’ is same as the one done in ‘Theravada’ branch.

Lastly, the third main branch of Buddhism is ‘Mahayana.’ This kind of Buddhism is widely
believed in Northeast Asia, and Vietnam. One meditation technique of this branch is
‘Kungan(koan) meditation.’ Koan means, according to Oxford Dictionary, is ‘a paradoxical
anecdote or riddle without a solution, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of
logical reasoning and provoke enlightenment.’ So in a Koan meditation, they would learn about
or think about a riddle which has a paradox in it. Another meditation done by Mahayana is
‘Reciting Buddha’s names.’ Since Buddhas are respected by Buddhism believers, it is meaningful
to recite their names, to learn what those people had learned beforehand.

Kanhua Chan, which is a Huatou Meditation, is a process of a person to get to the state
of awakening. It starts from Huatou. Huatou is similar to Kungan, but while Kungan is a
paradoxical sory, Huatou is about a word or a sentence. Then, the practitioner doubts Huatou.
He/she repeats doubting, so the size of the doubt grows from doubt to great doubt to the stage
where there is nothing left except great doubt. When the practitioner gets to this stage, he/she
finds out the lesson they were looking for, and arrives at the ‘Awakening’ stage.