The Question of Religion (2/2)

August 13, 2010

Think of the violence and wars that religions have caused—the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, genocide against the Cathars (see video), the wars between Catholics and Protestants, and the persecution of Jews by both Muslims and Christians.

Then there are Islamic fundamentalists and the suffering and death caused by their religious beliefs.

Although most people in China are not religious, religions have caused uprising and wars in China too.

The Ming Dynasty (1368-1643) came about due to a rebellion against the Mongol Yuan Dynasty led by a religious sect known as the “Red Turbans” or “Red Scarves”, which included elements from “White Lotus”, a Buddhist sect from the late Southern Song Dynasty. Source: New World Encyclopedia

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when the Manchu minority ruled China, there were a number of religious uprisings.

There was the White Lotus Rebellion (1796-1804) in the mountain region that separates Sichuan province from Hubei and Shaanxi provinces. The White Lotus was a secret religious society promising salvation to its followers similar to the Falun Gong today.

A Christian convert claiming to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ led the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) and more than 20 million died.

The Panthay Rebellion (1856-1873) was a separatist movement led by the Hui people and Chinese Muslims.

There was also the Dungan revolt (1862-1877), led by Muslims in China’s Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang provinces. Chinese historians and officials believed that Islam played a role in causing that uprising.

Maybe the reason China survived for thousands of years without collapsing as Western civilization did when Rome fell was the absence of a major religious movement in China stirring the peoples’ emotions.

Instead of listening to God from the mouths of Popes, prophets and priests, the Chinese had a blend of Confucianism and Taoism, which the family taught by example.

Return to The Question of Religion – Part 1

_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

Sign up for an RSS Feed for iLook China

6 Comments | America, Buddhism, Buddhist, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Christianity, Confucianism, cults, cultural differences, history, Islam, religion, Taoism | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Question of Religion (1/2)

August 12, 2010

I read a piece in the August National Geographic about Native Lands in America. The piece mentions the horrible atrocities committed by the European invaders against the natives who had lived on the land for more than ten thousand years.

As I read, I wondered if the reason Chinese civilization survived for thousands of years was because China had no organized religion to stir the emotions of the people and set them against each other in endless religious wars. 

When I brought this up with an old friend of mine who is a born again evangelical Christian, his response was that real Christians didn’t cause religious wars.

I question his right to decide who a real Christian is.  In fact, most Christians believe they will be forgiven since the cornerstone of Christian religion is Christ dying on the cross for their sins so killing all those nonbelievers must have been okay.

There are even influential and wealthy Christians (see above video) who support Israel rebuilding Solomon’s temple for the sole reason that it means the end of life on earth as we know it. However, those Christians believe they would be with God as His chosen few.

I wonder if early Christians may have been the reason the Roman Empire eventually collapsed.

See Cults and Christian Cannon Balls

_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

Sign up for an RSS Feed for iLook China

1 Comment | America, Buddhism, Buddhist, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Christianity, Confucianism, cults, cultural differences, Islam, religion, Taoism | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China Takes its Future Seriously

August 12, 2010

In China, little is left to chance and the central government takes its job so seriously, many in the West believe the leaders of China are totalitarians and brutal dictators.  In fact, China’s leaders are acting as the collective culture dictates. 

Those in China who speak out against the government are considered aberrations and few have sympathy when they are punished. Confucianism and piety demand that citizens do not publicly challenge the government but, in turn, the government has an obligation to the people to insure a secure and bountiful future. 

Fail in that and the Communists will lose the mandate to rule.

The most critical obligation is water. China has two of the world’s longest rivers—the Yellow and the Yangtze.  However, there is still not enough water in the north.

To solve that challenge, China is building both above and underground pipelines from the south to the north to move water from the Yangtze and the Danjiangkou reservoir in Hubei province.

The most difficult task will be tunneling under earthquake prone mountains as high as five kilometers above sea level.

The South-to-North Water diversion Project in China with an estimated cost of 70 billion dollars is the largest of its kind ever undertaken. Mao Zedong first proposed the project in 1952, and it took 50 years to plan before construction started with completion set for 2050. 

When done, China will divert almost 45 billion cubic meters of water annually to the drier north. Source: Water Technology.net

See the Shanghai Huangpu River Tour

_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

Sign up for an RSS Feed for iLook China

Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese Culture, Communism, cultural differences, economy, environment, government | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Corruption in China may often stem from Cultural Pressure

August 12, 2010

I’m thinking about what motivated the CEO of Enron and others to steal from their employees and stockholders so they could party, live in mansions and travel as if they were members of the jet set.

In America, there is a history of insider trading, securities and commodities fraud, corporate fraud, health care fraud, antitrust violations, bribery, embezzlement and organized crime.

In fact, the FBI estimates that white-collar crime costs the US more than $300 billion annually.

In China that would be more than 2 trillion yuan.

Western civilization is based on individualism so the primary motivation of those white-collar criminals would probably be individual greed.

However, in Chinese culture, the motivation to become corrupt may not be just from greed.  The American media appears obsessed over corruption in China without addressing how culture plays a role.

In rural China, the peasant, who works the fields, probably is only motivated to grow enough food so his family will not starve while selling enough to keep a roof over their heads.

Most peasants live according to the concept of Taoism, which roughly interpreted means go with the natural order of things or do as little as possible to survive while living in a passive state.

Confucianism teaches the opposite and has more influence in urban China where most of China’s middle class lives and works. Here, loss of face is enough to motivate the individual to become corrupt so he will not look like a loser in the minds of his family, associates or friends. The other choice is suicide.

Since Jesus Christ supposedly said, “Let he who has no guilt cast the first stone”, I want to mention that I read about representatives in both houses of Congress in Washington DC costing the US taxpayer about a million annually for moral corruption. Why—to settle with abused congressional employees, who have been harassed (I’m thinking sexual) or treated badly by their political bosses over the past 14 years. Source: Politico

Back to corruption in Taiwan and China.

The Economist reportedthat corruption flourishes in Taiwan in the judicial system.  The same piece also says that Chen Shui-bian, the former president of Taiwan from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is serving a 20 year sentence for corruption.  On the next page of the July 24th issue is another piece about academic fraud in (mainland) China.

Although greed may play a role in Chinese corruption, another factor may be a more powerful force and that is maintaining, “face” or increasing it since upwardly mobile Chinese are expected to constantly gain face.

To do this, one has to gain in wealth, stature or reputation. This puts a lot of pressure on a Chinese man, which reminds me of the Taiwanese architect our daughter found hanging dead in a tree a few years back during a family hike in Southern California.

_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

Subscribe to “iLook China”!
Sign up for an E-mail Subscription at the top of this page, or click on the “Following” tab in the WordPress toolbar at the top of the screen.

About iLook China

China’s Holistic Historical Timeline

5 Comments | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, crime, cultural differences | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Real Police State (4/4)

August 11, 2010

America locks up more than twice the people that China does, and it isn’t cheap to keep someone in a US prison.  The cost is as high as $50,000 a year x 2.4 million.  You do the math.

This American mess has come about over the last 40 years because of an unholy alliance of big-business-hating liberals and tough-on-crime conservatives.

Common sense says to execute the most dangerous criminals. 

If the US eliminated the 200,000 over 50 serving life sentences, that would reduce the Federal deficit by as much as 10 billion annually or 100 billion in a decade. In fact, the US should execute everyone who is serving a life sentence without a chance for parole.

I find it interesting that America wages wars in countries like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan where millions have been killed and sometimes women and children die as collateral damage but balks at executing dangerous criminals in the US who are locked up for life without a chance for parole.

The solution could be to send these criminals to China and let the Chinese do the job for America.

See An Update about China’s Criminal Justice System or return to The Real Police State – Part 3

_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

Sign up for an RSS Feed for iLook China

Leave a Comment » | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, crime, cultural differences | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »