Religions in East Asia: Exploring Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism

This report delves into the intricate relationships between Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism within the context of East Asian religious thought, specifically focusing on China. The research investigates the extent to which Daoist and Buddhist philosophies have influenced the religious teachings of Confucianism. The methodology involves a qualitative analysis of secondary resources, including academic articles and documents, to understand the similarities, differences, and unique aspects of these three philosophical traditions. The report examines the historical and cultural context of these religions, analyzing how the teachings and practices of Daoism and Buddhism have shaped and modified Confucianism over time, including the evolution of Neo-Confucianism. The annotated bibliography provides a comprehensive overview of relevant scholarly works, highlighting the integration of these religions, their impact on Chinese business and culture, and the transformations of Confucianism. The conclusion emphasizes the interconnectedness of these religions and their influence on the way of life in East Asia.

Running head: RELIGIONS IN EAST ASIA
Religions in East Asia
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The influence of religion on the human civilization is paramount even in the modern
contemporary period of secularization. People adhere to the religious doctrines and believe in the
existence of a super power to whom they dedicate their lives to (Chen, 2015). There are different
versions of religion in different parts of the world but their main objective is the same that is to
instill an aspect of belief and faith within the human beings. Variations are also present in the
nature of these religions as certain religions believe in the existence of God while others consider
a particular human being to be their savior and adhere to the teachings and philosophies left
behind by such an extra ordinary person.
Research Thesis
The aim of this research is to look in to the extent of the influences of Daoism and
Buddhism within the religious teachings of Confucianism as is existing within the territorial
boundary of China.
Research Road Map
The research seeks to analyze the influence of different religious philosophies on the
aspect of Confucianism. In this respect, the research will utilize secondary resources which will
examine certain documents and articles on this topic. As a consequence, the method of
qualitative analysis shall be followed. The data collected from such secondary resources will be
analyzed in a subjective manner in order to get a comprehensive idea about the influences of
Daoism and Buddhism within the religious teachings of Confucianism. Since the influence
cannot be quantified in a proper manner, no quantitative analysis will be done.

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Overview of interest in the research article
This research topic is intriguing because almost all of the people in China follows a
particular way of life. They believe in upholding their values and traditions which usually have
their roots in such philosophical thoughts, such as Daoism, Buddhism or Confucianism (Yang et
al., 2016). The adherence of the people to the religious teachings of these philosophies is indeed
remarkable as people are willing to follow the teachings of an individual who are no longer alive.
Yet, their influence and hold over the people is so predominant that no one questions the
teachings, instead, take them for granted and treats them with reverence (Nichols, 2016). The
research proposes to look in to the influence of Daoism and Buddhism within the religious
teachings of Confucianism. In this respect, the paper will be able to analyze the similarities and
differences of the three philosophical thoughts and the uniqueness of Confucianism and its
impact on the way of life of the people.
Annotated Bibliography
Tang, Y. (2016). The Integration of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. In Anthology of
Philosophical and Cultural Issues (pp. 197-208). Springer, Singapore.
In this article the author is of the view that the present contemporary world is a
place which is infested with different political agenda of the various countries and the differences
in their economic structuring and their culture. In this context, even the different religious faith
are also facing a crisis because of their diversity. As a consequence of the interdependence of the
different polities of the world, there is a consequent intermingling of the different religious faith.
This article is useful to analyze the influences of other religion on Confucianism.

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Tang, Y. (2015). The Coexistence of Cultural Diversity: Sources of the Value of Harmony
in Diversity. In Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity and Chinese Culture (pp.
285-290). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
In this article, the author is of the view that the political conflicts that exist in among the
different nation states of the world may be lessened by the influence of the intermixing of the
various religions. The coexistence of different cultures may result in the increase in the tolerance
level of the people, their love for one another. This article is useful to understand the impact and
significance of the influence of one religion on another in a different or same part of the world.
Li, T., & Moreira, G. O. (2014). The influence of Confucianism and Buddhism on Chinese
Business. Working paper. Retrieved on July 8, 2014 from http://www. immi.
se/intercultural/nr19/tianbo. htm.
This paper looks in to how the philosophical thoughts of Buddhism and Confucianism
influence the Chinese people who are in to business activities. The author believes that people
follow the Confucius way of live but worship the Bodhisattva for peace and prosperity. The
paper is useful in analyzing the similarities of the two religions and how people use them
synonymously.
Guang, X. (2013). Buddhist impact on Chinese culture. Asian Philosophy, 23(4), 305-322.
In this article, the author opines that China has three main religion, mainly that of
Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism. However, it is Confucianism and Daoism which are the
two ways of life for the people while Buddhism is a religious thought which was imbibed from
the foreign people. The article analyzes how Buddhism has played a significant role in
influencing the philosophical thought of Confucianism. This article is useful because of the fact

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that it lays emphasis on the religion of Buddhism and its impact on the people who originally
used to follow the teachings of Confucianism.
Berthrong, J. (2018). Transformations of the Confucian way. Routledge.
In this article, the author looks in to how the original state of Confucianism changed over
time as a result of the various influences on it. One of the most important influences on the
philosophical thought of Confucianism was that of the other way of life, such as those of Daoism
and Buddhism. The article is useful in the regard that it examines the changes of Confucianism
over a period of time, finally evolving to Neo Confucianism and also analyzes its impact on the
people of China.
Conclusion
In conclusion it is observed that the different religions of the world are somehow similar
to one another. It is due to this reason that it becomes easy for the religions to have an influence
on the way of life of an individual who does not adhere to it initially.

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References:
Berthrong, J. (2018). Transformations of the Confucian way. Routledge.
Chen, L. (2015). Implementing cross-culture pedagogies: Cooperative learning at Confucian
heritage cultures.
Guang, X. (2013). Buddhist impact on Chinese culture. Asian Philosophy, 23(4), 305-322.
Li, T., & Moreira, G. O. (2014). The influence of Confucianism and Buddhism on Chinese
Business. Working paper. Retrieved on July 8, 2014 from http://www. immi.
se/intercultural/nr19/tianbo. htm.
Nichols, R. (2016). The natural history of shame and its modification by Confucian culture. The
Blackwell Companion to Naturalism, 512-527.
Tang, Y. (2015). The Coexistence of Cultural Diversity: Sources of the Value of Harmony in
Diversity. In Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity and Chinese Culture (pp.
285-290). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Tang, Y. (2016). The Integration of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. In Anthology of
Philosophical and Cultural Issues (pp. 197-208). Springer, Singapore.
Yang, X., Zhang, P., Zhao, J., Zhao, J., Wang, J., Chen, Y., ... & Zhang, X. (2016). Confucian
culture still matters: the benefits of Zhongyong thinking (doctrine of the mean) for mental
health. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47(8), 1097-1113.

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