Week 2 Discussion

Week 2 Discussion 1

Taoism has teachings that are based on revelations that were from several sources. Different braches exist of Taoism and all have different unique beliefs, especially about nature. However, the core beliefs that all the sects share include, the symbol represented by the Tai-Chi or he Yin-Yang symbol, the notion of action through inaction or the wu-wei. Taoism is generally the belief in pragmatism, embodiment, and practices that actualize nature with themselves. Legalism on the other hand was just a political philosophy that followed utilitarian principles and that was not concerned about nature and the purpose of life like the one Taoism did. Confucianism was developed by a Chinese philosopher Confucius. It is a system of quasi-religious beliefs that governs a person’s social, moral, political and philosophical actions and thoughts. Confucians believe in the development of morals to perfection and the cultivation of virtue.

Confucius spoke to his people through a system known as Analects, which concentrated more on the nurturing of the human brain with knowledge and education. Taoism also used analects though they had a handbook that differed greatly with Confucian teachings. Legalism used written teachings that consisted mostly of political teachings and social order. Confucius had the most impact on the people since his teachings promoted the development of peace, society, unity, democracy and love. He also traveled far and wide teaching and spreading his teachings to leaders all over East Asia and mostly taught about good leadership, improvement of individual behavior and social harmony and development.

 

 

 

 

References

Sanders, T., Nelson, S. H., Morillo, S., & Ellenberger, N. (2006). Encounters in World History Sources and Themes from the Global Past Volume 1: to 1500. New York, NY: McGraw Hill

 

Response to Audrey Williams

I agree with Audrey Williams’ response to the question since she has given a concise comparison of the three principles in addition to what each system believed in. She also gave a detailed description of the founders of all the principles in addition what they believed to be most important in their doctrines. I also agree with the modes of speaking to the people that she stated and when she stated that the Confucian belief system had the most impact on the people.

 

Response to Patricia Burton

Burton’s description of the three belief systems was not clear to me and I disagree when she calls them schools and not belief systems. I believe that the three systems all had schools in which they taught their followers in and were not just schools. She also stated what was important to the three different systems but did not state what was different between them. She mentioned the different books in which the sets of beliefs were written in. I also disagree with the mode she mentioned as which the three systems used to communicate or with their people.

 

 

 

 

Week 2 Discussion 2

            The Indian caste system was a system of social stratification that created restrictions socially to different people in different communities. The people were divided into communities that were called Jatis and they formed the different castes. There were four castes known as Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras in order of the importance and rank in society. The caste system worked in a way where a person was born into a certain caste depending on their family. The system was developed to differentiate the rulers and their subjects, and the royal families from the peasants. The role of the woman in society was mainly as a wife and a mother. When girls were born, they were given out for marriage at the tender age of eight. Women were supposed to be trained and mentored by their mothers to be good wives that would take care of their husbands by making themselves beautiful, serving their husbands in all ways necessary, talk womanly words, have womanly appearance and possess womanly virtue.

The most popular systems of religion in India, Buddhism and Hinduism, mostly dwelled on the lower castes in their teachings. This gave them popularity since they gave hope to the majority who belonged to the lower castes and gave them promises of being reincarnated into higher castes if they lived according to the teachings they taught. The Indian society was greatly affected by the caste system in that, the stratifications created, created conflicts between the people and they even developed to become geographical stratifications since each caste had an area where majority of them resided and no one from a lower or higher caste was allowed to dwell.

 

 

 

References

Sanders, T., Nelson, S. H., Morillo, S., & Ellenberger, N. (2006). Encounters in World History Sources and Themes from the Global Past Volume 1: to 1500. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

 

Response to Audrey Williams

I agree with most of the information contained in Audrey’s post though she was not fully clear on what the castes were formed to do or their function in society. She was also not clear about the reason why the system was developed. On the woman’s role in society, she mentioned the qualifications but was not clear on what particular activities the woman was supposed to carry out. The rest of the information on her post was quite concise and clear.

 

Response to Shawn Hubbard

Shawn’s post is quite brief and to the point though it has a lot of information, the information was not quite elaborated on. He did a lot of stating and did not expound on his main points. He did not give the role of the woman in depth and to what particular activities she performed. I support his view of the religions’ perspectives on the caste system.