Model humanity:
82-479: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Hundun ( Chinese : 混沌 ; pinyin : Hùndùn ; Wade–Giles : Hun-tun ; lit. 'muddled confusion') is both a "legendary faceless being" in Chinese mythology and the "primordial and central chaos " in Chinese cosmogony , comparable with
164-563: A Confucian identity, with the foundation of the Holy Confucian Church of China which aims to unite in a single body all Confucian religious groups. Many of the movements of salvation of the 20th and 21st century aspire to become the repository of the entirety of the Chinese tradition in the face of Western modernism and materialism, advocating an "Eastern solution to the problems of the modern world", or even interacting with
246-806: A West Paradise, identified with Kunlun Mountain. A pole replaced a former mythic system that opposed Penglai with Guixu ("Returning Mountain"), and the Guixu mythological material was transferred to the Kunlun mythos. The Chinese name "Kunlun" 崑崙 (or 崐崘 ) is written with characters combining the " mountain radical " 山 with phonetics of kun 昆 and lun 侖 . Alternate names for Kunlun shan include Kunling 崑陵 (with "hill") and Kunqiu 崑丘 (with "mound"). The term "Kunlun" may be semantically related to two other terms: Hundun ( Chinese : 混沌 ; pinyin : hùndùn ; Wade–Giles : hun-t'un ; lit. 'primal chaos" or "muddled confusion'), which
328-495: A bird, which is most probably an indication that the shamanistic dancing here in question was some kind of feather dance in which the shaman was ritually ornamented with a feathered headdress." The Shen yi jing 神異經 "Classic of Divine Wonders" records a later variation of Hundun mythology. It describes him as a divine dog who lived on Mt. Kunlun, the mythical mountain at the center of the world. It has eyes but can't see, walks without moving; and has two ears but can't hear. It has
410-668: A catastrophic flood, the incest taboo was waived by an explicit sign after prayerful questioning of a divine being, who approved their marriage and thus the repopulation of the world. Mu, son of Heaven , is one visitor—carried along on his trip by eight extraordinary mounts, depicted in art as "weird and unworldly". Many important literary references and allusions to Kunlun Mountain are found in traditional works—including famous novels, poems, and theatrical pieces. It also appears in popular modern fiction. Among other literature, Kunlun Mountain appears in Fengshen Yanyi , Legend of
492-518: A certain Chisongzi (Master Red Pine) performed a rain-making ceremony that successfully ended a terrible drought, leading to his promotion to " Yu Shi ", "Master of Rain". According to the Shanhaijing , the top of Kunlun is the habitation of shamans; Wu Peng is depicted holding the herb of immortality there, in the company of five other shamans called Siva Harish. In later tradition, Kunlun
574-495: A concern for salvation (moral fulfillment) of the person and the society. They are distinguished by egalitarianism , a founding charismatic person often informed by a divine revelation , a specific theology written in holy texts , a millenarian eschatology and a voluntary path of salvation, an embodied experience of the numinous through healing and self-cultivation, and an expansive orientation through evangelism and philanthropy . Some scholars consider these religions
656-469: A cosmological description. Heaven and earth were perfectly joined [ tung-t'ung 洞同 ], all was chaotically unformed [ hun-tun wei p'u 渾沌為樸 ]; and things were complete [ ch'eng 成 ] yet not created. This is called [the time or condition] of the Great One. [ t'ai-i 太一 ]. All came from this unity which gave to each thing its differences: the birds, fish, and beasts. This
738-413: A definitive book on hundun . He summarizes this mythology as follows. Chinese salvationist religions Model humanity: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Chinese salvationist religions or Chinese folk religious sects are a Chinese religious tradition characterised by
820-399: A descendant devoid of ability [and virtue]. He hid righteousness from himself, and was a villain at heart; he delighted in the practice of the worst vices; he was shameless and vile, obstinate, stupid, and unfriendly, cultivating only the intimacy of such as himself. All the people under heaven called him Chaos. … When Shun became Yaou's minister, he received the nobles from the four quarters of
902-533: A play "How the Kunlun Slave Became an Immortal". Kunlun Mountain is a subject alluded to in the ancient poems " Li Sao " and " Heavenly Questions " by Qu Yuan , frequently mentioned in medieval Tang dynasty poetry , and referenced during the twentieth century in Mao Zedong's 1935 poem "Kunlun". Kunlun is used in the manga 3×3 Eyes . The term—written as K'un-Lun—is also used in the story of
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#1732782828328984-507: A single group they are said to have the same number of followers of the five state-sanctioned religions of China taken together. Scholars and government officials have been discussing to systematise and unify this large base of religious organisations; in 2004 the State Administration of Religious Affairs created a department for the management of folk religions. In the late 2015 a step was made at least for those of them with
1066-416: A single phenomenon, and others consider them the fourth great Chinese religious category alongside the well-established Confucianism , Buddhism and Taoism . Generally these religions focus on the worship of the universal God ( Shangdi ), represented as either male, female, or genderless, and regard their holy patriarchs as embodiments of God. "Chinese salvationist religions" ( 救度宗教 jiùdù zōngjiào )
1148-460: A story about the Confucian disciple Zigong becoming dumbfounded after meeting a Daoist sage. He reported back to Confucius, who denigrated Hundun Shi zhi shu 渾沌氏之術 "the arts of Mr. Chaos [Hundun]": "He is one of those bogus practitioners of the arts of Mr. Chaos. He knows the first thing but doesn't understand the second. He looks after what is on the inside but doesn't look after what is on
1230-509: A strong association with various means to obtain immortality, or longevity. Poetic descriptions tend to lavish Kunlun with paradisaical detail: gem-like rocks and towering cliffs of jasper and jade, exotic jeweled plants, bizarrely formed and colored magical fungi, and numerous birds and other animals, together with humans who have become immortal beings . Sometimes, it is the Eight Immortals who are seen, coming to pay their respects to
1312-514: A thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the root – return to the root and not know why. Dark and undifferentiated chaos – to the end of life none will depart from it. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. Do not ask what its name is, do not try to observe its form. Things will live naturally and of themselves." Chapter 12 tells
1394-578: A vessel (Yang 2005: 162, 219). However, this was an obstacle routinely overcome by those practiced in the way of magic (Daoist or shamanic). Two examples of those who overcame these hindrances were Sun Wukong ( Journey to the West ) and Qu Yuan in his poem (" Li Sao ")—both already on the path to immortality, one as a god and the other as a poet. Another barrier to Kunlun was the dangerous and difficult-to-cross Moving Sands , also known as Flowing Sands or Liusha. According to Shanhaijing (Chapter 16), Kunlun
1476-580: A visit in one of his extent poems; although geographical specifics of the state of Kunlun's location(s) remain uncertain, it is associated with trans-Gangetic India, possibly the Malay Peninsula or areas controlled by the Sailendra thalassocracy. Kunlun Mountain has been described in various texts, as well as being depicted in art. Sometimes Kunlun appears as a pillar of the sky (or earth)—sometimes appearing to be composed of multiple tiers, with
1558-518: Is cognate with Wonton ( húntun , 餛飩 ) "wonton; dumpling soup" written with the "eat radical" 食 . Note that the English loanword wonton is borrowed from the Cantonese pronunciation wantan . Victor H. Mair suggests a fundamental connection between hundun and wonton : "The undifferentiated soup of primordial chaos. As it begins to differentiate, dumpling-blobs of matter coalesce. … With
1640-462: Is Muddle Thick. He has no face and no eyes. He knows how to sing and dance. He is in truth the great god Long River. In the above passage, 渾敦 is translated as "Muddle Thick", and the name of the god 帝江 (Di-Jiang) is translated as "great god Long River". Toshihiko Izutsu suggests that singing and dancing here and in Zhuangzi refers to shamanic trance-inducing ceremonies, "the monster is said to be
1722-507: Is a contemporary neologism coined as a sociological category and gives prominence to folk religious sects' central pursuit that is the salvation of the individual and the society, in other words the moral fulfillment of individuals in reconstructed communities of sense. Chinese scholars traditionally describe them as "folk religious sects" ( 民间宗教 mínjiān zōngjiào , 民间教门 mínjiān jiàomén or 民间教派 mínjiān jiàopài ) or "folk beliefs" ( 民间信仰 mínjiān xìnyǎng ). They are distinct from
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#17327828283281804-502: Is a mountain or mountain range in Chinese mythology , an important symbol representing the axis mundi and divinity . The mythological Kunlun is based on various sources—mythologic and geographic—of the modern so-called Kunlun Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and Mount Kailash (as an archetypal omphalos ). The term "Kunlun" has also been applied to Southeastern Asian lands or islands and seemingly even Africa—although
1886-521: Is a spring of water; how it gushes out!". The other three use hun as what Girardot calls "a term of opprobrium and condemnation related to the suppression of the "barbarians" or the "legendary rebels"." The Shijing (237) mentions Hunyi 混夷 "ancient Hunni tribe in Turan ". When King Wen of Zhou opened up the roads, "The hordes of the Keun [sic] disappeared, Startled and panting". The Chunqiu mentions
1968-410: Is called the lot [or division, fen 分 ] of things. Three other Huainanzi chapters use hun , for example, the compound hunhun cangcang ( 渾渾蒼蒼 ; 'pure and unformed', 'vast and hazy') The world was a unity without division into classes nor separation into orders (lit: a disorganised mass): the unaffectedness and homeliness of the natural heart had not, as yet, been corrupted:
2050-411: Is sometimes personified as a living creature; and kongdong ( Chinese : 空洞 ; pinyin : kōngdòng ; Wade–Giles : k'ung-t'ung ; lit. 'grotto of vacuity'), according to Kristofer Schipper. Grotto-heavens were traditionally associated with mountains, as hollows or caves located in/on certain mountains. The term "Kunlun Mountain" can be translated as "Cavernous Mountain", and
2132-623: Is synonymous with Chinese luàn ( 亂 ; 'chaos', 'revolt', 'indiscriminate', 'random', 'arbitrary'). Their linguistic compound hùnluàn ( 混亂 lit. "chaos-chaos", meaning "chaos; disorder; confusion) exemplifies the "synonym compound" category in Chinese morphology . In the Chinese written record, hundun first appears in classics dating from the Warring States period . The following summary divides them into Confucianist, Daoist, and other categories, and presents them in roughly chronological order, with
2214-464: Is written as either dùn ( 沌 ; 'dull', 'confused', 'stupid') or dūn ( 敦 ; 'thick', 'solid', 'generous', 'earnest', 'honest', 'sincere'). Isabelle Robinet outlines the etymological origins of hundun . Semantically, the term hundun is related to several expressions, hardly translatable in Western languages, that indicate
2296-630: The Zuozhuan . Hùn "chaos; muddled; confused" is written either hùn ( 混 ; 'abundantly flowing', 'turbid water', 'torrent', 'mix up/in', 'confuse', 'thoughtless', 'senseless') or hún ( 渾 ; 'sound of running water', 'muddy', 'muddled', 'confused', 'dull', 'stupid'). These two are interchangeable graphic variants read as hún ( 混 ; 'muddy', 'dirty', 'filthy' ) and hùn 渾 "nebulous; stupid" ( hùndùn 渾沌 ). Dùn ("dull; confused")
2378-591: The Book of Rites . Some scholars even find influences from Manichaeism , Mohism and shamanic traditions . In the Ming and Qing dynasties many folk religious movements were outlawed by the imperial authorities as "evil religions" ( 邪教 xiéjiào ). With the collapse of the Qing state in 1911 the sects enjoyed an unprecedented period of freedom and thrived, and many of them were officially recognised as religious groups by
2460-402: The Chinese folk religion consisting in the worship of gods and ancestors, although in English language there is a terminological confusion between the two. The 20th-century expression for these salvationist religious movements has been "redemptive societies" ( 救世团体 jiùshì tuántǐ ), coined by scholar Prasenjit Duara . A collective name that has been in use possibly since the latter part of
2542-450: The Liezi below), which etymologically connects to the mountain name Kunlun 崑崙 (differentiated with the "mountain radical" 山 ). Robinet says "Kunlun and hundun are the same closed center of the world." Girardot quotes the Chinese philologist Lo Mengci 羅夢冊 , who says that reduplicated words like hundun "suggest cyclic movement and transformation", and speculates: Ritually mumbling
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2624-697: The Red River (Chishui, 赤水 ), the Yellow River , the Black River ( 黑水 , black water), and the Yang River(洋水) (Yang 2005: 161). A fifth river was said to flow around the base of Kunlun, which rose in a way that was particularly steep and hard to climb. This Weak River at the base of Kunlun flowed with a liquid so lacking in density that not even a feather could float upon it. This was a major obstacle, since it could neither be swum or floated over on
2706-429: The Zhuangzi myth and reminisces about Hundun . How pleasant were our bodies in the days of Chaos, Needing neither to eat or piss! Who came along with his drill And bored us full of these nine holes? Morning after morning we must dress and eat; Year after year, fret over taxes. A thousand of us scrambling for a penny, We knock our heads together and yell for dear life. Note the addition of two holes (anus and penis) to
2788-484: The early republican government . The founding of the People's Republic in 1949 saw them suppressed once again, although since the 1990s and 2000s the climate was relaxed and some of them have received some form of official recognition. In Taiwan all the still existing restrictions were rescinded in the 1980s. Folk religious movements began to rapidly revive in mainland China in the 1980s, and now if conceptualised as
2870-460: The world egg . Hundun 混沌 was semantically extended from a mythic "primordial chaos; nebulous state of the universe before heaven and earth separated" to mean "unintelligible; chaotic; messy; mentally dense; innocent as a child". While hùndùn "primordial chaos" is usually written as 混沌 in contemporary vernacular, it is also written as 渾沌 —as in the Daoist classic Zhuangzi —or 渾敦 —as in
2952-671: The Luhun 陸渾 tribe of the Rong 戎 people, "the Jung of Luh-hwăn" The Zuozhuan commentary to the Chunqiu notes they were originally from western Gansu and forced into northern Henan . Another Zuozhuan context refers to Hundun 渾敦 as a worthless son of the Yellow Emperor , one of the mythical Sixiong 四凶 "Four Fiends" banished by Shun . The ancient emperor Hung [Hwang-te] had
3034-667: The Mountain" from the Old Khmer (formerly known as Old Cambodian) and equivalent to the Sanskrit Śailarāja , also meaning "Kings of the Mountain", referring to a mythical holy cosmic mountain. Kurung (Kunlun) is known to have flourished during the time of the Tang dynasty , and seems to have developed ambassadorial relations with the Tang court by the time of Li He (790–816), who records
3116-628: The Pearl and Jade Trees, the Tree of Immortality, and Tree Grain (i.e., Muhe , which was forty feet in height and five spans in thickness). Peaches are (and have been) often associated with Xiwangmu. The langgan was a tree of fairy gems in colours of blue or green, which was reported to grow on Kunlun in the classic books of the Zhou and early Han dynasties. Kunlun is described as having various structures, areas, or significant features either on or around
3198-533: The Qing dynasty is huìdàomén ( 会道门 "churches, ways and gates"), as their names interchangeably use the terms huì ( 会 "church, society, association, congregation"; when referring to their corporate form), dào ( 道 "way") or mén ( 门 "gate[way], door"). Their congregations and points of worship are usually called táng ( 堂 "church, hall") or tán ( 坛 "altar"). Western scholars often mistakenly identify them as " Protestant " churches. The Vietnamese religions of Minh Đạo and Caodaism emerged from
3280-610: The White Snake , the Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven , Kunlun Nu , Zhen Hun (镇魂, also known as Guardian ), and Journey to the West (also known as Monkey ). The Kunlun Slave (slave from Kunlun) was a stock character in Chinese theater, also known in Japanese theater as "Konron". He was portrayed as exotic in appearance, possessing superhuman powers. The Ming dynasty dramatist and playwright Mei Dingzuo (1549–1615) wrote
3362-401: The area of the mountain. The palace of Xiwangmu, sometimes described as having golden ramparts, was located on Kunlun; those blessed to gather there might partake of the fruit of longevity. Often, her palace is described as having a park or garden, bordering a Jasper Pool. Of gardens, a (the) Hanging Garden was referenced early on. Four rivers were sometimes said to flow out of Kunlun Mountain:
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3444-586: The caveat that many early textual dates are uncertain. Hundun only occurs in one Confucian classic, the Zuo zhuan commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals . Most early Confucianist ancient texts ( Lunyu , Book of Documents , I Ching , etc.) do not use hun , with four exceptions. One, the Mengzi , uses hun in its original meaning "sound of flowing water". Mencius explains why Confucius praised water, "There
3526-440: The commonality of "mystery, grandeur, or magnificence" being emphasized in its mythological descriptions. The base of Kunlun Mountain is said to penetrate far into the earth, while its above-ground part proceeds into the sky. In general, accounts emphasize the difficulty of access to the mountain and—even more strikingly—its hallowed places, due to its surrounding waters and steep cliffs of immense heights. Kunlun typically also has
3608-469: The earliest times, and no Chinese work has ever described its inhabitants as being black-skinned.'" She then proceeds to explain how "Kunlun" was used to refer to places in Southeast Asia and Africa. Various notions about the location of the mythical Kunlun Mountain have been proposed: chapter eleven of the Shanhaijing describes it as being in the northwest, chapter sixteen says it is south of
3690-438: The emperor of the central region was called Hun-tun [Chaos]. Shu and Hu from time to time came together for a meeting in the territory of Hun-tun, and Hun-tun treated them very generously. Shu and Hu discussed how they could repay his kindness. "All men," they said, "have seven openings so they can see, hear, eat, and breathe. But Hun-tun alone doesn't have any. Let's trying boring him some!" Every day they bored another hole, and on
3772-408: The empire, and banished these four wicked ones, Chaos, Monster, Block, and Glutton, casting them out into the four distant regions, to meet the spite of the sprites and evil things. The other "fiends" are Qiongqi 窮奇 , Taowu 檮杌 , and Taotie 饕餮 . Legge notes this passage "is worthy of careful study in many respects." Girardot contrasts these rare Confucian usages of hundun pejoratively suggesting
3854-531: The evolution of human consciousness and reflectiveness, the soup was adopted as a suitable metaphor for chaos". This last assertion appears unsupported however, since wonton soup is not attested in Chinese sources dating earlier than the Han dynasty, although the linguistic connection of the soup to the larger concept certainly appears real. Hundun 混沌 has a graphic variant hunlun 混淪 (using lún 淪 ; 'ripples', 'eddying water', 'sink down' see
3936-457: The forces thwarting civilization, "the "birds and beasts," barbarian tribes, banished ministers, and legendary rebels)" with the common Daoist usages in a "paradise lost theme". Hundun commonly occurs in classics of philosophical Taoism. The Daodejing does not mention hundun but uses both hun graphic variants. One section uses hun 渾 "bemuddle": "The sage is self-effacing in his dealings with all under heaven, and bemuddles his mind for
4018-479: The goddess Xiwangmu, perhaps invited to join her in a feast of immortal repast. This is the well-worn image or motif that is frequently painted, carved, or otherwise depicted in the material arts. Kunlun is believed to be the representation of the Supreme Deity ( Taidi ). According to some sources, his throne is at the top tier of the mountain, known as the "Palace of Heaven". As Kunlun was sometimes viewed as
4100-626: The images of lightning and thunder, or analogously, flaming arrows." The " Heavenly Questions " chapter of the Chu Ci uses Shu and Hu as one name: "Where are the hornless dragons which carry bears on their backs for sport? Where is the great serpent with nine heads and where is the Shu-Hu?" The emperor of the South Sea was called Shu [Brief], the emperor of the North Sea was called Hu [Sudden], and
4182-458: The knowledge of a man yet its belly is without the five internal organs and, although having a rectum, it doesn't evacuate food. It punches virtuous men and stays with the non-virtuous. It is called. Hun-tun. Quoting the Zuo zhuan , Hun-tun was Meng-shih's untalented son. He always gnaws his tail, going round and round. Everyone ridiculed him. A poem in the Tang dynasty collection Hanshan refers to
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#17327828283284264-605: The label "secret sects" ( 秘密教门 mìmì jiàomén ) to distinguish the peasant "secret societies" with a positive dimension of the Yuan, Ming and Qing periods, from the negatively viewed "secret societies" of the early republic that became instruments of anti-revolutionary forces (the Guomindang or Japan ). Many of these religions are traced to the White Lotus tradition ("Chinese Maternism", as mentioned by Philip Clart ) that
4346-506: The modern discourse of an Asian -centered universal civilisation. The Chinese folk religious movements of salvation are mostly concentrated in northern and northeastern China, although with a significant influence reaching the Yangtze River Delta since the 16th century. The northern provinces have been a fertile ground for the movements of salvation for a number of reasons: firstly, popular religious movements were active in
4428-425: The mounts or the transformations of immortals), other birds come and go from the mountain, flying errands for Xiwangmu; these blue (or green) birds are her qingniao . Sometimes the poets claim to have received joyful inspiration during a visit by one of these birds, carrying a message from Xiwangmu. The flora of Kunlun and its environs are in keeping with the rest of its natural (and supernatural) qualities, including
4510-581: The mythological Kunlun Mountain has been viewed as a hollow mountain (located directly under the pole star ). The term "Kunlun", however, had also been used in old texts to refer to people and places unrelated to the mythical mountain. It was, for example, used in reference to the southern people called Gurong , who were slaves in China. Edward H. Schafer quotes the Old Book of Tang description "The people south of Lin yi are curly haired and black bodied and
4592-424: The mythology related to the Kunlun developed, it became influenced by the later introduction of ideas about an axis mundi from the cosmology of India. The Kunlun became identified with (or took on the attributes of) Mount Sumeru . Another historical development in the mythology of Kunlun (again with Indian influence) was that—rather than just being the source of the Yellow River —Kunlun began to be considered
4674-407: The name "Confusion." "Confusion" means the myriad things were confounded and not yet separated from each other. The Shanhaijing collection of early myths and legends uses hundun 渾敦 as an adjective to describe a shen 神 "spirit; god" on Tian Shan 天山 "Heaven Mountain". There is a god here who looks like a yellow sack. He is scarlet like cinnabar fire. He has six feet and four wings. He
4756-636: The north (and west of the Moving Sands ), Xiwangmu—the Queen Mother of Meng Hao in the West—in later accounts was relocated to a palace protected by golden ramparts, within which immortals ( xian ) feasted on bear paws, monkey lips, and the livers of dragons, served at the edge of the Lake of Gems. Every 6,000 years, the peaches that conferred immortality upon those who ate them would be served (except during
4838-568: The original seven (eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth). Hundun myths have a complex history, with many variations on the "primordial chaos" theme and associations with other legends. The sociologist and historian Wolfram Eberhard analyzed the range of various hundun myths. He treated it as a world egg mythic "chain" from the southern Liao culture, which originated in the Sichuan and Hubei region. Norman J. Girardot, professor of Chinese religion at Lehigh University , has written articles and
4920-454: The outside. A man of true brightness and purity who can enter into simplicity, who can return to the primitive through inaction, give body to his inborn nature, and embrace his spirit, and in this way wander through the everyday world – if you had met one like that, you would have had real cause for astonishment. As for the arts of Mr. Chaos, you and I need not bother to find out about them." The Huainanzi has one occurrence of hundun 渾沌 in
5002-594: The pillar holding up the sky and keeping it separated from the terrestrial plane, some accounts place the top of Kunlun in Heaven rather than locating it on Earth; in this case, the Supreme Deity's abode on Kunlun is actually in Heaven, and Kunlun functions as a sort of ladder that could be used to travel between Earth and Heaven. Accordingly, any person who succeeded in climbing up to the top of Kunlun would magically become an immortal spirit. Although not originally located on Kunlun, but rather on Jade Mountain neighboring to
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#17327828283285084-764: The population of China, which is around 30 million people, claim to be members of folk religious sects. The actual number of followers may be higher, about the same as the number of members of the five state-sanctioned religions of China if counted together. In Taiwan, recognised folk religious movements of salvation gather approximately 10% of the population as of the mid-2000s. Kunlun Mountain (mythology) Model humanity: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: The Kunlun ( traditional Chinese : 崑崙 ; simplified Chinese : 昆仑 ; pinyin : Kūnlún ; Wade–Giles : K'un-lun ) or Kunlun Shan
5166-552: The region already in the Han dynasty , and they deeply penetrated local society; secondly, northern provinces are characterised by social mobility around the capital and weak traditional social structure, thus folk religious movements of salvation fulfill the demand of individual searching for new forms of community and social network. According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2012, approximately 2.2% of
5248-500: The relationship to the mountain is not clear beyond the nomenclature. In any case, Kunlun refers to distant, exotic, and mysterious places. Different locations of Kunlun have been ascribed in the various legends, myths, and semi-historical accounts in which it appears. These accounts typically describe Kunlun as the dwelling place of various gods and goddesses where fabled plants and mythical creatures may also be found. Many important events in Chinese mythology were based around Kunlun. As
5330-519: The sake of all under heaven". Three other sections use hun ( 混 ; 'bound together', 'muddled', 'featureless'): The Zhuangzi (ca. 3rd-2nd centuries BCE) has a famous parable involving emperors Hundun 渾沌 , Shu ( 儵 ; 'a fish name', 'abrupt', 'quick'), and Hu ( 忽 ; 'ignore', 'neglect', 'sudden'). Girardot cites Marcel Granet on Shu and Hu synonymously meaning "suddenness; quickness" and "etymologically appear to be linked to
5412-494: The same tradition of Chinese folk religious movements. A category overlapping with that of the salvationist movements is that of the "secret societies" ( 秘密社会 mìmì shèhuì , or 秘密结社 mìmì jiéshè ), religious communities of initiatory and secretive character, including rural militias and fraternal organisations which became very popular in the early republican period, and often labeled as " heretical doctrines" ( 宗教异端 zōngjiào yìduān ). Recent scholarship has begun to use
5494-780: The seventh day Hun-tun died. Compare Watson's renderings of the three characters with other Zhuangzi translators. Two other Zhuangzi contexts use hundun . Chapter 11 has an allegory about Hong Meng 鴻蒙 "Big Concealment" or "Silly Goose", who "was amusing himself by slapping his thighs and hopping around like a sparrow", which Girardot interprets as shamanic dancing comparable with the Shanhaijing below. Hong Meng poetically reduplicates hunhun-dundun ( 渾渾沌沌 ; 'dark and undifferentiated chaos') in describing Daoist "mind-nourishment" meditation. "You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves. Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are
5576-522: The sound of hunliu 混流 "abundantly-flowing flow" or "seemingly impure", dun 敦 as "anger, rage; scolding" or "who", and lun 淪 as "ripples; eddies" or "sink into; disappear". English chaos is a better translation of hundun in the classical sense of Chaos or Khaos in Greek mythology meaning "gaping void; formless primordial space preceding creation of the universe" than in the common sense of "disorder; confusion". The latter meaning of hundun
5658-504: The sounds of hun-tun might, therefore, be said to have a kind on incantatory significance that both phonetically and morphologically invokes the mythological and ontological idea of the Tao as the creatio continua process of infinitely repeated moments of change and new creation. The Shuowen Jiezi does not enter dun 沌 (which apparently lacked a pre-Han Seal script ). It defines hun 混 as fengliu 豐流 "abundantly flow", hun 渾 as
5740-484: The source of four major rivers, flowing to the four quarters of the compass. The Kunlun mythos was also influenced by developments within the Taoist tradition, and Kunlun came to be perceived as more of a paradise than a dangerous wilderness. Some recent research proposed that, over time, the merging of various traditions has resulted in a duality of paradises—i.e., an East Paradise, identified with Mount Penglai , and
5822-447: The spirit of the age was a unity, and all creation was in great affluence. Hence, if a man with the knowledge of I [ 羿 A mythical person of great powers] appeared, the world had no use for him. The Liezi uses hunlun 渾淪 for hundun , which is described as the confused state in which qi 氣 "pneuma; breath", xing 形 "form; shape", and zhi 質 "matter; substance" have begun to exist but are still merged as one. There
5904-449: The state of hundun is likened to an egg; in this usage, the term alludes to a complete world round and closed in itself, which is a receptacle like a cavern ( dong 洞 ) or a gourd ( hu 壺 or hulu 壺盧 ). Most Chinese characters are written using " radicals " or "semantic elements" and " phonetic elements". Hùndùn 混沌 is written with the "water radical" 水 or 氵 and phonetics of kūn 昆 and tún 屯 . Hùndùn "primordial chaos"
5986-475: The term Kunlun is a "mysterious and poorly understood word, first applied to dark-skinned Chinese and then expanded over time to encompass multiple meanings, all connoting dark skin." But she further explains: "These uses of kunlun are unrelated to the name of the Kunlun Mountains." In a footnote, she adds: "Chang Hsing-Iang writes that the Kunlun mountain 'region has been familiar to the Chinese from
6068-466: The tiger or beings with tiger-like features are associated with Kunlun, since the tiger is symbolic of the west, and Kunlun is often associated with the Western Paradise. Creatures symbolic of immortality are often seen or described in depictions of Kunlun, such as deer or cranes . Xiwangmu is often identified as having a spotted deer as a pet. Besides the cranes (traditionally thought of as
6150-408: The time when they were purloined by Monkey King ). Originally a plague deity with tiger teeth and leopard tail, Xiwangmu became a beautiful and well-mannered goddess, responsible for guarding the herb of immortality. Yu Shi—a Chinese spirit or god of rain, also known as the "Lord of Rain" or "Leader of Rain"—is thought to have his dwelling place upon the Kunlun slopes. During the reign of Shennong ,
6232-461: The void or a barren and primal immensity – for instance, hunlun 混淪 , hundong 混洞 , kongdong 空洞 , menghong 蒙洪 , or hongyuan 洪元 . It is also akin to the expression "something confused and yet complete" ( huncheng 混成 ) found in the Daode jing 25, which denotes the state prior to the formation of the world where nothing is perceptible, but which nevertheless contains a cosmic seed. Similarly,
6314-604: The western sea, and other sources place it in the center of the Earth. Some believed Kunlun to be located to the "far" west; in this case, the alleged location was relocated further and further to the west, along with advances in geographical knowledge. E. T. C. Werner identifies Kunlun with the Hindu Kush mountain range. At times, the mythical Kunlun Mountain has been confused with the modern Kunlun Mountains and with Kurung (or Kurung Bnam ), possibly translated as "Kings of
6396-412: Was a Primal Simplicity, there was a Primal Commencement, there were Primal Beginnings, there was a Primal Material. The Primal Simplicity preceded the appearance of the breath. The Primal Beginnings were the breath beginning to assume shape. The Primal Material was the breath when it began to assume substance. Breath, shape and substance were complete, but things were not yet separated from each other; hence
6478-459: Was already active in the Song dynasty ; others claim a Taoist legacy and are based on the recovery of ancient scriptures attributed to important immortals such as Lü Dongbin and Zhang Sanfeng , and have contributed to the popularisation of neidan ; other ones are distinctively Confucian and advocate the realisation of a "great commonwealth" ( datong 大同 ) on a world scale, as dreamt of in
6560-545: Was called kurung" and following quote by 9th century Buddhist scholar Hui Lin (慧琳), "They are also called Kurung. They are the barbarous men of the islands, great and small, of the Southern Seas. They are very black, and expose their naked Figures. They can tame and cow ferocious beasts, rhinoceroses, elephants, and the like." Schafer notes that—besides Kunlun —these southerners were occasionally referred to as Gulong 古龍 or Gulun 骨論 . Julie Wilensky notes that
6642-530: Was located south of the West Sea, behind the Red River, and on the shore of Liusha (Yang 2005: 162, 219). Kunlun Mountain is a major scene of action in various myths, as well as literary works derived from the myths, legends, or religious descriptions or depictions. Fuxi and Nuwa's marriage took place on the mountain of Kunlun. Generally held to be brother and sister, and the last surviving human beings after
6724-422: Was pictured as a Daoist paradise, inhabited by xian , or Daoist immortals (i.e., humans who had metamorphosed into superhuman form), which was presided over by Xiwangmu. The xian were often seen as temporary residents, who visited by means of flying on the back of a magical crane or dragon. Kunlun has a lively bestiary, with various types of more-or-less fantastic beasts and birds present in its environs. Often
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