Model humanity:
91-507: Model humanity: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Yiguandao / I-Kuan Tao ( traditional Chinese : 一貫道 ; simplified Chinese : 一贯道 ; pinyin : Yīguàn Dào ; Wade–Giles : I-Kuan Tao ), meaning the Consistent Way or Persistent Way , is a Chinese salvationist religious sect that emerged in
182-544: A Chinese religious tradition characterised by 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
273-563: 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
364-479: A collocation of two words A–B that cannot be idiomatically reversed as B–A, for example, English cat and mouse (not * mouse and cat ) and friend or foe (not * foe or friend ). Similarly, the usual pattern among Chinese binomial compounds is for positive A and negative B, where the A word is dominant or privileged over B. For example, tiandi 天地 "heaven and earth" and nannü 男女 "men and women". Yinyang meaning "dark and light; female and male; moon and sun",
455-642: A concept that originated in ancient Chinese philosophy that describes how opposite or contrary forces may create each other by their comparison and are to be seen as actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. In Daoist philosophy, dark and light, yin and yang, arrive in the Tao Te Ching at chapter 42. It becomes sensible from an initial quiescence or emptiness ( wuji , sometimes symbolized by an empty circle), and continues moving until quiescence
546-408: A cycle. Creation as part of yang, and destruction as part of yin, progress on one side (yang) and entropy on the other side (yin), is represented in the cycles. Yin is the black side, and yang is the white side. Other color arrangements have included the white of yang being replaced by red. The taijitu is sometimes accompanied by other shapes, such as bagua . The relationship between yin and yang
637-530: A mistake or typographical error for the Chinese loanword yin-yang —yet they are not equivalents. Chinese does have some yangyin collocations , such as 洋銀 (lit. "foreign silver") "silver coin/dollar", but not even the most comprehensive dictionaries (e.g., the Hanyu Da Cidian ) enter yangyin * 陽陰 . While yang and yin can occur together in context, yangyin is not synonymous with yinyang . The linguistic term " irreversible binomial " refers to
728-733: A mountain or the north bank of a river will receive more direct sunlight than the opposite side. Yang refers to the "south side of a hill" in Hengyang 衡陽 , which is south of Mount Heng 衡山 in Hunan province, and to the "north bank of a river" in Luoyang 洛陽 , which is located north of the Luo River 洛河 in Henan . Similarly, yin refers to "north side of a hill" in Huayin 華陰 , which
819-478: A mountain)" with the uncommon English geographic terms ubac "shady side of a mountain" and adret "sunny side of a mountain" (which are of French origin ). Many Chinese place names or toponyms contain the word yang "sunny side" and a few contain yin "shady side". In China , as elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere , sunlight comes predominantly from the south, and thus the south face of
910-415: A primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and yang, form and matter. 'Yin' is retractive, passive and contractive in nature, while 'yang' is repelling, active and expansive in principle, this dichotomy in some form, is seen in all things in nature—patterns of change and difference, such as biological and seasonal cycles, evolution of the landscape over days, weeks, years and eons (with
1001-443: A rich history in the language, their etymologies and evolution analyzable through lenses of orthography , phonology , and meanings . The Chinese characters 陰 and 陽 are both considered to be phono-semantic compounds , with semantic component 阝 'mound', 'hill' , a graphical variant of 阜 —with the phonetic components 今 ; jīn (and the added semantic component 云 ; yún ; 'cloud') and 昜 ; yáng . In
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#17327760933211092-507: 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
1183-416: 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 )
1274-588: A unity of the five teachings. Yiguandao is characterized by an eschatological and soteriological doctrine, presenting itself as a way to salvation. It also encourages adherents to engage in missionary activity. Yiguandao is the worship of the source of the universal reality personified as the Eternal Venerable Mother , or the Splendid Highest Deity ( Chinese : 明明上帝 ; pinyin : Míngmíng Shàngdì ). The highest deity
1365-471: Is Ikkandō ), during the persecutions in mainland China. In Japan, it has attracted about fifty thousand members from both Chinese minorities and Japanese ethnic groups. It is articulated into two main branches: ① Kōmōseidōin (孔孟聖道院 Kǒng Mèng Shèngdào Yuàn , "School of the Holy Way of Confucius and Mencius") and Sentendaidōnihonsoōtendan (先天大道日本総天壇 Xiāntiāndàdào Rìběn Zǒng Tiāntán , "Japan Headquarters of
1456-471: Is a concept that originated in Chinese philosophy , describing an opposite but interconnected, self-perpetuating cycle. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary and at the same time opposing forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts and the parts are important for cohesion of the whole. In Chinese cosmology , the universe creates itself out of
1547-507: 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
1638-496: Is an exception. Scholars have proposed various explanations for why yinyang violates this pattern, including "linguistic convenience" (it is easier to say yinyang than yangyin ), the idea that "proto-Chinese society was matriarchal", or perhaps, since yinyang first became prominent during the late Warring States period, this term was "purposely directed at challenging persistent cultural assumptions". Joseph Needham discusses yin and yang together with Five Elements as part of
1729-602: Is an indivisible whole. In the ethics of Confucianism on the other hand, most notably in the philosophy of Dong Zhongshu ( c. 2nd century BC), a moral dimension is attached to the idea of yin and yang. The Ahom philosophy of duality of the individual self han and pu is quite similar to yin and yang of Taoism. The tradition was originated in Yunnan , China and followed by some Ahom , descendants of Dai ethnic Minority . The Chinese terms 陰 ; yīn ; 'dark side' and 陽 ; yáng ; 'light side' have
1820-634: Is found also in orthodox Chinese mythology. The figure of the Eternal Mother derives from that of Xiwangmu , the "Queen Mother of the West", the ancient mother goddess of China, related to the mythical Kunlun , the axis mundi , and thus to the Hundun . The Infinite Mother is thought as omnipotent, and regarded by Yiguandao followers as merciful, worried by her sons and daughters who lost their true nature, and for this reason trying to bring them back to
1911-513: Is most associated with these theories. Although yin and yang are not mentioned in any of the surviving documents of Zou Yan, his school was known as the Yin Yang Jia (Yin and Yang School). Needham concludes "There can be very little doubt that the philosophical use of the terms began about the beginning of the 4th century, and that the passages in older texts which mention this use are interpolations made later than that time." Yin and yang are
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#17327760933212002-567: Is north of Mount Hua 華山 in Shaanxi province. In Japan , the characters are used in western Honshu to delineate the north-side San'in region 山陰 from the south-side San'yō region 山陽 , separated by the Chūgoku Mountains 中国山地 . English yin , yang , and yin-yang are familiar loanwords of Chinese origin . The Oxford English Dictionary defines: yin (jɪn) Also Yin , Yn . [Chinese yīn shade, feminine;
2093-816: Is perhaps cognate with Chinese chāng < *k-hlaŋ 昌 ; 'prosperous', 'bright' (compare areal words like Tai plaŋ 'bright' & Proto- Viet-Muong hlaŋ ). To this word-family, Unger also includes 炳 ; bǐng < *pl(j)aŋʔ 'bright'; however Schuessler reconstructs 炳 ; bǐng 's Old Chinese pronunciation as *braŋʔ and includes it in an Austroasiatic word family, besides 亮 ; liàng < *raŋh 爽 ; shuǎng < *sraŋʔ 'twilight of dawn'; míng < *mraŋ 明 'bright', 'become light', 'enlighten'; owing to "the different OC initial consonant which seems to have no recognizable OC morphological function". Yin and yang are semantically complex words. John DeFrancis 's ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary gives
2184-569: Is placed in the central position, accompanied by the Holy Teachers, Jigong on the right, and Yue Hui Bodhisattva on the left. In private temples, there is no required configuration. Members can choose statues of other deities, such as Guanyin and Guangong , or they can even choose to have none at all. As Yiguandao's written material explains: The important thing to keep in mind is that these deities ... serve as reminders for us to always keep their teachings in mind, and we honor them for
2275-453: Is reached again. For instance, dropping a stone in a calm pool of water will simultaneously raise waves and lower troughs between them, and this alternation of high and low points in the water will radiate outward until the movement dissipates and the pool is calm once more. Yin and yang thus are always opposite and equal qualities and create and control each other. Whenever one quality reaches its peak, it will naturally begin to transform into
2366-653: Is the primordial energy of the universe, identified in Yiguandao thought with the Tao in the wuji or "unlimited" state and with fire. The name used in contemporary Yiguandao scriptures is the "Infinite Mother" ( Chinese : 無極母 ; pinyin : Wújímǔ ) and the "lantern of the Mother" ( Chinese : 母燈 ; pinyin : mǔdēng )—a flame representing the Mother—is the central focus of Yiguandao shrines. Yiguandao focuses on
2457-591: 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
2548-457: 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
2639-543: The Kuomintang that officially ended in 1987 with the legalization of Yiguandao and a government apology. Yiguandao is still not able to be officially promoted in the mainland, but there are many members who live and practice there. According to Sebastien Billioud, Yiguandao can be viewed as an updated version of the tradition unity of the three teachings of Confucianism , Taoism , and Buddhism . In Yiguandao's case it also incorporated Christianity and Islam becoming
2730-688: The School of Naturalists . He says that it would be proper to begin with yin and yang before Five Elements because the former: "lay, as it were, at a deeper level in Nature, and were the most ultimate principles of which the ancient Chinese could conceive. But it so happens that we know a good deal more about the historical origin of the Five-Element theory than about that of the yin and the yang, and it will therefore be more convenient to deal with it first." He then discusses Zou Yan ( 鄒衍 ; 305–240 BC) who
2821-484: 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
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2912-484: The "offering of the Three Treasures" ( chuan Sanbao ), which are the xuanguan (the heavenly portal), the koujue (a mantra), and hetong (the hand gesture). The Three Treasures are the saving grace offered by the Eternal Mother to people who received the initiation. They enable Yiguandao members to transcend the circle of birth and death and directly ascend to Heaven after they die. Yiguandao followers regard
3003-452: The 15th patriarch of Xiantiandao through a divine revelation through writing. Wang renamed his sect the "Final Salvation" ( Mohou Yizhu ) and deeply contributed to the development of its theology and ritual, now being regarded as the real founder of modern Yiguandao. After a persecution started in 1883 because the Qing suspected that the sect intended to organize a rebellion, Wang was forced to live secretly until his death. Liu Qingxu succeeded
3094-526: The 16th century, the Eternal Mother began to take the place of the Holy Patriarch. A mythology surrounding the Mother began to form, integrating the beliefs about Maitreya, which had been widespread since the Yuan dynasty . The Maitreya belief is millenarian, claiming that the world would come to an end soon and Maitreya would incarnate himself in the physical plane to save humanity. In the Mother belief,
3185-589: The 1930s, but under the Patriarch and Matriarch's leadership and with missionary work the group grew to become the biggest movement in China in the 1940s with millions of followers. In 1949, Yiguandao was proscribed in mainland China as an illegal secret society and heretical cult as part of the greater antireligious campaign that took place. Yiguandao has since flourished in Taiwan, despite decades of persecution by
3276-581: The 1940s, that made Yiguandao's millenarian beliefs more convincing to the masses, the religion grew rapidly, reaching an estimated membership of 12 million. Even a number of top officials of the Japanese puppet government of Wang Jingwei converted to Yiguandao. With the rise of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, Yiguandao was suppressed, being viewed as the biggest reactionary huidaomen . In December 1950, The People's Daily published
3367-519: The Chinese tradition of peaceful coexistence. In 1938 he held missionary workshops named "stove meetings" ( lu hui ) to train missionaries in Tianjin. Hundreds of missionaries were trained in these workshops, and they were sent all over the country. Many became influential leaders of Yiguandao. Through missionary activity, in the political and social turmoil caused by the Japanese invasion of China in
3458-578: The Dacheng (大乘 "Great Vehicle") or Yuandun (圓頓 "Sudden Stillness") eastern proliferation of Luoism . It has also been traced to the White Lotus tradition. In the 1870s, under persecutions from the Qing, Xiantiandao fragmented into several independent groups. One branch led by the Shandong native Wang Jueyi later developed into Yiguandao. According to Yiguandao records, Wang Jueyi was designated as
3549-622: The Great Way of Former Heaven") with 8000 members each; and ② Tendō (天道 Tiāndào , "Heavenly Way") and Tendo Sotendan (天道総天壇 Tiāndào Zǒng Tiāntán , "Headquarters of the Heavenly Way") respectively with 300 and 30,000 members. Chinese salvationist religions Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Chinese salvationist religions or Chinese folk religious sects are
3640-601: The Green Yang Era, Gautama Buddha in the Red Yang Era, and Maitreya Buddha will preside over the third period of salvation, the White Yang Era, which began in 1912 and continues even now. Extreme ruthlessness and craftiness in human behavior and disasters are associated with the end of the third period and final salvation. Cultivation of the Tao is the opportunity for repentance and purification during
3731-459: The Kuomintang officially gave Yiguandao legal status on 13 January 1987. As of 2005 Yiguandao has 810,000 members in Taiwan (3.5% of the population) and tens of thousands of worship halls. Its members operate many of Taiwan's vegetarian restaurants. The Republic of China I-Kuan Tao Association was formed in 1988 as an umbrella organisation bringing together the majority of lineages. Yiguandao
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3822-543: The Maitreya is one of the three enlightened beings sent by the Mother herself to bring salvation. Further myths explained the creation of the world and mankind: the Eternal Venerable Mother gave birth to yin and yang and two children, Fuxi and Nüwa , who begot auspicious stars and all sentient beings. The human beings were sent to the east and lost their memory of the Mother. The myth of Fuxi and Nüwa
3913-533: 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
4004-538: The White Yang Era. Those who devote their efforts to the spread of the Tao will be repaid for their merits, regardless of their societal status. Vegetarianism is one of the core teachings of Yiguandao. Vegetarianism is taught from a variety of perspectives including health, ecology, environmental sustainability , reducing animal suffering and spiritual development. Yiguandao followers are said to operate 90% of Taiwan's vegetarian restaurants. The rite of initiation involves
4095-480: The bottom of the foot without the top). A way to illustrate this idea is to postulate the notion of a race with only women or only men; this race would disappear in a single generation. Yet, women and men together create new generations that allow the race they mutually create (and mutually come from) to survive. The interaction of the two (Heaven and Earth) gives birth to human and therefore the ten thousand things. Yin and yang transform each other: like an undertow in
4186-630: The campaign was to destroy the movement's organization and leadership. The top leaders were executed or sent to prison, the members were forced to undergo political re-education and they were kept under close surveillance. An exhibition denouncing Yiguandao was held in Beijing in January 1951. In 1952, the communists released "The Way of Persistently Harming People" ( Yiguan Hairen Dao ), a film against Yiguandao. A number of Yiguandao believers, including Sun Suzhen, fled to Hong Kong and later to Taiwan, where
4277-470: The cosmos as tripartite, consisting of litian (the right heaven), qitian (the spiritual heaven) and xiangtian (the material plane). Litian is the heaven of the Eternal Mother, where there's no cycle of rebirth; qitian is the plane imbued by the gods and spirits who despite being in a higher realm than human beings, can still incarnate as matter. Xiangtian is the physical world that is composed of all visible things, with colors and shapes, including all
4368-425: The duality symbolized by yin and yang. This duality, as a unity of opposites , lies at the origins of many branches of classical Chinese science , technology and philosophy, as well as being a primary guideline of traditional Chinese medicine , and a central principle of different forms of Chinese martial arts and exercise, such as baguazhang , tai chi , daoyin , kung fu and qigong , as well as appearing in
4459-437: The editorial "Firmly Banning Yiguandao" ( Jianjue Qudi Yiguandao ), proclaiming that the movement had been used as a counterrevolutionary tool by imperialists and the Kuomintang . The article claimed that Yiguandao members were traitors collaborating with the Japanese invaders, Kuomintang spies, and reactionary landlords. The editorial marked the beginning of the nationwide campaign of eradication of Yiguandao. The main target of
4550-641: The etymology of modern Chinese words. Compare these Middle Chinese and Old Chinese reconstructions of 陰 ; yīn and 陽 ; yáng : Schuessler gives probable Sino-Tibetan etymologies for both Chinese words. yin < *ʔəm compares with Burmese ʔum 'overcast', 'cloudy', Adi muk-jum 'shade', and Lepcha so'yǔm 'shade'; it is probably cognate with Chinese àn < *ʔə̂mʔ 黯 ; 'dim', 'gloomy' and qīn < *khəm 衾 ; 'blanket'. yang < *laŋ compares with Lepcha a-lóŋ 'reflecting light', Burmese laŋ 'be bright' and ə-laŋ 'light'; and
4641-429: The followers he left was led by Zhang Tianran, the man who became the 18th patriarch in following years. Between the late years of the Qing dynasty and 1945, China went through a period of crisis, civil unrest and foreign invasion. The Confucian orthodoxy and the empire crumbled quickly. In the republican China between 1912 and 1949 folk religious sects mushroomed and expanded rapidly. Zhang Tianran, whose secular name
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#17327760933214732-518: The following translation equivalents. Yin 陰 or 阴 — Noun : ① [philosophy] female/passive/negative principle in nature, ② Surname; Bound morpheme : ① the moon, ② shaded orientation, ③ covert; concealed; hidden, ④ vagina, ⑤ penis, ⑥ of the netherworld, ⑦ negative, ⑧ north side of a hill, ⑨ south bank of a river, ⑩ reverse side of a stele, ⑪ in intaglio; Stative verb : ① overcast, ② sinister; treacherous Yang 陽 or 阳 — Bound morpheme : ① [Chinese philosophy] male/active/positive principle in nature, ②
4823-542: The founder of the Evergreen Marine Corporation , was the chief initiator of a Yiguandao subdivision and in the 1990s almost all the managers of his corporation were Yiguandao members. The same strategy of "combining missionary work and business" facilitates the development of Yiguandao in mainland China, where Yiguandao businessmen began reestablishing the religion since the 1980s by means of investment. Another mean by which Yiguandao expanded in Taiwan
4914-550: The government when there was a proposal for lifting the ban in 1981. The effort to legalize Yiguandao came from Chou Lien-hua and Chu Hai-yuan of the Institute of Ethnology at Academia Sinica , who lobbied on its behalf. In the period of rapid economic growth of Taiwan, starting in the 1960s and proceeding through the 1980s and 1990s, Yiguandao spread its influence by entering business and industrial development. Many members became important businessmen, for instance Chang Yung-fa ,
5005-470: The initiation ceremony as the most important ritual. The full meaning of the Three Treasures is a secret of Yiguandao followers and is strictly prohibited from being spread openly to those who have not gone through the initiation process. The Three Treasures are also used in daily life as a form of meditation. A unitary anthology of Yiguandao's writings, the Yiguandao Canon (一貫道藏 Yīguàndào zàng ),
5096-546: 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
5187-616: The late 19th century, in Shandong , to become China's most important redemptive society in the 1930s and 1940s, especially during the Japanese invasion. In the 1930s, Yiguandao spread rapidly throughout China led by Zhang Tianran , who is the eighteenth patriarch of the Latter Far East Tao Lineage, and Sun Suzhen , the first matriarch of the Lineage. Yiguandao started off with a few thousand followers in Shandong in
5278-471: The latter, 昜 ; yáng ; 'bright' features 日 ; 'the Sun'; + 示 + 彡 ; 'sunbeam'. The Standard Chinese pronunciation of 陰 is usually the level first tone as yīn with the meaning 'shady', 'cloudy', or sometimes with the falling fourth tone as yìn with the distinct meaning 'to shelter', 'shade'. 陽 ; 'sunny' is always pronounced with
5369-593: The leaders of the way ( daozhang ), the initiators ( dianchuan shi ), and further below the masters of the altars ( tanzhu ). The initiators functioned as missionaries, while the masters of altars were managers of administrative units composed of multiple congregations. With the rapid growth of Yiguandao, Zhang Tianran's status as a divine patriarch ( shizun ) was strengthened, with a large number of pamphlets published to justify his divinity. With its centralized authority and highly degree of organization, Yiguandao had an extraordinary power of mobilization. At first, fuji ,
5460-455: The leadership becoming the 16th patriarch. In 1905, borrowing a Confucius saying that "the way that I follow is the one that unifies all" ( wudao yiyiguanzhi ), he gave the religion the name Yiguandao ("Unity Way"). Under Liu the Yiguandao remained small. Things changed after Lu Zhongyi became the 17th patriarch in 1919. Claiming to be the incarnation of Maitreya, Lu gathered thousands of members in Shandong. When Lu died in 1925 one group of
5551-420: The main base of Yiguandao. Many initiated members began preaching in other big cities, where Yiguandao was well received. From 1934 Yiguandao missionaries were sent to Tianjin and Qingdao . To facilitate the spread Zhang Tianran restructured Yiguandao, that since then had preserved the nine-levels structure ( jiupin liantai ) of Xiantiandao. The new structure had four levels, Zhang as the patriarch, and below him
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#17327760933215642-506: 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
5733-411: The moon.] a. In Chinese philosophy, the feminine or negative principle (characterized by dark, wetness, cold, passivity, disintegration, etc.) of the two opposing cosmic forces into which creative energy divides and whose fusion in physical matter brings the phenomenal world into being. Also attrib . or as adj ., and transf . Cf. yang . b. Comb ., as yin-yang , the combination or fusion of
5824-411: The ocean, every advance is complemented by a retreat, and every rise transforms into a fall. Thus, a seed will sprout from the earth and grow upwards towards the sky—an intrinsically yang movement. Then, when it reaches its full potential height, it will fall. The growth of the top seeks light, while roots grow in darkness. The cycles of the seasons and of plants that progresses or entropies depending on
5915-464: The older wuji ( 無極 ; 'without pole'). In the cosmology pertaining to yin and yang, the material energy which this universe was created from is known as qi . It is believed that the organization of qi in this cosmology of yin and yang has formed the 10 thousand things. Included among these forms are humans. Many natural dualities (such as light and dark , fire and water, expanding and contracting) are thought of as physical manifestations of
6006-436: The opposite quality: for example, grain that reaches its full height in summer (fully yang) will produce seeds and die back in winter (fully yin) in an endless cycle. It is impossible to talk about yin or yang without some reference to the opposite, traditionally it is said that Yin and Yang are known by the comparison of each other, since yin and yang are bound together as parts of a mutual whole (for example, there cannot be
6097-467: The original Heaven). Divinely inspired writing was later rejected by some branches of Yiguandao, as new scriptures produced new schisms, and gradually declined within the religion as a whole. Yiguandao also spread and gathered financial support through the performance of "rituals of salvation of the ancestors". Rules and practices for the followers were also systematized. Zhang Tianran also gave much importance to aggressive missionary work, contrasting with
6188-418: The original heaven. Through its development, the Eternal Mother belief has shown the qualities of the three goddesses Xiwangmu, Nüwa and Guanyin . In all Yiguandao temples, there are three lamps situated on an altar. The central lamp represents the Eternal Mother, while the two sides lamps, both evenly situated at a lower level, represent Yin and Yang . Generally, in larger public temples, a statue of Maitreya
6279-475: The original meaning of the words being the north-facing shade and the south-facing brightness of a hill), gender (female and male), as well as the formation of the character of individuals and the grand arc of sociopolitical history in disorder and order. Taiji is a Chinese cosmological term for the "Supreme Ultimate" state of undifferentiated absolute and infinite potential, the oneness before duality, from which yin and yang originate. It can be contrasted with
6370-539: The pages of the I Ching and the famous Taoist medical treatise called the Huangdi Neijing The notion of duality can be found in many areas, such as Communities of Practice . The term "dualistic-monism" or dialectical monism has been coined in an attempt to express this fruitful paradox of simultaneous unity and duality. According to this philosophy, everything has both yin and yang aspects (for instance, shadow cannot exist without light). Either of
6461-693: 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. Yin and yang Model humanity: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Yin and yang ( English: / j ɪ n / , / j æ ŋ / ), also yinyang or yin-yang ,
6552-465: The practice of receiving direct revelations from the gods which is closely linked to the Chinese intellectual tradition since the Song dynasty , contributed to the dynamism of the movement. Divine revelations were published in "morality books" ( shanshu ), and distributed to the general public for moral edification of the society. Divine writing was also used to offer oracles for everyday problems. Fuji
6643-552: 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
6734-471: The religion currently thrives. In Kuomintang-governed Taiwan after 1949, there was initially a climate of restrictions of Chinese traditional religions and Yiguandao was attacked as immoral, politically charged, and suspect of cooperation with communists of mainland China. Yiguandao was officially outlawed in 1952 and driven underground. The Buddhist circles of Taiwan denounced it as heterodox "White Lotus" and called for its suppression, and succeeded in opposing
6825-440: The rising second tone as yáng . Sinologists and historical linguists have reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciations from data in the (7th century CE) Qieyun rhyme dictionary and later rhyme tables , which was subsequently used to reconstruct Old Chinese phonology from rhymes in the (11th–7th centuries BCE) Shijing and phonological components of Chinese characters. Reconstructions of Old Chinese have illuminated
6916-494: 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
7007-423: The season. In summer it seeks to procure healthier leaves, whittling (entropy) of the plant is in autumn, the degrown plants (destruction) is in winter, growth (creating) of the plant or tree during spring. Where it's gaining or progressing, fully progressed occurs during summer, summer seeks stability as it seeks to keep (progress) the leaves and branches that are healthy, growth and progress reaching its end point of
7098-519: The stars and the sky. Only litian is eternal, and qitian and xiangtian will be re-absorbed into litian . Yiguandao involves an eschatological — soteriological belief: Grieving over the loss of her children, the Eternal Mother sent to the material world three enlightened beings over the "Three Eras". Accordingly, the human history is divided into "Three Eras": Qingyang Qi or Green Yang Era, Hongyang Qi or Red Yang Era, and Baiyang Qi or White Yang Era. Dipankara Buddha presided over salvation in
7189-426: The sun, ③ male genitals, ④ in relief, ⑤ open; overt, ⑥ belonging to this world, ⑦ [linguistics] masculine, ⑧ south side of a hill, ⑨ north bank of a river The compound yinyang 陰陽 means "yin and yang; opposites; ancient Chinese astronomy; occult arts; astrologer; geomancer; etc." The sinologist Rolf Stein etymologically translates Chinese yin 陰 "shady side (of a mountain)" and yang 陽 "sunny side (of
7280-433: The two cosmic forces; freq. attrib., esp. as yin-yang symbol , a circle divided by an S-shaped line into a dark and a light segment, representing respectively yin and yang , each containing a 'seed' of the other. yang (jæŋ) Also Yang . [Chinese yáng yang, sun, positive, male genitals.] a. In Chinese philosophy, the masculine or positive principle (characterized by light, warmth, dryness, activity, etc.) of
7371-423: The two major aspects may manifest more strongly in a particular object, depending on the criterion of the observation. The yin and yang symbol (or taijitu ) shows a balance between two opposites with a portion of the opposite element in each section. In Taoist metaphysics, distinctions between good and bad, along with other dichotomous moral judgments, are perceptual, not real; so, the duality of yin and yang
7462-491: The two opposing cosmic forces into which creative energy divides and whose fusion in physical matter brings the phenomenal world into being. Also attrib. or as adj. Cf. yin . b. Comb. : yang-yin = yin-yang s.v. yin b. For the earliest recorded "yin and yang" usages, the OED cites 1671 for yin and yang , 1850 for yin-yang , and 1959 for yang-yin . In English, yang-yin (like ying-yang ) occasionally occurs as
7553-401: The virtues they embody, such as tolerance, open-mindedness, cheerfulness and generosity (Maitreya); justice, fairness, honor, courage and loyalty (Guangong); compassion, giving, caring and nurturing (Guanyin). The patriarchs of the faith are Zhang Tianran and Sun Suzhen . They are considered the final patriarchs of the divine revelation and are revered as divine entities. Yiguandao conceives
7644-467: The worship of the Infinite Mother ( Wujimu ), also known as the Eternal Venerable Mother ( Wusheng Laomu ), which is also a feature of other Chinese folk religions. The source of things, It is neither male nor female, though it is called "Mother" or "Heavenly Mater". It is the primordial force of the universe, the fire, that animates all things. It is the Tao, as Yiguandao doctrines explain. In
7735-477: Was Zhang Guangbi, was born in 1889 in Jining, Shandong. In 1915, he was initiated into Yiguandao by Lu Zhongyi, the 17th patriarch of the sect. After the death of Lu in 1925 the movement fragmented due to strife over the leadership. One of the subgroups that formed was led by Zhang Tianran. In 1930, Zhang Tianran became the 18th patriarch of Yiguandao. He took Sun Suzhen as his partner, proclaiming that their marriage
7826-527: Was a message from the Eternal Mother, and that he was the incarnation of Jigong, a deified miracle monk that lived between the late 12th and the 13th century. However, few members welcomed the new claims; many challenged the validity of the revelation and left the group. For this reason, Zhang Tianran and his wife moved to Jinan in 1931. There, different religious groups were competing with each other, and Zhang Tianran began preaching Yiguandao himself. Zhang Tianran recruited hundreds of followers, and Jinan became
7917-409: 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
8008-418: Was introduced into Yiguandao despite Wang Jueyi, the 15th patriarch of the lineage, discouraging it. Zhang Tianran distinguished between "innate writing" ( xiantian ji ), received by juvenile media and considered superior to "acquired writing" ( houtian ji ), received by old media. Youth purity is considered more conductive of divine revelation. Zhang stressed that only Yiguandao fuji is xiantian ji (revealing
8099-528: Was published in the 2010s with the purpose of offering a systematic overview of the religious doctrines. Yiguandao originated in the late 19th century in Shandong as a branch of Xiantiandao (先天道; "Way of Former Heaven"), which in turn was founded in Jiangxi in the 17th century Qing dynasty as an offshoot of the Venerable Officials' teaching of fasting (老官齋教 Lǎoguān zhāijiào ), a branch of
8190-404: Was that of charity. Through the years of the ban Yiguandao persisted as an underground phenomenon. In 1963 it was reported that the religion had about fifty thousand members, and grew rapidly through the 1970s and the 1980s, counting more than 324,000 members in 1984. Five years later in 1989 Yiguandao had 443,000 members or 2.2% of Taiwan's population. Recognizing the social power of the religion,
8281-633: Was transmitted in the Korean peninsula (Hanja: 일관도 Ilgwando ) in the 1940s through the pioneering work of Dukbuk Lee, Sujeun Jang, Buckdang Kim and Eunsun Kim. Korean Ilgwando is incorporated as the International Moral Association which was founded in the 1960s by Buckdang Kim (1914-1991), and as of 2015 it has 1.3 million members in South Korea (2.5% of the population). In the 1950s, Yiguandao spread to Japan (where its name
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