Daoism

Daoism is considered the second moral/religious philosophy of China. Daoism is hard to define because it values silence and inaction. To a Dao believer the observable human world is not what matters because what truly matters is the far greater cosmic world of nature. It is from the cosmos that Daoists believers must receive their guidance, but for here in this world Daoists receive their guidance from the DaoDeJing, the main text of Daoism. It is a collection of mystical remarks whose meaning even in Chinese is hard to decipher. The famous opening line of the text is “The name that can be named is not the eternal name”, which could possibly mean that truth cannot be put into simple words. Much of the content of the DaoDeJing can be attributed to Laozi. Although the present texts had several contributors Laozi is said to have debated with Confucius himself and to have later on disappeared at an old age.
While most Confucians have to attempt and improve the state of things, Daoists tend to “go with the flow”. In other words not try to do too much, just let things happen, be as natural as possible. As Daoism grew, it merged with folk beliefs, animism, worship of natural forces and belief in the supernatural. The development of priests, temples and monastic orders followed soon after. After the Han dynasty, Daoists began to practice magic and alchemy in pursuit of the elixirs of immortality. This varied experimentation with medicinal herbs contributed immensely to the growth of Chinese medicines and discoveries.

Confucianism

Although Confucianism is debatably not a religion, it can be seen as a set of ethical values and moral philosophies. Confucianism does avoid theology and the issue of the afterlife, but most individuals from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam have supplemented their own religious diets into Confucianism to provide what’s left out. Confucianism has had more impact on belief and behaviour than any of the great religions because most East Asians accept and follow teachings more thoroughly the ethical teachings of other faiths. Confucianism contains much knowledge about common sense, human relations, values, norms and socio-political patterns.
Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, was born in 551 B.C.E. and was the son of a minor official. He became a teacher and advisor to various rulers. Several students of his became disciples, and after his death they wrote down his teachings and expanded on them. The most famous of his followers was Mencius, who lived in the warring states period and sought after a solution to restoring order and social harmony.
According to the teachings of Confucius, people are born naturally good, but need education to stay that way. A quote from Confucius shows this idea, “Learning without thought is useless. Thought without learning is dangerous.” To continue, Confucius emphasized human-heartedness, benevolence, respect for superiors, loyalty and education. In a period were wealth and birth right decided the social status of an individual this was a view that was greatly progressive. It also reaffirmed the right of people to rebel against immoral and unjust rulers who had forfeited a mandate of heaven. But this cause a dilemma with the fact that Confucianists had to respect superiors.
In all, Confucianism was very much human centered and life-celebrating. Teachings say to take the natural world as a model, because it runs by rules. When asked about heaven and the afterlife, Confucius merely pointed out that we have more issues to deal with now that are more important than thinking of the afterlife.

Hinduism

The next few posts are some old material from my Asian civilization course. I've been keeping them on my computer for future reference if ever a situation should arise where I could use these articles, here we go! Since I like posting actual stuff people can learn from and not " Oh my day went so horribly, blah blah blah, I ate a sandwich, blah blah blah" in short, trivial stupidities. Personally, I found it to be a break from the usual Muslim/Christian crap we always hear about and it also made me read up a little more on the topics. The first one on my list is Hinduism. Keep in mind these are not research projects just short summaries of 400-500ish words each.

Hinduism is the oldest of the world’s main religions, and is still quite healthy today with more than 800 million followers. Hinduism has no single founder or single doctoral text, like the New Testament for example. It developed over time mostly in part from the Indus civilization. The gods of Hinduism come from many different cultures which include the cult of Shiva who worshiped none other than the god Shiva, creator and destroyer. Other adopted gods include the war god Indra and the fire god Agni who were worshiped by the Aryans.

Vedas, the world’s oldest religious texts, were the first texts composed by the Hindus. They were first orally spoken out then were written down between 1500 and 600 B.C.E and were used for spells and rituals used at sacrifices. Hinduism’s main ethical text came later; the Bhagavad Gita was composed around the second century C.E. In it, are the concepts of dharma, the selfless execution of one’s earthly duties and karma, the consequences of one’s actions. Both of these concepts work together in such a manner that keeps moral behaviour the attainable goal for Hindus. Faithfulness to one’s dharma (earthly duties) produces good karma (consequences). This is also what keeps the caste system alive today, because it encourages the status quo, so it has been heavily criticized

The karma produces in one’s mortal life determines the rebirth the soul. Hindus believe in reincarnation after death and believe that karma is the deciding factor. It decides whether the soul will be reborn into a being of higher status or an animal. This is the concept of samsra, the endless cycle of life. Since, one’s family member or loved one may have been reincarnated in an animal or insect Hindus encourage the appreciation for all life. This is why most Hindus are vegetarians.

Shiva is the most celebrated god of the Hindu religion. He is the creator and destroyer, hence is celebrated at the beginning of life and at death. He is comparable to Christianity’s Christ, who represents death and eternal life. Hindus accept the fact that humans are a mixture of good and evil and that they must come to terms with their own nature and the nature of the cosmos. This is why Hinduism, unlike western religions (Christianity, Judaism) does not encourage guilt for negative actions done in one’s mortal life. Another difference from western faiths is that there is no set holy day of the week or set formal service. Hindus just perform a simple prayer in front of altars found in nearly every home once daily.

Battle of Thermopylae (300)

So, I just finished watching the movie 300 for like the 4th time. I can’t help it. It’s an amazing movie and it just gets trashed too often ex: Meet the Spartans. On the other hand, it has gone down in today’s popular modern culture. I’m sure everyone has screamed out THIS IS SPARTA!!! at least 489o7 times so far. Anyways, this isn’t about the movie or it’s reviews, I want to talk about the historical significance of the Battle of Thermopylae. What are the facts and why is it so important to us even today.

First, let’s get the facts straight. King Leonidas just didn’t go off to battle with 300 men to face what the modern estimate of the second invading force from Persia was, about 300,000. (1st was defeated at the battle of marathon by the Athenians.) In reality Leonidas had organized an allied force that added up to about 7000 including his own Spartans. Second important fact to get is that the Spartans did not do it alone; the Athenians played a crucial role with their armada of ships. It’s because the Athenian fleet defended their ground so well against the Persian ships that king Xerxes was forced to through the pass at Thermopylae.

Now, as for the rest the facts are ok within the movie, minus the monsters of course. For example, the battle was three days long, Xerxes got pissed (in reality he actually left and went home even thought the Greeks were defeated because he was so discouraged), the Greeks were betrayed, etc. We still must keep in mind the film is based upon the comic book version of this story.

Why is this battle so significant? There are a lot reasons. I will list them below:

1. The battle, even though the Greeks had no chance to win it, served as a delaying device for populations to evacuate cities and towns so avoid being caught into slavery and death.

2. It allowed the rest of Greece that was not under Persian influence to accumulate its forces for a counter attack. (This comes in the form of lesser known battles, but eventually leads to....

3. Phillip 2nd, King of Macedonia, to take over all of Greece (A unified Greece*) and organize a counter attack on Persia and king Darius 3rd. Unfortunately, he is murdered just before, so his son must take up the reigns.

4. Of course, any noob would know that his son is Alexander the great. I Don’t need to go into details here.

5. Alexander brings the Greek way of life to the known world, and leaves behind perhaps one of the greatest legacies of all time. He also a great influence to later generals like Napoleon for example.

6. We all know that ancient Greece is the foundation of today’s western culture; no one needs to told that. If Persia would have completely taken over it would have perhaps ceased to exist and the course of history would have taken a much different path.

7. An example of this is that the Greeks had a huge influence on the greatest empire of all time, Rome of course. Romans would stretch this influence from York, England to Baghdad, Iraq at its peak. And of course the renaissance was very much influenced by ancient Greek minds, not exclusively, but in large part yes.

If Persia had taken over none of this would have happened. Now, I know I didn’t say everything and not everything is 100% fact checked, but it’s a general scope of things!

If there's one thing about history that I find absolutely epic, It's famous quotes. The kind you just read and have a WHOA reaction because you gotta think about it for a while. Anyways, here's a collection of Roman quotations I really like.

Scipio Africanus (Defeated Carthage in second Punic wars)

-It is the part of a fool to say, I should not have thought.
-I'm never less at leisure than when at leisure, or less alone than when alone.

Augustus(First Emperor, although he never claimed to actually be emperor his entire reign. Also the month of August is named after him)

-I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.
-I like treachery, but I cannot say anything good of traitors.
-Well done is quickly done

Marcus Aurelius

-A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions.
-Aptitude found in the understanding and is often inherited. Genius coming from reason and imagination, rarely.
-Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.
-Death, like birth, is a secret of Nature.
-Confine yourself to the present.

Julius Caesar

-Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.
-Experience is the teacher of all things.
-I came, I saw, I conquered.
-In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.
-No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.
-The die is cast.

Horace

-A picture is a poem without words.
-Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it.

Cicero

-A friend is, as it were, a second self.
-A home without books is a body without soul.
-Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.
-Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body.

Justinian (Byzantine, but whatever)

-Rather let the crime of the guilty go unpunished than condemn the innocent.