Buddhism

Buddhism first arose around the sixth century B.C.E. and its popularity grew because it was seen as a safe haven or escape of the harsh reality of the times. Buddhism which grew out of Hinduism was an attractive faith or way of life for those who wished to leave the life of warfare and ritualism that a growing Hindu empire was giving to them. Although Buddhism does share similar concepts with Hinduism such as karma and dharma, the main difference between the two is that Buddhism rejects the worship of a panoply of gods, but does reaffirm monotheism.
Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born around 563 B.C.E in the foothills of the Himalayan in Nepal and was the son of a minor king. He married at the age of 19 and had a son. After years of teaching and acquiring disciples, he died at the age of 80 somewhere between 485 and 480 B.C.E. This is all that is known for certain about Gautama Buddha. The legend has it that after seeing how miserable life can be for some individuals, Buddha left his family and riches behind in order to find the truth of why things were the way they were. In order to do this he owned nothing but a wooden bowl and a rag for clothing, he fasted and meditated often under a great tree. After 49 days of intense meditation he attained the truth of enlightenment.
Buddha spoke of the four noble truths (1) life is filled with pain and sorrow, (2) it is all caused by desire and wanting, (3) to end suffering one must become desireless and (4) desirelessness can be gained by the eightfold path of right conduct. These accounts of Buddha’s teachings were recorded in a collection of texts called the Tripitaka. Buddhism for its first centuries of existence remained a minority religion, much like Christianity, but soon began to expand from India to the rest of Asia.

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.