Traditionally, there were three main religions in China and these are Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Generally, the Chinese are not so much into religion but regardless of this fact, the three religions are of great impact. It can be presumed that Confucianism is more of a philosophy compared to a religion. Hence, it became the main doctrine observed by intellectuals in the era of feudalism.
Most of the Chinese believe in luck, destiny, fate and the afterlife. For this reason, rather than depending on prayer, they would make choices by themselves or resort to friends and loved ones for assistance. This is pertly contributed by the notion that invisible spirits and gods are far less reliable compared to visible human beings.Evil and good may be regarded as two opposing poles that exist in an equilibrium that is uneasy. The most obvious form of good and evil is that of the existing gap between demons and the gods.
In many global cultures, evil and good take on the opposing sides of dark and lightness. There are several Chinese folktales that depict evil in form of mortal world spirits attempting to achieve immortality through evil means. A good example is the spirits of foxes and snakes invade the spirits of human beings with the hope of attaining immortality by using the power drawn from humans.Moreover, evil and good were the basis of judging values and actions. The world was believed to be in a continual harmony and there was a requirement for evil to exist in order to make the existence of good valid.
His is the reason why there was a famous portrait that was entirely white with a black spot and an entire black with a white spot in the middle. This implies that there was evil within good and vice versa. One main advantage of the good forces is that they could work together in harmony. This is contrary to the evil forces that were in constant conflict. The came case applies to good people who were beloved to have the ability of living together peacefully. Evil people on the other hand were thought to be in constant conflict and doing actions that could lead to disagreements and conflicts such as war (Lin, 2006).
According to Chinese religions, there is no absolute evil or good. There has to be a comparison whereby one ahs to define whether something is good compared to some other aspects. Likewise, something should be evil compared to a certain trait or aspect. In the Taoism faith, the term morality is not stable and codified. It implies that it is dynamic and subject to change. While one religion may consider a given act moral, another religion may hold a totally different view. Personification of evil and good does not exist in majority of the Chinese religions.
According to a Chinese classic text referred to as Tao Te Ching, absolute good and evil hardly exist. Just like the fact that no metal absolutely lacks impurities, there is no absolute good that lacks some evil in it. It is therefore clear that the terms absolute good and evil can exist in theory but can never be applicable to human beings. This is due to the fact that human beings are more like mixtures with different proportions of good and evil (Lin, 2006).Yin and Yang are the terms that are used to represent good and evil in Chinese religions. It is therefore clear that there is no accurate symbol representing evil or good. There is the belief that evil and good are just a set of opposite terms.
There is no perfect definition of good and evil but rather, there is a belief that there exist some good within the evil and some evil within good. No one can be perfectly evil or perfectly good. The other belief is that there is neither hell nor heaven (Lin, 2006.The Taoism belief that that no matter the path taken whether good or evil, it has to come to an ultimate end. This implies that the spirits of every making have to go back to the source eventually. Reincarnation is on of the belief that is strongly held by all the Chinese faith. Through reincarnation, one may be given a second chance to live as a new being or creature.
This depends on whether that person was good or evil. The good people are reincarnated into admirable and superior beings while those who practiced evil are transformed into inferior beings (ThinkQuest).The other belief that may to some extent justify the existence of evil and good in Chinese religions is that of punishment. It is believed that those who constantly do evil deeds are punished and may eventually become sick, handicapped or poor. There is therefore a notion that the people who are suffering and going through hard times are serving their punishment for doing evil deeds rather than good deeds. For these reasons most of the Buddhists and Taoists strive to do good deeds so that they can lead a happy and content life that is free of suffering (ThinkQuest).
Modern Chinese religions believe in moral relativism. The view that morality, ethical standards and perceptions of what is wrong and right are based on culture and subject to a person’s choice is what defines moral relativity. This implies there is individual autonomy and free will. A person is entitled to make has or her own decisions in regard to what is good, evil, ethical or unethical. Eventually, one becomes accountable for his or her own deeds. Wrong acts results to disastrous consequences while doing good yields good returns.
Hence, it is clear that the modern society has fully embraced moral relativism as the key philosophy governing morals. Hence, a view that evil and good are not absolutes is strongly held by modern religions including the Chinese religions such as Buddhism and Taoism.In conclusion, it is impossible at any given point of time to have evil or good in its entirety. It is not possible for either good or evil to entirely tack change over a being. A similar case is presented in the Chinese religion portrait of Yin and Yang, which justified the inexistence of absolute good and evil.
References
Lin, D. (2006). Tao te Ching; annotated and explained. SkyLight Paths Publishing
The age of Mythology: Good Versus Evil, Retrieved from ThinkQuest: Oracle Education Foundation
