The zendavesta pahlavi texts links zoroastrianism, in spite of its small current number of adherents, has played a huge role in the study of comparative religion. What are hinduisms requirements of devout adherents answers. The five classics wujing are five pre qin chinese books that form part of the traditional confucian canon. Referring to buddhism, confucianism, and taoism, a writer on china says. In addition to the spirits of the dead, spiritualism believes in a single god in most cases the abrahamic one. What are the top ten religions and what is the holy book for each. There are well over 4,000 different religions in the world today. Several of the texts were already prominent by the warring states period.
Such, i believe are buddhism, taoism, confucianism, etc. Not only was it a cohort of the ancient vedic hinduism, but also had a huge influence on the development of judaism and christianity. They vary greatly in form, volume, age, and degree of sacredness. The holy books of shinto are the kojiki or records of ancient matters 712 ce and the nihongi or chronicles of japan 720 ce these books are compilations of ancient. Each anima is a powerful spirit, which can help or hurt. Followers of a unique complex of beliefs and practices that may include. In the 12th century, zhu xi codified the sacred texts of confucianism, calling them simply the four books. Buddhism 376 million followers tripitaka pali canon 5.
Confucianism is an east asian school of ethical, philosophical, and more contentiously religious thought originally developed from the teachings of the early chinese sage. Mencius interpretation of confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent chinese philosophers, especially the neoconfucians of the song dynasty. Confucianism is an east asian school of ethical, philosophical, and more contentiously religious thought originally developed from the teachings of the early. Confucianism is depending on ones perspective either a religion, philosophical movement, cultural way of life, or governmental system. What are the top ten religions and what is the holy book. Zoroastrianism the phenomenon of death, or nonlife as it is called in the zoroastrian holy scripture the gathas, is a concept accompanying the advent of creation. Mencius also spelled mengzi or mengtzu, a book of his conversations with kings of the time, is one of the four books which form the core of orthodox confucian thinking. In numerous countries, religion guides social behavior and plays a significant role in daily life. Dong was himself an expert on the sacred book chunqiu spring and autumn. Today, the number of adherents of different variants of spiritualism is estimated in the millions, with 20 million being a possible number adherents. An estimated 25% adhere to siva, a protective and destructive god.
Confucius was primarily known in china for giving moral advice to the leaders of the country. Carroll, has tried to find a substitute by inquiries addressed to the church authorities, but in this way he has ascertained only the number of communicants i. However, the four books, are considered the closest we come to the original teaching of confucious. A muslim scholar sets out to investigate jesus christ. According to the ancient history encyclopedia, confucius was an ancient chinese philosopher, living in the 6th century bce. Scriptures comprise a large part of the literature of the world.
Riley falk, iman ibrahim, ramesh karki, and theo groelle what do the followers call their scriptures or holy books. Informations in holy books are, according to the followers, are truth and final for them. Zhu placed this text last among the four books because, having studied the other three, the student could here study the intricacies of confucian philosophy. Confucianism includes nonchinese followers of confucius and confucianism, mostly koreans in korea.
What are the top ten religions and what is the holy book for. Attributed to confucius grandson, kong ji, the doctrine of the mean also originated as a chapter of the book of rites. Non chinese followers of confucius and confucianism, mostly koreans in korea. This sacred text is divided into two main sections, the old testament and the new testament which are then further divided into various books. Book report september 2002 book report 20020901 students wanting to know more about islam, the religion so much in the news, will find a solid introduction in this entry in the religions of the world series. Ironically, in the first half of the twentieth century, many blamed confucianism for. These books are the book of history, the book of poetry, the book of changes, the book of rites, and the spring and autumn annals. World religions fact sheet formatted teaching tolerance. Confucianism has been the code of ethics adopted by most of the great chinese empires 206 bc 1912 ad. Confucianism, the way of life propagated by confucius 6th5th century bce and. Confucianism, which began in china in the fifth century b. Jun 05, 2008 why do people believe these books are holy when they are really books of cultral knowledge.
Other books, including older versions of the encyclopedia britannica, have listed chinese religionists under taoism, with. Confucianism, four texts as containing the central ideas of confucian thought. Christian church adherents were defined as all members, including full members, their children and the est. It has been established that none of them has been written by confucious kungtzu, 551479 b. Values in this table are only approximate estimates, and some may be slightly on the high side. The parsis or parsees of india, who number around 100,000, are members of a zoroastrian sect. Mar 15, 20 religion nearly 86% of the worlds population is religious, including all religions. Mencius, the leading confucian scholar of the time, regarded the spring and autumn annals as being equally important as the semilegendary chronicles. According to david barrett et al, editors of the world christian encyclopedia. The most sacred site for followers of confucianism is typically considered to be the home altar. While many people in china and other asian countries may not claim to be confucianists. A muslim gives generously to charity as an act of purification and growth. Approximately 1 billion adherentsnonadherents 15% of the world population u.
So that correct estimates will have correct percentages, percentages are calculated using the. Sometimes viewed as a philosophy, sometimes as a religion, confucianism is perhaps best understood as an allencompassing humanism that is compatible with other forms of religion. Most of these postdate confucius, and the first of the books is the analects, the. Major religions of the world ranked by number of adherents. They believe that everthing has a anima latin for soul or spirit like animals, plants, rocks, mountains, rivers or stars. This makes it an abrahamic religion for the purposes of this book. While china has always had a diversity of religious beliefs, filial piety has been common to almost all of. It has about 232 million followers, which are mostly located in africa, asia, and latin america. Where is the sacred site for the confucianism answers. Only about 11,000 adherents of zoroastrianism remain in iran today.
Shaktism is a form of worship dedicated to the female consorts of vishnu and siva. Statistics of religions encyclopedia volume catholic online. S approximately 34 million 49 million adherentsnonadherents 11% 16% of the u. Between the followers of the three national religions there is not only a total absence of persecution and bitter feeling, but a very great indifference as to which of them a man may belong. Feb 25, 2019 confucianism would engage in a historic push and pull with the philosophies of buddhism and taoism, experiencing ebbs and flows in influence, with high points during the han 206 bce to 220 ce, tang 618907 ce and song 9601296 ce dynasties. Well, for a couple reasons, the first and most obvious one probably being that it doesnt really concern itself that much with the concept of god. Religion is an organized collection of belief systems, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. A muslim fasts during the month of ramadan, as an act of selfpurification. Cultural knowledge becomes individual, group and social law.
Covers confucianism as a whole, in 1235 entries on its history, key thinkers, doctrines, schools, rituals, sacred places and terminology, and the modern confucianism in todays china and other eastern asian countries. Other books, including older versions of the encyclopedia britannica, have listed chinese religionists under taoism, with adherent estimates up to about 200 million. Confucianism ruism is a way of life taught by confucius kong fuzi in china in the 6th5th century bce and the rituals and traditions associated with him. They are split into two groups, the four books and the five classics. It implicitly embodies key aspects of chinese culture. Neoconfucianism 160 issues in neoconfucianism 161 early neoconfucian thinkers 161 zhu xi 11200 and li xue, the school of principle 165 the school of mindheart 171 wang yangming 172 summary 174 12 confucianism and modernity 176 the qing dynasty, 16441911 176 kang youwei 18581927 and the reform of confucianism 177. Confucianism, also known as ruism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient. Confucianism, confucian beliefs, confucian teachers. Why do people believe these books are holy when they are really books of cultral knowledge. The analects are the ideas and sayings of confucius the founder and philosopher of confucianism that. Confucianism is the main ancient philosophy of china. Yet, one of the most well know and most followed would be the analects. This article is an attempt to compare the teachings of confucius and islam, specifically the four books, which are authoritative works on confucius, and the original sources of islam, quran and sunnah.
Confucianism is a philosophical as well as ethical system. The people that practice confucianism call their scriptures, analects lunyu, the five classics wujing, and the four books sishu. Many confucians also realised that loyalty and filial piety have the potential of coming into conflict with one another. Confucianism includes nonchinese followers of confucius and confucianism, mostly koreans in korea number of confucianism followers in the world. In older world religion books the estimates of the total number of adherents of confucianism range up to 350 million. As buddhism became the dominant spiritual force in china, confucianism declined in practice. But after all the evidence is weighed and the data evaluated, the bible is not one of the many holy books it is the holy book. Amid chinas economic boom and rapid modernization, experts point to the emergence of a spiritual vacuum as a trigger for the growing number of religious believers, particularly adherents of. Confucianism does not emphasize the afterlife to the degree christianity does, focusing most of its teaching on how its adherents can live a moral life in the here and now. The bible is one of many holy books among the eastern and western religions. B it was humanly inspired, and the holy spirit worked with the good impulses of its adherents.
There is no god worthy of worship except the one god, the source of all creation and muhammad is the messenger of god. Worldwide adherents of all religions by six continental areas, mid2010. Notes, a glossary, a further reading list, and bibliography are appended. This chart shows current confucianism followers by country. Do not overeat, overdrink or overindulge in sex do. Their holy book is called the analects they study this book and tells them what happened in the past. Scripture, the revered texts, or holy writ, of the worlds religions. At the dawn of creation, twin primal spirits manifested themselves. Number of adherents of confucianism a knowledge archive. For many, but not all religions, this is given some form of agency and. The four books is a collection of confucian root texts. Confucianism does not emphasize the afterlife to the degree christianity does, focusing most of its teaching on how its adherents can live a.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Although confucianism isnt strictly a religion, it does have a number of prominent texts, considered by many followers, to be sacred. Not too many people know the fact that confucianism is a way of life taught by confucius in the 6tha5th century bc. He wrote deeply, mostly about individual morality and ethics, and the proper use of political power by the rulers of the world.
They vary by geographical spread, number of adherents, language, hierarchy and, of course, beliefs. A comparative survey of churches and religions ad 30 to 2200, there are 19 major world religions which are subdivided into a total of 270 large religious groups, and many smaller ones. Today, the number of adherents of different variants of spiritualism is estimated in the millions, with 20 million being a possible number. Confucianism is one of those religions that people often say is more a way of life than what people traditionally tend to think of as wellreligion. Bible although opinion varies on how many books are included. There is one element in christianity which was not borrowed from paganism religious intolerance. About 5 million people follow confucianism worldwide. The holy books of world religions sacred texts in world. Confucianism was banned, texts were burned, and hundreds of confucian. Confucianism, also known as ruism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient china. Confucianism rujiao is a way of life taught by confucius kong fuzi in china in the 6th5th century bce and the rituals and traditions associated with him. What are the major rituals, holy days, garments, ceremonies and symbols.