Dr. Liang Yancheng, a famous philosopher, writer, political commentator and thinker, pointed out in his public speech in new york in early September this year that Christianity was the orthodox belief of China ancestors, and through careful research and textual research, various folk religions were invited from the sacred altar in Chinese hearts. His speech was lively, interesting, well-founded, forceful and convincing to the audience.
China people have feared God since ancient times.
Many people in China think that Christianity is a foreign religion, but they don't know that the ancestors of China people believed in God, that is, the creator and the only true God recorded in the Bible.
Dr. Liang produced evidence to prove that the thirteen classics in ancient China (including Zhouyi, Shangshu, Shijing, Zhou Li, Yili, Li Ji, Chunqiu Zuozhuan, Gongyang Zhuan, Liang Zhuan, Xiaojing, The Analects of Confucius, Erya and Mencius).
Matteo Ricci, a missionary who studied the ancient culture of China for many years, was also surprised to find that the gods in the Bible were almost identical to those in China's ancient books. "God" was also called "God in the sky" and "Heaven" by Chinese ancestors (commonly known as "God"). Ancestors believe that God is the master and creator of all things in the world, the source of morality, absolute justice and judgment of evil.
Not only that, ancient saints and emperors were very devout and loyal to God and worshipped him regularly. The memorial tablet dedicated to the "God" in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing is dedicated by the emperor, which reflects the tradition of the ancient emperors in China to worship the God.
Dr. Liang pointed out in particular that "the names of burning incense and idols can't be found in the Temple of Heaven and classic ancient books. It can be seen that China people have believed in God since ancient times and are very devout. "
The Origin of Ancestor Worship and Incense Burning Custom
The custom of ancestor worship in China has a long history. Why should we worship ancestors? Is this idolatry? In this regard, he explained that people in China worship their ancestors because they think that people will return to God after death. Therefore, when they worship God, they also worship their ancestors to express their gratitude and nostalgia for their ancestors. "So, ancestor worship is not idolatry."
China people burn incense when offering sacrifices, but classical books and the Temple of Heaven have no "incense". Why? Dr. Liang said that burning incense does not belong to the orthodox culture of China, and ancestors did not burn incense when offering sacrifices to God. In fact, this is a foreign custom. As early as the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, when the Hu people entered the Central Plains, the Indian custom of burning incense was also introduced. The original purpose of burning incense is to exorcise ghosts, not to worship gods.
About Taoism
Taoism is a native religion in China, and its founder was Zhang Daoling in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Taoism and Taoism are completely different. Taoism actually originated from witchcraft and belief in ghosts and gods in ancient China, and then to witchcraft belief (such as ghost Dao and Fang). ) combined with Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Mohism, Five Elements and Yin and Yang, different folk belief systems were created in various places.
The immortal thought in the pre-Qin period had a great influence on the emergence and development of Taoism. During the Warring States period, alchemists who advocated immortality appeared in many areas, which became the ideological source of Taoism taking Dan medicine to become immortal.
Dr. Liang said: "The prosperity of Taoism shows that the ancients at that time had lost their piety to God, and Qin Shihuang was the culprit." After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he became arrogant and called himself "the abbreviation of God". From then on, the autocratic culture of China rulers began, and people gradually deviated from God.
But after all, people can't live without faith, so people began to worship idols, witchcraft and ghost beliefs rose, and Taoism was its master. "So, those immortals are all false gods created by people."
True and false Guan Gong
Dr. Liang also pointed out that Guan Gong, worshipped by many southerners now, is purely a jumble of later generations, which is quite different from Guan Gong in history. For example, in the statue of General Guan Gong, he holds a long knife in one hand, wearing armor, and a book in the other.
However, anyone who knows a little about ancient history will know that long Dao weapons are only available in the Song Dynasty, and armor originated in the Yuan Dynasty. As for that book, it belongs to the Qing Dynasty. It can be seen that what people worship now is nothing more than the fake Guan Yu created by people.
The folk Buddhism in China is very different from the Buddhism originally founded by Sakyamuni.
Buddhism has a profound influence on China culture, but today's China folk Buddhism is completely different from the Buddhism originally founded by Sakyamuni. In fact, Sakyamuni is a saint and a great thinker. He claims to be a man, not a god, does not worship God, and does not allow believers to worship idols.
But after his death, he was deified by later generations and his lessons were misinterpreted. The most obvious example is that not all the Buddhist scriptures now belong to Sakyamuni. Dr. Liang explained that Sakyamuni did not compile his own teachings before his death. At first, Buddhist scriptures were handed down from generation to generation by believers and were not recorded until 500 years after his death.
"After 500 years of oral communication, there will inevitably be distortions and deviations. More importantly, some believers add their own understanding and lessons in the process of oral transmission, which leads to the vast number of Buddhist scriptures today, with different contents and even contradictions. It can be seen that today's Buddhist scriptures are no longer the teachings of Sakyamuni. "
Another "creation" of folk Buddhism is bodhisattva. Sakyamuni did not propose a "bodhisattva", and the Buddha statues enshrined in the temple even violated Sakyamuni's teachings. Ashoka, a devout Buddhist, once ordered the eradication of 18 thousand idol sculptors, because Ashoka knew that idol worship was against the purpose of Buddhism.
As for Guanyin Bodhisattva, which is widely believed by China people, it was "modified" by later generations. Dr. Liang said that Guanyin is a new god assembled by Buddhists from the Indian gods of mercy and freedom. At first, Guanyin was a man with a beard, but later she was changed into a woman by Buddhists in China. "It can be seen that Guanyin is only a product invented by later generations. And its so-called bodhisattva manifestation is the work of evil spirits. "