Introduction:

In order to locate China with respect to Calgary, we travel straight north to the North Pole. There we take a slow left as we go south until we hit the same latitude as Calgary (52 N). This is more or less the northern boundary of China. We continue further south to the latitude of about 20N, China’s southern boundary. This corresponds to the latitude of Cuba in the Caribbean. China’s land area comes very close to Canada’s. Yet, its Christian minority of 8% outnumbers Canada total population by 10 million. That is one aspect of China that never ceases to surprise, i.e. the size of its population.

Another unique aspect of China is the age and continuity of its civilization, dating back to ca. 6500 BC as based on archeological data. In this China is unique on our planet. And just as like the archeology shows the ancient roots of China, so do China’s religions; the oldest being Daoism, followed by ‘Confucianism’ and later Buddhism and others. It is these ancient roots combined with the continuity to this very day that opens a window on the formation of religion over time; enabling us to study the revelations overtime of ‘Existence Divine’ , as I call it. It is these revelations, that have guided humans in participating interaction, applicable for the various times, places and situations the world over, since times immemorial.

Beginnings:

We know today that any written records were preceded by many centuries of oral traditions of songs, dances and teachings. Accepting this as a given we turn to the first written records (1500 BC) which are ‘oracle bones’. These were shoulder blades of cows or the shells of tortoises modified with shallow depressions. These depressions were heated, causing heat-stress crack patterns in these bones. The bone would have a posed question written on it, usually in an alternative form. The crack patterns would be interpreted to provide an answer to the posed question. Thousands of such bones have been found. Some sources suggest that the tradition of character writing found its origin here. <ép>

In other cases yarrow roots stalks of many such plants were used. Some descriptions of these oracle castings have been recorded and preserved. They could be very elaborate and involved the services of a specialist such as a shaman to make the interpretation. It must also be kept in mind that such oracles were cast in the case of serious dilemmas and related to the tribal or clan elite. Oracle casting still finds its applications today in our own society in such forms as the casting of horoscopes and in coin tossing.

The I Ching:

This ‘Book of Changes’ as it is translated (ching = book) is considered the oldest (9th cent BC) such record in written form. It is a collection of oracles, being 64 ‘hexa-grams’. Each hexagram consists of a combination of whole and broken lines, always six (hexa) in total. Each such hexagram has a ‘name’, which is a concept. This in turn is accompanied by a ‘judgment’ and it is followed by ‘commentaries’ which can go on for pages.

For example six solid lines stand for Qian [Pure Yang]. The judgment says: “Qian consists of fundamentality, prevalence and constancy”. The commentary runs on for about 12 pages and is all traditional! Hexagram 2 consists of six broken line. Its name is Kun [Pure Yin] and the much longer judgment begins with: “Kun consists of fundamentality, prevalence and its fitness is that of the constancy of the mare. … .” This is followed by its many pages of traditional commentary.

These commentaries are composites that were added onto over time. In this manner the wisdom literature of China developed. The above two examples were deliberately chosen. They show the well known Jang and Jin or Masculine and Feminine principles that underlie Chinese thought, philosophy and religion.

In its earliest stages the oracles were a means of consulting and influencing gods, spirits and ancestors - the “powerful dead”i), while now in its written form it had evolved into a method of discerning the Dao or the Way of Heaven. Or in our terms it is to discover the revelation of ‘Existence Divine.’

Conclusion:

What can we say in conclusion? How is ‘Existence Divine’ revealed in and through the activities and experiences of humankind in the case of China? At the beginning we have the shaman and the oracles. In time these become the mandate of heaven which the emperor on earth as the son of heaven reigns and rules in harmony with the Jade Emperor in Heaven. When misrule prevails and nature turns adverse, renewal of the mandate follows.
i)“The Classic of Changes”, Wang Bi and R.J. Jynn, Columbia U Press, 1994.