Introduction to Chinese religions

Chinese religion could maybe be the collective term for all the religions being practised in the Chinese geographic-cultural sphere. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism is established in China along side with shamanism, ancestral worship, Confucianism, Taoism, and varieties of Buddhism. The three first religions mentioned here is however often excluded when talking about Chinese religions, with the motif that they have not originated or have contributed to its development in China.

Confucianism
Confucianism goes back to King Fu-Tzu, or Confucius (551-497 BC). To himself he gathered disciples to who he thought his teachings. These teachings did according to him have go back to ideas and norms that had existed in an ancient past. Ideals where the family was central, with the respect for ones parents, ancestors, and a strict hierarchy of world order. On top of this hierarchy is the Emperor who has the mandate direct from heaven. This divine mandate (tien-ming)meant that as long as the Emperor ruled just he was sanctioned, but if he did not he lost his mandate and could be replaced. Even if Confucianism is portrayed as a social life philosophy it does also proclaim the importance of rituals and sacrifices to the Gods. Confucian temples are built according to the same pattern as other Chinese temples. The altar is design for the earth, mountains, and the rivers Gods. There is also often an altar for the lost souls, the souls who do not have any relatives left among the living honour their souls.

Taoism (Daoism)
Taoism goes generally back to two historical or mystical persons, Lao Zi who is believed to have lived 500BC, and Zhuang Zi his late follower. Lao Zi is regarded as the author to the book Daodejing. In this book the way or road is expressed as a return to an earlier origin. In contrast to Confucianism this is is not a state that is created by humans but a state of nature that is sought after. If Lao Zi really were a historical figure have been doubted by many. After the six dynasties (220-589) Taoism grew stronger and developed monastery tradition after Buddhist system. The strive for immortality was important for the Taoists in the monasteries and was a vital part for the Taoists. This was also a very central part of the so called religious Taoism.

Buddhism
Although there are reports of Buddhists in China as early as the 3rd century BC, Buddhism was not actively propagated in that country until the early centuries of the Common era. Tradition has it that Buddhism was introduced after the Han emperor Ming Ti (reigned AD 57/58-75/76) had a dream of a flying golden deity that was interpreted as a vision of the Buddha. Accordingly, the emperor dispatched emissaries to India who subsequently returned to China with the Sutra in Forty-two Sections, which was deposited in a temple outside the capital of Lo-yang. In actuality, Buddhism entered China gradually, first primarily through Central Asia and, later, by way of the trade routes around and through South-east Asia.

During the 5th and 6th centuries AD Buddhist schools from India became established, and new, specifically Chinese schools began to form. Buddhism was becoming a powerful intellectual force in China, monastic establishments were proliferating, and Buddhism was becoming well-established among the peasantry. Thus, it is not surprising that, when the Sui dynasty (581-618) established its rule over a reunified China, Buddhism flourished as a state religion.

Moreover, three different forms of this religion evolved as it reached the centres of population at varying times and by different routes. The social and ethnic background in each location also affected the way in which each of these forms developed and eventually they became known as Han, Tibetan and Southern Buddhism.

What is culture

Individuals, sharing the same belief, form a collective consciousness that can define and shape the world.
HARRY PALMER

Culture is the collective programming of individuals minds that determines how a group of individuals perceives reality. In fact, we the people in a culture collectively agree on what reality is. We agree on the beliefs that form the foundation of the culture, on which beliefs are most important, and on what the culture values most. We agree on the rules, the do´s and dont´s, the norms by which people will live and be judged. And these basic agreements differ from culture to culture.

Culture is like the air we breathe, we take it for granted, rarely think about it, and assume our world viewpoints is merely the human viewpoint. We can interact more powerfully with people from other cultures if we understand some key concepts of what culture is all about, how it affects our personal reality, and how we learn the beliefs, values and rules of our culture. Culture is as pervasive and invisible as the air around us. It´s our programmed beliefs, many of them hidden, our mental cap, our view of reality.

North Korea´s leadership in the dark

After Kim Jong Il failed to attend a parade marking the country's 60th anniversary, rumours begun circulation that the secretive North Korean leaders health was deteriorating. State media have not reported a public appearance by Kim since Aug 14, though Western intelligence officials say the 66 year old dictator has manipulated such reports before. White House officials could not confirm the rumours but said they are monitoring the "opaque" nation amid stalled talks over its nuclear program. The Dear Leader assumed power in 1994 after the death of his father, North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung; so far none of his three sons have emerged as the heir apparent. North Korea has dismissed the rumours, calling them a "conspiracy plot".

China´s different minorities

China do officially have 56 different ethnic groups of which the Han-Chinese are about 91%. The rest of the 55 ethnic groups do in daily speech just being refereed to as ethnic minorities. Those minorities do mainly live in Chinas inland mountain regions and on the high platues - roughly estimated 60% of Chinas territory. Accordingly to a study some 40% of the minorities who live in poverty do so due to geographic factors.

China stepping away from coal power

The southern Chinese province of Guangdong manufactures products for the whole world - from toothbrushes to DVD player, from shoes to cars. It is among the richest regions of China, yet lack of power generation has been a huge barrier to its economic growth, and until recently blackouts were common.

Four years ago, Greenpeace China launched a pilot project called Wind Guangdong to promote wind power in the region and show that Chinese development could be powered by clean renewable energy.

The wind industry did take off in Guangdong, as it has across the country. Over the past three years, China's wind generation capacity has grown by over 100 per cent and it is now the worlds third biggest user of wind power. China is soon expected to become the worlds biggest manufacturer of wind energy equipment, and Greenpeace predicts that the country´s wind power capacity could reach 122 gigawatts - equivalent of five Three Gorges Dams by 2020.

Yet the success story of Chinese renewable energy is little known outside China. In addition to the growth of wind power. the performance of solar energy has also been spectacular. The country has already installed more solar heating systems than the rest of the world put together, and China is among the top three countries manufacturing solar photovoltaics. The Government aims to have 15% of its total energy needs met by renewabels within the next twelve years.

The Chinese are known for making things happen quickly. Unfortunately this is also the case for its massive expansion of coal fired plants. From 2004 to 2007 China built a total of 254GW of new coal fired plants, about three times the total electricity capacity of Britain. The much quoted sound bite that "one new coal power station is built each week in china" is sadly true, and the new plants have a far greater generation capacity than those they are replacing. In 2007 the total capacity of the new builds was seven times that of the plants which were closed down.

Right now coal accounts for over 70% of Chinas energy mix. The economy is still growing rapidly, but the reality of its enormous environmental impact makes it clear that Chinas current carbon intensive development model is unsustainable. The only solution is a combination of massive renewable energy uptake and huge efficiency improvements.

The majority of coal fired plant in China are very inefficient, and an aggressive phasing out plan is well needed. Last year alone, China closed down over 550 coal fired power generation units. The Government has promised to shut down a total of 50GW smaller coal fired plant by 2010.

Although China is still far from achieving a low carbon development path, it is important to realise that it is both part of the problem and part of the solution. These unprecedented challenges offer unprecedented opportunities. If China fails to seize them, environmental disaster will follow. But if it succeeds. it will achieve not only a revolution in energy but also a revolution in the history of human development.

Cambodia past and present

All roads in Cambodian history leads to Angkor Wat. Completed around 1150 and devoted to the Hindu God Vishnu, it remains the largest religious building in the world has ever known. Angkor was abandoned as the country's capital in 1432 under pressure from the Thais.

By the 18yth Century has become a pawn in the games of its two more powerful neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam. The squabbling was resolved by the intervention of France, which had imperialist ambitions for the whole of Indochina. The French hold on Cambodia was weakened by Japan during the Second World War. Japans defeat by the Allies meant that Cambodia briefly gained independence.

When the French tried to resume control they had had to contend with peasant rebellions, including growing support for Ho Chi Minh´s Indochina Communist Party. In 1954 France was defeated at Dien Bien Phu and forced to withdraw from the whole of Indochina. Cambodia became independent under King Norodom Shihanou, who had been crowned in 1941.

As the US-Vietnam war escalated Cambodia tried to maintain neutrality. In 1967 Pol Pot´s group of communists launched an insurgency against Sihanouk and met with brutal repression. Two years later the US began bombing Cambodia. A coup set up Lon Noi as President of the pro US Khmer republic. By 1973 the US raids had reached their peak: in four years the bombing killed anywhere between 50,000 and 750,000 people, with the tonnage of bombing of the country estimated at more than dropped by the Allies in of World War Two.

Pol Pot´s Khmer Rouge forced defeated Lon Noi´s army and took Phnom Penh in 1975. The Communist party of Kampuchea (as the country was renamed) was founded in 1976 which was officially styled "Year Zero". The cities were evacuated and the country was cut of the outside world. All Cambodians were forced into unpaid agricultural labor . The evacuation of hundreds and thousands of city-dwellers brought about mass starvation within a year.

In 1979 Vietnamese troops invaded and overthrew the Khmer Rogue, installing Heng Samrin as President and Hun Sen as Foreign Minister. Western nations condemned the invasion and imposed a trade-and-aid embargo on both Vietnam and Cambodia. The Khmer Rogue retained the Country´s UN seat with with the support of China and the west. The promise of US aid brought Shianouk and another non-communist rebel, Son Sann, into a coalition -in-exile with the Khmer Rouge. In 1989 Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia and the rebels resumed their military offensive. Under the UN Paris Agreement of 1991 all parties agreed on a ceasefire and disarmament. Hun Sen has remained in power ever since, following Vietnam in pursuit of a "liberalized market economy" that operates in the interest of an elite.

New Internationalist
September 2008

Club Activities in Japanese Universities

Many University students in Japan take part in some club activities. There are a wide range of clubs at a university which are commonly categorized as Sports Stream (たいいくけい) and Cultural Stream (ぶんかけい). Example of sport streams clubs are: soccer, baseball, golf, skiing, American football. and more traditional, kyudo, sumo, judo. Cultural stream clubs are vastly different covering the activities such as photography, drama, comics, Japanese chess, English speaking, literature's, and chemistry. There are also more leisure oriented sports clubs whose activities focus more on socializing through playing sports rather than having serious training and winning competitions.