Taoism is the mystical face of China.
The underlying principle of Taoism is that the whole world functions on an interplay of two forces which expand and limit each other: the yang and the yin. Yang is all that is masculine, hot, sharp, bright, heavy and dry while yin is feminine, cold, soft, dark, light and wet. Disharmony between the two leads to disorder and disease. From these beliefs comes Fengshui , a set of principles that govern architecture and interior planning, that influences the flow of energy through various objects and colors so as to draw good luck and fortune in a particular direction.
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The Chinese believe in numerous heavens and numerous hells. These are places of reward and punishment. The most righteous end up as gods in the highest heaven ruled by the Jade Emperor, who comes closest to being the Chinese equivalent of God. The Jade Emperor's heavenly court resembles the earthly court in all ways, having an army, a bureaucracy, a royal family and parasitical courtiers. The Jade Emperor's rule is orderly and without caprice. The seasons come and go as they should, yin is balanced with yang, good is rewarded and evil is punished. The Jade Emperor sees and hears everything; even the softest whisper is as loud as thunder to the Jade Emperor.
During the Chinese New Year, the Chinese burn ritualistic paper money to pay for the travel of the household gods who make their way to Jade Emperor's court to pay their respects and report on household affairs. Another ritual is to smear malt sugar on the lips of the Kitchen God, one of the traveling deities, to ensure that he either submits a favorable report to the Jade Emperor or keeps silent. Both these rituals indicate the worldly nature of the Chinese culture and the great value given to social reputation.
In keeping with its worldly philosophies , the Buddhism that became popular in China was the Mahayana school where the aim was not to become a Buddha through individual effort (prescribed by the older Thervada school) but to invoke the intervention of compassionate Bodhisattvas who could make material world more bearable. One of the most popular Bodhisattavas, elevated to the status of goddess, was Kwan Yin who was so kind and compassionate that she was expelled from hell by the lords of the underworld because her presence made it difficult to torture the wicked. Her temples even today are filled a throng of pilgrims shaking rattles and setting off firecrackers to get her attention.
Confucianism is less mystical and focused on worldly matters like family and state. The Confucian system revolves around five relationships: between Emperor and subjects, between husband and wife, between father and son, between elder brother and younger brother and between friends. It states that everything and everyone in heaven and earth has its proper position and so long as everyone retained his proper position through restraint, respect, righteousness and ritual there would be order and peace all around.
From the Confucian way of thinking came the idea that Chinese culture attempts to create on earth, the perfection of Tian or the heavens. The Great Wall was built to protect the perfect culture on earth. The Chinese emperor was the earthly counterpart of the Jade Emperor, who ruled over the highest heaven . His bureaucracy and his army and his palace, the Forbidden City, were earthly counterparts of the bureaucracy, army and palace in heaven. ... "
~ From Unique spiritual cauldron of Taoism, Buddhism & Confucianism ~
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