The Temple of Gupo

The temple of gupo is where lily and snow flower meet and get their contract signed .This is the temple where Lily and Snow Flower visit each year and in this chapter they visit the temple ofr gupo to pray for sons. The altar has pairs of baby shoes which have been left by new mothers, and are there for expectant mothers to secretly "steal" for their new babies.

Who is telling the story in the temple of gupo ?

Lily

When and where is the story set ?

The story set in 19 century in china.

Whay is the main conflict in the story ?

The main conflict in the story is

Lily returns to see her parents after geeting marriage  and she and snow flower are working so hard to have baby. they visit togheter the temple of gupo after  to achieve pregnant so  they can pray for sons at the Temple.

What are the step  in the development of the plot?

 Lily returns to see her parents. They are happy to see her and receive her gifts, but she is angry inside for their deceit about Snow Flower. She rejects any affection from them and tends to her chores politely, but her mother finally accuses her of thinking she is too good for them. Lily and her mother, after exchanging painful digs of their nails, finally have it out, with Lily accusing her of lying, and her mother accusing herof being responsible for Beautiful Moon's death. Lily realizes her mother's intention shave always been selfish and warns her mother that she will not forget this. Lily keeps her distance from her mother and travels to her husband several nights a year.Lily's in-laws' home is beautiful, and she is happy, even now, to live there. Hermother-in-law is tolerable, but freely orders her around, and Lily obeys her, as isexpected. Lily meets other young women in Tongkou.During the annual visit to the Temple of Gupo with Snow Flower, the old sames discuss matters related to trying to get pregnant and challenges with their mothers-in-law, but they avoid the subject of Snow Flower's deceit. Snow Flower isclearly being worked too hard. Lily receives a note telling her Snow Flower is pregnant. Lily is humiliated not to be first. On her next conjugal visit, she makes apoint to try to get pregnant, at the risk of being reprimanded to get up and do herchores. She does become pregnant. Lily's knows her "worth is based entirely on the child growing inside" of her.She leaves her natal home to begin life with her husband's family, picking up SnowFlower on the way so they can pray for sons at the Temple. They leave fans with prayers, and both "steal" a pair of baby shoes from the altar. They share their favorite food at the taro stand and spend the night at an inn, where they happily sleep together once again. Lily is about to turn twenty years old.

What universal truth did you learn from story?

The principal truth that I learn form temple of gupo is the children love and friendship.

The Temple of Gupo Analysis

The two old sames' lives have changed forever now that they are pregnant. They are still naive and still want to remain close, but Lily's anger is seething over being deceived for so long. She realizes that her mother is, and has always been,manipulating and conniving toward her own ends. Any mother love that Lily has tried to imagine was there from her mother may not ever have been genuine.Lily has taken her mother's abuse for years, but now digs her own fingernails into hermother's skin and warns her mother that Lily will have more power than her mothersome day.Lily is feeling more strength and assurance now that she is worth something, with a son in utero. She is feeling more mature, but the pain of her childhood has begun to manifest itself in the form of anger.

10 words and meaning

1-  Baffled  (totally bewilder)

2-  Chores (a routine)

3-  Devious (longer and less direct than the most straighforward way)

4-  Gaze (look steadily and intently)

5-  Flesh ( the condition of having ample fat on the body )
6-  Stifle ( prevent from breathing freely; suffocate)

7-  Jolted (an act of jolting)

8-  Beseeching (literary ask (someone) urgently and fervently for something)

9-  Unbearable (not able to be endured or tolerated)

10- Dowries (property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage)





                                             

The Dacheng Hall in Qufu



China Religions

Confucian Tradition and Christianity in China: Modern World

http://dailylife2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1423499?terms=china%2bconfucianism

An assessment of the influence of Confucianism and Christianity in contemporary China requires a historical perspective. Confucianism derives its name from the cultural figure Kong Zi or Confucius, as he is widely known in the West. Confucius, who lived about 2,500 years ago in Shandong Province, is credited with a moral philosophy that has guided Chinese society in covert and overt forms. Confucianism is not a single theoretical system; it rather refers to an assortment of thoughts before and after Confucius, and many individuals, such as Mencius, Xun Zi, Dong Zhongshu, and Zhu Xi, to name a few, played a pivotal role in developing, modifying, and substantiating Confucianism.

As early as the Han dynasty, Confucianism became a state-sanctioned, canonized doctrine. Through dynasties after dynasties and emperors after emperors, the position of Confucianism has rarely been shaken or challenged, even during the periods when the Mongols and the Manchu, who represented a different cultural tradition, ruled China.

Unlike Confucianism, Christianity is not an indigenous concept and has its roots in the West. Since the Tang dynasty, when Western missionaries first made major journeys to China, Christianity has more or less been a cultural element in the mosaic of Chinese society, but it always remains in the periphery, not the center, of Chinese culture and society.

The 20th century was a different story for both Confucianism and Christianity, because neither was favored. China's encounters with the modern world and its humiliating experience with the Western powers led many of its intellectuals to the belief that a fundamental change was needed for China to survive as a nation among other nations. Intellectuals in the May 4 Movement (1919) promoted and upheld ideas such as science and democracy, concepts quite alien to the Chinese, and charged that Confucianism was irrational and undemocratic. These influential intellectuals also dealt a blow to Christianity, which had just gained some ground in China. In their view, Christianity, like any religion, was superstitious and ran counter to scientific principles. Moreover, Christianity was an accomplice of the imperialists and a tool of the imperial culture.

Confucianism and Christianity suffered more setbacks after the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Confucianism was on the verge of extinction during the Great Cultural Revolution. In line with the radical ideology of the revolution, eradicating Confucianism's "lingering influence" became the buzzword. Ironically, Confucius was even reconstructed and tied to the purged marshal Lin Biao, who had once served as the vice chairman and a designated successor to Mao Zedong.

With the death of Mao and the downfall of the Gang of Four, the position of Confucianism has been gradually recovered. Many people have started to realize that without Confucianism, China would be a nation without its own cultural traditions. However, because of a hiatus of almost three decades, Confucianism has remained a mystery and too complicated for a generation of Chinese to grasp.

In China there are many religions, one example is conficianism. In contemporary China, Confucianism is more accepted as a tradition than as a living culture, and its important ideas and concepts are taken only as heritages. Thanks to the long denial of Confucianism from the 1920s to the 1970s, the morality and ethics represented in Confucianism can no longer play an important part, as they did in the ancient times. After the Chinese Communist Party came to power, first Marxism and then Maoism became state-sponsored ideology. During the 1950s to the 1970s, the state was successful in influencing the thinking of several generations of people with this ideology, and Maoism was taken almost as a kind of religion. When the New Period approached and Deng Xiaoping came to power, the country became more open to the outside, and a public sphere with different ideas and beliefs appeared to emerge in Chinese cultural life. However, the ideology had been unchanged in the past and remains the same. In the classrooms, there is no place for Confucianism; Marxism and communism still fill pages and pages of textbooks. Yet Confucianism is embedded in people's behavior and relational protocols. Its exclusion in education causes much confusion among the younger generation. They face huge discrepancies between what is taught and what they see in reality, so skepticism is running deep.

Luo, Jing. "Confucian Tradition and Christianity in China: Modern World." Daily Life through History. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2011.

Josset Jordan

Chinese Spiritual Life in the Post-Mao Era: Modern World."

China has long been a nation with a wide range of religions. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, there were four major religions, Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, and Christianity, among which Daoism was a Chinese native religion. Buddhism, which originated in India and was introduced into China at the end of the Han dynasty, was greatly influenced by Chinese traditional culture, so Chinese Buddhism was not quite the same as that in India. As a Western religion, Christianity came to China in the Tang dynasty, but was not successful in achieving an enduring and wide recognition. Islam began to appear in the north of China in the seventh century and gained continuous acceptance among the Islamic minority. Confucianism, although strictly speaking hardly a religion, enjoyed dominance over other beliefs. Scholars therefore often summarize Chinese traditional culture as Ru, Fo, and Dao, that is, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. From this historical perspective, one might say that people in ancient China led a very spiritual life. Indeed, the crucial figures of Confucianism, such as Confucius himself, Mencius, and Zhu Xi, all vigorously stressed the spiritual level of life.

In addition to Marxism and later Leninism, the idolization of Mao's thoughts was transformed into a quasi-religious fervor. Gradually, Maoism became the yardstick for almost everything. Mao's books were accepted as the Chinese "Red Bible," and Mao himself became the spiritual leader for millions of people. If there were any religion, Maoism was the religion; if there were any god, Mao himself was the god.

Luo, Jing. "Chinese Spiritual Life in the Post-Mao Era: Modern World." Daily Life through History. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2011

Josset Jordan

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