| A | B |
|---|
| Analects | The collected sayings of Confucius, one of the Four Books of Confucianism. |
| Book of Mencius | The collected teachings of Mencius, one of the Four Books of Confucianism. |
| Chun-tzu | Chinese: "gentleman." The mature person, an ideal human being with perfect moral character. |
| Five Constant Relationships | A doctrine summarizing the proper ethical principle for each basic human relationship, such as duty between ruler and subject. |
| Jen | Chinese: "goodness" or "benevolence." The supreme human virtue, doing one's best to treat others as one would wish to be treated. |
| Li | Chinese: "rite" and "propriety." Proper behavior in any given social circumstance, as if performing a sacred ritual. |
| Neo-Confucianism | A major philosophical and religious tradition that developed around AD 1000 as a response to challenges facing Confucianism from Taoism and Buddhism; its most important figure is Chu Hsi, 1130-1200. |
| Shu | Chinese: "reciprocity." A basic principle of Confucian ethics that says not to do to others what you would not want them to do to you. |
| Tao | Chinese: "way." For Confucianism, the moral order that permeates the universe, the Way that should be followed. |
| Te | Chinese: "virtue." Virtue as shown through the power of example, an attribute of the mature person. |
| Wen | The cultural arts, skills of behavior valued by Confucius as being of moral benefit and as befitting the mature person. |
| Chuang Tzu | The second foundational text of Taoism, containing teachings and anecdotes traditionally thought to have come from the sage of the same name, who lived in the 4th and 3d centuries B.C. |
| Paradoxes | Assertions that seem illogical and contradictory on the surface, and yet contain deeper truths that are accessible more through intuition than through logical thinking. |
| Tao | For this religion, the Way of nature, the ultimate source and the principle of order in the universe. |
| Tao Te Ching | Chinese: "book of the Way." Taoism's foundational text, traditionally thought to have been authored by Lao Tzu in the 7th or 6th century B.C. |
| Wu-wei | Chinese: "non-action." The supreme Taoist virtue, rendered in English variously as "actionless activity," "pure effectiveness," "yielding to win," "creative quietude" and so on. To practice this is to be so perfectly in harmony with nature that nature's energy infuses and empowers the individual. |
| Yang | The positive, active, masculine, heavenly component of the universe, characterized by light and strength. |
| Yin | The negative, passive, feminine, earthly component of the universe, characterized by darkness and weakness. |
| Bushido | Japanese: "the way of the warrior." A code of conduct for the samurai that is based on Shinto nationalism, Confucian ethics, and Zen Buddhist self-discipline. |
| Kami | Anything that the Japanese hold as sacred, including deities, certain human beings, natural entities and animals; the term can be either singular or plural. |
| Kamidana | A small altar in the home, patterned after Shinto shrines, that serves as the focal point of domestic worship. |
| Samurai | A Japanese medieval warrior knight; the term can be either singular or plural. |
| Seppuku | Japanese: "cutting the abdomen." Also called hara-kiri; ritual suicide prescribed by bushido for samurai who have committed crimes or acts of dishonor. |
| Torii | An archway marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine or other sacred site, formed by two upright pillars and a cross beam; Shinto's most recognized symbol. |
