Quote:
Originally Posted by combatmedic
Buddhism and Taoism were both important in politics during long chunks of Chinese history, though, and Confucianism was assimilated into the larger religious-ideological system. Ancestor worship, which is older than any of those things, is still practised to a considerable extent even today.
I'd argue that what you see in China is not a lack of importance of religion in state affairs, but simple a different way of loooking at these things, and a different set of religions/ideologies.
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If I recall Taoism was sort of a tangential creed having a cultural position similar to mendicants in the West and dervishes in Islam. A Taoist priest might get an invitation from an Emperor but wouldn't become a court priest.
My memory could be wrong though.