Chapter 7 Exam Prep Confucianism—The Way Of Virtue

Chapter Seven: Confucianism—The Way of Virtue

In this test bank for World Religions, Fourth Edition, there is a new system for identifying the difficulty of the questions. Questions are now tagged according to four levels of learning. Think of these four levels as moving from lower-level to higher-level cognitive reasoning. The four levels are:

REMEMBER: A question involving recall of key terms or factual material.

UNDERSTAND: A question testing comprehension of more complex ideas.

APPLY: A question applying anthropological knowledge to some new situation.

ANALYZE: A question requiring identifying elements of an argument and their interrelationship.

Types of Questions

Multiple-Choice Questions

1. Master K’ung (Confucius) was born in the ­­­­__________ century B.C.E.
   1. Twelfth
   2. Ninth
   3. Sixth
   4. Third
   5. First

(REMEMBER; p. 134)

1. The collected sayings and conversations of Confucius are known as the ­­­­__________.
2. Analects
3. Book of Rites
4. Book of Mencius
5. Daodejing
6. Zhuangzi

(REMEMBER; p. 135)

1. The Confucian teacher most famous for saying that humans are basically good was __________.
   1. Confucius
   2. Laozi
   3. Mengzi (Mencius)
   4. Xun Zi
   5. Zhuangzi

(REMEMBER; p. 135)

1. The Confucian teacher most famous for saying that humans are basically evil was ­­­­__________.
2. Confucius
3. Mengzi (Mencius)
4. Wang Yangming
5. Xun Zi (Hsun Tzu)
6. Zhu Xi

(REMEMBER; p. 136)

1. The movement that called for a return to basic Confucian principles in response to the growing influence of Buddhism and Daoism in China is known in the West as __________.
   1. Divination
   2. Falun Dafa
   3. Neo-Confucianism
   4. Ritual Daoism
   5. The Self-Cultivation Movement

(REMEMBER; p. 136)

1. According to the Confucian worldview, all reality is __________.
   1. a dualism of matter and spirit
   2. empty
   3. the handiwork of the gods
   4. a manifestation of Shang Ti, the heavenly emperor
   5. rational

(UNDERSTAND; p. 136)

1. Sacrifices to Confucius and study of the Confucian classics were banned when the __________ took power in China.
2. Americans
3. Communists
4. Daoists
5. Japanese
6. Nazis

(REMEMBER; p. 137)

1. “In all one’s considerations the other person is naturally included” is a description of the Confucian virtue ­­­­__________.
   1. cheng-ming
   2. li
   3. ren
   4. shu
   5. xiao

(UNDERSTAND; p. 138)

1. The goal Confucius sought was the restoration of the harmony of __________.
   1. the feudal order
   2. heaven
   3. the land of the kami
   4. nature
   5. the six days of creation

(REMEMBER; p. 138)

1. The virtue of __________, not doing to others what you would not have them do to you, is sometimes called the “silver rule,” for it is gentler than the “golden rule,” to which it has been compared.
2. cheng-ming
3. li
4. ren
5. shu
6. xiao

(REMEMBER; p. 138)

1. “A right and proper order to be followed in any circumstance” is a description of the Confucian virtue ­­­­__________.
   1. cheng-ming
   2. li
   3. ren
   4. shu
   5. xiao

(UNDERSTAND; p. 139)

1. __________ said, “It is humans who make the Dao great, not the Dao that makes humans great.”
   1. Confucius
   2. Laozi
   3. Mengzi (Mencius)
   4. Xun Zi
   5. Zhuangzi

(REMEMBER; p. 141)

1. Until 1966 the official policy of the government of the People’s Republic of China was that religion __________.
   1. had too strong a hold on the Chinese people to challenge
2. must actively be suppressed
3. posed no threat to the stability of the nation
4. would die a natural death
5. would replace superstition as the basis of moral order in China

(UNDERSTAND; p. 141)

1. The Communist government recognized as religions __________, Christianity, and Islam.
   1. Atheism
   2. Buddhism
   3. Confucianism
   4. Daoism
   5. Jainism

(REMEMBER; p. 141)

1. A period of severe repression of religion in China took place during the __________.
   1. decade between 1990 and 2000
   2. Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
   3. rule of the Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek
   4. Warring States Period.
   5. World War II.

(REMEMBER; p. 142)

1. After Mao Zedong died in 1975, the PRC reintroduced the constitutional guarantee of __________.
   1. employment
   2. freedom of public religious practice
   3. freedom of speech
   4. free, private religious expression
   5. the right to privacy

(UNDERSTAND; p. 142)

1. The PRC is drawing on the Confucian heritage of __________to balance the rising tide of consumerist individualism and distrust of those in authority.
   1. escapism
   2. religious ritual
   3. ren
   4. respect for authority and commitment to moral virtue
   5. yin yang

(REMEMBER; p. 142)

1. The revival of __________ in China today is illustrated with the return of images of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin.
   1. Buddhism
   2. Communism
   3. Confucianism
   4. Daoism
   5. Islam

(UNDERSTAND; p. 142)

1. During the Cultural Revolution, Confucius was __________.
   1. asked to help with the revival of traditional culture
   2. condemned as a “class enemy”
   3. drafted into the military
   4. enrolled in the Communist Party
   5. lauded as a hero of the people

(UNDERSTAND; p. 142)

1. The Ministry of Education of the PRC has opened __________ on college and university campuses and other locations in various countries.
   1. bookstores
   2. Confucian educational cooperatives
   3. Confucius Institutes
   4. Confucian newspapers
   5. political action committees

(REMEMBER; p. 142)

1. __________ is the state religion of the PRC.
   1. Buddhism
   2. Communism
   3. Confucianism
   4. Daoism
   5. Islam

(UNDERSTAND; p. 143)

1. In the PRC, only the right to propagate __________ is constitutionally guaranteed.
   1. atheism
   2. Buddhism
   3. Catholicism
   4. Daoism
   5. Islam

(REMEMBER; p. 143)

1. __________ is one of the new religions that do not have state authorization in the PRC.
   1. atheism
   2. Buddhism
   3. Communism
   4. Daoism
   5. Falun Gong

(UNDERSTAND; p. 143)

1. Confucianism is preoccupied with __________.
   1. egotism
   2. holiness
   3. ritual purity
   4. social harmony
   5. terrorism

(REMEMBER; p. 143)

1. Confucianism was the official state philosophy in China for __________ years.
   1. 500
   2. 1,000
   3. 2,000
   4. 5,000
   5. 10,000

(REMEMBER; p. 143)

Essay Questions

1. Using the framework outlined in chapter one, identify the key features of the Daoist worldview (the views of human nature; problem; cause; reality; goal; means; and sacred) and explain their interrelationships.
   (APPLY)
2. Compare and contrast Confucianist and Daoist teaching on any one of the following:
   1. the Dao
   2. harmony
   3. sages
   4. society
   5. virtue

(ANALYZE)

1. Defend or refute the following assertion: Daoism is the yin of Chinese culture and Confucianism is the yang.

(ANALYZE)

1. Explain the notion of “filial piety” and discuss its significance within the Confucian worldview.
   (ANALYZE)
2. The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong) makes the following claim: “Thus absolute truth is indestructible. Being indestructible, it is eternal. Being eternal, it is self-existent. Being self-existent, it is infinite. Being infinite, it is vast and deep. Being vast and deep it is transcendental and intelligent.” Explain how this fits with the basic Confucian worldview.
   (ANALYZE)
3. Discuss the Confucian concept of li (propriety) in comparison to the Daoist understanding of harmony.
   (ANALYZE)
4. What would be the characteristics of li relative to one’s father as opposed to one’s child?
   (APPLY)
5. Explain Mencius’ understanding of humaneness (ren or jen).
   (APPLY)
6. Using the “framework for understanding” religious worldviews developed in Chapter 1, describe the worldview of Neo-Confucianism.
   (ANALYZE)
7. Using the “framework for understanding” religious worldviews developed in Chapter 1, compare the worldview of Neo-Confucianism with that of Communism.
   (ANALYZE)