រាជវង្សហាន: Religion, cosmology, and metaphysics

Religion, cosmology, and metaphysics
thumb|right|An Eastern-Han bronze statuette of a mythical chimera (qilin), 1st century AD

Families throughout Han China made ritual sacrifices of animals and foodstuffs to deities, spirits, and ancestors at temples and shrines, in the belief that these items could be utilized by those in the spiritual realm.Ch'ü (1972), 30–31. It was thought that each person had a two-part soul: the spirit-soul (hun 魂) which journeyed to the afterlife paradise of immortals (xian), and the body-soul (po 魄) which remained in its grave or tomb on earth and was only reunited with the spirit-soul through a ritual ceremony.Hansen (2000), 119; Csikszentmihalyi (2006), 140–141. These tombs were commonly adorned with uniquely decorated hollow clay tiles that function also as a doorjamb to the tomb. Otherwise known as tomb tiles, these artifacts feature holes in the top and bottom of the tile allowing it to pivot. Similar tiles have been found in the Chengdu area of Sichuan province in south-central China.

In addition to his many other roles, the emperor acted as the highest priest in the land who made sacrifices to Heaven, the main deities known as the Five Powers, and the spirits (shen 神) of mountains and rivers.Ch'ü (1972), 71. It was believed that the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Mankind were linked by natural cycles of yin and yang and the five phases.Loewe (1994), 55; Csikszentmihalyi (2006), 167; Sun and Kistemaker (1997), 2–3; Ebrey (1999), 78 79. If the emperor did not behave according to proper ritual, ethics, and morals, he could disrupt the fine balance of these cosmological cycles and cause calamities such as earthquakes, floods, droughts, epidemics, and swarms of locusts.Ebrey (1999), 78–79; Loewe (1986), 201; de Crespigny (2007), 496, 592.

thumb|left|A rubbing of a Han pictorial stone showing an ancestral worship hall (citang 祠堂)

It was believed that immortality could be achieved if one reached the lands of the Queen Mother of the West or Mount Penglai.Loewe (2005), "Funerary Practice in Han Times," 101–102; Csikszentmihalyi (2006), 116–117. Han-era Daoists assembled into small groups of hermits who attempted to achieve immortality through breathing exercises, sexual techniques and use of medical elixirs.Hansen (2000), 144. By the 2nd century AD, Daoists formed large hierarchical religious societies such as the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice. Its followers believed that the sage-philosopher Laozi (fl. 6th century BC) was a holy prophet who would offer salvation and good health if his devout followers would confess their sins, ban the worship of unclean gods who accepted meat sacrifices and chant sections of the Daodejing.Hansen (2000), 144–146.

Buddhism first entered China during the Eastern Han and was first mentioned in 65 AD.Needham (1972), 112; "Demieville (1986),  821–822. Liu Ying (d. 71 AD), a half-brother to Emperor Ming of Han (r. 57–75 AD), was one of its earliest Chinese adherents, although Chinese Buddhism at this point was heavily associated with Huang-Lao Daoism.Demiéville (1986), 821–822. China's first known Buddhist temple, the White Horse Temple, was erected during Ming's reign.Demiéville (1986), 823. Important Buddhist canons were translated into Chinese during the 2nd century AD, including the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters, Perfection of Wisdom, Shurangama Sutra, and Pratyutpanna Sutra.Akira (1998), 247–251; see also Needham (1972), 112.