Teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism

There is a considerable difference between the Romantic Era and the emergence of the Confucianism. The literature works, art pieces and musical compositions of this era are totally in contrast with the works of the previous periods. I would like to ponder about the message from the prominent chinese literature ‘Monkey King’. There were several aspects about this works that caught my attention. For example, one should not be desiring Nirvana to attain it. In fact, he/she should cease to desire Nirvana in order to attain that salvation. The period trait expressed in this piece is the ‘Value of Way’ as it explains that one should stop desiring Nirvana (the Way) to achieve salvation. Also, I do have certain doubts and questions in this work in reference to Tripitaka’s credibility. I am still not sure why he is a suitable candidate for achieving Nirvana. It is also important to point out some similarities that Buddhism shares with another major religion of this day – Hinduism. One similarity is that Buddhism preaches everyone to do the right thing and to do it for the right reason. They should do their karma with the right intentions to others such as showing love, compassion etc. As for the art piece, the painting revealed the sort of emptiness that existed during this period in chinese history. It provoked a calm and tranquil experience in the viewers much like the art works of the Romanticism period. As a reult, it expressed the period trait of ‘the value of emptiness’ in the piece. As for the last discipline of the chinese history, the music was very different in its compositon compared to the music of the previous periods. I think the reason for this difference is because of the types of instruments that were used in the musical pieces. The sample piece played in class expressed a sense of emptiness in it as it relates to the period trait of this era. (325)