Chinese folk religion | Wikipedia audio article
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Chinese folk religion
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
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Chinese folk religion (Chinese popular religion) or Han folk religion is the religious tradition of the Han Chinese, including veneration of forces of nature and ancestors, exorcism of harmful forces, and a belief in the rational order of nature which can be influenced by human beings and their rulers as well as spirits and gods. Worship is devoted to a multiplicity of gods and immortals (神 shén), who can be deities of phenomena, of human behaviour, or progenitors of lineages. Stories regarding some of these gods are collected into the body of Chinese mythology. By the 11th century (Song period), these practices had been blended with Buddhist ideas of karma (one's own doing) and rebirth, and Taoist teachings about hierarchies of gods, to form the popular religious system which has lasted in many ways until the present day.Chinese religions have a variety of sources, local forms, founder backgrounds, and ritual and philosophical traditions. Despite this diversity, there is a common core that can be summarised as four theological, cosmological, and moral concepts: Tian (天), Heaven, the transcendent source of moral meaning; qi (氣), the breath or energy that animates the universe; jingzu (敬祖), the veneration of ancestors; and bao ying (報應), moral reciprocity; together with two traditional concepts of fate and meaning: ming yun (命運), the personal destiny or burgeoning; and yuan fen (緣分), fateful coincidence, good and bad chances and potential relationships.Yin and yang (陰陽) is the polarity that describes the order of the universe, held in balance by the interaction of principles of growth (shen) and principles of waning (gui), with yang (act) usually preferred over yin (receptiveness) in common religion. Ling (靈), numen or sacred, is the medium of the two states and the inchoate order of creation.Both the present day government of China and the imperial dynasties of the Ming and Qing tolerated village popular religious cults if they bolstered social stability but suppressed or persecuted those that they feared would undermine it. After the fall of the empire in 1911, governments and elites opposed or attempted to eradicate folk religion in order to promote modern values, and many condemned feudal superstition. These conceptions of folk religion began to change in Taiwan in the late 20th century and in mainland China in the 21st. Many scholars now view folk religion in a positive light. In recent times Chinese folk religions are experiencing a revival in both mainland China and Taiwan. Some forms have received official understanding or recognition as a preservation of traditional Chinese culture, such as Mazuism and the Sanyi teaching in Fujian, Huangdi worship, and other forms of local worship, for example the Longwang, Pangu or Caishen worship.
Richmond, Virginia | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:03:14 1 History
00:03:23 1.1 Colonial era
00:04:19 1.2 Revolution
00:05:17 1.3 Early United States
00:08:04 1.4 Civil War
00:12:57 1.5 Postbellum
00:14:23 1.6 20th century
00:17:56 2 Geography and climate
00:19:37 2.1 Cityscape
00:23:23 2.2 Climate
00:27:59 3 Demographics
00:31:44 3.1 Crime
00:33:59 3.2 Religion
00:40:42 4 Economy
00:45:40 4.1 Fortune 500 companies and other large corporations
00:48:28 4.2 Poverty
00:49:22 5 Arts and culture
00:49:31 5.1 Museums and monuments
00:53:19 5.2 Visual and performing arts
00:54:05 5.2.1 Murals
00:54:23 5.2.2 Professional performing companies
00:57:50 5.2.3 Other venues and companies
01:02:07 5.3 Literary arts
01:03:33 5.4 Architecture
01:09:12 5.5 Historic districts
01:10:05 5.6 Food
01:10:39 6 Parks and outdoor recreation
01:14:38 7 Sports
01:18:11 8 Media
01:20:06 9 Government and politics
01:23:55 10 Education
01:25:15 10.1 Colleges and universities
01:26:32 11 Infrastructure
01:26:42 11.1 Transportation
01:30:22 11.2 Major highways
01:30:30 11.3 Utilities
01:32:53 12 International relations
01:33:03 12.1 Sister cities
01:33:33 13 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
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I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
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Richmond () is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Greater Richmond Region. Richmond was incorporated in 1742 and has been an independent city since 1871.
As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 204,214; in 2016, the population was estimated to be 223,170, making Richmond the fourth-most populous city in Virginia. The Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,260,029, the third-most populous metro in the state.
Richmond is located at the fall line of the James River, 44 miles (71 km) west of Williamsburg, 66 miles (106 km) east of Charlottesville, 100 miles (160 km) east of Lynchburg and 98 miles (158 km) south of Washington, D.C. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is located at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64, and encircled by Interstate 295 and Virginia State Route 288. Major suburbs include Midlothian to the southwest, Chesterfield to the south, Varina to the southeast, Sandston to the east, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west and Mechanicsville to the northeast.
The site of Richmond had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown in 1609, and in 1610–1611. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737. It became the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780, replacing Williamsburg. During the Revolutionary War period, several notable events occurred in the city, including Patrick Henry's Give me liberty or give me death speech in 1775 at St. John's Church, and the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom written by Thomas Jefferson. During the American Civil War, Richmond served as the second and permanent capital of the Confederate States of America. The city entered the 20th century with one of the world's first successful electric streetcar systems. The Jackson Ward neighborhood is a national hub of African-American commerce and culture.
Richmond's economy is primarily driven by law, finance, and government, with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as notable legal and banking firms, located in the downtown area. The city is home to both the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, one of 13 United States courts of appeals, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks. Dominion Energy and WestRock, Fortune 500 companies, are headquartered in the city, with others in the metropolitan area.