对比中西方的精神文化基础，我们不难发现：中国文化的精神基础并没有很浓的宗教意识。这其中的原因是什么？通过阅读冯友兰先生的《中国哲学简史》（赵复三先生译），我对这个问题有了新的看法。
我将文中的观点总结为如下两点：
一，宗教=上层建筑+对人生的系统思考
以我们熟悉的佛教为例，佛教是无神论的，但仍有上层建筑，即佛教弟子相信业报：每一个人都是因与果、业与报的连环套。此外，我们耳熟能详的诸行无常、诸法无我、缘起性空这些都是佛陀对于人生的系统思考。
有意思的是，佛教并没有为中国文化添加了宗教色彩，反而是带来了思辨的方法论，丰富了此后的儒家和道家学说。
二，中国人在思考中找到了超越
人总是不满足于现实世界而去追求超越，这是人类的共性，中国人和其他民族并无二致，这也是一个不言而喻的事实。中国人在追求超越的过程中，过于注重对人生的系统思考，在这样的思考中找到了超越的存在，如，儒家的伦理、道家之道、佛学中的“空”。
Religion and the Spiritual Foundation of Chinese Culture
The difference between spiritual foundations of western and Chinese culture is quite straight-forward: religion does not ever play a vital role in Chinese culture. What is the underlying reason? I've got some insight after reading 'a short history of Chinese philosophy' by Feng Youlan, translated by Zhao Fusan.
Two main arguments are as follows:
First, religion is a combination of upper structure and a systematic reflection on human life.
Here I take religious Buddhism, a religion we Chinese are not supposed to be unfamiliar with, as an example. Atheistic as Buddhism is, the upper structure also exists: Buddhists believe in the law of Karma, which claims no being can ever escape the causal connectedness between cause and effect, between our actions and their consequences. Besides the upper structure, notions echoing in our culture, such as "nothing is impermanent", "No-Self", "Teachings on Dependent Arising", are all Buddha's systematic reflection on human life.
What's more intriguing is that religious Buddhism has never brought religion back on the stage of Chinese culture. On the contrary, religious Buddhism steps down and adds a dialectical method of thinking in the methodology repertoire of Confucian and Taoism thoughts.
Second, Chinese found transcendence in the very reflection on life.
People rarely get satisfied in the experience world and strive to search anything beyond. It is apt and self-evident to say it is human nature, and viewing in the scope of such a nature, Chinese are no exception but lay much more emphasis on reflection. Chinese found transcendence in the very reflection on life: ethical rules in Confucianism, "Path" in Taoism, and "Emptiness" in Buddhism.
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