First of all, Buddhims and Confuscianism are ALSO in the story. However, it appears that none of the Buddhists showed up in Fujisaki Ryu's version of Houshin Engi. It's not like they had a huge part either. They came to destroy a few traps to help Taikoubou (Jiang Ziya) and Company continue their march toward Chouka and also took a couple members of the opposing Taoist sect, Jie Taosim or Kingoutou, to the "Western Heaven" (the Buddhist Heaven) to live in peace away from the Houshin Keikaku and the "vulgar world". The Taoist sect that Taikoubou, Youzen, Nataku, Raishinshi, and everyone else belong to is Chan Taoism. Next is the Confucian beliefs. These are apparent through the entire story. The biggest belief concerns the rites between a king and his people, which Chuuou quite OBVIOUSLY violated. A king is supposed to treat the people like his own children and not allow them to suffer and to be a good king. If a king is bad, like Chuuou was, then various natural disaster would occur and the land would lose its fertility. Another set of confucian rules in the Houshin Engi story is the rites between father and son or the rites between parent and child. Chuuou also violated this, at least in the novel b/c Dakki was behind this in our Houshin Engi, by trying to have his sons, Inhon/Inkou and Inchao/Inkou, killed. In turn, after the two are taken in by Kouseishi and Sekiseishi, join in trying to kill their father, and are scolded for that because that also violates the rites. As a result, in the novel, they change sides and are brutally killed to the sadness of their shisho. Of course in the anime at least (I haven't gotten there in the manga), they stick more with the Konronsan side and don't die as traitors (Inchao just had that thing to settle with Hikou). To understand this better, I'll tell you pretty much what the rites say in a nut shell. A father/parent is to treat his sons/children kindly and rear them well with general parenting instruction and teaching, and a son/child is to listen to and respect their father/parent. However, if a son/child knows that their father/parent's order/instruction/teaching is in err, they SHOULD correct them and make their father/parent correct with their wiser knowledge. In addition to these are the rites between a ruler and his ministers. It's a lot like the parent/child scenario because a minister must correct his master and his master must give his ministers orders and stuff like that. There's also a clause that states that the king may not ever look at the wife of one of his ministers. There is also a rule that states that if a master is unjust, a minister may leave to find a new master. Chuuou violated the rites between a king and his ministers several times by commiting some to death when they tried to correct him and when he looked at Kashi, Kou Hikou's wife's, face. In addition to that, Hikou was barred from seeking a new master in Kisho b/c Bunchuu went after him (and others in the novel), and he was essentially labeled a traitor.

Now there's a time discrepency which was touched on by the DVD. Taoism did not appear until about 400 years after the Houshin Keikaku. Also, Confucianism didn't appear until about 100 years after that, and Buddhism didn't arrive in China until the 1st century A.D. The explanation the DVD made was that the authors decided to purposely make a mistake on the dates. This to me, sounds VERY wrong. Why? Because one must remember that the Houshin Engi story wasn't put to paper until 2,000 years after which means that it was passed down by oral tradition just like tales of Paul Bunyan and his giant blue ox, Babe. Now do you REALLY think a giant man and a giant blue ox could really exist? No? Then, do you think that so much Taoism could be going on in China when it didn't exist yet? No. Discrepencies like a regular man turning into a giant are usually caused by each author as it is passed down through oral tradition adding something new or various people in a bar or other place wehre people gather all sitting around and re-telling their version of the story based on what they heard or even a vary inquisitive child asking WHY they attacked Chouka and how this, why that, etc. When these questions came up during a time when Taoism was in China, obviously the story teller would more than likely give a Taoist explanation. Then with the addition of Buddhism and Confucianism, their philosophies would get intertwined into the tale until you got the phantasmagorical Houshin Engi we all know. In other words, the Houshin Engi characters are probably based on real ordinary people around 3,000 years ago. This at least for Taikoubou, Ki Hatsu, Chuu Ou, and Dakki are very true. History records that Ki Hatsu became the new emperor of the following Dynasty, the Zhou, and that Taikoubou/Jiang Ziya was his great prime minister who helped him. History also records that Chuu Ou was a terrible king and is SERIOUSLY the most hated emperor in history for real. Dakki also probably existed b/c it wasn't uncommon for a king to have a great deal of concubines and it wouldn't take a whole lot for a bad tyrant of a king to be distracted by one, now would it?

Next is the Taoist beliefs which the DVD also touched on. Taoists believe that you have to live in balance with nature and return to a more simple life. You most "do nothing" (wu-wei). Nothing is strained, nothing is artificial, and nothing is unnatural. In other words, they wouldn't like the world we live in now with all our computers and virtual reality and stuff. This also puts a damper on the accuracy of all the computers in Senninkai and the fact that Taiitsu Shinjin is so science and computer oriented. Also in accordance with this though is that they can't kill anything, so that means that they can't eat meat because you would have to kill an animal to eat the meat. As a result, they are vegetarians. In this modern world though, Taoists probably wouldn't even be able to go to vegetarian restaurants because they now serve artificial meat and Taoists discourage artificial things despite the fact that it is actually vegetable with chemicals and stuff. Also, the reason that those in the Houshin Keikaku are released from not killing anything is based on the time they were born. If you've been to my Nataku shrine, it mentions the time he was born and it says the "fourth hour". This is very significant because all of those in the Houshin Keikaku were born during the fourth hour and destined to break the commandment against killing. A somewhat amusing thing is that all of the Juunisen in the novel would pray to Konron and ask for forgiveness as they were about to break the commandment before they actually went out to do battle and kill someone.

One curious thing though is why they are still called vegetrians today. By today's standards, they actually sound vegan instead of vegetarian. I'm pretty sure they can't eat fish because that would be killing too. However, can they eat eggs or drink milk? An egg isn't even born yet and milk keeps the cow alive. There are some people who won't take anything at all from an animal. So what kind of vegetarian or vegan are they? I haven't even gone far enough in my research to find the answer out myself.

Yet another curious thing the DVD mentioned was Nataku's diet because he can't eat meat and because he's a lotus, he won't eat other plants. However, in the original novel, Nataku DID eat three dates and drink tea and eat regular vegetarian meals with everyone else, so actually I don't think it's a problem. Especially if Yinshi asked him to eat her cooking. There was only one doushi who violated that rule and it was Tenka because in the novel, when he rejoined his family, he was so happy he didn't think it would hurt if he joined them in a feast with meat. If you go with what ADV says though, it implies Nataku lives off mineral water and sunlight. I, however, think it is more important to follow the original text though in this case because it is the only true version. Besides that, in the episode when Nataku first REALLY appeared (not the baby), Yinshi mentioned him coming to dinner and not being late for it, which implies she was gonna give him a real meal, and do you think he'd refuse his mother?

Back to Buddhism now. Why? Because three of the Juunisen turn into Buddhists and because Buddhists are also vegetarians. Buddhists also don't eat meat because they are not to kill anything. However, they aren't barred from eating fake meat as I've witnessed myself by eating at Chinese vegetarian restaurants with my family (I'm not Buddhist though, I just ate there). The last restaurant I went to served fake beef, fake crab meat, and tons of other fake meats including fake duck meat which tasted convincing although it didn't look anything like duck meat (more like strips of tofu).

Now, this leads me to a difference between Buddhists and Taoists. There are many others, but this one's important for all you fangirls out there. Buddhists priests and others closely affiliated with the religion itself and not just regular people who worship them, cannot marry. They have left the family and must stay single and resist earthly desires. They pray to find something deeper within and attain enlightenment and enter Nirvana. Another difference, although insignificant, they also shave their heads (with the exception of some women apparently like Kuan-shih-yin; remember that name too b/c it's important). Taoists however, do seem to be able to marry. Evidence for this would be with Nataku's father Li Sei and Raishinshi. Li Sei is STILL a Taoist, but he has a wife and three sons (soon after the Houshin Engi story to be three sons and a daughter). Raishinshi in both the anime (if not the manga) and traditional tales about him, gets/has a wife. In beliefs, it's said that in storms, Raishinshi is the thunder and his wife has a magic mirror with the lightning. In the anime, it mentions his wife and him having 150 children. Taoists obviously can keep their hair. ^^ For a better idea on Buddhist life, I suggest reading "Journey to the West" (AKA Saiyuki, Sai Yau Kei, Xi You Ji, and Hsi Yu Chi), which is one of the great novels of China.

Okay, now why is it important for fangirls to know that Buddhists can't marry? Because three of our beloved Juunisen later join the ranks of Buddhists after the Houshin Keikaku: Fugen Shinjin, Monjukouhoutenson, and Kuryuuson. Monjukouhoutenson and Kuryuuson aren't really that important at least, in the remaining modern culture, but Fugen Shinjin is. Fugen later turns into the Goddess of Mercy, Kuan-shih-yin. If you know anything about modern Buddhism or even have a lot of Asian, friends, you'll know that Kuan-shih-yin is VERY popular. She is worshipped by many people all over Asia. For certain, I know for sure in China and Vietnam. Kuan-yin is so popular that even my grandma worships her. Ever since I can remember, my grandma always had a statue of Kuan-yin in the living room with an urn filled with rice for incense. She moved it into her bedroom now, but it's still in plain sight. I also have a number of friends who wear her image as a jade necklace or bracelet and/or have a little statuette hanging on the rearview mirror of their car. My Mom bought a statue of her and it's sitting in the entertainment center (it's small) and even at that vegetarian Chinese restaurant I went to, they had a huge statue of her. In addition to that, she's the patron goddess of the Journey to the West story and appears in other things such as the Darkstalkers series of anime and video games where she helped Hsien-Ko.

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