ABSTRACT
There's a saying in China: “The three teachings of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism are like the legs of a tripod; you cannot lack even one.” Though this was first spoken more than 1,000 years ago, it underscores the importance of these three traditional philosophies in Chinese culture, even today. Xiao or filial piety, is one of the most important Confucian values, and has been used to teach children in East Asia how to respect and care for their parents and ancestors for thousands of years. The Daoist idea of “letting things take their own natural course” is still a very popular belief in China. Meanwhile, the Chinese language itself has more than 500 idioms that reflect Buddhist teachings and principles, such as, “Good deeds create good karma, and bad deeds create bad karma” (Zhu, 2006).
