译林牛津版高中英语选修9课件：U4 Welcome to the unit （2）.pptVIP

It is said that the first mosque was built based on the structure of Muhammad’s house in the city of Medina. Basically, a mosque consists of a courtyard, a domed hall and a fountain. Before prayer, people need to wash themselves in the fountain and then they can worship in the courtyard or the hall facing the holy city of Mecca. The wall facing Mecca is called qibla. Human forms are not allowed to be drawn in Islam, so all the decorations in a mosque appear as shapes such as circles and squares. Do you know of any famous mosques in China? There are many famous mosques in China. One of them is the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang. This mosque was built in 1442 and is the largest in China. Another famous one is the Great Mosque in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. It was built in the 18th century in a traditional Chinese architectural style. What do you know about Taoism? Taoism is one of the major religions in China. It was founded by Lao-tzu in about the 6th century BC. The most important text of Taoism is Tao-te-Ching. In the 5th century AD, Taoism developed as a religious system. What is the belief behind Taoism? The central concept of Taoism is Tao, which refers to the ways the universe functions. Taoism believes in ‘wuwei’, which means that everything must follow its course and happen naturally. What does the picture of Taichi mean? In the picture, the white part represents ‘yang’, and the the black part represents ‘yin’. Taoism believes that ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ are two fundamental forces in the universe. ‘Yin’ is the passive or negative force, referring to dark, wet or feminine aspects, while ‘yang’ represents active and positive things, such as the bright, dry and masculine aspects. According to Taoism, wise people will achieve a balance between the interactions of these two forces. Although there are so many beliefs or religions, do you think that they have anything in common? different from superstition, which has no central beliefs