The ideas of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism in China are often considered as three complementary elements which, when synthesized, form a holistic picture of spirituality—something that can roughly be compared to the concept of the Holy Trinity.

Unifying the Divine: A Synthesis of Eastern Spirituality

The ideas of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism in China are often considered as three complementary elements which, when synthesized, form a holistic picture of spirituality—something that can roughly be compared to the concept of the Holy Trinity. According to Ricci, Taoism exalts “absence” (wu), Buddhism—“emptiness”, and Confucianism—“sincerity” (cheng) and “presence” (w). He notes that if such diverse manifestations can be combined, then it is also possible to unite opposing principles, such as water and fire or heaven and earth. In this way, the merging of these three approaches demonstrates the idea that a true understanding of God or the highest reality may lie in acknowledging that each of these traditions contributes its own unique facet to overall spiritual knowledge.

In the context of religious synthesis, this means that if each of these teachings is viewed not as mutually exclusive but as aspects of a single truth, their synthesis becomes a path to grasping a more complete, all-encompassing reality—similar to how, in the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity, three persons constitute one Divine Being. Thus, despite the different emphases—Taoism focusing on the immaterial “absence”, Buddhism on the transcendent “emptiness”, and Confucianism on concrete “presence” and moral sincerity—their unification can be seen as an attempt to discover a truth that transcends individual religious doctrines.

Supporting citation(s):
"‘Of the three religions, one (Taoism) exalts “absence” (wu), another (Buddhism) exalts “emptiness”, and the third (Confucianism) exalts “sincerity” (cheng) and “presence” (w). In the whole world, there is nothing more distant than “emptiness” (xuy) from reality (shi), or presence from absence. If they can be united, then water and fire, the square and the circle, the East and the West, heaven and earth can be united—and nothing is impossible in the Celestial Empire’ [Ricci 1985, [514], pp. 404/405]."

"Ultimately, Ricci concludes that a believer in the three religions will ultimately not differ from someone who believes in none, being in search of the right path and believing that faith exists beyond religions—and therefore, truly, nowhere."

Thus, comparing the ideas of these three teachings with the concept of the Holy Trinity points to the possibility of unification, where each religious tradition contributes its unique, yet necessary, facet to the understanding of a unified Divine revelation, which serves as the foundation for religious synthesis.