RT Article
T1 Releasing Life or Releasing Death: The Practice of and Discourse on Buddhist Animal Liberation Rituals in Contemporary Xiamen
JF Journal of Chinese religions
VO 49
IS 1
SP 109
OP 143
A1 Darshani, Avi
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1760586102
AB The ritual of “releasing life” (fangsheng 放生), a form of Buddhist cultivation, has been widely practiced by Chinese Buddhists for at least fifteen centuries. This ritual is currently enjoying immense popularity among devotees in mainland China and within Chinese societies around the world. Yet the ubiquity of fangsheng in China has elicited sharp criticism from various societal sectors, including the government, the media, Buddhist institutions, animal advocates, and environmentalists. After outlining the main historical milestones of the practice, this article examines two lay Buddhist groups that are part of a larger fangsheng network and regularly engage in releasing life in contemporary Xiamen 廈門, Fujian 福建 province. It then describes the national Buddhist leadership’s condemnation of “indiscriminate” fangsheng rituals as well as attempts to regulate on the part of the state, which have culminated in an orchestrated campaign for “Rational Releasing of Life.” In addition, focusing on fangsheng on a local level, the article explores the steps taken by Buddhist establishment actors in Xiamen to promote this new, rational concept alongside lay groups’ apologetics in light of the growing criticism of the practice.
K1 Buddhist Association of China
K1 Xiamen
K1 中國佛教協會
K1 佛教居士群體
K1 宗教事務條例
K1 廈門
K1 放生
K1 都市宗教
K1 fangsheng
K1 lay Buddhist groups
K1 religious regulations
K1 urban religiosity