The Power of Wish-Vows

Ethics and Ritual Transformation in Buddhist Temples in Contemporary China

Bibliographic Data

ID3156108
AuthorsYang Shen (0000-0003-2895-3068, Zhejiang University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume19
Issue3
Pages211-235
Publication date2023-05-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMaterial Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1743-2200 • E-ISSN: 1751-8342
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17432200.2023.2251356
OpenAlexW4387578747
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited56

Among the most noteworthy practices in Buddhist temples in China today are yuan or wish-vow actions. Wish-vows encompass both wish-making (xuyuan 许愿) and vow-giving (fayuan 发愿), with both modalities embraced by average temple-goers from a general population. Chinese Buddhist liturgies encourage ritual performers to adopt a bodhisattva stance, wishing/vowing for the well-being of all beings. This introduces an ethical dimension to yuan performances. This paper analyzes the continuity in practice between wish-making and vow-giving, exploring how popular and Buddhist understandings of ritual entangle and how ritual generates meaningful narratives for practitioners. The article shows how the human pursuit of ritual effects and ethical self-transformation are not contradictory but rather complementary processes. Considering this Chinese ritual situation deepens our comprehension of votive practices in syncretic religious traditions. Additionally, it offers a new direction for considering religious potentialities in late socialist societies. Furthermore, it usefully challenges the use of the term "prayer" in Chinese contexts. In this way, the article bridges anthropology, Chinese studies, and religious studies and enhances our conceptual toolkit for studying ongoing human transformation

Aesthetics · Art · Bodhisattva · Buddhism · China · Environmental ethics · Political science · Power (physics · Prayer · Sociology · Spirituality · Wish · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies