Animals, Ledgers of Merit and Demerit, and Karma

Religious Ecological Mechanisms in Chinese Morality Books of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Bibliographic Data

ID8135136
AuthorsJunhui Chen (0000-0001-5448-9532, Minzu University of China), Xinfeng Kong (Minzu University of China, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume17
Issue3
Pages276
Publication date2026-02-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel17030276
OpenAlexW7131236930
LanguageEN
References cited20

The article examines the religio-ecological framework articulated in Ming–Qing morality books 勸善書, focusing on how animals, Ledgers of merit 功過格, and karmic 業報 are integrated into a system of moral causality. Within this framework, actions such as killing or saving animals are directly linked to karmic reward and punishment, generating a dual mechanism that combines moral technology with an ultimate logic of justice to cultivate ecological consciousness and enforce social discipline. A central contribution of the study is the articulation of a triadic analytical framework—merit–demerit ledgers, karmic narrative, and animal ethics—showing how these elements form a coherent system of measurable and actionable ethical practice. In doing so, the framework challenges a strictly human-centered worldview by foregrounding an interconnected ecological order in which humans and animals are bound together through shared moral obligations and karmic entanglements. The article further situates this religio-ecological mechanism within contemporary debates in environmental ethics and animal rights. Through comparison with modern approaches—such as anti-speciesism, animal welfare and rights discourse, and proposals for cross-species political communities—it identifies both points of convergence and structural divergence. It concludes by exploring how this historical model might be critically translated and revised for present-day conditions, proposing a “revised morality book” framework that is more publicly defensible and more amenable to institutional implementation

Articulation (sociology · Convergence (economics · Economic Justice · Ledger · Mechanism (biology · Morality · Order (exchange · Politics · Chinese history and philosophy · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics

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Open DOIOpen Access