Five Great Families and Telepathy: Folk Religion and Buddhism in Neo-Dongbei Fiction by Zheng Zhi
Aiqing Wang
Al-Adyan Jurnal Studi Lintas Agama February 14, 2022 DOI: 10.24042/ajsla.v16i2.9626 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Argues that Zheng Zhi's 2020 novella anthology vividly represents folk and established religions in Northeast China, including shamanic animal worship of the 'five major deity families' and Buddhist practices motivated by physical wellbeing and psychological solace, mirroring folk religion's aims in contemporary Dongbei. |
Abstract
The 2010s has witnessed the visibility of literature based on China’s Northeast (Dongbei), exemplified by literary works composed by Zheng Zhi, Ban Yu and Shuang Xuetao, viz. the ‘three masters of Dongbei Renaissance’. In a 2020 novella anthology, Zheng Zhi expatiates upon a veritable cornucopia of representations of folk religion (aka popular religion) and established religions via depictions concerning shamanism, Buddhism and Christianity. In a narrative entitled Xian Zheng ‘Divine Illness’, Zheng Zhi manifests animal worship as a form of folk religion, by means of painting a vivid portrait of shamanic practices pertaining to ‘five major deity families’ that denotes fox, weasel, hedgehog, snake and rat spirits. In a narrative entitled Taxintong ‘Telepathy’, Zheng Zhi depicts Buddhist practices, the preponderant motivations for which are analogous to those for folk religion in contemporary Dongbei, namely, physical wellbeing and psychological solace.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |