Identity and Buddhism in Can Xue’s Frontier
John Rothfork
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Key points | Argues that Can Xue's novel Frontier, though often read as an incoherent pastiche of dream images, can be understood through Zen Buddhism using T. P. Kasulis' vocabulary: characters seek answers to koans in dreams, perception, and meditation, and the protagonist Liujin gives up thinking—the goal in Zen and Taoism (cf. wu-wei)—to sit in zazen not for enlightenment but simply to sit, until "bit by bit, her mind became luminous." |
Abstract
ABSTRACT Can Xue’s Chinese novel, Frontier, seems to have little coherence. It is often thought to offer a pastiche of dream images. However, an understanding of Zen Buddhism, provided by T. P. Kasulis’ Zen Action Zen Person, offers a vocabulary to explain how the characters in the novel seek answers to koans as they struggle to find meaning in their dreams, perceptions, and meditation. Liujin, the main character, doesn’t find Western philosophic answers, but is described in the end as giving up thinking, the goal in Zen Buddhism and in Taoism (cf. wu-wei) to enjoy “the touch of the cool evening air.” Like Kasulis’ enlightened monk, Liujin sits to sit (in zazen or meditation), rather than sitting in hopes of enlightenment. She sits to have being, to taste being (rasa). “Bit by bit, her mind became luminous.”
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 |