Domesticating esoteric Buddhism: lay women, Foxin Jing practice, and somatic authority in contemporary China.
Tianyan Yin, Yaoping Liu, Daohua Xu
Frontiers in Sociology September 9, 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2026.1867040 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | Lay women practitioners of Foxin Jing in contemporary China |
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Keywords | Contemporary chinese buddhism Foxin jing Embodied religion Heart-of-mind esoteric buddhism Lay women Lived esotericism Religious agency |
| Key findings | The author argues that lay women sustain Foxin Jing through domestic and informal settings, relational networks, and bodily-affective experiences involving voice, breath, silence, emotional composure, and changes in bodily tension, rather than through formal institutions alone. The article proposes the concept of "somatic authority" to explain how embodied transformation becomes socially recognizable as evidence of religious efficacy and a basis for interpersonal trust. |
Abstract
This study examines how lay women engage with, adapt, and transmit the heart-mind esoteric Buddhist tradition known as Foxin Jing () in contemporary China. Previous scholarship on Chinese esoteric Buddhism has predominantly focused on issues related to legitimacy, lineage, institutional power, and master-disciple relations. However, there has been a relative lack of focus on the role played by women in maintaining esoteric Buddhist practice via the domestic, affective, and embodied dimensions of religion. Drawing on qualitative research with twenty lay women practitioners, this study shows that Foxin Jing is experienced not merely as an esoteric ritual or protective dhāraṇī, but as an embodied heart-mind discipline integrated into domestic routines, interpersonal relationships, and personal cultivation. The findings demonstrate that women sustain the practice through domestic and informal lay settings, relational networks, and bodily-affective experiences involving voice, breath, silence, emotional composure, and changes in bodily tension. The article further develops the concept of somatic authority to explain how embodied transformation becomes socially recognizable as evidence of religious efficacy and a basis for interpersonal trust. These findings show that the continuity of Foxin Jing depends not only on formal institutions and lineage authority, but also on women's everyday discipline, relational transmission, and embodied religious credibility.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... | 2017 | Qualitative study with mixed-methods | |
| A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives American Buddhist practitioners | 2014 | Qualitative study | |
| Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns | 2011 | Mixed-methods study | n = 139 |
| Anger regulation in traumatized Cambodian refugees: the perspectives of Buddhist monks. Buddhist Cambodian monks in Massachusetts | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 6 |
| The Lived Experiences of Experienced Vipassana Mahasi Meditators: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Experienced Vipassana Mahasi meditators | 2018 | Qualitative study |