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The "Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands" (dongtian and fudi, 洞天福地) is a unique concept of sacred space in China and even in East Asia, combining beautiful natural scenery, rich historical heritage, and diverse cultural heritage. This paper tries to explain Mount Jingfu's (jingfu shan, 靜福山) aesthetic representations. The results show that the landscape's physical environment projects the spatio-temporal system and the concept of the universe in Daoist aesthetic ideals. With the spatial evolution of divine immortals' abodes from imagination to reality, people's yearning for divine cave palaces is transformed into their connection with and their expression of the palaces in exploring space interests and aesthetic trends that are then integrated into the secular life of thousands of households through living religious rituals. Preserved by local religious believers, the ritual activities incorporated geographic, familial, and divine interactions, and characterised essential social aesthetics. By exploring a typical case of Lingnan Region (lingnan, 嶺南, an old term for South China), this paper aims to elucidate the significance of the Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands as living heritage in contemporary society across multiple dimensions, and to provide a theoretical basis for the protection of its system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through an investigation of two recently discovered paper sheets of the Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment from the Silla kingdom, this paper reveals that early Korea had more diverse forms of dhāraṇī practices than previously assumed. Through analyses of these incantation sheets, this paper contributes toward filling the gap in our current understanding of the material practice pertaining to the Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment of medieval East Asia. Previously, all known traces of material dhāraṇīs from early Korea, with just a few exceptions, were related to the Sūtra of the Pure Light Incantation enshrined in the relic crypts of pagodas—a practice that has little connection to contemporaneous Chinese dhāraṇī practice. However, the newly discovered Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment sheets, whose date this paper infers to be between the eighth and ninth century, show that Unified Silla had a dhāraṇī practice closely linked to coeval Chinese practice. The Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment sheets from Silla show the modification and continuation of Chinese dhāraṇī practice. Unlike the Chinese amulet sheets of the Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment that were buried in tombs, the Silla amulet sheets were likely enshrined in one of the pagodas erected on Mount Nam in Silla's capital. At the same time, they were placed in the pagoda to wish for good afterlives of the soldiers who died at the battle, suggesting that they had a mortuary function similar to those buried in Chinese tombs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jesuit mission to East Asia highlights the polemical difficulties inherent in the process of introducing, translating, and creating a new theological paradigm within a host culture without a common religious worldview. Both Matteo Ricci in China and Ricci's erstwhile teacher, Alessandro Valignano, in Japan, both inveighed against Buddhism for positing a "void" as the Absolute rather than God. The East Asian Jesuit mission had an incomplete understanding of what emptiness/nothingness/void referred to until the native Japanese convert and former Zen monk, Fukansai Habian, took up the mantle as the Jesuit polemicist against native systems of thought, in particular, Buddhism. Whereas Ricci and Valignano attacked the "void" within the context of a negation of "something", Habian correctly understood the void as akin to the pleroma, the fullness of possibility, and the creative principle, but used his more nuanced understanding as a polemical expedient to deny or negate all Buddhist doctrines as expressing nothingness (which he erroneously equates with the void), even such form-affirming schools as the Pure Land school with its clearly defined goal of a physical post-mortem Pure Land. The polemical paradigm engendered by this encounter also served as the starting point for Buddhism's appearance in the Western imagination. This paper will make a comparative investigation of the polemical discourse between the Jesuits and Buddhists regarding the Absolute and demonstrate how this historical instance would have far-reaching consequences that have ongoing relevance regarding the interplay of Christian and Buddhist teachings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the transformation of Buddhist culture in the Jiangnan region (present-day southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang), driven by wartime disruptions during the transition from the Yuan Dynasty to the Ming. The Yuan Dynasty witnessed the flourishing of Buddhism, and in Jiangnan, the thriving Zen tradition carried on the legacy of the Southern Song Dynasty. Buddhism found many adherents among the affluent gentry class in Jiangnan, fostering a culture of generous charity that sustained and expanded Buddhism in the region. However, the conflicts toward the end of the Yuan Dynasty inflicted considerable damage on the temples, causing monks to flee. Temples, recognizable landmarks during conflicts, were susceptible to military occupation. Visiting Goryeo monks Muhak Jacho and Naong Hyegeun, and Japanese monks Mumon Gensen and Ginan, were forced to abandon their travels and return to their respective homelands, disrupting the once-thriving Buddhist exchange between Jiangnan and broader East Asia. The chaotic environment also fostered alliances between influential monks and regional powers, providing refuge for monks and an opportunity for both sides to forge beneficial connections. Anti-Yuan factions strategically protected revered monks, leveraging their influence to attract literati and intellectuals, who shared common ethical and spiritual values. This dynamic showcased the mutual benefits derived from such collaboration. Through an exploration of the interplay between politics, social forces, and Buddhism, this paper examines the impact of wartime turmoil on the development of Buddhism in the Jiangnan region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several sites in East Asia have been identified as Potalaka, originally thought to be located near the southern seas of India. The basis of this phenomenon is built upon the nature of Avalokiteśvara as a mediator between sentient beings and buddhas, the nature of Potalaka as a boundary between their worlds, and Buddhist philosophy. The belief in the abode of Avalokiteśvara bodhisattva on Earth incorporates various places into a Buddhist world transcending borders. This paper examines Korean beliefs about Potalaka and Avalokiteśvara through legends about Naksan Temple, with special emphasis on their relationship with mountain and sea worship. At the same time, the study attempts to connect the beliefs with the philosophical background of Hwaŏm tradition, which is in close relation with this ritual site. The aim of this approach is to point out the unique and universal, as well as the local and translocal elements in Korean narratives about Potalaka. In other words, the paper searches for patterns that are to be found in the wider Buddhist world and characteristics that are created by the specific religious environment of Korean culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed people's long-standing group life, and "less gathering" has become a popular slogan during this period. People will probably feel lonely when they are physically, socially, or mentally distanced and isolated or excluded, and they usually perceive a deficiency in the quality or quantity of their social relationships. Although loneliness is easily conflated with solitude, loneliness as an emotion is generally regarded as negative while solitude can be positive. There are various causes and effects of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and loneliness has been found to have significant impacts on poorer physical and mental health. Religiosity and spirituality are specifically proven to have a great impact on handling loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. When regarding belongingness as the opposite of loneliness and social isolation, religious belonging means a feeling of being "at home" and "connected". In this paper, from a comparative approach, we attempt to investigate how the three most prominent traditions in East Asia, i.e., Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, can help manage the feeling of loneliness. Due to different understandings of loneliness, their coping strategies for loneliness also vary. Through a preliminary study of "benevolence and rites," "wu-wei and freedom," and "mindfulness and spiritual realization," we can learn from the ancient wisdom about how to reduce loneliness and promote spiritual well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese monk Yixing 一行 (673–727) is unique in being an early architect of the Mantrayāna tradition (Esoteric Buddhism) in East Asia in addition to featuring as a significant individual within the history of astronomy and calendrical science in China. His legacy in the Buddhist world is well known, but the enduring appreciation of his scientific work in later centuries is less understood. The present paper will document the achievements of Yixing's work in astronomy while also discussing the perception and appreciation of his work in subsequent centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An anthropogenically caused climate crisis threatens the Earth and humanity. As such, religion's engagement is of increasing importance. This paper critically evaluates the significance of the East Asian context regarding the climate crisis, arguing for contextualization of contemporary ecotheology, or an East Asian contextual ecotheology. Considering how key contextual elements might inform ecotheologies to mobilize Christians regionally to action in relation to the climate crisis, this paper concludes that the field of East Asian ecotheology is an emerging conversation rich with opportunity for continued theologizing and inter-religious dialogue, and practical impetus for East Asian Christians to mobilize to address the climate crisis. Suggestions are made as to how these ecotheologies may be integrated into Christian practice in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The religions of South and East Asia resist Eurocentric interpretations, such as the so-called World Religion Paradigm. However, they are subjected in various ways to hetero- and auto-orientalist representations that respond to Western ideals and expectations. This article analyzes how Italian Catholic teachers use online representations of East Asian religions in their lessons to teach these traditions. The aim is to shed light on the interplay, facilitated by online environments, between contemporary processes of Eurocentric and Orientalist interpretation and the educational and confessional motivations of confessional religious education teachers. The result of the analysis indicates that these factors concur to reinforce misleading representations, which contradicts the intercultural aims proclaimed by teachers and other Teaching of Catholic Religion stakeholders. Nevertheless, this article also individuates those elements that could be fruitfully framed in an academic study-of-religions perspective and suggests a modality of cooperation between Catholic Religion teachers and scholars of religions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducts a comparative analysis of Buddhist sacred structures throughout Asia, focusing on the historical development, regional disparities, and the cultural sinification process of stūpas, caityas, and pagodas. Specifically, it delves into the origins, definitions, and terminologies of early Buddhist monuments, such as stūpas/mahācetiyas and caityas/cetiyas, emphasizing their Indian origins. The research further explores the adaptation and reinterpretation of these original Indian concepts as they spread to East Asia, morphing into new forms, such as pagodas and Buddha halls. It examines the subtle shifts in terminology and the altered meanings and functions of these monuments, from their Indian origins to their sinified representations in East Asia. The transformation of Indian Buddhist monuments through local culture and technology into East Asian architectural forms is investigated, offering a detailed perspective on the dynamic transformation of sacred spaces in Buddhism. This illustrates the religion's adaptability and integration with the local cultures of ancient East Asia. By analyzing the terminologies and symbolic meanings associated with the architectural transition from stūpa to pagoda, the study argues that sinicized ritual spaces in East Asia have adopted architectural types from pre-Buddhist traditions to represent Indian spaces, thereby highlighting the nuanced changes and the continuous adaptation of sacred Buddhist architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a critical review of the results of the Asuka Historical Museum's excavation of the Asukadera wooden pagoda site in Japan since 2015, and its implications for Buddhist cultural exchange in East Asia. The second section examines the Asuka Historical Museum's categorization and scientific analysis of the beads, pearls, horse gear, earrings, gold and silver artifacts, mica, and śarīra containers. We assert that most objects excavated from the Asukadera wooden pagoda site are relics from the Asuka era (538–710), when the pagoda was first established in 593, and only a limited number of artifacts, such as the śarīra [relics] container, were added after the wooden pagoda was burned down in 1196. The third section compares the archeological remains from the Asukadera wooden pagoda site and the reliquary objects from the Paekche Wanghŭng-sa site (577) and Mirŭk-sa site (639), which have been conventionally considered to be its models. What the relics from these three historical sites have in common is that they include clothing accessories nobles wore as they participated in the Buddhist rituals of enshrining the śarīra in a wooden pagoda. However, some differences in the metallic craft items, such as crowns and belts, were still found between Paekche and Japan, which was due to the difference in costume styles in the respective countries at the time. Also, horse gear and lamellar armor unearthed from Asukadera sites was not found in Paekche temple sites, but is similar to earlier Japanese kofun (megalithic tumuli) grave goods, which provides evidence that as Buddhism was transferred to Japan from Paekche, it was not accepted in completely the same form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sino-Japanese religious discourse, more often than not, is treated as a unidirectional phenomenon. Academic treatments of pre-modern East Asian religion usually portray Japan as the passive recipient of Chinese Buddhist traditions, while explorations of Buddhist modernization efforts focus on how Chinese Buddhists utilized Japanese adoptions of Western understandings of religion. This paper explores a case where Japan was simultaneously the receptor and agent by exploring the Chinese revival of Tang-dynasty Zhenyan. This revival—which I refer to as Neo-Zhenyan—was actualized by Chinese Buddhist who received empowerment (Skt. abhiṣeka) under Shingon priests in Japan in order to claim the authority to found "Zhenyan" centers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and even the USA. Moreover, in addition to utilizing Japanese Buddhist sectarianism to root their lineage in the past, the first known architect of Neo-Zhenyan, Wuguang (1918–2000), used energeticism, the thermodynamic theory propagated by the German chemist Freidrich Wilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932; 1919 Nobel Prize for Chemistry) that was popular among early Japanese Buddhist modernists, such as Inoue Enryō (1858–1919), to portray his resurrected form of Zhenyan as the most suitable form of Buddhism for the future. Based upon the circular nature of esoteric transmission from China to Japan and back to the greater Sinosphere and the use of energeticism within Neo-Zhenyan doctrine, this paper reveals the sometimes cyclical nature of Sino-Japanese religious influence. Data were gathered by closely analyzing the writings of prominent Zhenyan leaders alongside onsite fieldwork conducted in Taiwan from 2011–2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, there has been a considerable change in the religious life of the Hmong ethnic communities from the mountainous provinces of northern Vietnam—specifically, their conversion to Protestantism. Protestantism was introduced into the communities under a modified model known as Vàng Trứ/Vàng Chứ through the endeavors of the Far East Broadcasting Company. From 1993 to 2004, the number of Protestant followers among these communities increased sharply. Today, the mountainous northern area of Vietnam is home to 300,000 Hmong Protestants of various denominations. This study, based on textual analysis, participant observations, in-depth interviews, and field trips, seeks to explore the Hmong conversion to Protestantism. The focus is on issues relating to the growth of Protestantism and Protestant influence on the Hmong people from 1987 (widely understood to be the beginning of Protestantism in the Hmong community) to the present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127), the Linji School became the main branch of the Southern Chan Buddhism. Understanding the historical significance of the Linji School is crucial for comprehending the origins and development of Chan Buddhism in China and East Asia. This article adheres to the academic approach of studying Chan in its historical context, using GIS (Geographic Information System) tools to include in the research all seven generations of Linji monks, from the fourth to the tenth Linji generation, and reconstructing the spatial and temporal process of Linji's transmission in the 10th and 11th centuries. The study found that the Linji monastic group maintained a tenuous relationship with secular power in their ideology during the Northern Song Dynasty, with their preaching distribution center far from the power center (the capital), located to the south of the Yangtze River. This situation allowed the Linji monastic group to avoid extinction during the transition between the Song and Jin Dynasties, and the monastic group later became a unique and thriving force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P. 3808 records a popular sermons ceremony, which was a Buddhist folk preaching event held in the Zhongxing Palace to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang. Through the analysis of this text, it is possible to conduct a more comprehensive study of Buddhist popular sermons that formed and gradually developed during the mid-Tang Dynasty. Additionally, this analysis can provide a more systematic understanding of the Humane Kings Convocations (Renwang hui 仁王會), which have had a significant impact on East Asia since the late Southern Dynasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having distinguished the primary philosophers of religion, those whose philosophies of "Everything" entail something about religion, from those who study only or mainly religion, this article discusses the necessary comparative base for the future of the field. It distinguishes the approach that begins with the subject matter from the approach that sticks with a home tradition to which comparison adds new material, arguing for the former. The religions of West Asia, South Asia, and East Asia are discussed, noting the naturalistic form of the last. The fundamental comparative category for philosophy of religion is the Ultimate, of which I give my own version. This version also requires categories defining determinate things, their togetherness of various sorts, and their essential and conditional components. To be plausible, this theory needs to be associated positively and negatively with the main religious traditions and with our relation to nature and society. Religious lives need to be scaled from the primitive and literalistic all the way to the philosophical. Philosophy of religion or philosophical theology of all sorts is fallible and needs to prepare for the next step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pure land comes from the Indian term "sukha," which means welfare and happiness. However, in East Asia, Buddhism has been associated with the theological concepts of the immortal realm in the bond of death and afterlife. This study reviews detailed conception of Pure Land architecture in Sanskrit literature, as well as Buddhist sutras. The thesis notes that the conceptual explanation of Pure Land architecture, which describes the real world, becomes more concrete over time. Such detailed expression is revealed through the depiction of the transformation tableau. Hence, through Pure Land architecture situated on Earth, this research shows that Buddhist monks and laypeople hope for their own happy and wealthy settlement in the Pure Land. The building's expression of transformation tableaux influences the layout and shape of Buddhist temples built in the mundane real world at that time. Moreover, this study notes that Bulguksa Monastery is a cumulative product of U-shaped central-axis arrangements with courtyards, terraced platforms, high-rise pavilions, and lotus ponds, plus an integrated synthesis of religious behaviors by votaries as a system of rituals. Further, it merges pre-Buddhist practices and other Buddhist subdivisions' notions with Hwaeom thought, in comparison with Hojoji and Byodoin Temples that follow the Pure Land tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ancient books on East Asian mathematics introduced to the Korean Peninsula enrich our understanding of the arithmetic notions that mold the creative thought processes of the ancients. They believed that all objects in the universe could be composed of circles and squares and all items could be expressed in terms of geometrical profiles. Through the combination of circles and squares, the ancient East Asians expressed the order of the world and unraveled it mathematically. These principles are evident in the construction principles of early Korean stone pagodas. In particular, the square root of 2 (√2) is a very important number in the delineation represented in the consolidation of inscribed and circumscribed circles with squares. Further, the square root of 2 is applied as a design principle in the construction of the stone pagodas at the temples Chŏngnimsa and Kamŭnsa. This article demonstrates that the ancients on the continuous impact of the Jiuzhang Suanshu and the Zhoubi Suanshu constructed the pagodas complying with design principles based on the arithmetic and geometric proportional systems of √2 times, which are intended to adjust compositional proportions and the gradual decrease in length to shape the tripartite partition of the foundation, the pagoda body, and the finial in stone pagodas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confucian rituals have constituted the foundation of religious practice in the traditional societies of East Asia. Paying attention to the Confucian ritual, this article explores the way Confucianism constructs its symbolic system based on people's natural feelings, particularly in the case of three-year mourning. It intends to show how the two feelings of "affection for the family" (chinchin/qinqin, 親親) and "respect for the honorable" (chonjon/zunzun, 尊尊) are ritualized in Confucian rites, and to illuminate the religious and social dimensions of Confucianism in premodern Korea by analyzing a seventeenth-century controversy over royal mourning from the perspective of these two principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the hermeneutical challenges to understand religious belonging and religious identity in the East Asian context. In East Asia, religious identities have not always been as exclusively delineated, as is the case in Western models of religious diversity, for example in the so-called World Religions paradigm. Various theoretical frameworks are discussed in religious studies, sociology and anthropology of religion in China and East Asia, to acquire a better understanding of religious belonging. It is observed that two hermeneutical frameworks are used by scholars to discuss religious diversity: a hermeneutics of multiple religions and a hermeneutics of religiosity. The former analyses "religious belonging" as a "belonging to religious traditions". In the latter, "religious belonging" is understood as transcending particular religious traditions. It is argued that we need to take another look at the philosophical concept of "multiplicity" to understand religious diversity and religious belonging. We can use the Deleuzian concepts of "rhizome" and "assemblage" to describe religious belongings in East Asia specifically and also religion in general. A rhizomatic thinking about religion enables us to reimagine the concept of religious belonging as rhizomatic belonging, and also, as is argued by Haiyan Lee and Mayfair Yang, make it possible to subvert power structures inherent to religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]