Five Influential Factors for Chinese Buddhists’ Vegetarianism
The article explores five leading factors influencing Chinese Buddhists to observe vegetarian diets. The first one is the influence from the precepts and teachings of the important Mahayana sutras on vegetarianism. The second factor is the influence of Chinese imperial authority, leading political f...
| Published in: | Worldviews |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2018
|
| In: |
Worldviews
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
China
/ Buddhist
/ Vegetarianism
/ Reason
/ History 600 BC-2018
|
| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion BL Buddhism BM Chinese universism; Confucianism; Taoism KBM Asia NCB Personal ethics TA History |
| Further subjects: | B
Buddhism
Chinese Buddhist
Confucianism
Imperial authority
Taoism
vegetarian
|
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | The article explores five leading factors influencing Chinese Buddhists to observe vegetarian diets. The first one is the influence from the precepts and teachings of the important Mahayana sutras on vegetarianism. The second factor is the influence of Chinese imperial authority, leading political figures who promoted Buddhism to popularize vegetarianism. The third and fourth factors are the influences of Chinese indigenous religions, which consider the contributions of Confucianism and Taoism, respectively, to the vegetarianization of Chinese Buddhists. The final one explores the sociocultural influence, including societal norms or other aspects of one’s lived environment, which can smooth the path to vegetarian eating. We then conduct an assessment to gauge the influence of each factor. By studying and comparing the gauging data, we discover that the second factor, the advocacy of the imperial authority, is the most influential factor for the vegetarianization of ordained Chinese Buddhists. Although the influence levels of Buddhist sutras and Taoism are not as strong as that of the imperial authority, their influences are higher than that of Confucianism and sociocultural influence. Finally, we present a closing remark on future efforts to promote vegetarianism worldwide. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1568-5357 |
| Contains: | In: Worldviews
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685357-02201100 |