More Than Curing the Sick: A Re-Examination of Medicine Buddha Worship in Medieval China
The study questions and challenges the dichotomous approach that associates the worship of Medicine Buddha solely with the worldly benefits of the living, thereby neglecting its relevance to the concerns related to the deceased. The research investigates medieval devotees’ religious activities dedic...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Johns Hopkins University Press
2024
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| In: |
Journal of Chinese religions
Year: 2024, Volume: 52, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-27 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The study questions and challenges the dichotomous approach that associates the worship of Medicine Buddha solely with the worldly benefits of the living, thereby neglecting its relevance to the concerns related to the deceased. The research investigates medieval devotees’ religious activities dedicated to this divinity, focusing on the Sui (581-618) and the Tang (618-907) dynasties when such devotion gained increasing popularity in China. It reveals that medieval veneration dedicated to Medicine Buddha transcended the presumed dichotomy, encompassing the well-being of both the living and the dead. This finding underscores the importance of moving beyond the limited perception. Instead of adopting the simplistic label of a "healing divinity," contextualizing the worship within its broader religious milieu can better capture its full complexity. By extension, the research paves the way for reconsidering the conventional classification that assigns relatively fixed symbolic values to Buddhist deities, which contributes to a more thorough and nuanced understanding of religious practices and beliefs. 摘要:, 本篇研究質疑並檢討二元化的觀點，該觀點僅將藥師佛信仰與人間的現世利益聯繫在一起，卻忽略了藥師佛與亡者來世安樂的關聯性。本研究考察了中世紀信仰者以藥師佛為中心的宗教活動，重點關注於在隋朝（581-618）和唐朝（618-907), 當此信仰在中國日益普及的時期。研究揭示了中世紀對藥師佛的信仰超越了常見預設的二分法，它不只涵蓋了為生者祈福，還包括了亡者的福祉。本文的重點在於強調必須跳脫出狭隘的認知。不應僅僅簡單地將它貼上「醫王」的標籤，而是應將此信仰放置於更廣泛的宗教脈絡中，以更好地理解其複雜性。此外，這項研究促使我們重新思考佛教一般將諸佛菩薩賦予固定象徵意義的傳統觀念，因此有助於更全面、更進一步細緻地理解宗教實踐和信仰。 |
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| ISSN: | 2050-8999 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Chinese religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/jcr.2024.a928799 |