The Supernatural in East Asia

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 7046

Special Issue Editor

Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Interests: Buddhism; Daoism; Chinese literature; fiction; drama

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on various strange beings, places, and relationships that are represented in East Asian texts and are usually categorized as the supernatural by modern readers. Presenting a picture different from the rational world, this Special Issue poses the following questions: How does the supernatural constitute the human experience? In what sense is the supernatural real to us? How does our view of the supernatural resemble or conflict with views established in premodern society? And what are the Buddhist, Daoist, and Shamanistic influences on supernatural writings? In tackling these questions, we hope to deepen our understanding of the supernatural in contrast to material reality. We also hope to discover the forces that propelled the writing and circulation of supernatural narratives in East Asia.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editors (peng.liu@rutgers.edu) or to the Religions editorial office (religions@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor to ensure proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Timeline:

  • Abstract submission deadline: 20 September 2023
  • Notification of abstract acceptance: 30 September 2023
  • Full manuscript deadline: 31 December 2023

Dr. Peng Liu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • narrative
  • strange animals
  • ghosts
  • demons
  • immortals
  • sacred mountains
  • underworld
  • parallel universes
  • magical skills
  • Buddhism
  • Daoism
  • Shamanism
  • China
  • Korea

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 383 KiB  
Article
The Efforts of Government-Driven Reform of Both State and Personal Rites in Early Chosŏn: A Historical Shift from Spiritual Efficacy to Meritorious Practice
by Ch’oe Chongsŏk
Religions 2024, 15(4), 418; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040418 - 28 Mar 2024
Viewed by 88
Abstract
In the fifteenth century, the government of Chosŏn, Korea, influenced by the new religious understandings from early Ming China, strived to reform state and personal rites by eliminating elements of spiritual efficacy to align with contemporary religious perspectives. This series of ritual reforms [...] Read more.
In the fifteenth century, the government of Chosŏn, Korea, influenced by the new religious understandings from early Ming China, strived to reform state and personal rites by eliminating elements of spiritual efficacy to align with contemporary religious perspectives. This series of ritual reforms mirrored various Ming policies that, despite being appealing theoretically, struggled with implementation due to a mismatch with local and personal realities. This suggests that Chosŏn’s government-led reforms, diverging from traditional beliefs, faced similar challenges in Korea, leading to various problems. This study delves into the ritual transformations prompted by the reforms in the early Chosŏn era. It highlights the government’s partial success in reforming state rites by removing elements of spiritual efficacy despite potential hindrances and deviations from traditional practices. However, this study also notes the failure of reforms concerning personal rites, which did not yield significant results. It reflects on the complexities and implications of these reforms, considering the socio-religious context of the time and the influence of contemporary Ming China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Supernatural in East Asia)
17 pages, 351 KiB  
Article
Visits to the Palace of the Sea God in Ancient and Medieval Japan
by Matthieu Felt
Religions 2024, 15(3), 350; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15030350 - 13 Mar 2024
Viewed by 425
Abstract
Visits to the palace of the sea god are a recurring theme in premodern Japanese narratives, and comparing these stories across time periods reveals shifting perceptions of the supernatural world. The earliest sources for narratives of travel to the palace of the sea [...] Read more.
Visits to the palace of the sea god are a recurring theme in premodern Japanese narratives, and comparing these stories across time periods reveals shifting perceptions of the supernatural world. The earliest sources for narratives of travel to the palace of the sea god in Japan date from the eighth century, most notably in the stories of Luck of the Mountain and Urashima Tarō. In these stories, the descriptions of the sea god’s palace, the relationship of the sea god to the natural world, and even the location of the palace were tied to eighth-century understandings of kingship, weather, and geography. Later adaptations of these stories incorporate features of Buddhist geography, Chinese architecture, Buddhist narrative motifs, and even an alternative vision of supernatural time. These alterations occurred because the eighth-century narratives required adaptation to fit a new political, social, and religious reality. This comparison demonstrates that our vision of the supernatural world is inextricably tied to our understanding of the natural. When our fundamental grasp of the nature of reality changes, our imagination of the supernatural transforms in turn. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Supernatural in East Asia)
16 pages, 923 KiB  
Article
Authority over Death: Two Tales Related to the Lord of Mount Tai in Konjaku Monogatarishū
by Yiwen Shen
Religions 2023, 14(10), 1309; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101309 - 18 Oct 2023
Viewed by 939
Abstract
Tales of Times Now Past (Konjaku Monogatarishū 今昔物語集) is a Japanese setsuwa (anecdotes) collection dating from the early twelfth century. Originally contained in 31 volumes, it includes more than one thousand systematically arranged tales from India, China, and Japan. Despite the fact [...] Read more.
Tales of Times Now Past (Konjaku Monogatarishū 今昔物語集) is a Japanese setsuwa (anecdotes) collection dating from the early twelfth century. Originally contained in 31 volumes, it includes more than one thousand systematically arranged tales from India, China, and Japan. Despite the fact that Daoism was rejected by the Japanese imperial court as an organized religion, Daoist philosophies and practical systems found their ways into Japan, having a significant and profound influence over Japanese esoteric cosmology and folk beliefs. This article takes the Lord of Mount Tai (CN: Taishan Fujun; JP: Taizan Fukun 泰山府君) as the focus and examines two pertinent stories in Tales of Times Now Past. By placing the texts in a broader historical, religious, and comparative Japan–China perspective, I examine the reshaping of Daoist elements and traditional Chinese philosophical principles in these two stories and thus demonstrate how the Daoist fragments transmitted to Japan were transformed into an integral part of the orthodox structure by the time of the late Heian period in the pursuit of a more organized form of government. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Supernatural in East Asia)
33 pages, 9958 KiB  
Article
Snake, Spell, Spirit, and Soteriology: The Birth of an Indian God Jiedi 揭諦 in Middle-Period China (618–1279)
by Zhaohua Yang
Religions 2023, 14(10), 1303; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101303 - 17 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1479
Abstract
I introduce a Buddhist god named Jiedi, believed to be a personification of the renowned gate mantra in the Heart Sūtra. I argue for a complex genesis story where the transference of the nāga-taming function and aquatic setting from the rainmaking [...] Read more.
I introduce a Buddhist god named Jiedi, believed to be a personification of the renowned gate mantra in the Heart Sūtra. I argue for a complex genesis story where the transference of the nāga-taming function and aquatic setting from the rainmaking spell in the Great Cloud Sūtra to the Heart Sūtra Mantra, coupled with its exegetical tradition emphasizing the soteriological metaphor of crossing, created an independent cult of the Jiedi Mantra. In battling chthonic snake spirits demanding virgin sacrifice in Sichuan, a regional variation of a cosmopolitan alchemical theme, the mantra was personified into a god associated with water and warfare. The exorcistic function of the mantra was the motor behind its apotheosis in Middle-period China. While he was elevated from a mere spirit to a vidyārāja (“wisdom king”) in tantric Buddhism, his cult was also disseminated in the Song, witnessing him provide broad deliverance in diverse areas such as industry, agriculture, infrastructure, military, and civil service. In late imperial China, he further imprinted himself on sacred geography, became a special class of warrior god, made inroads into Daoism and local religion, and proliferated in vernacular fiction and drama. An exotic Indian god was born on Chinese soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Supernatural in East Asia)
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17 pages, 1707 KiB  
Article
A Tale of Wonders in Performance: The Precious Scroll of Wang Hua in the Storytelling Tradition of Changshu, Jiangsu, China
by Rostislav Berezkin
Religions 2023, 14(5), 670; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050670 - 18 May 2023
Viewed by 1036
Abstract
Baojuan (precious scrolls) are a type of prosimetric literature in the vernacular language that flourished in the lower Yangzi valley between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most baojuan texts are devoted to religious themes, often involving wondrous figures and events which [...] Read more.
Baojuan (precious scrolls) are a type of prosimetric literature in the vernacular language that flourished in the lower Yangzi valley between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most baojuan texts are devoted to religious themes, often involving wondrous figures and events which can be characterized as “supernatural”. The Precious Scroll of Wang Hua (Wang Hua baojuan 王花寶卷) is a comparatively late text centered on the marvelous apparitions leading to the salvation of a lay person. It is a widespread text of the southern “scroll recitation” tradition as it survives in Changshu, Jiangsu, but to date, it has not received attention from scholars of Chinese popular literature and religion. Still, it is important for understanding the origins, development, and functions of precious scrolls and their contribution to the field of Chinese popular religion. The original text of the Precious Scroll of Wang Hua formed ca. end of the nineteenth century, but the present research mainly uses the manuscript version of a modern performer from the vicinity of Changshu (ca. 1995). This narrative combines two major topics of the wondrous manifestation of Bodhisattva Guanyin and the descent to Hell. Both topics can be traced back to the early “miracle tales”. Here, they have been adapted to the local life and cultural setting. The figure of the skeptical and egoistic Wang Hua who initially rejected the injunctions of Guanyin is a type well known to the modern audiences of baojuan. Thus, the supernatural elements serve the purpose of reconfirming traditional beliefs and values in the contemporary society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Supernatural in East Asia)
10 pages, 860 KiB  
Article
Lady White Bone: The Making of a Monstress
by I-Hsien Wu
Religions 2023, 14(4), 542; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040542 - 17 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1467
Abstract
Lady White Bone, a demon from the sixteenth-century novel Journey to the West (Xiyou ji 西遊記), has grown into one of the most celebrated femme fatales in popular imagination. This paper explores the formation of this monster as a gendered skeleton and [...] Read more.
Lady White Bone, a demon from the sixteenth-century novel Journey to the West (Xiyou ji 西遊記), has grown into one of the most celebrated femme fatales in popular imagination. This paper explores the formation of this monster as a gendered skeleton and its association with the dead body. Contextualizing this character in a broadly defined genre of skeleton fantasy, I investigate her lineage in a textual network of literature and religion, focusing on zhiguai 志怪 (accounts of anomalies) short stories and the Buddhist meditation “White Bone Contemplation” (baigu guan 白骨觀), which in turn, leads to the notion of “beauty is white bone” (meiren baigu 美人白骨), a highly gendered rendering of the Buddhist notion “form is void” (se ji shi kong 色即是空). To study the creation and development of this dazzling undead is to examine how women are posed as danger in various traditions, and to understand how this character continues to fascinate readers and viewers centuries after its creation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Supernatural in East Asia)
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