Engaging Animals in Taiwanese Buddhism: Two Case Studies
臺灣佛教中的動物參與：兩個案例研究
Search for other papers by Ling Han in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Chengpang Lee in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
Animals play a significant role in Taiwanese Buddhist environmental practices. This article examines two relatively well-known animal-focused organizations: the Life Conservation Association (LCA), founded by Shi Chao Hwei, and Sheng Ming, established by Shi Hai Tao. Our discussion illuminate the central role of animals in shaping the Buddhist understanding of suffering and the different responses it elicits within the Buddhist community, such as renewing traditional practices like fangsheng (releasing animals into the wild) in Sheng Ming and pioneering animal protection campaigns in the LCA. Disagreements among Buddhists over the euthanasia of shelter dogs are also discussed. Situated within the broader theoretical framework of environmentalism and gender, the article shows that in contrast to the decoupling of religion and the animal protection movement in Western societies, Buddhism and Buddhists, particularly several female Buddhist leaders, play a leading role in grassroots efforts for animal welfare.
中文摘要
動物在臺灣佛教的環境和社會實踐中扮演著重要角色，本文通過文獻研究和一手的參與經驗，我們探討了兩個相對知名的案例：由釋昭慧法師創立的“關懷生命協會”（LCA）和釋海濤法師成立的“生命”電視台。這兩個案例揭示了動物在塑造佛教對理解苦難的核心作用。文章探討了這種意識如何在佛教社群中引發不同的回應，例如“生命”對傳統放生實踐的更新，以及“關懷生命協會”在動物保護運動的開創性地位。本文還探討了佛教社會運動者在流浪動物安樂死問題上的分歧。我們將對兩個個案的討論置於當前對環境和性別研究的廣泛框架下，並與批判學派對動物問題的最新研究進行對話。研究表明，與西方社會中宗教與動物保護運動的脫鉤不同，佛教和佛教徒，尤其是幾位女性佛教領袖，在推動台灣草根動物福利運動中發揮著主導作用。
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
APA (Association of Animal Protection of the Republic of China). 2020. Liushi zhounian jinian tekan六十周年紀念特刊 [60th Anniversary Special Issue]. https://www.apatw.org/sites/default/files/field_file/publication/APA%2060%E5%91%A8%E5%B9%B4%E5%8D%B0%E5%88%B7%E7%89%88.pdf.
-
Bord, Richard J., and Robert E. O’Connor. 1997. “The Gender Gap in Environmental Attitudes: The Case of Perceived Vulnerability to Risk.” Social Science Quarterly 78: 803–840.
-
Camosy, Charles C. 2013. For Love of Animals: Christian Ethics, Consistent Action. Cincinnati: Franciscan Media.
-
Chandler, Stuart. 2004. Establishing a Pure Land on Earth: The Foguang Buddhist Perspective on Modernization and Globalization. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
-
Chu Tseng-hung 朱增宏. 2003. “Ba yusan liugei qiuying-cong dongwu lunli dui fojiao ji aiyucibei de tiaozhan, tanfofadeshijian” 把雨傘留給蚯蚓？－從動物倫理對佛教及「愛與慈悲」的挑戰，談「佛法」的實踐 [Leave an Umbrella for Earthworms? On the Practice of Buddhism in Terms of the Challenges to Buddhist Religion, “Love and Kindness” Mounted by Animal Ethics]. Chung-Wai Literary Monthly 32 (2): 103–130.
-
Dekker, Paul, Peter Ester, and Masja Nas. 1997. “Religion, Culture and Environmental Concern: An Empirical Cross-National Analysis.” Social Compass 44 (3): 443–458.
-
DeVido, Elise Anne. 2010. Taiwan’s Buddhist Nuns. Albany: SUNY Press.
-
Dietz, Thomas, Paul C. Stern, and Gregory A. Guagnano. 1998. “Social Structural and Social Psychological Bases of Environmental Concern.” Environment and Behavior 30 (4): 450–471.
-
Djupe, Paul A., and Patrick Kieran Hunt. 2009. “Beyond the Lynn White Thesis: Congregational Effects on Environmental Concern.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 48 (4): 670–686.
-
Eckberg, Douglas Lee, and T. Jean Blocker. 1989. “Varieties of Religious Involvement and Environmental Concerns: Testing the Lynn White Thesis.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 28 (4): 509–517.
-
Eckberg, Douglas Lee, and T. Jean Blocker. 1996. “Christianity, Environmentalism, and the Theoretical Problem of Fundamentalism.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 35 (4): 343–355.
-
Ellingson, Stephen, Vernon A. Woodley, and Anthony Paik. 2012. “The Structure of Religious Environmentalism: Movement Organizations, Interorganizational Networks, and Collective Action.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 51 (2): 266–285.
-
Finnigan, Bronwyn. 2017. “Buddhism and Animal Ethics.” Philosophy Compass 12 (7): e12424.
-
Finsen, Susan, and Lawrence Finsen. 1994. The Animal Rights Movement in America: From Compassion to Respect. Twayne Publishers.
-
Gaard, Greta. 2002. “Vegetarian Ecofeminism: A Review Essay.” Frontiers 23 (3): 117–146.
-
Gaard, Greta. 2011. “Ecofeminism Revisited: Rejecting Essentialism and Re-Placing Species in a Material Feminist Environmentalism.” Feminist Formations 23 (2): 26–53.
-
Gaarder, Emily. 2011. Women and the Animal Rights Movement. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
-
Gayley, Holly. 2017. “The Compassionate Treatment of Animals.” Journal of Religious Ethics 45 (1): 29–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/jore.12167.
-
Graça, João, Maria Manuela Calheiros, Abílio Oliveira, and Taciano L. Milfont. 2018. “Why Are Women Less Likely to Support Animal Exploitation than Men? The Mediating Roles of Social Dominance Orientation and Empathy.” Personality and Individual Differences 129: 66–69.
-
Guenther, Katja M. 2020. The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
-
Hayes, Bernadette C. 2001. “Gender, Scientific Knowledge, and Attitudes toward the Environment: A Cross-National Analysis.” Political Research Quarterly 54 (3): 657–671.
-
Hayes, Bernadette C., and Manussos Marangudakis. 2000. “Religion and Environmental Issues within Anglo-American Democracies.” Review of Religious Research 42 (2): 159–174.
-
Hayes, Bernadette C., and Manussos Marangudakis. 2001. “Religion and Attitudes towards Nature in Britain.” The British Journal of Sociology 52 (1): 139–155.
-
Huang, C. Julia. 2009. Charisma and Compassion: Cheng Yen and the Buddhist Tzu Chi Movement. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
-
Jasper, James M. 1997. The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
-
Kaufman, Stephen R., and Nathan Braun. 2002. Good News for All Creation: Vegetarianism as Christian Stewardship. Seattle: Lantern Books.
-
Kaza, Stephanie. 2006. “The Greening of Buddhism: Promise and Perils.” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology, edited by Roger S. Gottlieb, 184–206. New York: Oxford University Press.
-
Kearns, Laurel. 1996. “Saving the Creation: Christian Environmentalism in the United States.” Sociology of Religion 57 (1): 55–70.
-
King, Sallie B. 2009. Socially Engaged Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
-
Jones, Charles Brewer. 1999. Buddhism in Taiwan: Religion and the State, 1660–1990. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
-
Lee, Chengpang, and Ling Han. 2015. “Recycling Bodhisattva: The Tzu-Chi Movement’s Response to Global Climate Change.” Social Compass 62 (3): 311–325.
-
Lee, Chengpang, and Ling Han. 2016. “Mothers and Moral Activists: Two Models of Women’s Social Engagement in Contemporary Taiwanese Buddhism.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 19 (3): 54–77.
-
Lee, Chengpang, and Ling Han. 2021. “Taiwanese Buddhism and Environmentalism: A Mixed Method Study.” Review of Religion and Chinese Society 9 (1): 44–69.
-
Madsen, Richard. 2007. Democracy’s Dharma: Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan. Berkeley: University of California Press.
-
Maurer, Donna. 2002. Vegetarianism. Movement or Moment? Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
-
McCright, Aaron M. 2010. “The Effects of Gender on Climate Change Knowledge and Concern in the American Public.” Population and Environment 32 (1): 66–87.
-
Mika, Marie. 2006. “Framing the Issue: Religion, Secular Ethics and the Case of Animal Rights Mobilization.” Social Forces 85 (2): 915–941.
-
Norgaard, Kari, and Richard York. 2005. “Gender Equality and State Environmentalism.” Gender and Society 19 (4): 506–522.
-
Peek, Charles W., Nancy J. Bell, and Charlotte C. Dunham. 1996. “Gender, Gender Ideology, and Animal Rights Advocacy.” Gender & Society 10 (4):464–478.
-
Sahni, Pragati. 2008. Environmental Ethics in Buddhism: A Virtues Approach. New York: Routledge.
-
Sheng Kai 聖凱. 2013. “Zhongguo fojiao fangshengxisu de xingcheng jiqi liuxing” 中國佛教放生習俗的形成與流行 [The Formation and the Popularity of the Custom of Releasing Lives to the Wild in Chinese Buddhism]. 中國宗教 [Religions in China] 12: 17–19. Beijing: Zhongjiao zongjiao zazhi she.
-
Sherkat, Darren E., and Christopher G. Ellison. 2007. “Structuring the Religion- Environment Connection: Identifying Religious Influences on Environmental Concern and Activism.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 46 (1): 71–85.
-
Shi Chao Hwei 釋昭慧. 1995. “Zuo Taiwan dongwu de daiyanren” 作臺灣動物的代言人 [Being the Representative of Animals in Taiwan]. https://www.lca.org.tw/node/7924 (accessed August 14, 2024).
-
Shi Chao Hwei 釋昭慧. 2001. “Dongwuquan yu husheng” 動物權與護生 [Animal Rights and Protecting Life]. https://www.lca.org.tw/node/7929 (accessed August 14, 2024).
-
Shi Chao Hwei 釋昭慧 and Shi Shing Kuan 釋性廣. 2002. Qianzai chenyin: Xinshiji de fojiao nuxing siwei 千載沉吟：新世紀的佛教女性思維 (Thousand Years Contemplation: Buddhist Thoughts on Woman in the New Age). Taipei: Fajie chuban she.
-
Shi Chuan Fa 釋傳法. 2003. “Taiwan fojiao shehuiyundong zhongde huanbao yu dongbao wenti” 臺灣佛教社會運動中的環保與動保問題 [The Environmental and Animal Protection Issues in the Buddhist Social Movement]. http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-NX012/nx102551.htm (accessed January 20, 2024).
-
Shi Yinshun 釋印順. 1955. Fofa shi jiushi zhi guang 佛法是救世之光 [Dharma is the Light that Saves the World]. https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/zh/Y0024.
-
Singer, Peter. 1975. Animal Liberation: The Definitive Classic of the Animal Movement. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics.
-
Singer, Peter, and Shih Chao-Hwei. 2023. The Buddhist and the Ethicist. Boulder, CO: Shambhala.
-
Swearer, Donald K. 2006. “An Assessment of Buddhist Eco-Philosophy.” Harvard Theological Review 99 (2): 123–137.
-
Tsomo, Karma Lekshe, ed. 1999. Buddhist Women across Cultures. Albany: State University of New York Press.
-
White, Lynn, Jr. 1967. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis.” Science 155 (3767): 1203–1207.
-
Zelezny, Lynnette C., Poh-Pheng Chua, and Christina Aldrich. 2000. “Elaborating on Gender Differences in Environmentalism.” Journal of Social Issues 56 (3): 443–457.
-
Zimmerman-Liu, Teresa. 2019. “Humanistic Buddhism and Climate Change: Propagating the Bodhisattva Ethic of Compassion for People and the Planet.” Phd diss., University of California, San Diego.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 503 | 503 | 282 |
| Full Text Views | 15 | 15 | 4 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 34 | 34 | 4 |
Engaging Animals in Taiwanese Buddhism: Two Case Studies
臺灣佛教中的動物參與：兩個案例研究
Search for other papers by Ling Han in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Chengpang Lee in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Animals play a significant role in Taiwanese Buddhist environmental practices. This article examines two relatively well-known animal-focused organizations: the Life Conservation Association (LCA), founded by Shi Chao Hwei, and Sheng Ming, established by Shi Hai Tao. Our discussion illuminate the central role of animals in shaping the Buddhist understanding of suffering and the different responses it elicits within the Buddhist community, such as renewing traditional practices like fangsheng (releasing animals into the wild) in Sheng Ming and pioneering animal protection campaigns in the LCA. Disagreements among Buddhists over the euthanasia of shelter dogs are also discussed. Situated within the broader theoretical framework of environmentalism and gender, the article shows that in contrast to the decoupling of religion and the animal protection movement in Western societies, Buddhism and Buddhists, particularly several female Buddhist leaders, play a leading role in grassroots efforts for animal welfare.
中文摘要
動物在臺灣佛教的環境和社會實踐中扮演著重要角色，本文通過文獻研究和一手的參與經驗，我們探討了兩個相對知名的案例：由釋昭慧法師創立的“關懷生命協會”（LCA）和釋海濤法師成立的“生命”電視台。這兩個案例揭示了動物在塑造佛教對理解苦難的核心作用。文章探討了這種意識如何在佛教社群中引發不同的回應，例如“生命”對傳統放生實踐的更新，以及“關懷生命協會”在動物保護運動的開創性地位。本文還探討了佛教社會運動者在流浪動物安樂死問題上的分歧。我們將對兩個個案的討論置於當前對環境和性別研究的廣泛框架下，並與批判學派對動物問題的最新研究進行對話。研究表明，與西方社會中宗教與動物保護運動的脫鉤不同，佛教和佛教徒，尤其是幾位女性佛教領袖，在推動台灣草根動物福利運動中發揮著主導作用。
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 503 | 503 | 282 |
| Full Text Views | 15 | 15 | 4 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 34 | 34 | 4 |