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Accepted Paper:
The Buddhist Discourse on Vegetarianism in Modern China: From Manhua to Social Media
Francesca Tarocco
(Ca' Foscari University of Venice, The New Institute Centre for Environmental Humanities)
Paper short abstract:
China has a long history of the religiously motivated abstention from meat. Drawing on two case studies, this presentation explores how engaging with this powerful discourse transformed Buddhist practice throughout the first half of the 20th century and in the 21st.
Paper long abstract:
China has a long history of the religiously motivated abstention from meat, most prominently in its Buddhist inspired form. Vegetarianism is charged with multiple meanings related to religious merit, health and longevity, but also salvation and magical power. Drawing on two case studies from the interwar period and today, this presentation explores how engaging with this powerful discourse transformed Buddhist practice throughout the first half of the 20th century and in the 21st. It considers the potential of vegetarian practices and discourses to challenge anthropocentric frameworks and to promote new and more inclusive forms of multi-species democracy as well as the creation of a Buddhist-inspired ecological view of the relations between humans and non-human animals.