The catch in releasing: across China, a Buddhist ritual endangers local ecosystems
- Fangsheng, or ‘life release to nature’, returns animals to the wild, and highlights teachings of mercy and compassion
- But environmentalists say it often disturbs lakes, rivers and other habitats because the animals released are not indigenous to the areas
On a recent chilly winter Sunday morning, as she has at least twice a month for two years, Li Huiyun boarded a coach in downtown Beijing bound for Fangshan district in the far south of the city.
Once there, she and two busloads of people – mostly Buddhists – disembarked and walked to a lake, where two trucks loaded with five tonnes of carp – koi, grass and crucian – were waiting for them. After chanting scripture, the people formed themselves into a chain and carefully shifted bag after bag of fish from the trucks to the water, and set them free.
As the fish were released, the scripture of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was broadcast from a speaker, while a man raised a statue of Ksitigarbha into the air and patted it against the fish to bless them as they slid into the water.
“The practice of saving life makes one feels good,” Li said.
The man with the statue said: “Even if some of the fish die eventually, their deaths were belated and blessed because of the scripture chanting.”
