Five Influential Factors for Chinese Buddhists’ Vegetarianism

The article explores five leading factors influencing Chinese Buddhists to observe vegetarian diets. The first one is the influence from the precepts and teachings of the important Mahayana sutras on vegetarianism. The second factor is the influence of Chinese imperial authority, leading political figures who promoted Buddhism to popularize vegetarianism. The third and fourth factors are the influences of Chinese indigenous religions, which consider the contributions of Confucianism and Taoism, respectively, to the vegetarianization of Chinese Buddhists. The final one explores the sociocultural influence, including societal norms or other aspects of one’s lived environment, which can smooth the path to vegetarian eating. We then conduct an assessment to gauge the influence of each factor. By studying and comparing the gauging data, we discover that the second factor, the advocacy of the imperial authority, is the most influential factor for the vegetarianization of ordained Chinese Buddhists. Although the influence levels of Buddhist sutras and Taoism are not as strong as that of the imperial authority, their influences are higher than that of Confucianism and sociocultural influence. Finally, we present a closing remark on future efforts to promote vegetarianism worldwide.

A Museum Cruise in Foul Waters: An Empirical Analysis of the Debate Triggered by the Proposal to Move the Norwegian Viking Ships from Bygdøy to Bjørvika

This article analyzes the debate that ensued from a suggestion to relocate three Norwegian Viking ships from Bygdøy to Bjørvika. People do not only debate the ships’ material vulnerability but they also express different views of what a modern museum is and should be. Some want to upgrade and preserve the existing museum, while others want to relocate the ships and integrate them in a wider culture-led urban regeneration agenda. The ships are torn between local, regional, and national political interests, and people have different opinions about the histories in which they should be inscribed. The empirical corpus is primarily made up of newspaper articles from the last 20 years, and the different arguments are systemized and presented thematically. In the closing remark, the article suggests that the Viking Ship Museum would benefit from a more clearly defined long-term agenda.

A Closing Remark: On Several Technologies inside the Concertos Series

An account of the use of technology in the first two works from No Collective’s Concertos series to overlay a multiplicity of networks (piconets) onto the apparently singular space and time of the performance, so that various modes of “solo” audience may be foregrounded.