Sensing the Purity of Guanyin’s Abode: The Meanings of Qingjing and its Logics as an Ideal Sensory Experience for Visitors at Contemporary Mount Putuo

This paper examines qingjing, a Chinese expression referring to the quiet and pure sensory experiences, in contemporary Mount Putuo, the abode of Guanyin (a compassionate deity) in China. While existing studies have focused on red-hot sensory experiences and sociality in Chinese contexts, this paper emphasizes qingjing as a sensory experience that is opposite to red-hot but ideal in Chinese religious life. Through ethnographic fieldwork, this paper argues that qingjing is based on the presumably strong efficacy (ling) of Guanyin and Mount Putuo to respond to visitors’ wishes and related to a reverse sensory experience: xianghuo (incense fires). Though seemingly contradictory, qingjing and xianghuo both represent the efficacy of Guanyin and Mount Putuo and thus constitute each other. This paper specifies three logics: qingjing in the “absence”, “complementation”, and “distraction” of xianghuo. Beyond the perspective of sociality, this paper contributes to the general understanding of sensory experiences in Chinese religious life.