Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture

PILGRIMAGE

pilgrimage: translation

Traditional pilgrimage practices, having all but ceased to exist during the Cultural Revolution, re-emerged in the 1980s. In addition, new forms of pilgrimage to sites associated with CCP history and the revolution that appeared following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949 continue to be popular. Sacred mountains associated with Buddhism and Daoism are the primary focus of traditional pilgrimage. Pilgrimage to cities or city temples, common in West Asia, or to rivers and water sites as in India, are relatively rare in China. There are numerous Buddhist and Daoist pilgrimage mountains throughout China. The ‘Five Marchmounts’ (Wuyue), five peaks prominent as sacred sites for over two millennia, are the best-known pilgrimage destinations in China, replete with Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian and, previously, imperial sites of practice. The ‘Four Great Mountains’ (Sida mingshan) are primary destinations for Buddhists. However, few pilgrimage mountains are exclusively Buddhist or Daoist, and most pilgrimage practices are common regardless of religious association.
There is no single term for traditional pilgrimage, and the practice is generally described as ‘paying respect to the mountain and presenting incense’ (qiaoshan jinxiang). Incense plays a central role in pilgrimage. Incense sticks are burnt not only in the temples, but also along trails, beside rocks, springs and trees, on peaks and in caves. A pilgrim is an ‘incense guest’ (xiangke), and a significant source of income for temples at pilgrimage sites is the sale of incense. Many identify themselves as pilgrims by wearing yellow ‘incense bags’ around their necks. Motives are not easy to ascertain, but a frequently heard expression of purpose is ‘to invite fortune and ensure good health’. Another motive is to accumulate merit in preparation for a post-mortem existence or on behalf of deceased relatives.
‘Flesh bodies’, the preserved corpses of monks believed to have self-mummified, are enshrined on many Buddhist mountains.Many pilgrims regard a wake in proximity to such relics on festival days as conducive to good fortune. Much pilgrimage is also an occasion for light-hearted tourism, the purchase of trinkets, taking pictures, and eating together, generally as part of large pilgrimage groups. This aspect of pilgrimage has generated a flourishing and somewhat aggressive tourist industry: hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops and charter bus companies. Begging, often noted with resentment in pre-modern travel narratives, and outlawed for several decades during the Cultural Revolution, has made a vigorous recovery at most pilgrimage sites.
As in many modern states, pilgrimage as an exercise in nationalism has also emerged in China. Monuments (see monuments and public sculpture) and sometimes museums mark sites of famous battles with the Japanese or with the Nationalists along the course of the Long March. These in several instances are conveniently located near traditional pilgrimage sites, either supplanting them or benefiting from a shared flow of pilgrims. Tourist agencies have emerged to offer packaged tours to these sites. In Beijing, thousands visit Tiananmen Square, the Mao mausoleum and the Imperial Palace every day. In a creative use of history, the reconstructed Hangzhou tomb of Yue Fei, the great Song dynasty general, revered for his adamant loyalty, receives more visitors than almost any other site in this tourist town. Though no incense is burned and few if any can be seen bowing, the structures and use of space in such sites generally reproduce those of traditional Buddhist and Daoist sacred sites. The distinction between pilgrimage and tourism is, and has long been, a fuzzy one.
See also: Daoist monasteries/abbeys; Guanyin; Mazu; processions (religious); religion, recent history of
Further reading
Naquin, Susan and Yu, Chun-fang (eds) (1992). Pilgrims and Sacred Sites in China. Berkeley: University of California Press.
WILLIAM POWELL

  1. pilgrimage—pilgrimage translation nounADJECTIVE annual religious spiritual VERB PILGRIMAGE go on make She made a pilgrimageu to visit the place where her hero was born. PILGR...Collocations dictionary
  2. pilgrimage—Pilgrimage translationAdam was the first pilgrim after the expulsion from Eden life became exile within life there is the journey towards salvation. The great time of pil...Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases
  3. pilgrimage—pilgrimage translation Visiting holy sites is one of the central activities in Hinduism. Many pilgrims visit shrines rivers sacred mountains and sacred groves to obtain s...Encyclopedia of hinduism
  4. pilgrimage—pilgrimage translationSynonyms and related wordsadventure campaign circuit course cruise crusade emprise excursion expedition exploration fare globetrot go abroad go on s...Moby Thesaurus
  5. pilgrimage—[plgrm]паломничествостранствие длительное путешествиечеловеческая жизньместо паломничествапаломничать...Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь
  6. pilgrimage—паломничать паломничество coll. странствие длительное путешествие fig. человеческая жизнь...Англо-русский дополнительный словарь
  7. pilgrimage—паломничество...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  8. pilgrimage—паломничество...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  9. pilgrimage—n длительное путешествие жизнь человеческая место паломничества паломничество странствие...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  10. pilgrimage—v отправиться в паломничество совершить паломничество...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  11. pilgrimage—pilgrimage [plgrmd] . nu паломничество разг.u странствие длительное путешествие перен.u человеческая жизнь . vu паломничать...Англо-русский словарь Мюллера
  12. pilgrimage—. сущ. паломничество разг. странствие длительное путешествие Syn journey перен. человеческая жизнь место паломничества . гл. паломничать Who of us that never pilgrima...Англо-русский словарь общей лексики
  13. pilgrimage—n .strong паломничество путешествие верующих к святым местам .strong жизнь человеческая .strong место паломничества. strong паломничество путешествие верующих к святым ...Англо-русский словарь по социологии
  14. pilgrimage—nпаломничество странствиеto be on pilgrimage совершать паломничествоto make a pilgrimage to совершать паломничество кудал. place of pilgrimage...Англо-русский словарь политической терминологии
  15. pilgrimage—n. паломничество богомолье странствие...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  16. pilgrimage—сущ.emstrong паломничество путешествие верующих к святым местам жизнь человеческая место паломничества....Англо-русский социологический словарь
  17. pilgrimage—.strong nходння на прощу паломництво.strong vходити на прощу паломничати...Англо-украинский словарь
  18. pilgrimage—паломництво...Англо-український словник
  19. pilgrimage—. n паломництво ходння на прощу розм. мандрування тривала подорож to go on а вирушити у мандри мсце паломництва перен. людське життя . v ходити на прощу паломничати....Англо-український словник Балла М.І.
  20. pilgrimage—.strong [plgrmd] n. паломничествоI made frequent pilgrimages to the house of that great man я часто посещал дом этого великого человека разг. странствие длительное путе...Новый большой англо-русский словарь
  21. pilgrimage—pilgrimage . [plgrmd] ni . паломничество I made frequent s to the house of that great man я часто посещал дом этого великого человека разг. iстранствие длительное путе...Новый большой англо-русский словарь II
  22. pilgrimage—.strong plgrmd n . паломничество I made frequent s to the house of that great man я часто посещал дом этого великого человека разг. emстранствие длительное путешеств...Новый большой англо-русский словарь под общим руководством акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна