In Taiwan, some people practice a religious act called “fangsheng” (放生, mercy release): They release animals into the wild to get rid of ill fortune and gain good fortune.
However, when done properly, fangsheng is about releasing trapped animals or birds, curing their wounds, preserving animals’ lives and letting them regain their strength. If the animal is not trapped or injured, but human beings move it to its “new home,” this is far from fangsheng. The act would in fact cause the death of the animals.
A few days ago, 2,000 quails were found dumped in bushes at the Chingshuiyen source water protection zone in Changhua County’s Shetou Township (社頭). Most of the quails were dead and were beginning to rot; some were still alive but dying. The police found that a woman in her 50s surnamed Gui (郭) had released them. She said that she was ordered to release the quails as a gesture of fangsheng, and pray for good luck.
People appreciate those who cherish lives and have empathy for all creatures. The ability to feel others’ pain, from which people learn to respect lives and protect the ecology, is part of the rationale behind fangsheng. If the action of fangsheng was meant to only accumulate good karma, fangsheng would be meaningless due to its utilitarian intention. Worse, the mismanagement of fangsheng would inflict further harm on animals and damage the environment. After fangsheng tragedies have happened, some have even unreasonably blamed others for causing them.
A religious group once released highly venomous cobras into mountain areas. This irresponsible action led to a series of accidents. Residents of the area were bitten by the snakes and farmers dared not go into their orchards. Everyone had to be extra careful when going about their daily lives. Can this be called a “mercy” release?
A few years ago, another religious group released Taiwanese tilapia (known as “wuguoyu”) in the eco pond close to Taitung City’s Huoshuei Lake (活水湖). When the public found out on Facebook that there were edible fish in the pond, many people went there and, without much effort, caught themselves a full bucket of fish. The Taiwanese tilapia that were released as a merciful action ended up on the dinner table.
Fangsheng is supposed to be impromptu, but many spend money on buying fish and birds and releasing them into the wild. This is not so different from encouraging others to capture as many animals as they want. For some, the purpose of fangsheng is merely to accumulate good karma for themselves, but at the same time, they encourage others to kill more animals. Can this be called kindness?
Good karma comes from kindness and good intention in one’s heart. It also comes from how a person behaves and how they treat others. If a person is neither sincere nor moral and refuses to follow the right path, they cannot accumulate any good karma. For this kind of people, releasing thousands of birds or fish would not be considered a good deed and they would not be blessed by the gods.
All gods are compassionate. They show mercy to all beings, and they would not demand the release of animals as a sacrifice. If practitioners of a religion do not have a positive faith, and they behave irrationally and lack the ability to make correct judgements, they could become superstitious and paranoid.
The 2,000 quails could have lived longer, but they were all sacrificed because a human being wanted to get rid of bad luck. How could this be called a merciful act?
Shiao Fu-song is a lecturer at National Taitung University.
Translated by Emma Liu
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