Reflection paper - Book Report/Review Example

Reflection Paper The stories of Mulian and Miaoshan share the same perception of benevolence, filial piety and gtatitude to all sentient beings. For instance, in the narrative of Miaoshan, the father is filed with filial piety for the daughter who got lost in the monastery in her adventures. He sends out the military to look for her (Bauer and Franke). This points out to how the father deeply adored the daughter. Similarly, the narrative of Mulian depicts the great filial pity he had for her mother when she sees her in hell vey emaciated.

He attempts to feed her as a sign of his deep sorrow for her (Feuchtwang). Additionally, the two stories have an element of supernatural vents and beliefs. Bodhisattva in Buddhism is the attainment of a state of ‘all-seeing’ where an individual, motivated by compassion, is able to assist sentient beings .Mulian fulfills the ideal of bodhisattva by offering of one hundred different meals to the monks on the fifteenth day of the seventh month as a way of pleading with the Buddha to save her mother from suffering in hell (Feuchtwang).

Similarly, Miaoshan engaged in mediation, devotion and performing deeds of compassion in order to fulfill the ideals of bodhisattva (Bauer and Franke). The two stories entrench the Chinese society as quite a patriarchal society. In Mioshan’s story, the father is overly protective of her daughter, and the moment the daughter transgresses she gets an undeservedly heavy punishment. On the other hand, the Mulian’s story depicts Mulian mother suffering in hell for the sins she committed in the past.

That may have changed, but the use of women as villains in both stories depict quite a patriarchal culture. Works CitedBauer, Wolfgang and Herbert Franke. The Golden Casket: Chinese Novellas of Two Millennia. New Jersey: Allen and Unwin, 1965.Feuchtwang, Stephan . The Anthropology of Religion, Charisma, and Ghosts: Chinese Lessons for Adequate Theory. London: Walter de Gruyter, 2010.