Five Great Families and Telepathy: Folk Religion and Buddhism in Neo-Dongbei Fiction by Zheng Zhi

The 2010s has witnessed the visibility of literature based on China’s Northeast (Dongbei), exemplified by literary works composed Zheng Zhi, Ban Yu and Shuang Xuetao, viz. ‘three masters Dongbei Renaissance’. In a 2020 novella anthology, Zhi expatiates upon veritable cornucopia representations folk religion (aka popular religion) established religions via depictions concerning shamanism, Buddhism Christianity. narrative entitled Xian ‘Divine Illness’, manifests animal worship as form religion, means painting vivid portrait shamanic practices pertaining to ‘five major deity families’ that denotes fox, weasel, hedgehog, snake rat spirits. Taxintong ‘Telepathy’, depicts Buddhist practices, preponderant motivations for which are analogous those in contemporary Dongbei, namely, physical wellbeing psychological solace.