“Personal Items”

Whereas Buddhism’s profile is rising in the US, there are surprising ways that Buddhism recirculates in more secular guises in traditionally Buddhist cultures of East Asia. This essay explores an intriguing case. Chi Li’s razor-sharp, passionate poems are quirkily “personal,” but relate very well to a wide spectrum of Chinese readers who made the popular novelist’s surprise poetry debut a bestseller in China. By studying Chi’s extensive use of Buddhist references to tap into issues dear to her, this essay shows that the Chinese readers are receptive to Buddhist ideas more as philosophies, principles, and moral codes than as explicit religion, even though Buddhism has a 2,000-year history in China. It argues that understanding this coded receptiveness helps translate Chi’s personal musings, blasts, and defiance into dialogues that address social norms, environmental issues, and individual complicity in social problems.