The Carnal Prayer Mat by Yu Li Essay -- The Carnal Prayer Mat

Vesperus human beingly dish is a central theme in Li Yus moral comedy, The animal(prenominal) supplication Mat. Whats more, his spirit trajectory parallels non-Mahayana Indic accounts of Siddharthas path to enlightenment, particularly on the emphasis placed on descriptions of two mens physical perfection and their subsequent informal craving and prowess. Both Vesperus and Siddharthas masculine beauty propels them forward on their life paths, piazzaing them in the simultaneously instructive and destructive feminine field of operations of the inner quarter. The wealth of sexual experiences gives both men the necessary perspicacity for their critical realization of the superficiality and emptiness of a life manoeuvre by carnal desires and sexual pursuits of women. As a result, masculine beauty becomes a critical component in and indication of a mans ultimate karmic destiny in The Carnal Prayer Mat. splendid women consequently are positioned as Vesperus sexually instructive tools and immoral opponents. Their move on importance as sites of masculine karmic retribution speaks to the degree to which the novel whole shebang within a Buddhistic framework of gender dichotomies. Ultimately, The Carnal Prayer Mat places beautiful men in a privileged position destined to enlightenment, as their physical perfection affords them access to the critical sexual experiences and lifestyles that they must reject in order attain enlightenment. While The Carnal Prayer Mat is laced with Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist doctrine, this paper aims to understand Buddhist concepts of destiny, karma, and enlightenment through an analysis of representations of masculine ideal beauty in late Imperial China. Vesperus and Siddharthas parallel life journeys, particularly with admiration to experiences i... ...on for all human beings Desire is almost as defiling as the dally itself, however.Desire, in the form of love (raga, a word heart and soul color, but also lewdness, conc upiscence, lust, attraction), is therefore one of the three poisons that pollute and economise human existence (Faure 17). Thus his experiences within inner quarters, defined by his desire for beautiful women that spark sexual excess that simultaneously body forth his virile masculinity, are fundamental components in his journeys to enlightenment.Works CitedFaure, Bernard. The Red palm Buddhist Approaches to Sexulity. Princeton Princeton University Press, 1998. Li, Yu. The Carnal Prayer Mat. Honolulu University of Hawaii Press, 1990. Powers, John. A wangle of a Man Images of Masculinity, Sex, and the Body in Indian Buddhism. Cambridge Harvard University Press, 2009.