The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (761 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Fan Festival
(Buddhist festival)
:
Fang-chang
:
Fang-chung shu
(Chin., ‘arts of the inner chamber’). Taoist practices aiming at immortality (inner or outer, see
ALCHEMY
and
NEI-TAN
) through union with the powers of the opposite, i.e. through union of
yin and yang
. This might be through union of
ch'i
, breath, but the
hoch'i
practices (at new moon and full moon) were linked to sexual union—to which fang-chung shu refers as a general term.
Fang-shih
(Fangshi)
(Chin., ‘master of techniques’).
Shamanistic
controllers of
magic
in China in the centuries BCE (though their techniques continued in popular religion long after). They were guides to the islands of the immortals (Fang-chang,
P'eng-lai
, and Ying-chou), and custodians of the techniques which secure both life and immortality.
Fang Yen-kou
.
Chinese Buddhist ceremony for the ‘release of the burning mouths’. The ‘burning mouths’ are a type of hungry ghost (
preta
). The monks break open the gates of hell (
naraka
), with incantation and the ringing of bells.
Fanon, F.
:
Faqih
.
One who possesses religious knowledge in Islam. The name refers more usually now to one well-versed in religious law (
fiqh
,
shar
‘a
). See also
FUQAHA
.

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