Monastic Hosts’ Sentiments Toward Hosting Buddhist Associations’ Group Pilgrims: The Case of Pu-Tuo

Previous research has shown that one of the four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China, namely Pu-Tuo-Shan, receives quite distinct types of visitors that the monastic host communities appreciate differently. The visitors to Pu-Tuo belong to different groups: leisure tourists, Shinshis/Buddhist believers; Xiankes (‘incense burners’), and lastly Jushis/Buddhist practitioners/pilgrims. This chapter deals with a particular type of visitor: educated urbanite Jushis who belong home to a local Buddhist Association that arranges for their adherents all-inclusive package pilgrimage tours to significant Buddhist destinations. Their contribution to the sense of purpose of their presence contributes to the monks dealing with them, and to the monasteries as a whole, is paid particular attention to in this article. It is based on thematic interviews of a group of such pilgrims participating in a 2018 tour to Pu-Tuo, as well as of resident local monastic members who interacted with them. The author participated in that tour; her past research on Pu-Tuo and her connection with its monastic community spurred her interest in this theme.