February 2022

Part 1

TEMPLE FANTASY

Short Film

Buddhism, with its long history setting its root in Chinese culture, has a deep influence on people’s values and daily lives. Don’t know when it started, the development of technology in China swept these ancient temples and digitalised these common routines. Electronic and modernised approaches such as QR code donations and digital blessing notes have visually challenged people’s cognition of religion and put people’s faith to the test. 

I discuss the impact that digital technology has had on Buddhist worship among the general public in Chinese temples. I try to explore whether the traditional religious rites and Buddhist landscapes are still in line with their original values after being influenced by contemporary digital technology. To do this, I created a virtual temple in the Metaverse and designed a game based on the behaviours of the contemporary public when worshipping Buddha. Through this, I hope to evoke audience contemplation on the current secularisation and over-commercialisation of the Chinese Buddhist temple.

佛教根植于中华文化，源远流长，深刻影响着人们的价值观和日常生活。不知道从何时开始，科技也席卷这些古老的寺庙，将这些常见的拜佛套路数字化，如二维码捐赠、数字祈福机等，不仅在视觉上挑战了人们对宗教的认知，还考验着人们的信仰。这个研究项目讨论了数字技术对中国寺庙、公众佛教信仰的影响。我试图探索传统的宗教仪式和佛教景观在受到当代数字技术的影响后是否仍然符合其原始价值。为此，我在元宇宙中创建了一个虚拟寺庙，并根据当代公众的拜佛行为设计了一个游戏，希望借此唤起观众对当前中国佛教寺庙的世俗化和过度商业化的思考。

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Director/ Creative: Jiqiang(Johnny) Wen

Cinematographer: Thomas James Gilbert

3D production: Jiqiang(Johnny) Wen & Huan Sun

Animation & Editing: Jiqiang(Johnny) Wen & Manqing Huang

Special thanks to Simin Zhu & Jingjing Qi