Main Points Of The Article
1. An increasing number of young people, burdened with the anxieties of life, are flocking to temples, choosing to offer incense between working and striving for success. Among these, Yonghe Temple takes the lead as a hotspot of attention. According to Moojing Market Intelligence, in the past three months, on platforms such as Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu, posts related to Yonghe Temple exceeded 220,000, with more than 20% of the posts mentioning Yonghe Temple bracelets.
2. Due to geographical and time constraints, not everyone can physically visit Yonghe Temple to request a prayer bracelet, giving rise to businesses that offer to pray and request a bracelet on behalf of others. Especially on the Douyin platform, live broadcasts of these prayer bracelet services are booming.
3. Drinking "Compassionate Cup" coffee, dancing at temple discos, listening to electronic sutras, consulting AI Buddha—the temple economy is gaining heat, relying on the younger demographic. "Retreating into the Buddhist fold" has become a "lifeline" for young people seeking a sense of control amidst chaotic lives.
Kicking around 798 Art Zone, frequenting Sanlitun, New Spiritual Home for the Younger Generation Upstaging the Forbidden City. Yonghe Temple, with a history of over 300 years, is becoming a new "spiritual home" for young people.
Some usually wish to sleep in their beds for long hours, but to pay respects to potentially sympathetic Bodhisattvas, they might patiently endure freezing for four to five hours in the cold wind.
Some finally make their way into this red-walled and yellow-tiled sanctuary, only to discover they have lost the freedom to kowtow freely, as maybe nowhere else can you kowtow as closely shoulder to shoulder on one mat in Yonghe Temple.
Others advocate for an ultimate cost-performance ratio, having waited so long, the freedom to kowtow isn't important, what counts is expressing all your wishes at once. But what if there are too many wishes for Buddhas to remember? The comments section suggests solutions like sending an email or preparing a PowerPoint to provide a summary report—a modern take on reverent Buddhist practices.
Then there are those who take a different approach, standing out with a differentiated advantage in a sea of homogenous wishes, breaking through from the sidelines.
Some here not only pray to Buddhas but also participate in consecration rituals, with items ranging from notebooks, mobile phones, and postgraduate study books to even their ID cards, striving for a precise positioning with a comprehensive blessing by Buddha's light—turning even the Buddhist realm competitive.
An increasing number of young people, burdened with the anxieties of life, are flocking to temples, choosing to offer incense between working and striving for success. Among these, Yonghe Temple emerges as a significant traffic center.Emperor s Yongzheng and Qianlong, both associated with Yonghe Temple and called "auspicious places where the dragon lies," were industrious and work-focused sovereigns. In today's context, this location is a symbol of the pinnacle of career success. Thus, Yonghe Temple has become the go-to for prayers related to career, fortune, and academic aspirations, highly sought after by numerous young people.
According to Moojing Market Intelligence, in the past three months, on platforms such as Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu, posts related to Yonghe Temple surpassed 220,000, where more than 20% of the posts mentioned Yonghe Temple bracelets. Many netizens joke that the only thing contemporary young people will kneel down for is Yonghe Temple; and the only place they will patiently queue for 2 hours is the Yonghe Temple Dharma Goods Distribution center. For those young people who have their own reasons to visit, burning incense and praying to Buddhas, along with consecration—before leaving, making a stop at the Dharma Goods Distribution center to request a prayer bracelet usually rounds out a complete trip of worship.
Searching for "Yonghe Temple prayer bracelet" on Xiaohongshu reveals many guides for requesting these bracelets, including both taboos and tips for queuing durations. There are many seeking to request a bracelet, and if Bodhisattvas had OKRs, theirs would likely be overloaded, but thankfully, Buddhist practices don't follow a 996 work culture. Each Dharma Goods point, including the consecration room, has a strict closing time; selecting items, queuing to pay, and the final consecration—all end at 4:30 PM sharp. Due to geographical and time constraints, not everyone can visit Yonghe Temple in person to request a bracelet, and so the business of praying and requesting on behalf of others was born.
Thus, on various platforms such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Xianyu, many accounts offering bracelet requesting services have emerged, some with thousands of followers, some even tens of thousands.
Douyin's bracelet requesting accounts are well established in the platform's ecosystem, moving their live broadcast rooms outside Yonghe Temple, connecting the faithful with Buddhas through the virtual realm. Countless devotees briefly escape their respective enclosures and swarm to the cyber space, seeking to rediscover their life's aspirations.
Here, the audience members of live broadcasts, referred to as "baby" or "buddy," become "fellow apprentices," and following a successful order, the host adds a blessing of "auspiciousness at all times." Hosts cleverly avoid various banned words, engaging actively with the comment section, inquiring about the audience's requests, and advocating an on-demand prayer bracelet service—
"Whether you want rice grains, blooming peach blossoms, delicious food, fellow apprentices, what expectations do you have, let me give everyone a precise recommendation."
When asked if they can wear multiple bracelets, the hosts provide professional advice based on gender, stressing—
"These are not just accessories but also wishes. Fellow apprentices, type out the dates and numbers, we only wear what's suitable, unsuitable ones won't help."
When rushing to take orders, the host will announce—
"We can consecrate for everyone before 4:30 PM, and send the items out after completing the process."
For visitors to the live broadcast room, the host also inquires whether they plan to request a bracelet themselves and thoughtfully provides a guide—
"To all sisters, bring water, protect yourself from the sun when queuing up."
Of these Yonghe Temple bracelets, the ashes glazed series is particularly popular, crafted with incense ashes taken from before the Buddhas at Yonghe Temple. The different colors of the glaze beads represent different meanings: blue for health, gold for wealth, green for career, white for wisdom... In pursuit of "perfection" and compounded blessings, aside from the original models, resellers often also offer modified versions.
Looking at the prices from Yonghe Temple’s Dharma Goods Distribution center, the bracelets start at 240 yuan, with most models priced between 300 and 400 yuan, and the highest-priced ones can reach approximately 800 to 900 yuan. Resellers generally add a markup of several tens of yuan, and for modified versions, the markup can be even higher, some reaching hundreds of yuan.
Facing obstacles in job searching, career setbacks, examination challenges... Yonghe Temple's incense ashes are filled with the anxieties of young people, and these earnestly infused ashes are eventually poured into colorful glaze, becoming a tool for alleviating stress. All phenomena arise from causes and conditions; do they not arise from Buddhist teachings on the cycle of rebirth?
In fact, beyond Yonghe Temple bracelets, Lingyin Temple's eighteen-seed bracelets are also hot-selling products during live broadcasts. Similar to the live broadcast method for Yonghe Temple bracelet requests, Lingyin Temple’s live broadcast sessions are frequently conducted outdoors to demonstrate authenticity. Hosts greet audience members as fellow apprentices, using Buddhist-themed sales pitches, such as "forming karmic connections," which create the impression of performing electronic merit-making in cyberspace.
According to Ctrip data, since February this year, ticket orders for temple-related attractions soared by over 300% compared to the same period last year, with nearly half of the reservations made by Post-90s and Post-00s generation individuals. If temple prayer bracelets are still typical merchandise at temples, we can see that temples are increasingly embracing young people, and there’s more to creative merchandise than just Buddhist prayer bracelets. Temples are forging a thriving temple economy through attempts to modernize their business practices targeting young demographics.
Young people's lifestyle habits of drinking coffee during the day and consuming alcohol at night have been transplanted to temples. While alcohol is not an option, coffee perfectly satisfies. It not only meets the demand but also enables drinkers to experience a transcendent feeling. At Hangzhou's Yongfu Temple, countless youngsters queue up at the temple coffee shop just to drink an Americano "Wash Away the Annoyance," open a blind box "Depend on Serendipity," or savor an oat latte "Guanyin." The stark contrast between Eastern Zen culture and Western lifestyle charm provides an unexpectedly immersive experience.
The functional use of temple spaces is also being expanded and redefined by young people. During this year's May Day holiday, a large number of trendy individuals gathered at Beijing's Longfu Temple, spinning records and partying, drinking and setting up stalls to create a market, proudly featuring an atmosphere where meat and alcohol pass through the body but Buddha remains in the heart. The combination of temple elements with trendy activities revealed a subtle challenge to authority, quickly engaging young people's desire to try something new and hitting just the right spot of excitement.
Aside from sipping Compassion Coffee and temple-themed discos, a direct recitation of the "Heart Sutra" can provide an immediate soul cleansing. This year, the monk musician Yasushi Kanno started an Asian tour, and tickets for many shows in China sold out instantly. Traditional Buddhist scriptures combined with electronic music; squint your eyes, press your palms together, and the brightest spot in the crowd is the master's bald head. With one hand on the prayer beads and the other following the chants, the live house becomes a scene of transcendence in a second.
Temple popularity has also caught the breeze of ChatGPT. From HOTOKE AI in Japan equipped with GPT-3.5 to "ferry all beings," to a host of WeChat mini-programs offering advice and answers to the faithful. Type your worries into the chat box, ask AI Tathagata, and grasp the cyber-sutra.
From temple grounds to AI Buddhas, temple-related elements are getting increasingly popular among young people today. Stuck at their desks in a 996 schedule, endlessly browsing job listings at coffee shops from morning till night, and buried in studies awaiting a chance at a better life... The growing pains of societal development seem to be leading to a collective sense of powerlessness, as previous paths to success become irrelevant. With an unclear future ahead and no way back, "taking refuge in Buddhism" becomes a life-saving straw for regaining a sense of control in chaotic lives. In the crowds flocking to temples, it’s hard to say how many young people genuinely hold a religious belief in converting to Buddhism. It’s more about them seeking self-salvation rather than begging for divine deliverance.
The high-pressure life plunges them deep into a state of spiritual internal consumption, where metaphysics becomes a form of mental healing that seems especially suited to the constitution of Chinese babies. As they stroll through temples, offer incense, and ask for consecrated strings, people leave their anxieties and worries behind to the temple’s morning bells and evening drums, taking back good fortune and hope into the hustle and bustle of the city.
The popularity of the temple economy ultimately comes back to the age-old issue of emotions. Temples garner the favor of trend-following young people in the rapidly changing modern culture for the fundamental reason that they resonate with their emotional needs. A prayer for blessing from the Bodhisattva is an emotional outlet within the impervious walls of society, while the offer of three sticks of incense is a release of pressure amongst complex thoughts. Alleviating anxiety, reducing internal consumption, releasing pressure, and placing emotions—all the emotional relief one can imagine is entrusted by young people to temples.
The temple craze has once again highlighted the importance of emotional value in brand marketing. Tapping into subtle emotions and mining for emotional resonance, compelling consumers to pay for the lifestyle and emotional value represented by brands, has become a breakthrough in major brand marketing strategies. Looking back at popular brands/social content in recent years, there have been many masters in this technique.
For example, Jellycat plush toys, which have become wildly popular in recent years, are positioned as children's comfort dolls but have increasingly become a spiritual companion for urban adults. On Douban, there is even a dedicated "Jellycat weaning support group," with over 50,000 members. The explosion of Jellycat among adults is due to the fact that the fluffy, soft cute pet toys satisfy people's needs for warm companionship, emotional healing, and spiritual comfort amidst the pressure and loneliness of urban life. And popular Disney plush toys like LinaBell have created a similar emotional value, evident from numerous netizens referring to their trips to Disney as "returning to a happy old home."
Another example is the recently popular dopamine dressing that’s been trending on social platforms. The high saturation and multicolored outfits not only play with the color palette of trendy fashion but also add a splash of color to the monotonous repetition of life, refreshing the senses. In the bright and lively colors, people generate positive and optimistic subjective associations. Happy, energetic emotions are stirred up, and in color aesthetics, they temporarily leave behind the drab reality of the world to feel the pleasure of dopamine secretion.
However, emotions are fluid. Perhaps the emotional code for these years is relaxation and light decompression; in a few years, it may change to accelerated running and aggressive striving. Rather than following trends, brands need to stick to their core, upholding the principle that "authenticity is the ultimate move," to actively communicate with consumers with their own philosophy, embracing current trends. Perhaps one day, looking back, one might find the path of brand marketing unintentionally flourished like willows planted without thought.
