Cleaning and Healing: An Examination of the Ritual of Willow Twigs and Clean Water
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis is a long, mainly descriptive paper but one that shows a very deep and broad understanding of the subject matter at hand. Like most academic papers, it will not be read by a large number of others, but for those with interest in the rituals that the paper explains and of the supernatural powers of willow branches and pure water in Buddhist and Daoist folklore, it will be greatly appreciated. It is clearly laid out and is well referenced and generally well written, the English standard being very high for a non-native speaker, probably the best I’ve seen.
I recommend publication after a bit of cleaning up (see below for identification of minor problems).
Comments on “Cleaning and Healing”
Although willow and poplar trees are quite similar (from the same family), referring to yang as willow is confusing and makes the paper messy. You mention that the former is poplar, the latter willow, so why mostly refer to willow? Is there something about the Sanskrit term that makes willow a better translation? Or is there something in the many folktales you include that would indicate that willow is a better rendering in English? Could I suggest that you include a paragraph or two after the introduction to explain this issue? You might also consider simply using yang or liu rather than translating into English.
Needed corrections are found on the following lines. And ensure that you have left a space following all full stops, and throughout the paper parentheses preceding or followed by a letter or word must have a space between in English writing, unlike in Chinese writing.
5.rituals
6.comment: chewing willow has an ancient history, but in the West it was used as a painkiller. It contains salicylic acid, which was modified to acetylsalicylic acid, which is the active ingredient in aspirin.
7.accompanied by rather than mixed with?
8.From the abstract it appears that the paper is descriptive and does not make an argument.
9.the Indian tree name “mistranslated” as willow: is that mistranslated as yang, or as liu?
10.which will be discussed later
11.can be treated by
332-33. Comment: mention of treating a headache though not by chewing the willow but by chanting over it (chewed later??)
339.space after full stop;
340.ceremonies
341.practiced
342.rituals
343.willow branches, and
344.responding to
699-701. incomplete sentence
705-707. join the two into one sentence. And is it Huan Fanyan or Huan Yanfan?
718.drowned in a river??
719.prepared wine
720.has evolved
721.The Dragon Princess
722.Yong went
723.Monkey King destroyed the Sun Wukong???
724.Mair is the surname
725.Nienhauser is the surname.
The references to the health/medicinal/curtesy properties of this plant mentioned in the paper are all associated with their having come into China with the introduction of Buddhism. Just out of curiosity, is the willow or poplar mentioned in the黄帝内经, which precedes the introduction of Buddhism into China by a few centuries.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer
Thank you so much for your thoughtful review and valuable feedback. I greatly appreciate the time and effort you have dedicated to providing insightful comments on my work. Based on your suggestions, I have revised the manuscript, and the updated version includes the following changes:
Coment 1Although willow and poplar trees are quite similar (from the same family), referring to yang as willow is confusing and makes the paper messy. You mention that the former is poplar, the latter willow, so why mostly refer to willow? Is there something about the Sanskrit term that makes willow a better translation? Or is there something in the many folktales you include that would indicate that willow is a better rendering in English? Could I suggest that you include a paragraph or two after the introduction to explain this issue? You might also consider simply using yang orliu rather than translating into English.
Response ： I have added three new paragraphs to further emphasize why yangliu is a concept centered on liu (willow) and to elaborate on the historical significance of liu's medical functions in traditional Chinese medicine. Additionally, I have included a discussion on the contemporary understanding of its biochemical applications, bridging historical context with modern scientific perspectives.
These revisions aim to strengthen the manuscript's focus on yangliu and provide a more comprehensive exploration of liu's role in historical and literature. I hope these changes address your concerns and enhance the overall quality of the work. Since this article focus on the role of willow branch and clean water in Buddhism, so I put it in the first part of the discussion serves as the general background information on liu and suggest why Chinese monk translate tooth-wood as yangzhi while dressing the difference behind the translation as discussed in the article.
Coment 2
The references to the health/medicinal/curtesy properties of this plant mentioned in the paper are all associated with their having come into China with the introduction of Buddhism. Just out of curiosity, is the willow or poplar mentioned in the黄帝内经, which precedes the introduction of Buddhism into China by a few centuries.
The new added paragraphs outlined how Chinese medicial books view willow trees before Buddhism came into China. And give further references for more information.
Comment 3 for the mistakes in the article
For Reference Verification and Formatting: All references have been thoroughly checked, and any errors in citation or formatting have been corrected to ensure accuracy and consistency.
These revisions aim to strengthen the manuscript's focus on yangliu and provide a more comprehensive exploration of liu's role in historical and literature. I hope these changes address your concerns and enhance the overall quality of the work. Since this article focus on the role of willow branch and clean water in Buddhism, so I put it in the first part of the discussion serves as the general background information on liu and suggest why Chinese monk translate tooth-wood as yangzhi while dressing the difference behind the translation as discussed in the article.
Thank you again for your constructive feedback. Please let me know if there are any additional points that require clarification or further revision.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsArticle:
Cleaning and Healing: An Examination of the Ritual of Willow Twigs and Clean Water
This is a very interesting review of materials pertaining to the Willow Branch and Clean Water Ritual. The research highlights the symbolic value of this ritual and its relation to esoteric Buddhism and trends in devotion to deities. Perhaps a little long in the number of pages, the article is well written and uses a wide variety of sources. It is recommended to make some adjustments that are explained below:
Abstract
Page 1, line 18.
Leave a space before the parentheses.
Taipiring(xingguo) --> Taipiring (xingguo)
As we can see in the abstract, this way of writing where words are joined with parentheses and no free space is left makes reading difficult. It is important to leave a free space before the parentheses as well as after the parentheses. After finishing the sentence with a period, a free space must be left before starting the next sentence. Many words are seen together or are stuck together throughout the article. As examples, this can be seen in the following cases:
Page 1, line 30. Footnote no. 2.
Page 2, line 38.
Page 3, lines 98, 107, 121.
Page 5, lines 187, 188.
Page 8, lines 325 327.
Page 9, lines 339, 367.
Page 10, lines 380, 398. Footnote no. 38.
Page 11, lines 419, 429.
Page 12, lines 461, 466.
Page 13, lines 483, 495.
Page 14, lines 521, 553.
Page 21, lines 818, 838.
Page 22, line 852.
Page 25, line 1003.
Page 28, lines 1135, 1138, 1149.
Page 29, line 1154.
A very marked separation is also observed among sentences or when a number is written at the end of a sentence to indicate a footnote. After the period, the number moves away from the sentence and is joined to the first letter of the following sentence. This is observed in the following cases:
Page 3, lines 93, 96.
Page 9, line 357.
- Introduction
Page 1, footnote 1.
Sun Xiaogang (1995, pp.1-15) does not appear on the reference page at the end of the article.
- Yangzhi (Willow Branches) or Chimu (Tooth-Wood): A Translation Problem
Page 3, lines 119, 122, 123, and 128.
As a rule, you should write three ellipses (...), and leave an open space between the last point and the next sentence.
3. Yangzhi Jingshui in Esoteric Buddhist Rituals
Page 9, footnote no. 26 / page 10, line 377 / footnote 30 in page 10.
Koichi (2014, pp. 4-9) does not appear on the reference page at the end of the article.
Page 11, footnote 41.
build an mandala --> build a mandala
Page 13, line 485.
“…of the Ddharani of Invoking Guan Yin...”
Please check if the word Ddharani is spelled correctly.
- The Literary Representation of this Ritual
Page 13.
In this subtitle: This Ritual --> this Ritual
Page 17, line 671.
more elaborate.: --> more elaborate:
References
Page 29-34.
Please review and adjust the way you write references according to the APA (American Psychological Association) system format.
Page 31, line 1262.
Write the subtitle Secondary Sources in bold and larger font to make a more marked distinction and make the structure of the references easier to read.
Author Response
Thank you so much for your thoughtful review and valuable feedback. I greatly appreciate the time and effort you have dedicated to providing insightful comments on my work. Based on your suggestions, I have revised the manuscript, and the updated version includes the following changes:
Comment 1: As we can see in the abstract, this way of writing where words are joined with parentheses and no free space is left makes reading difficult. It is important to leave a free space before the parentheses as well as after the parentheses. After finishing the sentence with a period, a free space must be left before starting the next sentence. Many words are seen together or are stuck together throughout the article.
Response 1:
All references have been thoroughly checked, and any errors in citation or formatting have been corrected to ensure accuracy and consistency.
Comment 2: references related question
In footnote 1, the reference is Sun Xiushen and Sun Xiaogang in the end . Regarding Koichi, I erroneously identified his family name as Shinohara; this has now been corrected. The same issue occurred with Victor Mair, William Nienhauser, and I have rectified those as well.
Further notice :
I have added three new paragraphs to further emphasize why yangliu is a concept centered on liu (willow) and to elaborate on the historical significance of liu's medical functions in traditional Chinese medicine. Additionally, I have included a discussion on the contemporary understanding of its biochemical applications, bridging historical context with modern scientific perspectives.
These revisions aim to strengthen the manuscript's focus on yangliu and provide a more comprehensive exploration of liu's role in historical and literature. I hope these changes address your concerns and enhance the overall quality of the work. Since this article focus on the role of willow branch and clean water in Buddhism, so I put it in the first part of the discussion serves as the general background information on liu and suggest why Chinese monk translate tooth-wood as yangzhi while dressing the difference behind the translation as discussed in the article.
Thank you again for your constructive feedback. Please let me know if there are any additional points that require clarification or further revision.
