Two women who poured cooking ingredients into a river in China in the belief it would bring them good karma have sparked an eco-storm on mainland social media.
A viral video clip shows the women from Hunan province in southern China pouring a mixture of rice, wheat flour, cooking oil and milk into the river on November 26.
The man who filmed them, surnamed Ma, told the mainland media outlet Bailu Video that the women were carrying out a folk ritual known as fang sheng, or “release life into nature”.
Ma said he found their behaviour bizarre and unfathomable.
A member of staff at a Hunan environmental protection organisation told Jiupai News that this is not the first time they have heard of people releasing milk into the river, mineral water is also an issue.
Fang sheng is an ancient practice found in multiple religions but is mostly associated with Buddhism.
Changing attitudes and awareness have seen the practice attract controversy in recent times, particularly around the issue of the introduction of non-native species and foreign food products into an ecosystem.
In one case in 2015, a group of Buddhists released more than 1,000 animals — including foxes, raccoons and minks — into a rural village in eastern China’s Zhejiang province.
Half of the animals died within a week, and the other half hunted domesticated fowl kept by villagers.
The villagers told the mainland news outlet Xiandai Jinbao that they had never seen those species in the region.
In 2016, Chengdu Business Daily exposed a fang sheng business entity in which people captured wild animals and sold them to devotees who then released them back into nature.
Online observers said they had witnessed an assortment of weird stuff being released into nature but added that the women “had gone too far” by releasing food products.
“Are they possessed?” asked a person on Weibo.
“They are simply hypocrites who did nothing but waste food,” said another.
A third online observer chimed in: “People should make sure the animals they release do not damage the ecological environment before they carry out the ritual.”
In February, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs published a list of 200 places nationwide where animals can be legally released. It also recommended a list of fish suppliers who sell correct species.