From Shengguan tu to Snakes and Ladders

The Prompt

Trace the lineage of the Buddhist spiritual race game from its Chinese origins to its cross-cultural dissemination and eventual secular transformation. Identify at least three primary sources — one from the Chinese tradition (the Xuanfo pu or a study of Ouyi Zhixu), one from a Japanese, Korean, or Tibetan adaptation, and one from the Indian Gyān caupaṛ or its colonial appropriation as Snakes and Ladders. Explain what each reveals about how the core mechanic of dice-driven spiritual ascent was localised, theologised, and ultimately secularised.

Completion Criteria

Three citations (one Chinese, one from a secondary Asian tradition, one Indian or colonial), a short essay of three or four paragraphs, and a closing note on what the secularisation lost.

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