Yuan fen

Yuan (simplified Chinese: 缘; traditional Chinese: 緣) or Yuanfen (simplified Chinese: 缘份; traditional Chinese: 緣份; pinyin: yuánfèn; Vietnamese: duyên phận), "fateful coincidence," is a concept in the Chinese folk religion describing good and bad chances and potential relationships. It can also be translated as "destiny, luck as conditioned by one's past," or "natural affinity among friends." It is comparable to the concept of karma in Buddhism, but yuanfen is interactive rather than individual.

The driving forces and causes behind yuánfèn are said to be actions done in previous incarnations. The proverb yǒu yuán wú fèn (有緣無份), "have fate without destiny," is sometimes used to describe couples who meet, but who do not stay together, for whatever reason.

Scholars K. S. Yang and D. Ho have analysed the psychological advantages of this belief: by assigning causality of negative events to yuanfen beyond personal control, people tend to maintain good relationships, avoid conflict, and promote social harmony; likewise, when positive events are seen as result of yuanfen, personal credit is not directly assigned, which reduces pride on one side of the relationship and envy and resentment on the other.

K.S. Yang and D.Y. F. Ho trace the origins of the term to traditional Buddhism and observe that yuan or yuanfen are important concepts in maintaining social harmony in personal relationships and group solidarity because they attribute cause or "fateful coincidence" to an outside factor beyond the control or responsibility of individuals. Yang and Ho's research found that these concepts are still very much alive in Chinese social life and culture among university students. The concepts of yuan and yuanfen and beliefs in predestination and fatalism have waned, and belief in yuan has waned as well, but continuity with past conceptions is still strong.

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