Local Matters: A Socioeconomic History of Monastic Reconstruction in Nineteenth-Century China
The study of Buddhist monastic reconstruction has long focused on the leading role played by well-connected literati and charismatic monks in periods of fervent Buddhist revival in the late Ming and late Qing respectively. This article seeks to redirect scholarly focus and give voice to clerics and...
| Published in: | Journal of Chinese religions |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Johns Hopkins University Press
2022
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| In: |
Journal of Chinese religions
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| Further subjects: | B
Sichuan
B monastic economy B Buddhism B 清代 B Fundraising B 佛教 B 寺廟重建 B 寺院經濟 B 四川 B Qing Dynasty B monastic reconstruction B 募化 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The study of Buddhist monastic reconstruction has long focused on the leading role played by well-connected literati and charismatic monks in periods of fervent Buddhist revival in the late Ming and late Qing respectively. This article seeks to redirect scholarly focus and give voice to clerics and institutions that are so far marginalized in the history of Chinese Buddhism. By using legal archives, this article examines how ordinary clerics, including Daoists, used locally available resources to finance temple reconstruction in nineteenth-century Sichuan. In particular, since Sichuan had rich coal deposits and timber reserves, they routinely tapped into these resources to fund reconstruction projects. However, such efforts tended to aggravate the clergy-laity relationship due to ecological and fengshui concerns. In this regard, reconstruction did not always build upon and lead to community consensus. By foregrounding the experience of less-known Buddhist clerics, the article questions the dominant narrative of monastic reconstruction and deepens our understanding of the complexity of institutional Buddhism in imperial China. |
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| ISSN: | 2050-8999 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Chinese religions
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