Morality and Monastic Revival in Post-Mao Tibet

233 Pages·2019·1.132 MB·English

by  Jane Caple, Mark Michael Rowe

Morality and Monastic Revival in Post-Mao Tibet
Contemporary Buddhism
MARK M. ROWE, SERIES EDITOR
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Soka Gakkai’s Human Revolution: The Rise of
a Mimetic Nation in Modern Japan
Levi McLaughlin
Guardians of the Buddha’s Home: Domestic Religion in
the Contemporary Jōdo Shinshū
Jessica Starling
Morality and Monastic Revival in Post-Mao Tibet
Jane E. Caple
Morality and Monastic Revival
in Post-Mao Tibet
Jane E. Caple
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I PRESS
HONOLULU
© 2019 University of Hawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Caple, Jane E., author.
Title: Morality and monastic revival in post-Mao Tibet / Jane E. Caple.
Other titles: Contemporary Buddhism.
Description: Honolulu : University of Hawai‘i Press, [2019] | Series:
Contemporary Buddhism | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018036132 | ISBN 9780824869847 (cloth ; alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Dge-lugs-pa (Sect)—China—Tibet Autonomous Region—Customs
and practices. | Monastic and religious life (Buddhism)—China—Tibet
Autonomous Region. | Buddhist monasteries—China—Tibet Autonomous Region.
Classification: LCC BQ7576 .C37 2018 | DDC 294.3/65709515—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018036132
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the
guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.
All photographs are by the author.
Cover image: Informal debate session at a scholastic monastery, northeast Tibet.
Contents
vii Series Editor’s Preface
ix Acknowledgments
xi Notes on Romanization and Naming Practices
1 Introduction: Negotiating Moral Boundaries
19 CHAPTER ONE
Monastic revival: A Social and Moral
Reordering
38 CHAPTER TWO
Monastic reforM: The Path to “Self-Sufficiency”
68 CHAPTER THREE
Monastic tourisM: Defining Value
94 CHAPTER FOUR
Monastic developMent in Morally
troubled tiMes
122 CHAPTER FIVE
Monastic recruitMent and retention
145 CHAPTER SIX
the future of Mass MonasticisM
155 CHAPTER SEVEN
seeing beyond the state
165 coda
169 Notes
193 Bibliography
209 Index
Contents
Contents v
Series Editor’s Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
Notes on Romanization and Naming Practices xi
1
Introduction 1
Negotiating Moral Boundaries 1
1 19
Monastic Revival 19
A Social and Moral Reordering 19
2 38
Monastic Reform 38
The Path to “Self-Sufficiency” 38
3 68
Monastic Tourism 68
Defining Value 68
4 94
Monastic Development in Morally Troubled Times 94
5 122
Monastic Recruitment and Retention 122
6 145
The Future of Mass Monasticism 145
7 155
Seeing beyond the State 155
Coda 165
Notes 169
Bibliography 193
Index 209
About the Author 219
Series Editor’s Preface
“IS IT POSSIBLE TO SEE BEYOND THE state in studies of Tibet, religion, and
other highly politicized issues in contemporary China?” This is the central
question that drives Jane Caple’s vivid account of Geluk monastic revival and
development in northeast Tibet. Though there is no denying the ongoing and
pervasive force of the state since the Maoist era, Caple’s richly textured book
reveals there is much more to the story. Her extensive ethnographic work
at more than sixteen monasteries allows us to see beyond Buddhist revival
as either resistance to or accommodation of state policies and approach it
instead as deeply embedded in localized “relationships, priorities, and values
that have very little to do with the state.” In exploring the shift from alms col-
lection to economic self-sufficiency, for example, Caple produces a localized
and personal account of monasteries reshaping lay/monastic relationships in
terms of virtue rather than power and influence. By focusing attention on how
her interlocutors express their sense of right and wrong, Caple proves them to
be members of moral communities whose actions may at times line up with
the demands of the state but are in no way encompassed or fully explained
by state pressure. Caple’s brilliant ethnography of morality opens up exciting
new avenues for understanding issues of monastic financing, construction,
tourism, education, and recruitment.
vii

Acknowledgments
THIS WORK WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE without the help of a great num-
ber of individuals. I owe my deepest gratitude to the monks and laypeople
who extended such gracious hospitality, were so generous with their time, and
shared their knowledge, stories, and opinions. It is to them that I dedicate
this book even though, to protect their anonymity, they remain nameless. My
heartfelt gratitude goes to Palden Tsering, Sonam Tsering, and their fami-
lies and friends for their help, warmth, and kindness; to Tendzin Tsering,
who sadly passed away in February 2011; to Lhangtsang Soldor, Jamphel
Sems, Sönam Dorjé, Dowi Namlha, Kelzang, Tseringsham, and others who
worked with me in the field but wish to remain anonymous; to my teacher
and friend Trashi Drölma; to Sangguo for her unstinting kindness; and to
Lhündrup Dorjé and Akhu for their friendship and forbearance in the face of
my never-ending stream of questions.
Research and writing would not have been possible without the back-
ing of various institutions: the Leverhulme Trust, the British Inter-University
China Centre, the White Rose East Asia Centre, the University of Manchester,
the University of Leeds, Beijing Central Nationalities University, and Qinghai
Nationalities University. The financial support of the Leverhulme Trust, the
UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Arts and Human-
ities Research Council (AHRC), and the Higher Education Funding Council
for England (HEFCE) is gratefully acknowledged. I would like to thank my
teachers, colleagues, and friends at the universities of Leeds and Manchester
who provided such a supportive environment and helped me in numerous
ways over the years. Special thanks go to Flemming Christiansen, Tim Wright,
and Victor T. King for their advice, guidance, and encouragement.
I am also grateful to the many other scholars who have offered help
and guidance at various stages of the path toward this study in its final form. I
owe an enormous debt to Lama Jabb for his help in checking my translations
from the Tibetan, his encouragement, and our many thought-provoking dis-
cussions and to Nicolas Sihlé, who has been both a mentor and friend. I would
also like to thank Hildegard Diemberger, Alison Hardie, Anthony Fielding,
ix