Monastic economic reform at Rong-bo monastery: Towards an understanding of contemporary Tibetan monastic revival and development in A-mdo

TY - JOUR

T1 - Monastic economic reform at Rong-bo monastery

T2 - Towards an understanding of contemporary Tibetan monastic revival and development in A-mdo

AU - Caple, Jane Eluned

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - Scholarly focus on the political relationship between monasteries and the state has obscured other dynamics in the post-Mao revival and development of dGe-lugs-pa monasticism in China and led to its marginalisation in wider discussions about Buddhism in the contemporary world. The present article seeks to broaden our understanding by examining economic reforms at a monastery in A-mdo. Based on fieldwork conducted 2008–2009, it argues that while recent monastic economic developments converge with state policies, monks’ narratives place agency for reforms within the monastic community and present impetus for reform as a moral issue. Consideration of the moral dimension of reforms, drawing on Sayer’s conception of ‘moral economy’, allows for a thicker understanding of contemporary monastic development which takes into account dynamics that extend beyond monastic interactions with the political and hegemonic power of the Chinese state.

AB - Scholarly focus on the political relationship between monasteries and the state has obscured other dynamics in the post-Mao revival and development of dGe-lugs-pa monasticism in China and led to its marginalisation in wider discussions about Buddhism in the contemporary world. The present article seeks to broaden our understanding by examining economic reforms at a monastery in A-mdo. Based on fieldwork conducted 2008–2009, it argues that while recent monastic economic developments converge with state policies, monks’ narratives place agency for reforms within the monastic community and present impetus for reform as a moral issue. Consideration of the moral dimension of reforms, drawing on Sayer’s conception of ‘moral economy’, allows for a thicker understanding of contemporary monastic development which takes into account dynamics that extend beyond monastic interactions with the political and hegemonic power of the Chinese state.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Tibet

KW - Buddhism

KW - Monastic economy

KW - Moral economy

KW - Amdo

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0265-2897

VL - 27

SP - 197

EP - 219

JO - Buddhist Studies Review

JF - Buddhist Studies Review

IS - 2

ER -