Introduction -- Part I. Concept, Spaces, History: 1. Themes and Concepts of the Study -- 2. Semiotic and Physical Spaces of Nanputuo Temple -- 3. Institutional Space and Temple Capitals -- Part II. Recovery and Development of Nanputuo Temple: 4. Revival of Buddhist Practice and Education, 1982-1989 -- 5. Expansion and Conflict in the Space of Religion, 1989-1995 -- 6. Aligning with the Central State, 1996-2004 -- Part III. Nanputuo Temple and Local Buddhist Communities: 7. Dynamism of Local Temples -- 8. Devotees and Lay Nuns -- 9. The Guanyin Festival: Being Buddhist the Chinese Way -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1: Leaders of Nanputuo Temple in Modern China -- Appendix 2: Nanputuo Temple Architectural Renewal Chronology -- Appendix 3: Buddhist College of Minnan Curriculum in 1989 -- Appendix 4: Ordination Ceremony Schedule, October 13-29, 1989, Guanghua Temple -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
Summary:
"Buddhist temples help form the core of Buddhist practice as sacred spaces. They represent the cosmology of Buddhism and contain images of the Buddha, bodhisattvas, and other deities for worship, and, in associated monasteries, offer space for monks or nuns to live and practice Buddhist discipline. However, temples also provide locations for interactions between state and religion, particularly given that Buddhist teachings generally prohibit clerics from laboring and thus temples rely on the laity and secular authorities for support. Since arriving in China, Buddhism has been variously tolerated, patronized, and crushed by the power of the state. Today, the Chinese state permits religious activity only in the physical space of temples (officially known as "religious activity sites"). In The Space of Religion, Yoshiko Ashiwa and David L. Wank take readers inside the Nanputuo Temple in Xiamen City in Fujian Province of southeastern China in order to explore the relationship between Buddhism and the Chinese state. Nanputuo was a center of modernizing Buddhism in the early twentieth century and a leader of Buddhism's revival after the Cultural Revolution. Based on three decades of ethnographic and documentary research, Ashiwa and Wank tell the story of Nanputuo across a sweep of Chinese history that has seen rapid economic growth and social change. In doing so, they argue that the Chinese state and Buddhism have each adapted to the necessity of the other, and that the success of these adaptations can be seen in the way that the revival of the Buddhist temple has been inextricably intertwined with the growing Chinese market economy"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.