Infractions of moral precepts by monks and nuns in the Buddhist community of Dunhuang during the late-Tang and Five Dynasties period—The case of alcohol drinking

Abstract

Though the monastic code prohibited monks from consuming alcohol, many monks and nuns in the Dunhuang area customarily consumed alcohol, disclosing a gap between the ethical principles in the Buddhist canonical texts and the local practice in the late Tang and Five Dynasties. Combing through numerous monastic accounting records in the Dunhuang manuscripts about alcohol consumption in some monasteries, the authors find that the custom of consuming alcohol in Dunhuang was due to the Tibetan occupation of this region. Tibetan Buddhists and some Central Asian Buddhists such as Sogdian monks drank alcohol, causing Chinese Buddhist monks and nuns to follow suit. Dunhuang monasteries developed alcohol-making businesses, and the entire Buddhist monastic community participated in that business. In a word, alcoholic drinks were frequently served during monastic banquets in numerous Buddhist ceremonies and festivals, as well as in social, agricultural, and political activities, which marked a stark contrast to Buddhist practices in the Central Plains and elsewhere.