Lay Buddhists and Moral Activism in Contemporary China (当代中国的佛教居士与道德能动主义)

Abstract

The last few decades have seen the rise of grassroots groups of lay Buddhists in post-Mao China who, through the composition, exchange, and discussion of Buddhist-themed media, foster moral discourses that critique what they perceive as the materialistic direction of contemporary Chinese society. Disseminated at legal but unregulated spaces within Buddhist temples, these discourses empower the economically marginalized lay practitioners who gather there and provide them with new purpose in life. Practitioners are also able to transmit these moral discourses through networks to other temple spaces. However, they do not yet possess the means to use them to influence the social direction of Chinese society at large. This is due to (1) political restrictions against the circulation of religious-themed materials outside of approved religious activity sites; (2) economic obstacles faced by the practitioners who seek to spread anti-materialistic messages; (3) a lack of organizational cohesiveness among the practitioners; and (4) the influence on practitioners of doctrines within Buddhism that caution against proselytizing to those who do not already possess a pre-fated bond with the Buddha and his teachings. As a result, lay Buddhists do not as yet constitute a social movement in the way the term is conventionally used by sociologists.佛教居士组成的草根社会团体在毛时代之后的几十年快速发展。通过书写、交流与讨论与佛教主题相关的文献，他们促进形成了一套批判当前中国社会拜金主义倾向的道德话语。这套话语在合法且相对自由的佛教寺院中传播，鼓励了经济窘迫的信徒，帮助他们获得新的生活目的。这一道德话语也借由信徒进一步传播给其他的寺院。但是因为以下原因，这些草根团体无力影响中国社会的整体方向：1)宗教政策限制了宗教思想在寺庙以外的传播；2)信徒的经济地位较低，难以宣传反对拜金主义的话语；3)信徒中间缺乏组织凝聚力；4)反对向那些与佛陀无缘的人宣传佛家思想的信条。因此到目前为止，佛教居士团体还没有形成社会学意义上的社会运动。