Abstract
This study traces the trajectory of the Wenshu Monastery’s revival during the reform era of China. In this special but duplicable case, we generalize three key strategies employed by the Wenshu Monastery to enhance its reputation and status—the binomial system, centralized organizational structure, and officialization—in an attempt to rethink the patterns of development of local religious institutions in modern China.
Highlights
Chengdu 成都, owing to the city’s relative stability, freedom from imperial constraints, and support from the local lay community, is widely credited for the flourishing of Buddhism since the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386–589) (Wong 1998)
Restrictive religious policies were eased in the 1980s, none of these institutions have since been able to restore their past splendor. Another temple emerged from obscurity that had lasted for hundreds of years—the Wenshu Monastery (Wenshu Yuan 文殊院)1—and is the representative of Buddhism in Chengdu, or perhaps even in Southwest China
To elucidate how such an unknown monastery suddenly rose to prominence in the reform era (1978–) and became the center of Buddhism in Southwest China, in the present study, three key strategies employed by the Wenshu Monastery to enhance its reputation and status during 1978–2006 are examined2—the binomial system, centralized organizational structure, and officialization—in an attempt to rethink the patterns of development of local religious institutions in modern China
Summary
Chengdu 成都, owing to the city’s relative stability, freedom from imperial constraints, and support from the local lay community, is widely credited for the flourishing of Buddhism since the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386–589) (Wong 1998). Restrictive religious policies were eased in the 1980s, none of these institutions have since been able to restore their past splendor Another temple emerged from obscurity that had lasted for hundreds of years—the Wenshu Monastery (Wenshu Yuan 文殊院)1—and is the representative of Buddhism in Chengdu, or perhaps even in Southwest China. To elucidate how such an unknown monastery suddenly rose to prominence in the reform era (1978–) and became the center of Buddhism in Southwest China, in the present study, three key strategies employed by the Wenshu Monastery to enhance its reputation and status during 1978–2006 are examined2—the binomial system, centralized organizational structure, and officialization—in an attempt to rethink the patterns of development of local religious institutions in modern China. Interviews with two senior volunteers of the Wenshu Monastery and Niangniang Temple (Niangniang Miao 娘娘廟) were conducted to help acquire a clearer picture of the divergent paths that these two local religious institutions are taking
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