Bodhisattva Citizens: The Social Identity Of Buddhist Monks And Their Transition In Modern China

The national salvation movement consisted the theme of that time in modern China, and also the country was experiencing its dramatic transformation on politics, economy, society and culture, etc. This background had a profound influence on Chinese Buddhist monks'understanding on reality and self awareness and reflection about their situation during that period. That influence had been vividly reflected through Buddhist monks'thought and practice of how to re-locate their social role and status.The most profound change in the social field had happened was the change of individual's social status shifting from a subject to a citizen after 1911 Revolution. In this dissertation the procedure of why and how Chinese Buddhist monks strive for their citizenship during that time( 1911 -1949) is selected out to make an analysis in order to explain the new transition of their identity. The analytical framework of this dissertation is based on the theory of identity of sociology. The analysis focuses on the expressions and actions made during the Buddhist monks'striving for their citizenship. They are the"facts"which consist of the real procedure of the transition of Buddhist monks'identity. So they are the methodological orientation of this dissertation and its main analytical contents.Buddhist monks are religious believers, and citizens too. For they belong to different fields named the sacred and the profane, there exists inner tension or conflicts between these two kinds of identities. The tension and conflicts can be considered as which identity should be given first priority, or how to balance the relationship of renouncing the world and engaging in the world, or how to deal with the matter of religious belief and reality. After careful assessments of current theories of religion and sociology, this study finds that the Buddhist identity occupies the first position and plays a key role for Buddhist monks. But on the other side of the matter, for these Buddhist monks, their identity as a member of Sangha cannot be take apart from their national identity. The citizenship and their Sanghaship make a complete modern Buddhist monk identity. There needn't exist confrontation or conflicts between those two identities. Such character of identity reflect a relationship between the church and the state different from western tradition, and a Buddhism understanding on the relationship of the sacred and the profane. It also tells the limitations when using the dichotomy of a conflict relationship between the sacred and the profane in analyzing Chinese Buddhism .However Buddhist tradition of national identity shouldn't be the reasons of fears on Buddhism losing its religious independence, and also the risk which Buddhism degenerates into a political organization. Buddhism doctrines, the Buddhism-government tradition developed in long history and the reality of modern China have a combined effect on Buddhist monks'national identity, and in reverse on Buddhist monks keeping the key role of their religious identity. Buddhists'identity shows a multiple meaning structure, that is, to a Buddhist monk, Buddhist belief systems, its traditions, the structure environment which Buddhism exists and the realities which Buddhism has to face, they form respectively the purpose identity, meanings of context, identity resources and opportunity. Bodhisattva citizenship is just the result of this kind of multiple meaning structure, its expression and social practice. Meanwhile the new identity of Bodhisattva citizenship also reflected Buddhist monks'action logic in constructing their sacred Sangha religious identity and their special identity-constructing path.