The Expansion And Innovation Of Theravada Buddhism In China:A Sociological Study Of "Mengjinglai Model"

After the fifth century AD,Buddhism began to spread from the south of India to Sri Lanka.After it developed in Sri Lanka,it spread to Thailand,Myanmar,Laos and other countries in Southeast Asia,and then into the southern and southwest of Yunnan in China.Then it combinated to the ethnic minority culture for the result of becoming the local fundamental belief.Due to the history of national politics,culture and other factors,the Theravada Buddhism in China is facing the loss of religious talent,the decrease of the Buddhist followers' deep beliefs and a series of problems.The traditional belief of"the Mode of the Universal Religious" was reduced.In this way,it is difficult for the Theravada Buddhism in China to adapt the development of social changes,and it badly need the modern transformation.However,there are many beneficial experiences and practices in Mengjinglai temple could be for reference.However the practice of communication of Mengjinglai temple can be uesed by the Theravada Buddhist in China.Based on the traditional style and features of Dai Village and the characteristics of border,the Yunnan Golden Peacock Tourism Company developed it as a folk tourism area integrating the Dai culture,the Theravada Buddhism culture,farming culture and border culture in 2009.On this basis,the Mengjinglai temple received attention of the government and recovered it's religious status in border area as a central temple gradually.This paper starts with the five basic elements of the "5W" transmission mode according to Harold D.Laswell's communication theory.To analyze the practice of the Mengjinglai temple in transmission from the communicator,we focus on the following five aspects:Who are the communicators;What are the contents of the dissemination;What are the objects of communication;through What channels of communication and How are the effects of communication.And analyze the variable of the practice of the Mengjinglai temple to get the relationships among those five basic elements.The religious transmission of the Mengjinglai temple is based on communicators.So starting from the communicators,this group is divided into three levels which are the monks of the temple,the temple's role as a basic-level temple and the temple's role as a central temple.In the level of the monk of temple,the fundamental change of the mode of the Dharma sermon changed the self-orientation of the faculty and staff of the Buddhist temple,which promoted the social status of the temple.The rational allocation of the three different types of monks satisfies the Buddhist temple's religious functions,management functions and mass communication functions for the monks' needs.The faculty of the temple used the modern media as the subjective communicator to carry forward the Buddhist culture and realized the basic requirements of modern communication and inheritance.In the level of the basic-level temple's role,the education in Mengjinglai temple reformed,and its communication with the school education and cooperation,to help the temple to promote a double win with the compulsory education.As the temple's role as a basic-level temple,the education reform of Buddhist temple and it's communication with compulsory education school helped the Buddhist temple and compulsory education of win-win.The revival of traditional culture and ceremony by centering around the village,reshaped the congregation of identity.By satisfying the belief needs of the believers and the emotional needs,the temples acquired the deepening of the belief.And the rationalization transformation of community space relationship pattern improved the jurisdiction of religious activities of Mengjinglai temple.As the temple's role as a central temple,the Palm-leaf Academy of Classical Learning in form of religion divided the sacred and the secularization of Buddhist and deepened affect from public welfare of the Palm-leaf Academy of Classical Learning.The independent and coalesce of foreign exchange for the Buddhist temple promoted the structure of the international order,the regional integration and the relationship between states.And through the perspective and method of "structure-function theory "of sociology,analyze the variable of the practice of" the Mode of the Mengjinglai temple " to get the relationships among content of those three levels."The Mode of the Mengjinglai temple " probided a model for the basic temple.And it broughted a new hope for the Theravada Buddhist in China.But the transmission pattern of Mengjinglai temple is still existing particularity in geographical and status.And it is difficult to becompletely copied.