The Multicultural Mechanism And Interpretation Of Chinese Theravada Buddhism

After Theravada Buddhism was introduced into the Yunnan Province hundreds of years ago,the Chinese Theravada Buddhism,which was mainly distributed in the southwest border areas of China,had been continuously formed,consistently amended and steadily developed through a series of cultural conflicts and integrations with local primitive religions and ethnic customary norms.Now,the Gengma General Temple,one of the most famous Southern Buddhist Temples in the Linchang City,comes down to a fruit of multiculturalism.Its Multicultural features are mainly manifested in the architectural style,temple murals,doctrines,rituals and other aspects,among which the architecture has a strong multifold characteristic of Burmese,Dai,Han and other styles;Additionally,Burmese and Dai style exits in forms of expression in religious paintings and murals,whereas Dai and Han style consists in techniques and methods;Progressively,local religious doctrines and rituals is under the guidance of Theravada Buddhist doctrines,with selective absorption and adoption between Chinese Buddhism and local folk religion,which makes Gengma General Buddhist Temple obtain the reliance and support of many people.When the theory of Polanyi's embeddedness and Easton's system is applied to the theoretical construction of multicultural mechanism in Gengma General Buddhist Temple,some conclusions can be demonstrated and explained,that the multicultural compatibility of temple is an interactive exhibition,in which religion,as a subsystem of society,interweaves closely with social history and culture.Besides,in the process of localization,the coexistence of the pluralistic culture happened in Gengma Temple is not inevitable,but self-adjusting in accordance with local believers' emotional,spiritual and physical demand.Through the exercise of social support function,it can effectively integrate the social order,help the Buddhist organization merge into the local people's life,and strengthen the sense of identity and belonging of the local people to the Buddhist temple,so that the local people can still form a harmonious and friendly community no matter how different their ethnic groups,current crowding regions and other social backgrounds are.