2019 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Globalizing Chinese Buddhism: Ideologies of Values, Ethnics, and Lifestyles
| Project/Area Number |
16KT0094
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| Research Institution | Sophia University |
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Principal Investigator |
Wank David 上智大学, 国際教養学部, 教授 (60245793)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
足羽 與志子 一橋大学, 大学院社会学研究科, 教授 (30231111)
FARRER GRACIA 早稲田大学, 国際学術院(アジア太平洋研究科), 教授 (70436062)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2016-07-19 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | Buddhism / Buddhist culture / Chinese Buddhism / India / ideoscape / Bodhgaya / global studies / China and India |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Through the project’s prior three years, we understood the development of Chinese Buddhism, on the one hand, in western countries, such as Canada and the US, as the center of Chinese cultural activities. On the other hand, Chinese Buddhism has been reestablishing historical links with original Buddhism sites in Asia to gain authenticity as a part of a state effort to make Chinese Buddhism a global one.
To examine the phenomena, Ashiwa surveyed the presence of Chinese Buddhism in sacred historical sites of Buddhism in India, including Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Rajgir, and Nalanda. She found that Chinese attempts that started in the early 2000s to gain a presence in these sites by investing in renovations, were not working well. These efforts had created tension with local communities, and the institutional presence of Chinese Buddhism was not that visible, even though Chinese tourism has been increasing.
Ashiwa participated in the Global Study Consortium in Leipzig University to discuss issues of ideoscape--the project's organizing concept. Additionally, she conducted fieldwork at Asian Buddhist temples in Leipzig and meet with Dr. Philipp Clart, a scholar of Chinese Buddhism. Interviews at the Buddhist temples in Leipzig made us realize that Buddhist activities in former socialist countries such as Leipzig have strong links with the Buddhism of social and communist countries in Asia, such as China, Vietnam, and Burma that started in the socialist era through the mobilities of people and cultural policies of international cultural exchange among socialist countries.
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