PhD Title

Changing Roles: Tibetan Buddhist Monasticism in Contemporary China

Supervisors

Professor Flemming Christiansen, Professor Tim Wright (at WREAC Sheffield)

Research Study

Jane Caple's research examines the roles and meanings of the Tibetan Buddhist monastery and monks in contemporary China through a study of the re-construction and development of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the north-eastern part of Qinghai province, part of the Tibetan Amdo region, since the late 1970s. Prior to 1958, monasteries were in a position of institutionalised dominance throughout most of the Tibetan cultural area in religious, cultural, social, political and economic fields. The process of reconstruction and renewal of these institutions following the end of the Cultural Revolution has involved their re-positioning within contemporary power structures; and their development during the past 30 years has involved a continued process of negotiation of their position within each of the above fields.

The aim of the research is to explore the process and stages of this re-emergence of mass monasticism in Tibetan societies, considering the complex logics (soteriological, moral, cultural, political, economic) behind the re-building, re-populating, and continued support of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries by different actors and the factors constraining and enabling the development of monasteries. In particular it considers the ways in which organisational and individual actors within the monastic community are reacting and adapting to shifting social expectations and a rapidly changing and globalising environment in which religion is internationalised, politicised and commodified, and the practices employed to shape outcomes.

Background

Jane Caple received a BA in Modern Chinese Studies from the University of Leeds (1997) and an MA in Buddhist Studies from the University of Bristol (1998). She then worked for various organisations in the NGO sector as a researcher and writer before starting her doctoral research in May 2007.

Email: j.caple@wreac.org