Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity [Paperback]

Melvyn C. Goldstein (Editor), Matthew T. Kapstein (Editor), Orville Schnell (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520211316 | ISBN-13: 978-0520211315 | Publication Date: July 27, 1998 | Edition: 1

Following the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution, the People's Republic of China gradually permitted the renewal of religious activity. Tibetans, whose traditional religious and cultural institutions had been decimated during the preceding two decades, took advantage of the decisions of 1978 to begin a Buddhist renewal that is one of the most extensive and dramatic examples of religious revitalization in contemporary China. The nature of that revival is the focus of this book. Four leading specialists in Tibetan anthropology and religion conducted case studies in the Tibet autonomous region and among the Tibetans of Sichuan and Qinghai provinces. There they observed the revival of the Buddhist heritage in monastic communities and among laypersons at popular pilgrimages and festivals. Demonstrating how that revival must contend with tensions between the Chinese state and aspirations for greater Tibetan autonomy, the authors discuss ways that Tibetan Buddhists are restructuring their religion through a complex process of social, political, and economic adaptation. Buddhism has long been the main source of Tibetans' pride in their culture and country. These essays reveal the vibrancy of that ancient religion in contemporary Tibet and also the problems that religion and Tibetan culture in general are facing in a radically altered world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Melvyn C. Goldstein is John Reynolds Harkness Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Research on Tibet at Case Western University. Matthew T. Kapstein is Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, and Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. His publications include a translation of Dudjom Rinpoche's The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism (1991) and the catalogue and ten-volume edition of The 'Dzam-thang Edition of the Collected Works of Kun-mkhyen Dol-po-pa Shes-rab-rgyal-mtshan (1992/3).

Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (July 27, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520211316
• ISBN-13: 978-0520211315
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #487,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > History > Asia > Tibet

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative and challenging academic analysis, April 9, 2000

By 

Northern Boris (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity (Hardcover)

Having read the preceding comments, I find myself in sympathy with all of them to a certain extent (some more than others). Goldstein and Kapstein's informative and challenging edited collection is precisely that - a collection, and includes viewpoints from a variety of academic researchers on Tibet. AS a result, it does not constitute the accepted 'word' on Tibet, nor in fact does it present ANY single viewpoint. Certainly, it does not deserve the accusations heaped on it by the first reviewer, but at the same time, the editors DO come to a particular view of Tibetan political consciousness that not everyone wouyld agree with. That view, if I might summerise, is roughly that the national identity generated around Tibetan Buddhism is not necessarily a prelude to full-blown Tibetan nationalism, and therefore that Tibetan Buddhism can be allowed to flourish by the Chinese authorities without it necessarily generating sympathy for the independence movement). Personally I do not agree with this perspective, and it is clear that the writers are attempting to produce an academic analysis which, as the Tibetan writer Tsering Shakya has recently argued for, cuts a path between the various absolute "black-or-white" political positions that surround the Tibet issue. At the same time, the authors take odds with the widespread view that ALL Buddhism in Tibet is forbidden, and argue that (thankfully) many Tibetans are capable of negotiating a meaningful Buddhist revival despite Chinese communist rule (the extent to which this holds true in the 2 years since this book was published is another issue). As a result, it IS possible to read this collection as proposing an analytical agenda which is not exactly "on-message" in terms of the position of certain pro-Tibet groups, but that is a LONG way from saying that it is Chinese political orthodoxy.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fair and balanced look, October 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity (Paperback)

Having traveled extensively through Tibet and Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, and lived in Beijing, I was interested in reading a book recommended to me as "a true look". First of all, the comments of the first reviewer are absolutely dead wrong. Having read the Chinese propaganda, and really lived the Chinese propaganda, this is not it. Rather, it is one of the only pieces of scholarship about Tibet in recent history that doesn't fall victim to the Western agenda of portraying Tibet as sympathetically as possible. This is a complex issue, and both sides have done their best to skewer public opinion in their favor; however, to accuse these men of simply being mouthpieces of the Communist party is doing a great disservice to what is truly a breath of fresh air. For a good look at propaganda, go to a Beastie Boys concert. I applaud the editors for keeping politics out of their writing. I highly recommend this text to anyone curious about the real situation in Tibet.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Goldstein provides an informed and intellectual assesment., February 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity (Hardcover)

I am surprised by a reader's comments regarding this book as being one of misinformation considering that Melvyn Goldstein is one of the (if not THE) foremost scholar on Tibetan buddhism in the country. One aspect of this book, and Dr. Goldstein's point of reference that must be kept in mind, is that Goldstein separates political Tibet from what he refers to as "ethnic Tibet". He is neither pro-communist China nor pro-political Tibet in his stance, but rather gives an educated and informed look at a political situation that, through a lack of reasonable compromise, has escalted to the point that the Dalai Lama will be forced to make some difficult choices in the next few years. This book outlines both the political and the ethnic situation in Tibet and explains how buddhism has played a major role in both. I feel if you want an informed and balanced view of the situation, than any of Goldstein's books would provide you with the necessary information to form an intelligent argument.