essay

The revival of monastic life in Deprung Monastery

buddhism in contemporary tibet : religious revival and cultural identityBerkeley • Published In 1998 • Pages: 15-52

By: Goldstein, Melvyn C..

Abstract
The article outlines four periods of Tibet Buddhism under in Communist era, focusing on Drepung Monastery, Tibet's largest. The four periods are 1951-1959, a gradualist period of accommodation albeit ending with the abortive Tibetan uprising; 1959-1966, when Beijing dismantled monastery supports. 1966 marked the beginning of the Cultural Revolution and an all out attempt to destroy religion. By the end of these last two periods, the population of monks at the monastery had shrunk to 306 from a 1959 high of 10,000. The final period began in 1978, the year of the liberalizing reforms of the Eleventh Party Plenum, which restored of religious practices. The authors document the work of the Democratic Management Committee (DMC), a committee of poorer and progressive monks, and its efforts to gradually restore the monastic way of life.
Subjects
External relations
Miscellaneous government activities
Political movements
Theological systems
Prophets and ascetics
culture
Tibetans
HRAF PubDate
2010
Region
Asia
Sub Region
Central Asia
Document Type
essay
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Ian Skoggard; 2009
Field Date
no date
Coverage Date
1978-1996
Coverage Place
Lhasa, Tibet
Notes
Melvyn c. Goldstein
For bibliographical references see document 30: Goldstein and Kapstein
LCCN
97026851
LCSH
Tibet (China)--Ethnology