Book

High religion: a cultural and political history of Sherpa Buddhism

Princeton University PressPrinceton, N.j.Published In 1989 • Pages:

By: Ortner, Sherry B..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This work is a detailed description of the establishment of the first celibate Buddhist monasteries among the Sherpas of Nepal in the early 20th century. Using a combination of ethnographic and oral-history methods, the author attempts to answer the questions of how, by whom, and why these monasteries were founded. Ortner employs the technique of 'practice' anthropology to study the relationship between human intentions and actions on one hand and those structures of culture and society on the other which feed back and emerge from the intentions and actions of others. Ortner's work constitutes a major advance in the knowledge of Sherpa Buddhism as well as in the integration of anthropological and historical modes of analysis.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Traditional history
History
Real property
Inheritance
Literary texts
Status, role, and prestige
Ingroup antagonisms
Arranging a marriage
Family relationships
Sacred objects and places
Prayers and sacrifices
Purification and atonement
Prophets and ascetics
Organized ceremonial
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Sherpa
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2004
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Central Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1991
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1966-1976
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
not specified
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Khumbu region, northeastern Nepal
NotesAdditional notes
[by] Sherry B. Ortner
Includes bibliographical references (p.225-236)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
89030337
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Sherpa (Nepalese people)