Tai Buddhist Practices in Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan, China

Abstract

This paper will explore the religious practices of Theravada Buddhists in DehongDai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The data presented weregathered by the author during a year of fieldwork in a village outside the city of Ruili.Dehong Prefecture is located on the China-Myanmar border. One of the maingroups in this area is the Dai (Tăi), who follow Theravada Buddhism. Buddhismwas brought into Dehong mainly from Myanmar. Local religious practices havemuch in common with Buddhist practices in Southeast Asia, sharing the same Palicanon. However, this area differs from other Theravada Buddhist societies in thatit has a relatively low number of monks and novices. Although all the villages inDehong have a monastery, just as in the rest of Southeast Asia, most of the monasteriesare uninhabited. One reason for this is the oppression of religion during theGreat Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. But more important, the customof ordaining is significantly less widespread in Dehong than in other TheravadaBuddhist societies. Therefore, without resident monks, Buddhist rituals in Dehongare performed by virtue of the direct relationship between the lay community andtheir Buddhist texts, Buddha images, and pagodas. In particular, holu (experts inreciting Buddhist texts) and xiŋ lai (elderly people who go to the monastery duringthe rainy season retreat to keep eight precepts on special holy days) play importantroles as mediators in this relationship.1) It is laypeople, not monks, who play thecentral role in the practice of Buddhism in Dehong. In this situation, knowledge ofBuddhism is transmitted mainly from laypeople to laypeople. Furthermore, a diversityof practices has been produced and reproduced by local Buddhists. Thesefeatures of Buddhist practices in Dehong are in striking contrast to practices in otherTheravada Buddhist societies, and suggest that there is a need to re-examine themodels to understand the Theravada Buddhist societies that were developed uponthe case of Central Thailand.