An eminent anthropologist examines the foundings of the first celibate Buddhist monasteries among the Sherpas of Nepal in the early twentieth century--a religious development that was a major departure from "folk" or "popular" Buddhism. Sherry Ortner is the first to integrate social scientific and historical modes of analysis in a study of the Sherpa monasteries and one of the very few to attempt such an account for Buddhist monasteries anywhere. Combining ethnographic and oral-historical methods, she scrutinizes the interplay of political and cultural factors in the events culminating in the foundings. Her work constitutes a major advance both in our knowledge of Sherpa Buddhism and in the integration of anthropological and historical modes of analysis.
At the theoretical level, the book contributes to an emerging theory of "practice," an explanation of the relationship between human intentions and actions on the one hand, and the structures of society and culture that emerge from and feed back upon those intentions and actions on the other. It will appeal not only to the increasing number of anthropologists working on similar problems but also to historians anxious to discover what anthropology has to offer to historical analysis. In addition, it will be essential reading for those interested in Nepal, Tibet, the Sherpa, or Buddhism in general.
Author(s): Sherry B. Ortner
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Year: 1989
Language: English
Pages: 273
City: Princeton
Cover page
Half-title page
Title page
Copyright page
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Note on Orthography
Dramatis Personae
Chronology of Sherpa History
Chapter I: Introduction: The Project, the People, and the Problem
Who Are The Sherpas?
Fieldwork
Expanding Practice Theory
Chapter II: The Early History of the Sherpas: Fraternal Contradictions
Time Frame
The Sources
Migration, Settlement, and Subsistence
Family and Inheritance
Egalitarianism and Hierarchy: The Core Contradiction
Inheritance, Economy, and Inequality
Leadership and Power
Religion before the Temples
Chapter III: The Founding of the First Sherpa Temple: Political Contradictions
Time Frame
The Novelty of Noncelibate Temples
The Stories of the First Founding
The Political Rivalry with Zongnamba
Contradictions of the Political Order
Chapter IV: The Meaning of Temple Founding: Cultural Schemas
Cultural Schemas
The Founding of Zhung Temple
The Schema
Rituals for Gaining the Protection of the Gods
Grounding The Schema
Merit and Power
Chapter V: The Sherpas and the State
Time Frame
The Period before the Temples (1533-1720)
The Further Evil Ways of Zongnamba
The Gorkha Conquest and Long-Term State Interference
The Enrichment of the Big People
The Founding of Khumjung Temple
Controlling the Big People
Chapter VI: The Political Economy of Monastery Foundings
Time Frame
Getting Rich with the Raj and the Ranas
The Effects of the British in Darjeeling in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century
Trade and Profit: The Further Enrichment of the Big People
The Continuing Contradictory Impact of the Nepal State
The State as a Source of Wealth
More Pembu Conflict
Further Political Erosion
Chapter VII: The Big People Found the Monasteries: Legitimation and Self-Worth
Actors and Schemas
The Founding of Tengboche, 1916
Karma as Hero
The Lamas and the Schema
Building Tengboche: 1916-1919
The Founding of Chiwong, 1923
Building Chiwong (1923-1929)
Sangye as hero
Legitimation from the Big Point of View: Prestige and Merit
Chapter VIII: The Small People
Who Are The Small People?
The Sherpas in the Larger Economic Context of Nepal
The Genesis of Smallness
Migrations
The Introduction of the Potato
Wage Labor and the Empowerment of the Small People
Founding the Monasteries: Feeling "Big"
Chapter IX: Monks and Nuns
Time Frame
The Founding of Devuche Nunnery
Who Are the Monks and Nuns?
The Monks and Nuns as Little Big People
The Nineteenth-Century Marriage Squeeze
Rumbu Monastery and the Seeds of Monastic Rebellion
The Founding of Rumbu
Gelungma Palma and Monasticism by Choice
Founding the Monasteries
Revolution at Thami Temple
Chapter X: Conclusions: Sherpa History and a Theory of Practice
Appendix I: Two Zombie Stories of Early Khumbu
Appendix II: Addendum to the Tengboche Chayik
Notes
Glossary
References
Index
