Reimagining a Buddhist Cosmopolis: Conveying Marble Buddhas from Burma to China, 1890s-1930s

Discussions about Buddhist connections between China and Southeast Asia in the late Qing and Republican periods often conform to a meta-narrative of Buddhist modernism that emphasizes the trajectories of eminent monks and reformative initiatives in and beyond China. Drawing on research on archives...

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Main Author: Beiyin Deng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Society for the Study of Global Buddhism 2023-05-01
Series:Journal of Global Buddhism
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.globalbuddhism.org/article/view/3382
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author Beiyin Deng
author_facet Beiyin Deng
author_sort Beiyin Deng
collection DOAJ
description Discussions about Buddhist connections between China and Southeast Asia in the late Qing and Republican periods often conform to a meta-narrative of Buddhist modernism that emphasizes the trajectories of eminent monks and reformative initiatives in and beyond China. Drawing on research on archives in China and Myanmar (Burma) and field visits to temples and museums in China, this article investigates the efforts to convey marble Buddhas from Burma to China by a broad spectrum of Chinese Buddhists from the 1890s to 1930s as a strain of Buddhist mobility that has receive scant attention in the studies of transregional Buddhist interconnectivities. It examines how the fascination with marble, which is vernacularly categorized as jade/white jade in Chinese, motivated such endeavors and how these icons shaped the perception of a developing Buddhist cosmopolis among Chinese Buddhists by helping them locate Burma in the Buddhist world in a spiritually and materially meaningful way.
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spelling doaj.art-7f117848a1e84d10bcff5e7125dcfe1b2023-05-12T18:16:15ZengSociety for the Study of Global BuddhismJournal of Global Buddhism1527-64572023-05-0124110.26034/lu.jgb.2023.3382Reimagining a Buddhist Cosmopolis: Conveying Marble Buddhas from Burma to China, 1890s-1930sBeiyin Deng0Arizona State University Discussions about Buddhist connections between China and Southeast Asia in the late Qing and Republican periods often conform to a meta-narrative of Buddhist modernism that emphasizes the trajectories of eminent monks and reformative initiatives in and beyond China. Drawing on research on archives in China and Myanmar (Burma) and field visits to temples and museums in China, this article investigates the efforts to convey marble Buddhas from Burma to China by a broad spectrum of Chinese Buddhists from the 1890s to 1930s as a strain of Buddhist mobility that has receive scant attention in the studies of transregional Buddhist interconnectivities. It examines how the fascination with marble, which is vernacularly categorized as jade/white jade in Chinese, motivated such endeavors and how these icons shaped the perception of a developing Buddhist cosmopolis among Chinese Buddhists by helping them locate Burma in the Buddhist world in a spiritually and materially meaningful way. https://www.globalbuddhism.org/article/view/3382marbleBuddhist imageBuddhist materialitytransnational BuddhismBurma/MyanmarRepublican China
spellingShingle Beiyin Deng
Reimagining a Buddhist Cosmopolis: Conveying Marble Buddhas from Burma to China, 1890s-1930s
Journal of Global Buddhism
marble
Buddhist image
Buddhist materiality
transnational Buddhism
Burma/Myanmar
Republican China
title Reimagining a Buddhist Cosmopolis: Conveying Marble Buddhas from Burma to China, 1890s-1930s
title_full Reimagining a Buddhist Cosmopolis: Conveying Marble Buddhas from Burma to China, 1890s-1930s
title_fullStr Reimagining a Buddhist Cosmopolis: Conveying Marble Buddhas from Burma to China, 1890s-1930s
title_full_unstemmed Reimagining a Buddhist Cosmopolis: Conveying Marble Buddhas from Burma to China, 1890s-1930s
title_short Reimagining a Buddhist Cosmopolis: Conveying Marble Buddhas from Burma to China, 1890s-1930s
title_sort reimagining a buddhist cosmopolis conveying marble buddhas from burma to china 1890s 1930s
topic marble
Buddhist image
Buddhist materiality
transnational Buddhism
Burma/Myanmar
Republican China
url https://www.globalbuddhism.org/article/view/3382
work_keys_str_mv AT beiyindeng reimaginingabuddhistcosmopolisconveyingmarblebuddhasfromburmatochina1890s1930s