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Modernity, Tourism and the Geographies of Religious Change in a Bon Region of Tibet

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Modernity, Tourism and the Geographies of Religious Change in a Bon Region of Tibet Modernity, tourism and the geographies of religious change in a Bon region of Tibet Ying Nan Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Geography September, 2014 I The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Ying Nan to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2014 The University of Leeds and Ying Nan II Acknowledgement First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisors: Dr. Robert Vanderbeck and Dr. Paul Waley. It has been my privilege and a precious opportunity to work closely with them from whom I have learned invaluable knowledge and experience of being an academic. Their frequent insights, incisive comments, patience and kindness with me are always greatly appreciated. Without Dr. Robert Vanderbeck and Dr. Paul Waley, I would not have finished my thesis. In particular, thanks to Prof. Gill Valentine, who served as co-supervisor of the thesis from September 2010-September 2012 before her return to Sheffield. I am also grateful to my master’s mentor Prof. Hong Zhu, without whose encouragement and inspiration throughout my postgraduate career in Sun Yat-sen University, my academic interest would not have been generated. Thank all the lovely people I met and friends I made in Jiuzhaigou and Anbei for sharing their time, thoughts and experiences with me during my fieldwork. Their hospitality and kindness are greatly appreciated. Thank the colleagues I met in and out of School of Geography for helping me in a variety of ways: Dr. Louise Waite, Dr. Nichola Wood, Dr. Emma Tomalin, Pengfei Li, Kate Kipling, Tom Collins, Dr. Chengchao Zuo, Yanpeng Jiang, Jing Ma, Wenjuan Zhu, Faith Chan, Dr. Elaine Ho, Stephen Clark, Ana Cabrera Pacheco, Dr. Holly Schuman, Dr. Rosa Mas Giralt and the colleagues in Leeds University Language Zone. I also wish to thank Yixi Lamu, Tuya Saren, Tina Liang, Angy Chen, Lucas Xu, Ning Kang, Chaoqun Liu, Qing Li, Yan Duan, Peter Aspinall for your warm friendship and companionship during the past four years. Thank my dearest parents for giving me extremely huge love and support in my life and study since I was born. I owe much to my sister, brother and other loveliest relatives for giving me sufficient understanding and taking care of parents on my behalf when I am thousands of miles away. Without them, I could have not concentrated in my study. I am also very grateful to Chinese Scholarship Council and School of Geography for funding this research. Lastly, I want to give my gratitude to all the people who have lived and worked in Tibet and have made this place so special and important to me. III Abstract This thesis investigates the processes of religious change in a Tibetan region of China that has experienced relative economic prosperity stemming from a government-led tourism initiative. This research challenges and complements the traditional research on religious change which is based on quantitative analysis and macro-scale statistics and generally lacks in-depth and systemic empirical examination of the reasons and process in diverse (particularly non-western) contexts. It adopts a spatially-sensitive qualitative approach to researching religious change, focusing on both micro- and meso-scales, as well as institutional and non-institutional forms of religion. This research has used a case study approach, focusing on Jiuzhaigou with some contextual comparisons being provided by additional empirical research in nearby Anbei. Ethnographic methods including participant observation and in-depth interview with both laypeople and monks have been adopted for generating in-depth and meaningful data. In specific, it addresses the issues of religious change from three angles to reveal its complexity and nuances. Firstly, it looks at the changing religious landscape with a special focus on the shifting balance between institutional and non-institutional forms of religious expression. It argues that alongside dramatic political, economic, social and cultural changes in contemporary Tibet, religious change presents a shift toward non- institutional expression of religion. Secondly, it explores the changing geographies of the intergenerational transmission of religion by focusing on laypeople and the spaces of home and school. It argues that religious practices and religious belief are not equally and uniformly transmitted intergenerationally. Thirdly, it examines the changing imaginative geographies of religion and religious ‘authenticity’ with a particular focus on monks’ religious identities. It argues that the state othering process actually contributes to Tibetans’ religious and ethnic awareness, by reinforcing Tibetans’ difference from the Han and their ethnic identity, rather than homogenising ethnic minorities. IV Contents Acknowledgement .................................................................................................. II Abstract .................................................................................................................. III Contents ................................................................................................................. IV List of tables ......................................................................................................... VIII List of figures ......................................................................................................... IX Glossary ................................................................................................................... X Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 Imagining Tibet and going beyond the fixed perceptions ........................... 2 1.2 Context: why study religious change and tourism in contemporary Tibet? 5 1.3 Why study religious change and tourism in contemporary Tibet? .............. 7 1.4 Research aims and thesis structure ......................................................... 10 1.4.1 Aims and research questions ....................................................... 10 1.4.2 Structure of the thesis .................................................................. 11 Chapter 2 Theorising the geographies of religious change in Tibet ................ 15 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 15 2.2 Modernisation and religious change ........................................................ 16 2.2.2 Deinstitutionalisation of religion .................................................... 20 2.2.3 Geographical thinking on secularisation ....................................... 21 2.3 Spatial understanding of religion .............................................................. 25 2.3.1 Defining sacred space .................................................................. 26 2.3.2 Reflections on the geographical studies of sacred space ............ 27 2.4 Modernity, tourism and religion ................................................................ 31 2.4.1 Tourism and modernisation .......................................................... 32 2.4.2 Tourism and religion ..................................................................... 32 2.5 Religious identities and intergenerationality ............................................. 41 2.5.1 Religion and ethnic identity .......................................................... 42 2.5.2 Intergenerational transmission of religion ..................................... 44 2.5.3 Religion and education ................................................................. 46 2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 49 Chapter 3 Religion in modern Tibet since 1950 ................................................. 51 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 51 3.2 Ethnic minority, tourism, government, Tibet since 1950 .......................... 53 V 3.2.1 Ethnic minorities and the Tibetan ................................................. 54 3.2.2 Tourism and ethnic minorities....................................................... 60 3.2.3 Government, development and tourism in Tibet ........................... 61 3.3 Religion in Tibet since 1950 ..................................................................... 63 3.3.1 Religion in the history of Tibet and of China as a whole ............... 64 3.3.2 Bon and Tibetan Buddhism .......................................................... 70 3.4 History and geography of Jiuzhaigou National Park ................................ 76 3.4.1 On the margins of the Tibetan and Han cultural spheres ............. 77 3.4.2 The making of the Jiuzhaigou National Park ................................ 77 3.4.3 Locating Zharu Monastery ............................................................ 83 3.4.4 Relations with Anbei Village and Gami Monastery in Songpan .... 85 3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 86 Chapter 4 Methodological issues
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