(2013) Marginal Buddhists: Religion and Identity of a Chinese Minority in the Philippines
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Dy, Ari C. (2013) Marginal Buddhists: religion and identity of a Chinese minority in the Philippines. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17352 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. MARGINAL BUDDHISTS: RELIGION AND IDENTITY OF A CHINESE MINORITY IN THE PHILIPPINES ARISTOTLE C. DY Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Study of Religions 2013 DEPARTMENT OF THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF LONDON 1 Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: Date: 22 August 2013 2 Abstract Chinese Buddhism in the Philippines is largely confined to the ethnic Chinese community, a minority group comprising only 1.2% of the population. This profile gives rise to different layers of discourse, such as the unique development of Buddhism in China, and the ways in which the religion has been transformed historically and then brought to other places by the sojourning Chinese. Further, there is the particular sense of Chinese identity in the Philippine context, and the place of religion in such an identity. I explore these layers of discourse through the looking glass of Chinese Buddhism in an overseas Chinese community. I establish contexts through a discussion of Chinese religion and identity, the Chinese transformation of Buddhism, and Buddhism in China in the 20th century as well as its development in Southeast Asia. Bringing the focus to the Philippines, the study is based on fieldwork and investigates 37 Buddhist temples, profiling all but focusing on five that are representative. I analyse the religious and socio-cultural dimensions of Chinese Buddhism in the Philippines by starting with field data and linking these to the broader historiography of Chinese Buddhism and the Chinese diaspora. A particular focus is given to adaptation of Chinese Buddhism to the Philippines, and its role as a marker of Chinese identity. The study demonstrates that ethnic and religious identities are fluid and projected according to context, and that for early generations of believers, Chinese Buddhist practice contributed towards an ethnocentric identity. The thesis proposes some scenarios for the future of Chinese Buddhism in the country, and points to the expansion of syncretism in Chinese religion to include Catholicism as a unique feature of Chinese Buddhism in the Philippines. Marginal on different levels, Chinese Buddhists are examples of the multiple religious belonging that characterizes Chinese religion. They demonstrate that Chinese religious culture develops uniquely in each locale, and spared from Orientalist discourse, is an important window into understanding Chinese identities. 3 Acknowledgments Undertaking doctoral research is not possible without the help of many kind individuals and institutions. I would like to express my gratitude to them here. For sponsoring my doctoral studies, inclusive of academic fees and living expenses, I thank the British Province of the Society of Jesus. For grants that helped me carry out fieldwork in the Philippines, I thank the Spalding Trust, the Jordan Travel Grant, and the SOAS Additional Award for Fieldwork. For their hospitality in serving as my base during fieldwork, I thank the Jesuit community of Xavier School in San Juan City, Metro Manila. For their assistance in introducing me to temple devotees in different cities in the Philippines by utilizing their extensive social networks, I thank my contacts in the Catholic Chinese-Filipino Apostolate. For helping me find materials in libraries I could not visit myself, I thank Arlene Choo of Xavier School, and the staff of Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, Inc. For welcoming me as a friend and for talking to me with heartfelt sincerity and openness, I thank all the monastics and lay devotees at the various temples I visited. For being my home away from home, and for supporting me in every way, I thank the Sacred Heart Jesuit community in Wimbledon, southwest London. For proofreading my entire manuscript and offering helpful comments, I thank Maitripushpa Bois. For designing the map that appears in Figure 1, I thank Galvin Ngo. I am grateful to my family, especially my parents George and Anita, for their love and support during my postgraduate studies abroad. The Study of Religions Department at SOAS, especially under the leadership of Dr Cosimo Zene, provided a supportive academic environment that complemented the resources available at the SOAS library. Thank you for incarnating SOAS positively for me. Finally, I want to thank my supervisor, Dr Antonello Palumbo, for the depth of his involvement in my research. His feedback was always insightful and challenging, and he pointed me to many materials that I may not have found on my own. I am inspired by his attention to detail and emphasis on precision. By directing me to see things from a wider perspective, he helped me to substantially improve the quality of my scholarship. Any shortcomings that remain in this work are entirely my own. 4 Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………. 4 Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………… 5 List of Figures and Tables………………………………………………………….. 9 Note about Chinese Romanisation…………………………………………………. 9 Preface…………………………………………………………………………….. 10 Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 13 Research questions………………………………………………………… 14 Survey of literature……………………………………………………….. 14 Methodology………………………………………………………………. 18 Key terms………………………………………………………………….. 19 Chapter outline…………………………………………………………….. 22 1. Being Chinese in the Philippines: A Preliminary Discussion of History and Culture………………...……...... 24 1.1 Brief history of Chinese in the Philippines ……………………....... 24 1.2 Chinese religion……………………………………………………. 30 1.3 Exploring the notion of Chinese identity………………………...... 32 1.4 The place of religion in Chinese cultural identity……………......... 39 2. Buddhism as a Chinese religion…………………………………………… 43 2.1 The Chineseness of Chinese Buddhism……………………………. 43 2.1.1 Religious and cultural adaptation………………………………….. 44 2.1.2 Social adaptation………………………………………………........ 50 2.2 Contemporary Chinese Buddhism…………………………………. 55 2.2.1 Buddhism in China in the 20th Century………………………....... 55 2.2.2 Taiwanese Buddhist associations and missionaries……………….. 60 2.2.3 Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia………………….. 63 3. Chinese Buddhism in the Philippines: Overview and Case Studies………. 72 3.1 History and present reality………………………………………… 72 5 3.1.1 General history…………………………………………………….. 72 3.1.2 Monastic networks and backgrounds: Monks, lay sisters, nuns…… 82 3.1.3 Regular activities: Religious practice, education and culture, social projects…………………………………………………………….. 91 3.2 Case studies of four temples………………………………………. 100 3.2.1 Seng Guan Temple………………………………………………… 100 3.2.2 Thousand Buddha Temple………………………………………… 104 3.2.3 Un Siu Temple.……………………………………………………. 107 3.2.4 Holy Buddhist Temple…………………………………………….. 109 3.3 New communities from Taiwan: Case of Foguangshan Mabuhay Temple…………………………………………………………….. 112 4. Scriptures and Devotions: The Religious Dimensions of Chinese Buddhism in the Philippines………………………………………………………………117 4.1 The religious field…………………………………………………. 117 4.2 Texts and contexts……………………………………………….. 120 4.2.1 Monastics and texts………………………………………………... 120 4.2.2 Liturgies…………………………………………………............... 124 4.2.3 Privileged texts and their background A. Heart Sutra (Xin Jing)…………………………………… 127 B. Universal Gate of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva (Guanshiyin Pusa Pumen Pin)………………………………… 129 C. Amitābha Sutra (Amituo Jing)…………………….. 129 D. Spells: Great Compassion (Dabei Zhou), Śūraṅgama (Lengyan Zhou), Rebirth (Wangsheng Zhou).. 131 E. Funerary texts: Sutra of the Past Vows of the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha (Dizang Pusa Benyuan Jing), Food Bestowal Rituals……………………………………………....... 133 F. Averting calamity and repentance texts: Names of the Buddhas, Medicine Buddha Sutra (Yaoshi Jing) ………………… 136 G. Oracle text: The Guanyin Divination Sticks…………………… 137 4.2.4 Adaptation and identity-formation through textuality…………….. 138 6 4.3 Guanyin in the religious and ethnic discourse…………………… 142 4.3.1 The Chinese Filipino Guanyin……………………………………. 143 4.3.2 Devotion to Guanyin as identity marker…………………………. 145 4.4 Syncretism as a dynamic process………………………………….. 146 4.4.1 Development of the term in Religious Studies……………………. 146 4.4.2 Philippine Buddhist