Land, Lineage and the Laity: Transactions of a Qing Monastery

Abstract

Relying on recently discovered contracts from a Qing monastery, this case study focuses on two intimately linked developments essential to understanding the world of these monasteries. First, through asset consolidation and individual transactions between monks and members of the lay community, the monastery embedded itself inside the local society. Second, within monasteries, lineage served as an important organizing and conceptual principle, one that bore remarkable similarity to the structure and logic of lay lineages. This lineage principle played a crucial role in the transformation of a monastery from a coterie of discrete Dharma houses to an institution with a shared, overarching strategic vision. The shared property of a Dharma lineage was, in part, constitutive of its collective identity, one that was also conceptually fundamental for the monastery’s efforts to consolidate its assets as a unitary entity. The internal acquisitions and external investments of that shared property further strengthened the financial foundation of a monastic community. In sum, the everyday strategies of a Qing monastery revealed by transactional documents demonstrate that land transactions between the monastery, its internal lineages, and the laity were fundamental to the continuing evolution of Qing monasteries as vital and innovative institutions.