A Heap of Leaves or Fellow Travellers

Much has been written about the role of ‘shamanism’ in the making of Mongol kinship. This article aims to explore the role of Buddhism in constructing kinship, which has received less scholarly attention. In particular, I investigate the ways the ‘anti-family’ orientation of Buddhism was propagated in Buryat society, which had assigned great social importance to kinship networks. In didactic texts compiled by Buryat lamas for the laity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, lamas argued that, despite the impermanent character of kinship, kinship bonds nevertheless were to be arranged in a proper way to avoid multiplying sins. However, lamas did not offer a ready model or a special Buddhist ideal of the family organisation. Like in other regional contexts, Buddhist ethics were adapted to the existing cultural traditions and mostly emphasised proper roles and responsibilities in conjugal and parent-child relationships.