Buddha in the Marketplace: The Commodification of Buddhist Objects in Tibet

336 Pages·2020·16.491 MB·English

by  Alex John Catanese

Buddha in the Marketplace
Traditions and Transformations in Tibetan Buddhism
David Germano & Michael Sheehy, Editorss
Buddha in the
Marketplace
The Commodification of
Buddhist Objects in Tibet
Alex John Catanese
University of Virginia Press | Charlottesville and London
University of Virginia Press
© 2019 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper
First published 2019
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Catanese, Alex John, author.
Title: Buddha in the marketplace : the commodification of buddhist objects in Tibet /
Alex John Catanese.
Description: Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2019. | Series: Traditions
and transformations in Tibetan Buddhism | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: lccn 2019025042 (print) | lccn 2019025043 (ebook) | isbn
9780813943176 (hardback) | isbn 9780813943183 (paperback) | isbn
9780813943190 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Buddhist religious articles—China—Tibet Region. | Buddhist
religious articles—Marketing.
Classification: lcc bq5070 .c38 2019 (print) | lcc bq5070 (ebook) | ddc 294.3/
92309515—dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn.loc .gov/ 2019025042
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn.loc .gov/ 2019025043
Photographs not otherwise credited are by the author.
Cover art: Watercolor painting (Buddha) courtesy of Joy Lynn Davis, Joylynndavis.com
(with Arabic Floral Seamless Border [Azat1976/Shutterstock] below and Ornament black
white card with mandala [An Vino/Shutterstock] in background)
For my brother Tony

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. Early Prohibitions against Selling Buddhist Objects:
Indian and Chinese Sources 11
2. Selling Buddhist Objects in Tibetan Buddhist Literature 32
3. The Exchange of Buddhist Objects in Tibet
up to the Cultural Revolution 72
4. The Sale of Buddhist Objects in Amdo: The Socioeconomic
Context 110
5. The Sociopolitical Context of Commodification 144
6. Painters, Merchants, and Monks: Tibetan Perceptions
of the Sale of Buddhist Goods 175
7. The Impact of Selling Buddhist Objects in Tibet:
The Economic, Cultural, and Shifting Moral Dimensions
of Commodification 216
Notes 243
References 289
Index 307