Sacred Economies: Buddhist Monasticism and Territoriality in Medieval China

by Michael Walsh and Michael J. Walsh

Buddhist monasteries in medieval China employed a variety of practices to ensure their ascendancy and survival. Most successful was the exchange of material goods for salvation, as in the donation of land, which allowed monks to spread their teachings throughout China. By investigating a variety of socioeconomic spaces produced and perpetuated by Chinese monasteries, Michael J. Walsh reveals the "sacred economies" that shaped early Buddhism and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231148321
• ISBN13: 9780231148320
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 9.1"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher