Buddhist Monks and Nuns Change Their Occupation and Return to the Laity

Abstract

In the past, the livelihood of Buddhist monks and nuns on the Chinese mainland basically depended on land income, mendicancy, services for the dead, and gratuities from worshipers at the temples. After the Communist Chinese regime was established and pressed ahead with "land reform" and various other militant social movements, the monasteries lost all their lands and, in general, the people were completely preoccupied with their own immediate problems and had little time or resources available for religious services, worshiping at temples, almsgiving, etc., so that these activities virtually disappeared, spontaneously and without any explicit prohibition. Consequently, the livelihood of Buddhist monks and nuns throughout the mainland soon became a problem, and the Chinese Communist authorities quickly took advantage of this to "persuade" these monks and nuns to abandon their inveterate clerical way of life and participate in "productive labor." Hence many of the younger clerics were forced to "shed their vestments" and seek other ways of earning their living. Thus "departed monks and vacant temples" became a universal phenomenon. The extracts reproduced below are typical reports concerning this sort of situation.