Group Topic #2

Dunhuang under went many significant changes during the Tang dynasty. First off, it was during this period of time that China pulled back, leaving it under control of the Tibetans.  Under this leadership Buddhism seemed to flourish.  For example, we know that at one point there were at least 17 Buddhist monasteries and nunneries.

It hard to say how the Buddhist monks and nuns lived during this time.  Obviously we have records and doctrine’s on how they were supposed to live, but, as discussed in class these represented more of an ideal than historical truth.  By looking at old letters and census’ we are able to grasp a better understanding.  We can tell, by looking at past letters, that some monks went so far off of the path of the middle way, that they acted as money lenders, charging %10 interest.  This seems so improbable, but it seems that there did indeed exist Buddhist loan sharks.

Interestingly enough, some Buddhist temples also acted as staging grounds for local ‘fraternities’ or ‘soroities’ or sorts.  Obviously, much unlike today’s standards of fraternities, groups of men or women would meet at the temples forming clubs.  They paid membership fees, swore oaths to each other, took care of each other’s funeral costs and reprimanded each other for unfortunate behavior.  Most likely the groups of women would have consisted of nuns.

Although these are just two examples, we are able to view a past much different from the idealized one of official doctrines, and writtings. Also, through the later example we see how much of the secular lifestyles of the inhabitants of Dunhuang centered around the religious centres and also the religion itself.