Canadian Journal of History
Voi.29 No.3
Dec 1994
Pp.609-611
Copyright by Canadian Journal of History
The fundamental thesis of this book is clearly stated in its
concluding chapter: Monastic patronage became significant in the
late Ming because it constituted a local forum for the autonomous
organization of the gentry. It provided a public arena in which the
gentry could convert status into power. The choice of the monastery
was to some extent guided by the ideology of charity and the
idealization of withdrawal that were embodied in the Buddhist
notions of compassion and non attachment. But the choice was
ultimately determined by the understanding that power could not be
directly seized from the imperial state. It could only be taken
surreptitiously. By withdrawing to the monastic realm, the gentry
publicized themselves as a unified, refined elite whose power
derived not from the state but from their own conduct . . .
The revalorization of public and private that underlay the publicity
of patronage was integral to the formation of late-Ming gentry
society, a creative response to social change . . .
[The gentry] lived their lives in the middle ground between the
private realm of personal and family affairs and the public
authority of the county magistrate. That middle ground took shape .
. . in the context of the Buddhist monastery (pp. 320-21).
The focus here is on "the local gentry" defined as "the elite of
late imperial China, [whose] formal status derived from performance
in the state system of examinations and degree titles" (p. xiv).
However, in practice, only a few graduates could hope for government
appointments, so most were concerned with economic success expressed
in suitably Confucian terms. Their focus and prestige were local,
not national. Their power was demonstrated in part through such
public works as building schools and dikes, and restoring
monasteries.
Although it includes valuable information about Buddhist monks and
monasteries, this book "is about neither religion nor its
institutions" (p. 2), but about the ways in which monasteries mere
perceived and used by local gentry in the late Ming dynasty (Ming
dates are 1368-1644; the period dealt with by this book is
approximately 1550-1680, into the beginning of the succeeding Qing
[Ch'ing] period). The book is well and gracefully written, and its
thesis is amply supported with a variety of detailed case studies of
particular individuals, monasteries, and counties in different parts
of China. Its primary sources are approximately 170 gazetteers or
local histories of counties and monasteries, supplemented by modern
studies in Chinese, Japanese, and western languages. Professor Brook
is aware of contemporary methodological issues, and notes the
relevance of his research to current discussions of civil society,
toward which, one might say, late Ming gentry society was a limited
down payment. This is particularly evident in gentry formation of
devotional associations and their use of monastery halls for
lectures and discussions. The author also discusses changes in
gentry attitudes toward Buddhism in relationship to government
policy and intellectual trends, and indicates that patronage of
monasteries declined in the eighteenth century due to more active
official support for Confucian values. Nonetheless, it is clear that
at least for the period in question, gentry involvement with
Buddhism was widespread.
In addition to the above, this book provides interesting discussions
of the forms taken by gentry support of monasteries, including
"literary patronage" by writing poems, inscriptions, and gazetteers.
Some attention is also given to members of the gentry who went
beyond aesthetic and cultural appreciation to become monks
themselves. The one problem with Praying for Power that I found is
insufficient attention to the place of its topic in the history of
Chinese religions. The disclaimer quoted above does not exempt the
historian from considering all relevant aspects of the topic. In
fact, all the contexts are dealt with in detail except this one.
Support of local religious institutions by gentry and officials goes
back at least to the Song (Sung) period (960-1279), as Valerie
Hansen demonstrated in her Changing Gods in Medieval China,
1127-1276 (Princeton, 1990). Kenneth Dean discusses such involvement
by local leaders in the Ming and Qing in his Taoist Ritual and
Popular Cults of Southeast China (Princeton, 1993), which of course
came out too late for Professor Brook to consult. The deeper problem
here is the ignoring of popular religion, the religious practices of
the great majority of the people. This omission is clearly revealed
by the general absence of reference to popular temples, and by such
statements as ". . . in Dan-yang [Hubei] Buddhism dominated the
religious life of the county" [p. 289). Here the author's
methodological awareness falls short. Nonetheless, this is a fine
and detailed study that deserves to be read by those interested in
Chinese history and religion, and by comparativists studying the
relationships between religion and society.