Bai Religion; Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms; Cakravartin; Bai Culture; McRae, John R.; 馬克瑞; 白族宗教; 南詔和大理國; 阿育王; 白族文化
摘要
In order to understand the full dimensions and multiplex identities of Pure Land Buddhism，it is useful to explore not only contexts where it is widely espoused and practiced，but also where it is not. By looking at such cases, where Pure Land Buddhism was an available option not chosen by a given community or social group，we should be able to detect boundaries and dimensions not normally apparent. What are the limits placed on the adoption of Pure Land Buddhism，either from doctrinal，political，social，or other factors? Or，in what religious environments does Pure Land Buddhism not thrive，and what does this tell us about both Pure Land and the communities or environments involved?
The Bai people of Dali Prefecture，Yunnan Province 雲南省大理州之白族 in southwest China have been known since at least Song dynasty times as devout Buddhists. Dali is unique within the contemporary Chinese cultural world for the extent to which it has maintained both the physical artifacts (stUpas, cave sculpture，etc.) of its past Buddhist glories and，simultaneously，the vibrant dynamism of its contemporary devotional practices. The Bai do not，however，appear to have ever been attracted to Pure Land Buddhism. Why not?
One likely explanation is that Bai religion was inescapably molded by the interests of the rulers of the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms (7-13th centuries) in justifying themselves as cakravartin or universal Buddhist monarchs in the manner of the famous Asoka of Maurya India, and in depicting their regime as a sacred realm protected by the male Avalokitesvara who appears in the form of and Indian monk in myths pertaining to the founding of Nanzhao，and a host of other deities of the Dali regime as sacred，there would have been no need to posit faith in a separate Pure Land to the West.
Other possible factors include：(1) an incompatibility between the unique form o esoteric Buddhism practiced in traditional Bai culture and Pure Land Buddhism; (2) restrictions based on the Bai configuration of ancestor worship and funerary rites; (3) the Han support of Chan Buddhism and the concomitant resistance by the indigenous Bai population.
There are limits to this approach, of course，and they are probably more severe than with other research methodologies. Since one is exploring events that did not take place there are，ipso facto，no explicit rules for judging how different factors may have interacted. One may search for parallels and continuities, oppositions and contrasts -but how can one ever be certain they are the effective vectors involved? In spite of these difficulties, though, the importance of looking at the "other side of the coin" is in the likelihood that it will grant us insights not otherwise available when dealing with more conventional bodies of evidence. This is the promise o arguing from silence.
