Van Gennep's theories of 'rites of passage' and 'liminality,' together with Turner's expansion on these theories into 'communitas,' offer an insightful anthropological lens through which to analyze the Triple Platform Ordination in Chinese Buddhism. Departing from the traditional focus on textual and historical aspects, this paper delves into the actual ordination process through an emic participant-observer perspective, along with ordination manuals, and records of preceptees who have undertaken the ordination platform rites themselves. We find strong evidence for all three of van Gennep's phases: the pre-liminal, the liminal, and the post-liminal reintegrative phase. Turner's notion of liminal communitas, particularly normative communitas, is observable among preceptees, although spontaneous or existential communitas is less evident. The ordination process mirrors profound personal transformation, symbolizing a death to the secular world and a rebirth into the monastic community-a cross-cultural metaphor akin to life and death rites of passage.
目次
Chinese Buddhist ordination traditions 61 Retrospective fieldwork as method 63 Rites of passage 66 Is Triple Platform Ordination a ‘rite of passage’? 69 Do liminal preceptee cohorts display ‘communitas’? 76 Liminal metaphors for death and (re)birth 81 Conclusion 84
