Title: Buddhism in Chinese society : an economic history from the fifth to the tenth centuries /
Authors: Gernet, Jacques.; Verellen, Franciscus
Publisher: Columbia University Press,
Year: 1995
Subjects: Buddhism China History; Buddhism Economic aspects China.
Abstract: This seminal study of the religious and economic history of Buddhism by the premier French sinologue has for decades been considered an unsurpassed classic. Here, for the first time, it is available to English-language readers in an updated edition. The fifth through tenth centuries were the period of the greatest expansion of the Buddhist Church in China. Monastic estates controlled a sizeable share of the economy, owning a considerable amount of land and agricultural and manufacturing enterprises. Gernet examines the religious and economic aspects of the society dominated by this power, and explores the Church's effect on Chinese thought and culture.
Contents: 1. Immediate Facts -- 2. Secondary Facts: The Fiscal Deficit -- 3. The Indian Heritage -- 4. Lands and Dependents -- 5. Industrial Installations -- 6. Commerce and Usury -- 7. The Circuit of Giving -- 8. Economics and Religion -- 9. The Popular Social Environment -- 10. The Wealthy Laity -- 11. The Ruling Class -- 12. Internal Contradictions in the Buddhist Movement in China.