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BestsellerE-book
Author Catanese, Alex John, author.

Title Buddha in the marketplace : the commodification of Buddhist objects in Tibet / Alex John Catanese.

Publication Info. Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2019.

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (318 pages).
text file
Series Traditions and transformations in Tibetan Buddhism
Traditions and transformations in Tibetan Buddhism.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary "This book explores a controversial issue within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition: The selling and profiting from the sale of Tibetan Buddhist religious objects among Tibetans. The book combines textual and historical research, as well as ethnographic fieldwork, presenting a historical narrative of this issue from the time Buddhism enters Tibet up until modern times. The sale of statues, paintings of buddhas called thangkas, and texts is traditionally considered to be a sin, having severe negative karmic consequences. Before the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Tibetans obtained their religious objects primarily through a process of commissioning an artist, and payment was made to the artist through voluntary offering with the patron (not the artist) setting the terms. However, today, the sale of such items as readymade objects is widespread within Tibetan areas of China. This book sheds light on why Tibetans are participating in such commercial practices today, going against long-accepted religious traditions and values. Catanese argues that while the commodification of religious goods has brought about financial rewards, social cohesion, the maintenance of artistic traditions, and has reaffirmed a sense of cultural and religious identity in Tibet, it has also significantly transformed the moral and ethical framework that accompanies the production and exchange of such objects, in the process also transforming Tibetan Buddhist identity"-- Provided by publisher.
Contents Intro; Contents; Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Early Prohibitions against Selling Buddhist Objects; 2. Selling Buddhist Objects in Tibetan Buddhist Literature; 3. The Exchange of Buddhist Objects in Tibet up to the Cultural Revolution; 4. The Sale of Buddhist Objects in Amdo; 5. The Sociopolitical Context of Commodification; 6. Painters, Merchants, and Monks; 7. The Impact of Selling Buddhist Objects in Tibet; Notes; References; Index; Series Info: Traditions and Transformations in Tibetan Buddhism
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Buddhist religious articles -- Tibet Region.
Buddhist religious articles.
Tibet Region.
Buddhist religious articles -- Marketing.
Marketing.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Other Form: Print version: Catanese, Alex John. Buddha in the marketplace. Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2019 9780813943176 (DLC) 2019025042
ISBN 9780813943190 (electronic book)
0813943191 (electronic book)
9780813943183 (electronic book)
0813943183 (electronic book)
9780813943176 (hardcover)