Buddhism in Yunnan

The widely spread Buddhism in Yunnan mainly consists of there divisions. They are Hynayana Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism). Among them, Hynayana Buddhism exists only in Yunnan, China. Yunnan branch of the Buddhist Association of China was formed in July 1963. This patriotic religious organization contains all the three divisions of Buddhism in Yunnan.

The site od the Yunnan Branch of Buddhist Association is in the Yuantong Temple in Kunming and the president of the association id Daoshuren, a Buddhist layman and a Dai by nationality, who concurrently holds the positions of the Vice Executive President and Secretary—general of the Buddhist Association of China.

1.1 Southern Buddhism (also called Pali Buddhism, populary known as Hynayana Buddhism or Small Vehicle)

1.2 Han Buddhism (also called Han Language Classic Buddhism or Han Region Buddhism, popularly know as Mahayana Buddhism or Big Vehicle)

1.3 Tibetan Buddhism (also called the Tibetan Classical Buddhism and popularly known as Lamaism)

A Variety of Religions
 
Yunnan ranks first in China in terms of religious beliefs and is worth the name of “the Kingdom of Religion”. The five main religions in Yunnan are Buddhism (including Mahayana, Hynayana and Lamaism), Daoism, Christianity, Islam and primitive religion. According to the statistic made in May 1996, except primitive religion, there are 4,789 places for religious activities, 9,481 people are involved in religious service, and about 2 million people believe in different religions.

Southern Buddhism in Yunnan

Dai people in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province believe in Southern Buddhism. According to records, Pali Buddhism was introduced to Yunnan in the middle of 7th century via Burma but it lasted only four centuries. No temples were built and the sutras were passed on orally. Thus, Southern Buddhism faded and monks fled during the war around the 11th century. The existing Southern Buddhism entered Yunnan from Burma and Thailand after the wars.

In 1277 a written Dai language was created and the Pattra sutra appeared. In the Ming Dynasty a Burmese princess was married to a local ruler in Dai area and Burmese monks were sent to Yunnan. A large quantity of Buddhist temples were built in Jinghong . All these helped to popularize Southern Buddhism among the common people.

With its combination of religion and politics, Southern Buddhism, absorbing Tai culture, has flexible doctrines. Monks can eat meat and can secularize. Women do not become nuns for to do so would break their ancestral line.

Generally, Buddhism is the single religion among Dai people and has a comprehensive influence over their daily life and culture like sculpture, painting and folklores. Young boys must go to the temples and learn knowledge until they become adults. Some remain in the temples and become monks while others return to secular life. In a sense, monks assume the role of imparting ethnic culture.