| A revolutionary transformation had been brought to the Mongolian society when the Tibetan Buddhism was spread to Mongolia at its second time. Since then, it was merged into the local political, economic, and cultural life, which composed one of the organic elements of the Mongolian culture. From this viewpoint, to articulate the historical change of a monastery in the Mongolian area helps us to embody how the society and political system was developed in different historical era. Moreover, it also allows us to understand various phenomena, such as the relationship between local and central government, the ethnical and religious problems, and the inner structure of the society...etc. Previous researches on the Buddhism in Mongolia, especially monastery studies, were limited on a particular historical era or some historical documents, which cannot describe the continuing change of the society. Therefore, based on the foundation of previous studies, this dissertation attempts to combine various historical documents stored in different libraries and the first-hand data based on my field survey in order to analyze the historical change of a Tibetan Buddhist monastey, Shashini Badarulugch Monastery, in Alashan League in western Inner Mongolia.It has been260years when the Shashini Badarulugch Monastery was built in1756. From then onward, the monastery has been merged into the local society and played an important role to the regional development. In particular, the interpretations on the relationship between the Shashini Badarulugch Monastery and the headquarter of the Tibetan Gelug established its advocated status, which also decided its afflicted fate in history.In addition to introduction and conclusion, this dissertation is composed of5chapters. Chapter One introduces the historical background of the Shashini Badarulugch Monastery, especially focusing on the relationship between the Khoshut people and the Tibetan Buddhism in Alashan League. At the same time, this chapter also examines some historical facts about the establishment of the Shashini Badarulugch Monastery. Then, Chapter Two attempts to represent the Shashini Badarulugch Monastery’s prosperous scenes during the18th and19th century. Focusing on its relationship with local politics, the economic standard at that time, and the legal system of the education, this chapter discusses the important role that Shashini Badarulugch Monastery played in the local political life in history.Chapter Three describes the overall background about the reason why monasteries in Mongolian area were declined in history. Under this background, the Shashini Badarulugch Monastery was marginalized to the edge of the political and social life in history.Chapter Four introduces Shashini Badarulugch Monastery’s experience during the Cultural Revolution and the other political movements after the establishment of the new China. It represents the process that monasteries in Mongolia were transformed from the sacred temple into the ghost’s place.Chapter Five examines two stages when the Shashini Badarulugch Monastery was rebuilt nowadays. The first stage is to recover the Shashini Badarulugch Monastery from the ruin to a folk monastery while the second stage is to transform it into a sightseeing attraction planed by the local government. Therefore, this chapter attempts to discuss the relationship between the monastery and the government.In conclusion, this dissertation depicts two main scenes during the development of the Shashini Badarulugch Monastery in Alashan League. The first is the historical change of the monastery. It experienced a prosperous era and was declined and rebuilt in history. The second scene is about its status change. The Shashini Badarulugch Monastery had played a core role in the regional political life and lost its independence and influence on the secular life afterwards. At the end, it has become one of the sightseeing attractions within the tourist industry planed by the local government. |
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