Vicissitudes of the Bhikkhuni Order.

Sri Lanka and China were the only two countries that received their order of Buddhist Nuns directly from India. The story of the introduction of the Bhikkhuni Order during the reign of Emperor Asoka of India (270-233 B.C.) is well known. It is recorded in detail in the Sinhalese chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa. As they were written in the Pali language Buddhist savants in all Theravada countries came to know the history of the Bhikkhuni Order in Sri Lanka. Later during the period of British colonial rule in Sri Lanka English scholars translated the above mentioned chronicles to English. Therefore the details become known to European and American students of Buddhism.

But the story of the introduction of the Bhikkhuni Order to China was not known to us Sinhalese Buddhists and presumably to Buddhists in other Theravada countries. That is because the relevant books were in Chinese, and we had lost religious dealings with Chinese Buddhists after the Anuradhapura period which ended roundabout 1017 A.D.

Fa Hien in Sri Lanka

When we were under British rule we read the English translations of the travel records of the celebrated Chinese monks Fa Hien, and Hieun Tsang. They came on the silk route from China to India for higher study in Buddhism. Of them Fa Hien came to Anuradhapura and studied at the Abhayagiri Monastery for several years. The Abhayagiri monastery was pro-Mahayana, while the Mahavihara at Anuradhapura was strictly Theravada and opposed to the Abhayagiri policies. At the time Mahayana was gaining the upper hand in India and Theravada was on the decline. Even at Anuradhapura our capital city all the major Buddhist monasteries were going Mahayana and Mahavihara was the solitary fortress of Theravada Buddhism. Sinhalese Kings supported both factions. Hieun Tsang could not visit Sri Lanka because he was told by Sinhalese monks at Nalanda University that a civil war was raging in Sri lanka. However, he gathered all he wanted to know of Sri Lanka and Theravada Buddhism from the 300 Sinhalese monks at Nalanda.

When Fa Hien was at Anuradhapura he observed the flourishing condition of the Sinhalese Bhikkhunis Order. When he got back to China he reported to the Chinese Buddhist leaders of the availability of Sinhalese bhikkhunis. At that time the Primate in Chinese Buddhism was Sanghavaraman, a missionary monk from India. Under him a Bhikkhuni Order was set up in China. The ordination of nuns was done by monks only as there were no nuns in China or nearby lands. He acted in terms of the permission given by the Buddha in the Vinaya Cullavagga text, "I permit you monks to confer ordination on women." But the Chinese nuns were eager to have the dual-order ordination prescribed in the Ashtagaru Dhamma when both monks and nuns became available.

Mission to China

Therefore the Chinese Buddhist leaders asked their Emperor to make a request to the Sinhalese King Meghavanna to send a delegation of senior nuns to confer higher ordination on Chinese nuns. The Sinhalese king gladly consented. He sent a delegation of senior nuns under Devasara as leader. They traveled in a ship captioned by one Nandi. They arrived in Nanking in 426 A.D. They gave higher Ordination to 300 Chinese nuns according to the dual ordination procedure as practiced in Sri Lanka. Details can be found in Pi-Shu-Ni Chuan by Pao Chang (Biographies of BuddhistNuns). English, Sinhalese and Thai translations of this classic are now available.

Thus the Sri Lankan Bhikkhuni tradition took firm root and spread all over China. The order had continued in pupillary succession down the ages without a break upto date.

Bhikkhunis in Chendu

The bhikkhunis living in Chendu in Sichuan province of China for example are firmly convinced that they are continuing the same Higher Ordination still. This ordination was introduced to China in the 4th century by the Sinhalese Bhikkhunis. Thus historically belong to the same bhikkhuni Order which was established by Sanghamitta Theri from India in the 3rd Century B.C..

The Chinese Bhikkhuni Order thus founded spread to Korea, Japan and Taiwan. It became mixed up with Mahayana Buddhism in course of time, even as Sinhalese Buddhism in Sri Lanka became mixed with Tamil Hindu practices, rites, ceremonies and Hindu god worship in Buddhist temples, adoption of caste in the sangha, and anti feminist resistance to the restoration of the bhikkhuni sasana was another retrograde step. So neither Theravada nor Mahayana can say that they possess and practice the pristine Dhamma of the Buddha without accretions and adoptions. Therefore, the contention of the conservative diehards "Chinese bhikkhuni order is adulterated with Mahayana. We cannot sully our pure and pristine Buddhism by inviting Chinese nuns to restore our defunct Bhikkhuni Sasana" is neither tenable nor valid.

Gross Ignorance

In the past there was gross ignorance and prejudice against Buddhism in China. That is because we did not know Chinese to read about Buddhism in China. No books on the subject were available in Sinhalese. However, after Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948 some contacts with Chinese Buddhists began to appear. Ven. Tai Tsu, celebrated Buddhist leader sent young Chinese monks to study Theravada at Vidyalankara Buddhist Seminary in Kelaniya. Ven. Pandit Narawela Dhammaratne led a Communist Peace Delegation to Peking, China in 1952. He took the opportunity to study the Bhikkhuni Order in China during his stay in China. In his book "The Future of Sri Lanka" published in 1953 he called upon Buddhist leaders to restore the defunct Bhikkhuni Order in Sri Lanka with the help of Chinese Bhikkhunis.

Theravada in Yunan Province

In the Sinhalese Buddhist Sangha hierarchy as among the laypeople there were gross ignorance about Buddhism in China due to lack of books in Sinhalese. All they knew was that China is a Mahayana Buddhist Country and there are no Theravada Buddhists there with monks, Pali scriptures, and nuns. However, the English educated Sinhalese elite came to know through publications of the Chinese Buddhist Association, Peking, and the Journal of the Chinese Embassy, Colombo called "People China" that Theravada Buddhism flourishes in the Yunan province in South-west China, bordering the Theravada lands of Siam, Burma, Cambodia and Laos. Ther figures according to the report are:

Sect        monks and nuns  no. of monasteries

Mahayana    75,000          16,800
Vajarayana  70,000           3,000
Theravada   40,000           5,000

Dr. Hua Che Min

Dr Hua Che Min is a Chinese Professor and master of the Sinhalese language. He is attached to Kelaniya University Language Department. He has published a book in Sinhalese "Theravada Buddhism in China". According to him in 1991 there were 236,830 Buddhists comprising of 824 families and 526 temples in Sip-song-panna, an autonomous region of Yunan. There are 5 chapters of this book giving numerous detaisl of the various aspects of Theravada Buddhism in China with the availability of this book there is no need for gross ignorance about Theravada Buddhism in China.

The contention that there is no Theravada Buddhism in China, and that restoration of the Bhikkhuni Order with the help of Chinese nuns is unacceptable has become a hollow one, unteable and invalid.

Return Gift from China

The revival of the defunct Theravada Bhikkhuni Sasana by the ordinations at Sarnath in 1996 and the ordination at Bodh Gaya in 1998 followed by the Dambulla ordination in Sri Lanka was accomplished with the participation of Chinese and Korean Bhikkhunis. The Chinese Bhikkhunis tradition has helped establishing the ordination they received from Sri Lanka during the Anuradhapura period. Thereby the Theravada Sangha which was lopsided and unbalanced without the Bhikkhuni section was set on an even keel and balanced to conform to the dual order of the Buddha consisting of monks and nuns in what is called the "Ubhato Sangha" (dual Order of Disciples)

A desideratum 

In Sri Lanka over 150 Buddhist temples have been closed due to monks deserting the temples. This is due to the fact that people in backward and poor parts of the country cannot afford to support their monks. Monks disrobed in droves after university graduation. They go in for lay jobs and marriage. Therefore it is but fitting that bhikkhunis step in to fill the vacancies to look after the spiritual needs of the poorer section of the Buddhists in the backwards North Central, Eastern, and Uva Provinces.