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Dai, one of the largest minority groups in Yunnan, has developed its own language and literature for more than thousand years. Dai also created its unique indigenous forest-plants knowledge — Palm Leaves Buddhism Sutra Culture along with the development of Dai’s language and literature. Normally, boys become monks at the age of seven and follow senior Buddhist monks to learn Buddhism Disciplines, including five Disciplines, eight Disciplines and ten Disciplines, etc. At the same time, senior Buddhist monks also teach boy monks to study classical texts and Dai literatures, Through this Buddhism education system, Dai’s indigenous knowledge - history, geography, astronomy, calendar system, art, literature, architecture and farming — can be passed on from one generation to next generation. After returning to the mundane world, the boy monks can apply this learned knowledge on their own social life and use the Buddhism Discipline to regulate Dai people as moral standard of Dai’s society.
Dai’s Buddhism Education System, supported by Chief of Dai tribes, is a structural and systematic method of informal education. Such special education system enables Dai people inherited its own culture through its own language and literature. There are several characteristics concerning Buddhism Education System. First of all, primary course is concentrated on studying Buddhist classical texts. Secondary, there is no fixed course schedule for such school. Furthermore, during the harvest season, boy monks are even allowed to help family cultivation at homes. Although senior Buddhist monks can discipline boy monks, however, there is no punishment such as withdraw or suspend from the school.
In addition, there is no fixed period for Dai’s Buddhism Education System. Studying period can be ranged from three months up to ten, twenty or lifetime. The longer for monks study under Buddhism Education System, the more respect they receive from their villagers. Besides, boy monks’ return to laity is very flexible as long as their parents apply to the school.
Central Temple or General Temple provides further education for senior Buddhist monks. Teaching materials used in Central Temple or General Temple are much modernized and internationalized. There are many differences between Buddhism Education System for boy monks and further education for senior monks. In further education, additional subjects such as foreign languages, computer and art courses are taught in Central Temple. There are also professional intellectuals employed from outside world to do further education. Unlike Buddhism Education System for junior boy monks, there is fixed course schedule for further education.
Dai’s Buddhism Education System have been cultivating many intellectuals who form the cornerstone of Dai’s society. These intellectuals combine political and religious powers in order to keep stable development for Dai’s society. Disciplines arisen from Buddhism sutra constitute the moral standards for Dai and keep it as a peaceful society. Combined with Buddhism religion, Dai language and literature become one of the most important communicating tools among Chinese minority and have deep impact on Dai’s society.
Currently, due to the implementation of Nine-Year Compulsory National Education by Chinese central government, Dai’s Buddhism Education System is facing seriously adverse impact. Only after finishing compulsory Nine-Year Education, boys are allowed to enter into temple and be monks. The contradiction between Buddhism Education System and Nine-Year Compulsory National Education causes rapid decrease in the number of boy monks and deterioration of students’ quality. Therefore, temples are forced to stop its education function or turn into evening school because they cannot recruit enough student monks.
In terms of funding, the major fund of Buddhism Education System depends on unpredictable donation rather than government subsidy. Due to lack of stable income, Buddhism Education System gradually falls behind Nine-Year Compulsory National Education since there is no sufficient budget to improve teaching quality and equipments. Besides, a student studies under Buddhism Education System is difficult to pass the National University Entrance Examination and enter into universities.
In Xishuangbanna region, Buddhism worship becomes weaker after invasion and influence of Han’s and foreign culture. Dai people living in urban area or serving as government officers no longer send their kids to temples as monks. Currently, registration rate of primary school, not Buddhism education, have reached 97%. However, registration rates for secondary and higher education are much fallen behind. Besides, boy monks are attracted by modern amusements, such as television, computer game and VCD etc., and escape from schools frequently. Due to the special status of boy monks, parents and teachers do not dare to give punishments on those them. The management of boy monks under Buddhism Education System becomes a major issue for Buddhism schools.
Dai’s culture possesses the characteristics of Buddhism and has formed for more than thousand years. Many people admire Dai’s society as Shangri-La on earth. Under the invasion of Han’s sovereign ruling and American high technology, to maintain unique indigenous culture requires great improvement in Buddhism Education System. In order to preserve the merits of Buddhism Education System, the education system itself needs to undergo transformation. It should start from the improvement the quality of senior monks education. The solution is to recruit well-educated youths as monks and offer them best research opportunities and other incentives. After cultivating these seed monks, they can give out their knowledge to enhance and glorify Dai’s culture. The other topic regarding the closure crisis of boy monks’ basic education, the only solution seems to let nature takes its course. Since the serious contradiction between 9-year compulsory educations supported by central government and traditional Buddhism education, the issue regarding the deterioration of basic monk education is difficult to solved.
It is imperative for Dai’s local authority to initiate special tasks to translate all literatures existing in Palm Leaves Buddhism sutra in order to preserve old wisdom left by Dai’s ancient saints and sages. At the same time, local authority also should increase subsidy to support ethnic minority groups’ education. Lack of income-generation means puts ethnic group in less advantageous position in term of receiving education, governmental subsidy is necessary to provide better education for ethnic minority groups — including Dai people.
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