当論文はビルマ尼僧院学校における財産所有と経済生活の調査研究を通じ
て,親族の影響から完全に離脱できず,「不完全な」出家生活を余儀なくされ
ている尼僧の宗教的立場を明らかにする。ピルtは上座部仏教圏のなかでも際
立って仏典の学習が盛んで,僧侶だけではなく数多くの尼僧学者が輩出されて
きた。その成功を支える「オー」という生活共同体と尼僧間にみられるパート
ナーシヅプにとくに注目する。一方,尼僧院学校では継承問題が絡むと血縁の
影響が濃くなり,次第に教育機関としての学業効率化に向けた役割を失ってい
く。このような問題を尼僧院学校の変遷と親族との関係のなかから捉え,ビル
マ尼僧院の今後のあり方を模索する試みである
This thesis examines the religious standing of Buddhist nuns in
Burma by focusing on the features of property holdings in Buddhist
nunnery schools, which manifest a synthesis of private and communal,
implying an ambivalent position for Buddhist nuns. It also attempts
to reveal the secret of high educational standards achieved by Burmese
Buddhist nuns by looking at ingenious ways in which they manage their
everyday life; the `aoe' as a fundamental economic unit, and the patterns
of partnership formed between the nuns. These strategies have been
essential in order to maximize time and energy to concentrate on their
Buddhist studies. It also examines the practice of succession in Buddhist
nunneries that has allowed blood and kinship to replace merit and
loyalty of the disciples. As a result, nunneries tend to lose their function
as educational institutions usually after one generation, initiating their
own downfall.