Buddhism under the Communists

Abstract

This article offers a preliminary estimate of what has happened to Buddhists and Buddhist organisations in mainland China during the eleven years since the Chinese People's Republic was founded. Much of the data belongs to the year 1958 when the most rapid changes occurred. Early in 1959, the China mainland press, from which nearly all the data comes, began to give less news on Buddhism. In November 1959 the most important single source, Modern Buddhism, was withdrawn from general circulation abroad. Several sentences in the October number, suggest that Peking had become increasingly sensitive to stories of a persecution of Buddhism, and had resolved that the mainland press, at least, would not supply any more evidence of it. The picture is fairly complete, however, with the evidence already in hand.

The Red, Black, and Gray Markets of Religion in China

“…Having seen state eradication measures during the Cultural Revolution, many scholars once pronounced the death of religion in China (Welch 1961:13; Treadgold 1973:69; Pas 1989:20; Lambert 1994:9). However, religion disappeared only from the public scene.…”

The Relationship between the State and the Buddhist Community in Modern China: Critical Review of Selected Literature

“…Са друге стране оне су пасивно, преко припреме услова репресије, наметале радикалну промену религије у правцу државне воље. На пример, поједине значајне будистичке и даоистичке личности су сматрале да је организација њихових заједница пре 20. века била слаба, те да је самим тим доба модернизације и институционализације у ствари донело оживљавање њихових религија (Welch 1968према Goossaert 2005. Аутoр истиче да је процес институционализације религија захтевао уста-новљење прецизних литургијских и дисциплинарних норми код ритуала, али и код регрутације, иницијације и образовања монаха.…”

“…Холмс Велш (Holms Welch) у свом раду "Buddhism Under the Communists" нам дочарава радикалне услове репресије кроз које су прола-зиле религијске заједнице по доласку на власт Мао Цедунга (Welch 1961). Он пре свега истиче јавне политике овог доба и њихове конкретне после-дице на религијски живот и материјална добра религијских институција.…”

Breaking Rules to be Compassionate: The ‘Skillful Means’ of Buddhist Relief after the Wenchuan Earthquake Disaster

“…Over the past sixty years the dominant political actor in the Chinese context has been the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which came to power in 1949. Shaped by Marxist-Leninist ideologies which were deeply wary of religion, Mao Zedong and other early CCP leaders placed significant restrictions on Buddhism, including curtailment of financial resources and expropriation of land (Welch 1961;Yu 1971). The Cultural Revolution was a particularly difficult time for religious institutions, with concerted energies directed at closing down, looting and destroying religious buildings (MacFarquhar and Schoenhals 2006).…”