IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gig/chaktu/v40y2011i2p107-134.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Buddhist Revival under State Watch

Author

Listed:
  • André Laliberté

Abstract

The Chinese Communist Party has shown tolerance, if not direct support, for the growth of Buddhism over the last few decades. Three explanations for this lenient attitude are explored in this article. The flourishing of Buddhism is encouraged by the state less for its propaganda value in foreign affairs than for its potential to lure tourists who will, in turn, represent a source of revenue for local governments. Buddhist institutions are also establishing their track record in the management of philanthropic activities in impoverished area where local governments lack the resources to offer specific social services. Finally, the development of such activities has contributed to enhance cooperation between China and Taiwan, whose governments have a vested interest in the improvement of relations across the Strait. The article concludes that the growth of Buddhism in China results from the initiatives of Buddhists themselves, and the government supports this growth because it serves local politics well.

Suggested Citation

  • André Laliberté, 2011. "Buddhist Revival under State Watch," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(2), pages 107-134.
  • Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:40:y:2011:i:2:p:107-134
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/419
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Madsen, 2011. "Religious Renaissance in China Today," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(2), pages 17-42.
    2. Lawrence C. Reardon, 2011. "Ideational Learning and the Paradox of Chinese Catholic Reconciliation," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(2), pages 43-70.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David C. Schak, 2011. "Protestantism in China: A Dilemma for the Party-State," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(2), pages 71-106.
    2. Andy Yee, 2011. "Maritime Territorial Disputes in East Asia: A Comparative Analysis of the South China Sea and the East China Sea," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(2), pages 165-193.
    3. André Laliberté, 2011. "Religion and the State in China: The Limits of Institutionalization," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(2), pages 3-15.
    4. Shuai Chi & Chao Liu, 2024. "Folk religion as the “life-world”: revival of folk beliefs and renewal of religious categorization in contemporary China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Meng-chi Hsueh, 2021. "Religious revival or control? Reading the spatial politics of an officially atheist country’s planning of religious scenic areas: Three cases in Shaanxi, China," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(4), pages 818-837, June.
    6. Richard Madsen, 2011. "Religious Renaissance in China Today," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(2), pages 17-42.
    7. Jun Lu & Qin Gao, 2017. "Faith and Happiness in China: Roles of Religious Identity, Beliefs, and Practice," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 273-290, May.
    8. Lawrence C. Reardon, 2011. "Ideational Learning and the Paradox of Chinese Catholic Reconciliation," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(2), pages 43-70.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:40:y:2011:i:2:p:107-134. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Karsten Giese or Heike Holbig (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dueiide.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.