Buddhism in China - Modern Developments in Chinese Buddhism

Modern Developments in Chinese Buddhism

Influential teachers in early 20 century were Chinese Chan Hsu Yun, Pure land Buddhist Yin Guang (印光), modernist Taixu and artist Hong Yi. Layman Zhao Puchu worked much on the revival.

The 108-metre-high Guan Yin of the South Sea of Sanya statue was enshrined on April 24, 2005 with the participation of 108 eminent monks from various Buddhist groups from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and tens of thousands of pilgrims. The delegation also included monks from the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. China belongs to those countries that own most of the world's highest statues, many of which are Buddhist statues.

In April 2006 China organized the World Buddhist Forum, an event now held every two years, and in March 2007 the government banned mining on Buddhist sacred mountains. In May of the same year, in Changzhou, world's tallest pagoda was built and opened. In March 2008 the Taiwan-based organizations Tzu Chi Foundation and Fo Guang Shan were approved to open a branch in mainland China.

Theravada Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism exist mainly among ethnic minorities in the southwest and the north.

Hsu Yun is generally regarded as one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Unlike Catholicism and other branches of Christianity, there was no organization in China that embraced all monastics in China, nor even all monastics within the same sect. Traditionally each monastery was autonomous, with authority resting on each respective abbot. In 1953, the Chinese Buddhist Association was established at a meeting with 121 delegates in Beijing. The meeting also elected a chairman, 4 honorary chairmen, 7 vice-chairmen, a secretary general, 3 deputy secretaries-general, 18 members of a standing committee, and 93 directors. The 4 elected honorary chairmen were the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama, the Grand Lama of Inner Mongolia, and Venerable Master Hsu Yun.

Since the reform and opening up period in the 1970s, the state has been withdrawing from many areas of ordinary Chinese life, which included a cessation of funding to Buddhist temples. As a result, Chinese Buddhist temples have become increasingly commercialized by sales of tickets, incense, or other religious items; soliciting donations; and even the listing of temples on the stock market. In October 2012, the State Administration for Religious Affairs announced a crackdown on religious profiteering.