Larung Gar

Communist Entrenchment and Religious Persecution in China and Vietnam

Metamorphosis of Buddhism in China’s New Era

The metamorphosis of Buddhism synchronizing with alterations in political ideology, rapid economic growth, and evolving societal demands in China's new era is the focus of this book. It traces the metamorphosis to 2002 when the Communist Party of China declared upholding traditional Chinese culture, including Buddhism, to be essential to its leadership. The chapters offer rich case studies of updated “authentic” Buddhist teachings by clerics and other innovations in temples and nunneries, new lay communities and their practices, and the emergence of Buddhist cultural sites ranging from scenic areas to mega-expos. The comprehensive view of Buddhism in China illustrates how Buddhism is going beyond state-imposed boundaries of religious space. With a primary focus on Mahayana Buddhism practiced among Han Chinese, it also considers interactions with Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Confucianism, Daoism, and folk beliefs. The eleven contributing scholars-experts in anthropology, history, philosophy, religious studies, and sociology- draw on extensive fieldwork to provide transdisciplinary analyses of the metamorphosis, raising key questions about the dynamics of religious space

China's Great Train

A vivid account of China's unstoppable quest to build a railway into Tibet, and its obsession to transform its land and its people In the summer of 2006, the Chinese government fulfilled a fifty-year plan to build a railway into Tibet. Since Mao Zedong first envisioned it, the line had grown into an imperative, a critical component of China's breakneck expansion and the final maneuver in strengthening China's grip over this remote and often mystical frontier, which promised rich resources and geographic supremacy over South Asia. Through the lives of the Chinese and Tibetans swept up in the project, Fortune magazine writer Abrahm Lustgarten explores the "Wild West" atmosphere of the Chinese economy today. He follows innovative Chinese engineer Zhang Luxin as he makes the train's route over the treacherous mountains and permafrost possible (for now), and the tenacious Tibetan shopkeeper Rinzen, who struggles to hold on to his business in a boomtown that increasingly favors the Han Chinese. As the railway—the highest and steepest in the world—extends to Lhasa, and China's "Go West" campaign delivers waves of rural poor eager to make their fortunes, their lives and communities fundamentally change, sometimes for good, sometimes not. Lustgarten's book is a timely, provocative, and absorbing first-hand account of the Chinese boom and the promise and costs of rapid development on the country's people.