Buddhism Revamped for Socialism
The Monastic Economy on Mount Jiuhua from 1949 to 1966
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6008071 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nan Ouyang (Ghent University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 498-526 |
| Publication date | 2024-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Modern China (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0097-7004 • E-ISSN: 1552-6836 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00977004231218380 |
| OpenAlex | W4390410725 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 22 |
This article explores rarely accessed local archives to reveal the fate of a renowned area of Buddhist activity—Mount Jiuhua—from 1949 to 1966 and the impact of the Chinese Communist Party regime’s economic and religious policies on the region’s religious communities. Specifically, it examines how the authorities attempted to utilize all the tangible and intangible resources of the Buddhist communities on Mount Jiuhua—including human capital, land, buildings, religious instruments made of metal, and cultural and historical status—to consolidate their grip on power and stimulate the area’s economic development. While the local cadres encouraged young clerics to disrobe, forced others to engage in physical labor, confiscated monastic landholdings, and expropriated metal instruments, they also dispensed relief to elderly and disabled clerics and funded the renovation of key monasteries. In the face of this unprecedented interference, the clerics made full use of the mountain’s reputation to argue with the authorities and renegotiate the boundaries of legitimate religious activities
Ancient history · Archaeology · Buddhism · Capital (architecture · Communism · Economics · Economy · Mount · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Reputation · Socialism · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Engineering · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
The practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900-1950
Making Saints in Modern China
Recovering Buddhism in Modern China
The Buddhist Revival in China
Maoism and Grassroots Religion
Religion in ChinaSurvival and Revival under Communist Rule
Chinese Religiosities
The Ghost Festival in Medieval China
Making Religion, Making the State
The Religious Question in Modern China
The Beginning of the End for Chinese Religion
Buddhism in Chinese Society
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |