The Space of Religion: Temple, State, and Buddhist Communities in Modern China (The Sheng Yen Series in Chinese Buddhist Studies)

Based on three decades of ethnographic research, __The Space of Religion__ takes readers inside the Nanputuo Temple in order to explore the practice of Buddhism in modern China and the complex relationship between Buddhism and the Chinese state. "Buddhist temples help form the core of Buddhist practice as sacred spaces. They represent the cosmology of Buddhism and contain images of the Buddha, bodhisattvas, and other deities for worship, and, in associated monasteries, offer space for monks or nuns to live and practice Buddhist discipline. However, temples also provide locations for interactions between state and religion, particularly given that Buddhist teachings generally prohibit clerics from laboring and thus temples rely on the laity and secular authorities for support. Since arriving in China, Buddhism has been variously tolerated, patronized, and crushed by the power of the state. Today, the Chinese state permits religious activity only in the physical space of temples (officially known as "religious activity sites"). In The Space of Religion, Yoshiko Ashiwa and David L. Wank take readers inside the Nanputuo Temple in Xiamen City in Fujian Province of southeastern China in order to explore the relationship between Buddhism and the Chinese state. Nanputuo was a center of modernizing Buddhism in the early twentieth century and a leader of Buddhism's revival after the Cultural Revolution. Based on three decades of ethnographic and documentary research, Ashiwa and Wank tell the story of Nanputuo across a sweep of Chinese history that has seen rapid economic growth and social change. In doing so, they argue that the Chinese state and Buddhism have each adapted to the necessity of the other, and that the success of these adaptations can be seen in the way that the revival of the Buddhist temple has been inextricably intertwined with the growing Chinese market economy"-- Provided by publisher The Nanputuo Temple in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen has been a cherished site for the worship of the bodhisattva Guanyin for centuries. It was a center of modernizing Buddhism in the early twentieth century and a flagship for the revival of Buddhism after state suppression during the Cultural Revolution. The Space of Religion takes readers inside the Nanputuo Temple in order to explore the practice of Buddhism in modern China and the complex relationship between Buddhism and the Chinese state. Based on three decades of ethnographic research, Yoshiko Ashiwa and David L. Wank tell the story of Nanputuo against the backdrop of a dramatic stretch of Chinese history. They vividly depict episodes such as renovating the halls, reestablishing ties with overseas Chinese donors, conflicts with local government, revival of ritual life, reopening of its Buddhist academy, and the passion of the Guanyin birthday festival. To understand Nanputuo, Buddhist communities, and other temples in Xiamen, Ashiwa and Wank develop the concept of religion as a space constituted by physical, semiotic, and institutional dimensions. They also show how the Chinese state and Buddhism have each adapted to the other, as the temple has adjusted to government policy while the state has deployed Buddhism in its promotion of Chinese culture. This interdisciplinary book is both a theoretically generative analysis of religious spaces and an empirically rich account of the recovery of Buddhism in China after the Mao era.