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Thread: Buddhism & Communism

  1. #1
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    Atheists & supernatural

    Here's an overview article from good ol' Epoch Times about the hypocrisy in communist atheism. When they establish separation of church & state, they mean it.

    Atheist Chinese Officials Turn to the Supernatural During Desperate Times
    By Annie Wu, Epoch Times
    February 7, 2018 6:21 pm Last Updated: February 7, 2018 7:49 pm


    Chinese people burn incense sticks during the mid-autumn festival at the Jing'an Temple in Shanghai on Oct. 4, 2017. (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

    Wei Minzhou, the Communist Party Secretary of Xi’an, a city in western China, knew he was in trouble when he was invited for a “chat” with his superiors. He immediately consulted a seer who told him to plant bamboo in front of his house. The Chinese phrase for “bamboo” and “to stop” are ****nyms—Wei’s plea for the authorities’ anti-corruption investigation to stop. It didn’t work. In August 2017, Wei was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for bribery, pending prosecution in the judicial system.

    The Chinese Communist Party is an atheist organization and rules China by tightly controlling what citizens can and cannot believe in, yet Wei is just one of a cohort of officials who have resorted to premodern practices of divination, fortune telling, and superstition in an attempt to get out of a bind.

    The Party prohibits members from believing in so-called “superstition.” The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s sought to eradicate people’s beliefs in Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and folk customs by launching a campaign to rid the country of “four olds”: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. Buddhist temples, statues, Taoist monasteries, and historical sites of cultural significance were destroyed.

    Despite this traumatic and violent upheaval of spiritual beliefs, they are still deeply ingrained in the Chinese people’s psyche: evidenced by the Party officials who turn to Buddhas, gods, and spirits during times of need—despite Party rules.


    Buddhist monks pray inside the 135-year old Yufo Temple, also known as the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai on September 5, 2017. (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

    In a recent announcement of Liaoning deputy governor Liu Qiang’s purge from Party membership and his position, the CCP’s anti-corruption agency called out his “superstitious activities” among a list of crimes that got him in trouble.

    In fact, state-run newspaper Beijing Daily’s WeChat social media account once published a story about officials who have been disciplined for “believing in superstition” since the 18th National Congress in 2012—when current Party leader Xi Jinping came to power and launched his campaign to purge the Party of misbehaving officials.

    Escaping Fate
    There were unexpected details of desperate officials who believe that a greater force is in control of their fates—and so sought out ways to foretell or change their lives.

    During the 1990s, the disgraced former security czar, Zhou Yongkang, was general manager of the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation. He once invited a senior monk to conduct for him face reading, a form of physiognomy to predict one’s future. The monk’s assessment was that his prospects were good, but to go even further in his career, he had to fix his ancestral tomb.

    Zhou listened to the monk’s advice and asked his brother to fix it right away. The family hired a monk from Wuxi City, where the tombs were located, to perform Buddhist rites.

    Within a decade, Zhou had made it to the CCP’s most powerful decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee. In fall 2009, his family suddenly discovered that someone had dug a hole in his ancestral tomb—an act of desecration. Zhou mobilized the Wuxi, Shanghai, and Jiangsu Province police—eventually going all the way to the Ministry of Public Security—to find the culprit, to no avail.

    He would later meet his downfall in 2012 amid the infamous Wang Lijun-Bo Xilai incident. In 2015, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.


    Zhou Yongkang at the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on March 5, 2012. (Liu Jin/AFP/Getty Images)

    Meanwhile, Zhou’s ally, Sichuan deputy party secretary Li Chuncheng, was punished for using public funds to move his ancestral tomb from its location in northeast China to Dujiangyan near the city of Chengdu in southwestern China—at the suggestion of a Taoist feng shui master. He used up 10 million yuan for that project (about $1.6 million).

    Zhou and Li were both officials in former Party leader Jiang Zemin’s circle, making up a faction within the Party opposed to Xi Jinping. And Jiang frequently sought the advice of Wang Lin, a qigong master said to possess supernatural powers.

    Wang counseled many Jiang faction officials on how to improve their fortunes. Wang once told former railway minister Liu Zhijun that if he puts a mountain rock in his office, he would never fall down in life prospects. Alas, in 2013, he was charged with bribery and sentenced to death with reprieve.

    Protection from Sins
    Since the anti-corruption crackdown began five years ago, officials are wary of the day they may fall. If they catch wind of a coming purge, they seek protection from higher beings.

    When deputy director of the People’s Liberation Army General Logistics Department Gu Junshan was arrested and interrogated for corruption, Party staff found a peach wood sword in one of his pockets: a weapon used to exorcise demons according to Taoist religious beliefs. The sword didn’t protect him from his wrongdoing though: Gu was sentenced to death with reprieve in 2015.


    Gu Junshan. (Screen shot/Chinanews.com)

    Former Party leader Jiang himself was said to be fearful of retribution; among his many crimes was launching the persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong in 1999. Hong Kong’s Open Magazine reported in 2001 that Jiang prayed to the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in hopes of salvation. He sought out a nun in Beijing for a copy of the “Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra” and endeavored to copy out the sutra by hand, considered an act of merit and devotion in Buddhism.


    Jiang Zemin at the 18th National Congress in Beijing on Nov. 14, 2012. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images)

    But Jiang has so far been unable to escape political demise. Xi’s campaign has eliminated Jiang’s allies one by one, leaving Jiang with limited clout.

    Zhang Dun contributed to this report.
    Gene Ching
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  2. #2
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    Buddhism & Communism

    I'm surprised we don't have a thread relevant to this (at least I couldn't find one first thing on a Monday). I'm copying a post from the Busted Qigong Masters thread above that's relevant.

    Chinese driving test centre told to delay opening until it ‘improves’ after monks bless its fleet of cars
    Chinese driving test centre told to delay opening until it ‘improves’ after monks bless its fleet of cars
    Video clip appears to show traffic police attending religious ceremony but authorities deny they took part in ‘superstitious activity’
    PUBLISHED : Sunday, 03 June, 2018, 5:11pm
    UPDATED : Monday, 04 June, 2018, 2:15pm
    Zhuang Pinghui



    Traffic police in central China told a private driving test centre that was about to open it could not do so until it “improved”, after a video clip of monks holding a religious ceremony on the premises was posted online, state media reports.

    The footage, which has been widely circulated on the internet, shows five Buddhist monks blessing a new fleet of cars at the centre in Hengyang, Hunan province. One of them can be heard saying, “We begin the prayer ceremony to bless these driving test cars for the road.”


    The driving test centre apologised and said the ceremony was arranged by the car dealership. Photo: Thepaper.cn

    It generated interest online because security guards seen in the video looked like they were wearing the blue uniforms of traffic police, China Youth Daily reported on Sunday.

    While the ruling Communist Party officially recognises five religions, including Buddhism, its members are supposed to be atheists and cannot take part in “superstitious activities”. So it would be considered inappropriate for traffic police, who oversee driving test centres, to attend a religious ceremony.

    China orders crackdown on large outdoor religious statues to ‘prevent commercialisation’

    But in a statement on Sunday, Hengyang traffic police denied its officers were involved in the ceremony, saying it was just staff from the driving test centre and security guards who took part and police had no prior knowledge of it.

    It added that the new centre had not yet been approved by the authorities.

    In an open letter, Leiyang Jintai Vehicle Driving Test Centre apologised for “causing trouble to the authorities”, saying the ceremony had been arranged by the car dealership that sold the centre its fleet, according to the report.
    Gene Ching
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  3. #3
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    Not just PRC. Here's Mongolia under the Soviets.

    More pix behind the link.

    Mongolia's millennial monks


    Baruunburen, Mongolia

    Photography by Thomas Peter. Reporting by Natalie Thomas.
    Updated today

    Buddhism is one of the world's oldest religions, but its fate in Mongolia now rests on very young shoulders.

    The country's monasteries are increasingly run by millennial monks, the first generation to come of age after decades of religious repression under the Soviet system wiped out almost all Buddhist clergy.


    Lobsang Tayang poses at the Amarbayasgalant Monastery.

    Just four years into his own studies, 29-year-old Lobsang Tayang is already teaching two young monks, a position he would normally attain only after 20 years.

    "I felt like I hadn't gained enough knowledge yet," he said. "I was thinking, 'Is it right for others to call me teacher when I myself am still learning?'"

    He is stepping up because the repression, begun in the 1930s with the arrival of Communism, killed an estimated 17,000 monks, official figures show.


    Buddhist monks enter a ger, a traditional Mongolian tent, for afternoon prayers.

    At the time most Mongolians were devout adherents to a form of Buddhism similar to that practiced in Tibet.

    After democracy came to Mongolia in 1990, monasteries and schools were re-established by the survivors, many already then in their 70s.


    The sun rises over the Buddhist Amarbayasgalant Monastery.

    Lobsang Tayang's monastery, Amarbayasgalant, is a sprawling complex deep in the endless grasslands, 35 km (22 miles) from the nearest road. It was home to around 800 monks before the Soviet era. After the purges began, half the monastery's monks fled, while most of those who remained were killed.

    Now fewer than 40 are left, and the oldest, the head of the monastery, is just 35.


    Buddhist monks arrive for an evening prayer recital session.

    The young monks are struggling to maintain crumbling monastery buildings that date from the 18th century, and were declared a world heritage site by the cultural agency UNESCO.

    Today just 28 of more than 40 original temples remain. Flocks of nesting pigeons stain the walls with faeces and leave the monks, whose religion forbids killing, in despair.

    Lobsang Tayang wakes his students, 10-year-old Batkhan Tuul and 11-year-old Temuulen, at around seven to test their memory of the scriptures, chanting which fills the rest of the morning.

    In the afternoon, the younger monks can study topics such as mathematics and literature - if a teacher can be found.

    Such a choice of career is unusual in the modern world, and finding children willing to sign up can be tricky. The choice is often made as much by parents as their children, and is rarely a straightforward task.


    Temuulen and Batkhan Tuul are reflected in a glass cabinet as they study religious texts.

    "He didn't like the idea because he was afraid of the paintings and altars of the deity," said Temuulen's mother, Badamkhand Dambii, recounting her son's reaction the first time she broached the topic. "He said they were frightening."

    It took him a while to come round, she added.


    A young Buddhist monk yawns during a prayer session.

    Getting children to come is only half the battle, however. Keeping them there is the real challenge.

    "Nowadays it's very rare to find monks who can remain faithful to their vows," said Lobsang Tayang.


    Temuulen watches a fellow monk blow a seashell as a call for prayers.

    Many monks who grow up at the monastery yearn for the outside world, which they are only allowed to visit twice a year for two weeks. The monastery has 3G internet access, but mobile telephones are restricted to those older than 25.

    "It's easy to chop down a forest, right?" said Lobsang Rabten, the monastery's second-in-command. "But it takes a long time for new trees to grow back."


    Senior Buddhist monk Lobsang Tayang steps out out onto the terrace.

    He hopes such issues will eventually be overcome, to return the monastery to its former glory.

    For now Temuulen is committed to a future at Amarbayasgalant and hopes to help rejuvenate it.

    "When I grow up, if the monastery becomes bigger and more renowned, then hopefully lots of children will come."


    Temuulen studies religious texts.
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  4. #4
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    raise that flag

    HOME >> CHINA
    Shaolin Temple raises China’s national flag
    Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2018/8/27 17:18:49


    The Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Central China’s Henan Province, holds a flag-raising ceremony as it raises China’s national flag at the temple on August 27. Photos: Courtesy of the Shaolin Temple


    The Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Central China’s Henan Province, holds a flag-raising ceremony as it raises China’s national flag at the temple on August 27. Photos: Courtesy of the Shaolin Temple


    The abbot of the Shaolin Temple Shi Yongxin (center right) attends the flag-raising ceremony on August 27. Photos: Courtesy of the Shaolin Temple


    Foreign disciples take part in the flag-raising ceremony on August 27. Photos: Courtesy of the Shaolin Temple
    This seems sort of random.
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    Seems you can't have order without preservation of subordinates.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  6. #6
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    I didn't get the significance at first.

    I get it now. This has gone somewhat viral.

    Shaolin Temple raises China’s national flag for first time in high-profile ceremony
    In order to promote patriotism and harmony, all religious venues in China are now being ordered to raise the national flag at important religious events
    by Alex Linder August 28, 2018 in News



    China’s world-famous Shaolin Monastery put on a new type of performance on Monday, raising the flag of the People’s Republic Republic of China in a highly-publicized ceremony.

    According to the state-run Global Times tabloid, the flag-raising ceremony was a first for the 1,500-year-old temple, known across the globe as the birthplace of kung fu. The event was attended by scores of the temple’s monks as well as local officials from the United Front Work Department, a group which oversees China’s five officially sanctioned religions.



    The ceremony follows a religious affairs conference in Beijing in July, at the end of which the United Front Work Department called on religious venues around the country to increase their patriotic awareness by raising the national flag on China’s National Day and at important religious events in order to emphasize that “the fates of the party, the nation, and the people are bound tightly together.”

    Following the conference, religious venues were required to begin putting up China’s national flag at prominent locations, making sure that the red-and-yellow flag is ahead of religious flags in any row. The raising of the national flag will be used to evaluate if a temple or church is indeed a “harmonious,” officially-sanctioned institution.

    The Global Times quotes the Shaolin Temple as stating that raising the flag would aid those involved in increasing their awareness as Chinese citizens and help them “better practice socialist core values and stick to the way of the sinicization of religions by integrating religious doctrines into Chinese culture.”

    Another temple official was quoted as saying the new government requirement will “bring the Constitution, new law, socialist core values and excellent traditional Chinese culture into religious venues.”



    An officially atheistic state, religion is viewed with suspicion by China’s ruling party and Communist Party members are instructed to abandon their religious beliefs or face punishment. In recent years, there has been a religious revival in China and government officials have been busy trying to figure out how to make this spiritual comeback work for them.

    “Religions are exclusive,” reads a Global Times editorial published earlier this month. “The key to make them live in harmony is to sustain their national identity. If the shared sense of national identity collapsed, the country would be divided or even lurch toward war… Without a stable country as the foundation of religious belief, religion will only cause division.”

    [Images via Shaolin Monastery]


    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    Seems you can't have order without preservation of subordinates.
    Indeed.
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  7. #7
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    From SCMP

    Here's more in-depth coverage
    Red flag for Buddhists? Shaolin Temple ‘takes the lead’ in Chinese patriotism push
    Well-known monastery that trains monks in martial arts criticised for mixing religion with politics after flag-raising ceremony attended by local officials
    PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 28 August, 2018, 4:58pm
    UPDATED : Tuesday, 28 August, 2018, 10:06pm
    Laurie Chen
    https://twitter.com/lauriechenwords
    laurie.chen@scmp.com



    China’s famed Shaolin Temple this week raised the national flag for the first time in its 1,500-year history as part of a patriotism drive, a move that has been criticised for mixing religion with politics.

    The high-profile ceremony took place on Monday at the temple on Mount Song, in central Henan province, as part of a widespread government initiative to instil a love for the nation in the country’s religious institutions.

    It was attended by local government officials and followed a proposal last month from state-sanctioned religious groups to raise national flags at all religious venues.

    This is the first time a well-known Buddhist organisation has been involved in such a high-profile display of patriotism.

    Shaolin Temple, a Zen Buddhist monastery that trains its monks in martial arts, is arguably China’s most prominent symbol of Buddhism.

    Its abbot, Shi Yongxin, decided to “actively take the lead” and hold the flag-raising ceremony during a national Buddhist association conference, the temple said in an announcement on its website. Shi is also the vice-president of the state-run Buddhist Association of China.


    Shaolin Temple hold the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, during a national Buddhist association conference. Photo: Weibo

    News of the ceremony drew hundreds of comments on media outlets’ verified social media accounts before the posts were closed for comment.

    While the move was applauded by some, critics said it risked tainting religion with politics.

    “As a Buddhist, this makes me feel uncomfortable,” one Weibo user wrote. “Before, I thought of religious faith as pure, but now it confuses me … With patriotism interfering with spiritual life, there is no space at all for individual thought. Is this what a harmonious society looks like?”

    Another wrote: “The Buddha and Marx have shaken hands … Buddhism is meant to cultivate the mind, body and spirit – what has it got to do with politics? Haven’t the monks in the monastery renounced worldly living? I feel uncomfortable and just think that raising the national flag at the temple is simply not appropriate.”

    Tsui Chung-hui, of the University of Hong Kong’s Centre of Buddhist Studies, said Buddhist scripture already required its followers to respect the state.

    “The government does not need to take pains to promote [this] and monasteries also do not need to pander to politics,” Tsui said on Tuesday. “They should let monks dedicate themselves to Buddhism and not waste their time performing various political propaganda activities.”


    Critics say the move risks tainting religion with politics. Photo: Weibo

    China has recently come under the spotlight for its efforts to clamp down on minority religions including Islam and Christianity, which it associates with foreign influence or ethnic separatism. Mosques and churches flying the national flag have become an increasingly common sight in China amid the crackdown.

    Beijing officially recognises five religions – Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism – with Taoism the only indigenous one. Buddhism, though it originated in India, has also been accepted as a Chinese religion, having been, apart from Tibetan Buddhism, integrated into Han culture through the ebb and flow of dynasties.

    Overseeing these religions is the National Religious Affairs Administration, which was set up this year. That was the result of a government overhaul of the religious affairs bureau, to bring it deeper into the fold of the party. The new unit is now under the party’s United Front Work Department, which oversees propaganda efforts as well as relations with the global Chinese diaspora.

    The Shaolin Temple is a Unesco World Heritage Site dating back to the 6th century AD and is said to be the birthplace of Kung Fu.
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  8. #8
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    Another crackdown

    This explains the flag ceremony.

    China's religious crackdown takes aim at Daoists, Buddhists Homegrown faiths not getting a 'free pass' by President Xi Jinping as Party fires salvo at over-commercialization China's religious crackdown takes aim at Daoists, Buddhists


    A file image of a Taoist doing his morning exercise as a woman pilgrim walks beside him at Qingyanggong, or Green Ram Palace, in downtown Chengdu, the capital of China's southwestern province of Sichuan. (Photo by Liu Jin/AFP)

    Michael Sainsbury, Hong Kong
    China
    September 7, 2018

    It's not only Christianity and Islam the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is cracking down on and asserting its control over; homegrown religions like Daoism and imported belief systems like Buddhism now face more measures aimed at curbing and rolling back their commercialization.
    The ban on building large statues, for many years a target of the party's religious administrators, has been stepped up. There has also been a sharper focus on using local religions to empty the pockets of domestic — and occasionally foreign — tourists.
    Many of China's most popular tourist attractions revolve around centuries-old Buddhist and Daoist temples. For example, the 1,500-year-old Shaolin temple in central Henan Province has long been under the scrutiny of authorities.
    The state's program against rampant money-making activities was stepped up in late 2017 when an 11-point directive was issued by the State Administration of Religious Affairs, which was subsumed into the powerful United Front Work Department of the CCP in March 2018.
    All commercial investments in Buddhism and Daoism are prohibited under the new directive, while any temples deemed non-profit are banned from investing in the operations of other religious venues, according to a recent report in the South China Morning Post.
    Local cadres have also been banned from promoting and profiting from religious activities in the name of fostering economic development.
    Temples in scenic spots have been ordered not to overcharge tourists who must pay for tickets to enter. They are have also been banned from building large religious statues outdoors under edicts issued in May.
    According to these, existing statues will come under scrutiny while religious groups have been warned to follow proper accounting practices.
    Meanwhile, party cadres have been explicitly reminded time and again over the past 12 months that they must not practice any religion.
    By the same token, the pressure on China's local and localized religions continues, as it does with Christianity and Islam.
    During the (1966-76) Cultural Revolution, Buddhists were forced to practice their faith in secret while the less formal rites associated with Daoism took a pummeling under chairman Mao Zedong, who died in 1976.
    The temples and statues of both religions were routinely shut down and destroyed.
    In recent decades, as religious practice has experienced a remarkable revival in China, both Buddhism and Daoism have crept and then surged back into favor. By some estimates, their combined active adherents now number well into the hundred of millions.
    The CCP officially granted religions space to breathe when it released an edict called Document 19 in 1982 as part of former leader Deng Xiaoping's program of reform and opening up.
    What made this document so striking was that the officially atheist CCP decided to recognize five religions: Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism.
    Central to Document 19 was the edict that religion be banned and suppressed under various programs instigated by Mao, including the idealized role of the state toward religion.
    Freedom of religious belief is guaranteed under China's charter but human rights lawyers have battled mostly in vain to uphold this constitutional guarantee.
    Like anything that is even remotely controversial or politically problematic in China, religion is administered by the state with the aim, as always, to promote the "stability" of a "harmonious" Chinese society.
    This process has waxed and waned in recent decades.
    In recent years, however, religion has come under fresh scrutiny from Beijing, particularly imported "Western" religions such as Christianity and Islam, both of which are experiencing their toughest time in decades on the Chinese mainland.
    This has caused many people who follow these religions, both of which are growing in popularity in China, to mutter that all religions are not equal and that the administration of President Xi Jinping is giving localized religions a far easier ride.
    That is understandable given that Daoism is indigenous while Buddhism has been subjected, to various degrees, to "Sinicization" for at least the last 1,500 years.
    That same process is now being applied to Christianity and Islam in China.
    Still, all is not as simple as it looks, as there are important distinctions between the three broad strands of Buddhism in China: "Chinese" Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Theravada Buddhism.
    The latter is mainly practiced in the large southern province of Yunnan (especially among the hill tribes there), which borders Southeast Asian nations including Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
    China also borders Cambodia, where Theravada Buddhism is the religion of choice for an overwhelming majority of the public.
    Tibetan Buddhism is practiced in provinces such as Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai and Gansu, which border Tibet, as well as in other parts of the country that remain loyal to the self-exiled Dalai Lama, a figure loathed with uncommon intensity in Beijing.
    Monks and nuns have been jailed for their loyalty to the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against communist rule.
    Moreover, hundreds of Tibetans have set themselves alight in protest against Chinese rule since 2008, when riots over Beijing's suppression of Tibetan culture were violently quashed by its armed forces.
    Whichever way one cuts it, the goal of Xi's campaign is clear: To put religion back into a box by forcing worshipers to promise as much fealty to the CCP as they do to their chosen faith.
    After four years of running such a campaign, Xi spelt out his intentions at the party's five-year Congress last October, when he was elected to another term as party chief.
    For Buddhists (especially those practicing the Tibetan or Theravada strains) and Daoists, the message is the same as the one being sent to Christians, Muslims and anyone practicing an unofficial religion on the fringes of Chinese society: Sinicize and fall in line, or else.
    Gene Ching
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  9. #9
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    Red Road

    I heard this was happening. My understanding is that the crackdown is upon the private schools that are not directly affiliated with Shaolin Temple itself. But I don't know for sure.

    Wed, February 27, 2019
    Shaolin Martial Arts Schools Forced to Take “Red Road”
    02/26/2019 WANG YICHI


    Famous schools must cut all ties with their historical past, shedding robes and statues and names that evoke their Buddhist origins.

    Martial arts students are used to delivering – and taking – hits, but they have never suffered a blow like the one delivered by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s crackdown on Buddhism. Buddhist symbols have been stripped from the Shaolin Temple martial arts schools, the world-famous home of Chinese martial arts.

    Located in Dengfeng city, in central China’s Henan Province, the Shaolin Monastery is known around the world and is the ancestral home of Chinese Buddhism. The place where the founder of Chinese Buddhism lived and propagated his teachings is known as the “Number One Temple Under Heaven.” Numerous martial arts schools have been established under the name of the Shaolin Monastery, inheriting Buddhist thought, and carrying forward the traditional Shaolin culture and the spirit of Chinese martial arts.

    In July 2018, Dengfeng city’s United Front Work Department, Education and Sports Bureau, and Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau jointly issued a document entitled Implementation Plan for Carrying Out Special Governance Work for the Separation of Education and Religion at Schools Throughout the City. The document stipulates: 1.) Setting up Buddhist shrines at schools is prohibited. 2.) School teachers and students are prohibited from wearing religious attire or wearing religious symbols. 3.) Sensitive words with religious connotations (such as “Buddhism,” “Ancestral Temple,” “Arhat,” and “Bodhidharma”) must be removed from the names of schools. 4.) Each school and martial arts college must establish a dedicated administrative body and assign personnel to submit day-to-day information regularly as a way to monitor the school.

    The document set off a campaign to crack down on religious symbols on school campuses throughout Dengfeng city. Due to the strong Buddhist connotations they carry, Shaolin martial arts schools were a prime target.

    On October 31, four provincial government officials arrived at Shaolin Temple Monk Disciple Kung Fu Academy to conduct an inspection. Upon seeing that the school’s coaches and students were wearing yellow-colored monk robe uniforms, the officials ordered them to change out of them immediately.

    During the inspection, government officials took photos of a Buddha statue in the school’s Buddhist shrine, and a Bodhidharma statue outside the shrine.

    Afterward, the school headmaster was forced to take drastic steps to avoid the academy being shut down. He removed the Bodhidharma and the Buddha statues, hung traditional Chinese paintings on the walls, and changed the school uniforms for more than 1,000 teachers and students. The financial burden of replacing the uniforms nearly crushed the school.

    More than just physical changes were required. In the past, the school’s students followed Buddhist tradition by addressing the headmaster as “great master,” but now they are only allowed to call him “principal.” Since the words “Monk Disciple” in the school’s name have Buddhist connotations, the school changed its name to “Shaolin Literary and Martial Arts School.”

    One of the academy’s managers told Biter Winter, “The Education and Sports Bureau demanded to change the school’s name and uniforms within one month. Every Monday, we must raise the national flag. Afterward, we must send photos [of the flag-raising ceremony] to the Bureau by Wednesday. If they aren’t sent in time, the school’s qualifications will be revoked. Martial arts schools must take the ‘red road.’ This is a political movement.”

    Around the same time, another school in Dengfeng underwent an unannounced inspection. The authorities ordered that the students of Shaolin Temple Monk Literary and Martial Arts School be prohibited from wearing monk robes, shaving their heads, and addressing their coaches as “great master.” The school was forbidden to put up plaques, paintings, photographs or Buddha statues that contain the Chinese characters for “monk,” “temple,” “Buddhist,” “Buddha,” and so on. Since the school’s name contained the word “monk,” the school was forced to change its name to “Zhongyue Shaolin Literary and Martial Arts School.”

    A third school, located on the mountain behind Shaolin Temple, was ordered by to get rid of its Buddhist attire, statues, and plaques. The Shaolin Temple Monk Martial Arts Academy’s faculty and staff were prohibited from carrying Buddhist prayer beads, bead bracelets, and other religious accessories, and banned from taking group photos while wearing monk robes. The school’s name was changed to “Shaolin Martial Arts Mount Song School.” The slogan on the school’s wall, “Namo Amitābhāya,” (“Homage to Infinite Light”) was replaced with “Love the Party, Love the Country, Love the School.” Under orders from the authorities, the school raised the national flag, and “red” slogans such as “Don’t forget your initial intention; remember your mission” and the “Core Socialist Values” were posted at the school’s entrance.

    Religious symbols have also been removed from ten other schools, including Shaolin Temple Bodhi Academy, Dengfeng City Shaolin Temple Arhat Academy, Shaolin Temple Tagou Martial Arts School, and Shaolin Temple Martial Arts Research Institute.

    Reported by Wang Yichi
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  10. #10
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    Odd on the grounds that although the Buddha used Vishnu as an example in his teachings, Buddhism in and of itself holds to no creator gods and doesn't really subscribe to any.

    However, in practice, that seems to fall by the wayside depending on the sect of Buddhism that is practiced.

    So, freeeeaaakkkyyy!
    Anyway.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  11. #11
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    Glory of Shaolin Temple

    Chinese embassy hosts Kung Fu show in Accra; China celebrates 70th anniversary
    Date: Sep 14 , 2019 , 09:16BY: Desmond Kofi Tawiah


    Mrs Rebecca Akufo Addo (left) congratulating one of the acrobatic team members after the cultural event in Accra. Those looking on include Mr Shi Ting Wang (2nd left) Mr Ismael A****ey and Mr George Andah. Picture: GABRIEL AHIABOR.

    The Chinese embassy in Accra held a cultural display last Tuesday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

    Organised by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism at the National Theatre in Accra, the cultural display — dubbed “Glory of Shaolin Temple” — had the Zhengzhou Cultural Exchange Troupe of China treat the mixed audience of Ghanaians, Chinese and other nationals to a live display of the famous Chinese Kung Fu as seen in Chinese movies and television dramas.

    Dignitaries and performance

    It also involved a display of Chinese culture and martial arts on an enthralling evening for an excited crowd.

    Among the guests were the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo; the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Ishmael A****ey, and a Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr George Andah.

    The Zhengzhou Troupe, dominated by teenagers, took the audience down memory lane as they showcased different martial arts techniques, including the unusually fluid fighting style portrayed in the Hong Kong action comedy movie “Drunken Master”.

    Chinese culture

    At the “Glory of Shaolin Temple” show, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Shi Ting Wang, said “Chinese Kung Fu is a valuable cultural heritage accumulated and enriched by Chinese working people in long-term social practice”.

    He said “Chinese Kung Fu stresses both hardness with softness, both inside and outside. It implies the spiritual temperament of the Chinese who love peace, pursues justice, self-improvement and social commitment”.

    Mr Wang noted that currently, people in more than 200 countries and regions were learning Chinese Kung Fu.

    “It has become an important part of exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese civilisation and other civilisations. It serves as an important brand to promote mutual understanding among the people of the world,” he added.

    The ambassador reiterated China’s commitment to promoting cultural exchanges between Ghana and China, saying “the Chinese embassy is ready to work with Ghanaian friends to make unremitting efforts to promote people-to-people exchanges, carry forward China-Ghana traditional friendship and push our relations to a new height”.

    Martial arts

    The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs Cynthia Mamle Morrison, said the influence of martial arts on civilisation and modern society could be built in poetry, fiction and other disciplines.

    She stressed the need for Ghana to promote its culture, beliefs and norms through socialisation.

    Mrs Morrison said in the long run, her ministry intended to embark on a cultural exchange programme with China.
    I wasn't sure where on the Shaolin subforum to copy this 70th anniversary of People’s Republic news, so I went with Buddhism & Communism
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  12. #12
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    red flag

    Patriotic Activities Mandated to Reopen Religious Venues
    07/24/2020 HAN SHENG

    Places of worship must prove loyalty to the CCP before opening their doors after the coronavirus lockdown. Flag-raising ceremonies are obligatory.
    by Han Sheng

    All religious venues in China were closed for more than five months to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Shaolin Temple on Mount Song in the central province of Henan, the Buddhist holy site reputed as “Number One Temple under Heaven” and renowned around the world for its martial arts school, was no exception.

    As lockdown restrictions were eased, it was allowed to reopen on June 22, but only on the condition that a grand national flag-raising ceremony promoting patriotism and pledging loyalty to the CCP was organized that day. A requirement each place of worship in China must accept if they want to resume their activities in the post-lockdown era.


    Shaolin Temple monks stand in lines for a flag-raising ceremony.

    At 9 a.m. that day, Shi Yongxin, the abbot of the Shaolin Temple, accompanied by about 100 disciples, led the flag-raising ceremony in the rain. After 1,500 years of promoting Buddhism in China, the temple has succumbed to the CCP’s “sinicization” policy, gradually losing its original values and responsibilities.

    “It is so unnatural for monks in traditional robes to take part in a flag-raising ceremony like soldiers,” commented a temple visitor who witnessed the reopening on June 22.

    “Strictly controlled by the state, people of faith must follow the Party’s commands,” another visitor added. “The government thinks that there are too many believers, which it sees as a threat to its regime.”

    Shaolin Temple monks carry a national flag in a marching drill, reminiscent of a military ceremony.



    Proof of “patriotism” has become a prerequisite for religious activity venues to reopen after the lockdown. Even after they are open again, religious activities are still banned or strictly restricted in the name of “epidemic prevention.” Patriotic events, however, are not spreading the virus, according to the CCP.

    The famous Nantai Rock Temple in Quanzhou, a prefecture-level city in the southeastern province of Fujian, was allowed to open its doors on June 21, but only if a flag-raising ceremony was organized. A staff member at the temple said that since the government controls religions and demands to prove loyalty to the state, the venue must now hold flag-raising ceremonies weekly and ahead of each monks’ assembly or other religious activity. The temple has no other choice but to obey. Before a small assembly on July 2, the temple abbot led a flag-raising ceremony for a group of about 30 Buddhists.

    The flag-raising ceremony at the Nantai Rock Temple on July 2.

    The Religious Affairs Bureau of Quanzhou also demands local religious venues to have the national flag on display throughout the week, regardless of the weather: raise it on Monday and lower it on Friday. The flag must be kept in pristine condition—unfaded and undamaged.


    Following a flag-raising ceremony, the Nantai Rock Temple abbot gives a speech, praising President Xi Jinping for his achievements in fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

    On June 30, the eve of the 99th anniversary of the founding of the CCP, the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of Qingdao city in the eastern province of Shandong gathered monks in the Zhanshan Temple to watch The Founding of A Party, a film about the history of the CCP. “Promotion of Buddhism and most religious activities in the temple are still banned,” one of the temple’s monks explained, adding that they are not even allowed to gather for traditional morning and evening chants.

    In late June, imams of some state-run mosques in Shandong’s Liaocheng city were demanded by the city’s UFWD to “commemorate the Party’s birthday” and organize believers to hold a flag-raising ceremony on July 1 even though religious gatherings continue to be banned.

    “All mosques, churches, and temples in Liaocheng-administered Linqing city had to hold flag-raising ceremonies; some had over 100 attendees. Is this not a gathering?” a local Muslim questioned the reasoning behind the government’s regulations.
    Buddhism & Communism
    covid
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  13. #13
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    Flag Raising

    I think considering there is a lot of sparring going on between China and the west, the flag raising ceremony among religious temples/churches is done to show solidarity. Even if it’s odd and being done at Shaolin. I understand there is some what of an anti foreigner patriotism going on in China but hopefully things can calm down soon.

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