Description
Book SynopsisThis study analyzes the growing appeal of Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese in contemporary China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It examines the Tibetan tradition's historical context and its social, cultural, and political adaptation to Chinese society, as well as the effects on Han practitioners. The author''s analysis is based on fieldwork in all three locations and includes a broad range of interlocutors, such as Tibetan religious teachers, Han practitioners, and lay Tibetans.
Trade ReviewTibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese is a new contribution to the growing field of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist studies concerning the presence of Tibetan Buddhism in the religious landscape of contemporary China. Its ethnographic dynamics afford an extensive discussion of what the author terms the “Chinese superscriptions” of Tibetan Buddhism regarding the increasingly individualized interpretations and practices of this non-Chinese religion. -- Dan Smyer Yü, Yunnan University
The growing cultural and spiritual influence of Tibetan Buddhism in the West is well-known, but, unbeknownst to most scholars and observers, growing numbers of Han Chinese are practicing the religion too. This is a significant contribution to the study of the modern transformations of Tibetan Buddhism in a context of globalization. -- David Palmer, University of Hong Kong
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Tibetan Buddhism as a Worldview
Chapter One: The State, Popular Imagination, and Traditional Chinese Cosmology
Chapter Two: Superscribing New Meaning on Guan Gong, the Chinese ‘God of War’
Chapter Three: The Confucian Revival and Tibetan Buddhism
Chapter Four: Pragmatism, Protestantism and Tibetan Buddhism in Hong Kong
Chapter Five: Tibetan Deities and Spirits in a Multilayered Tibetan Landscape
Chapter Six: Chinese Ghosts and Tibetan Buddhism
Conclusion: Tibetan Buddhism Engaging Contemporary China: Continuity, Change, and Authenticity
