Karma Chameleon: The CCP turns to Buddhism

About this episode

The episode explores the revival of Buddhism in China and its implications for state diplomacy.

Continuing our series on belief in China, we look at the revival of Buddhism, which is being embraced by citizens and the Chinese state. While temple visits increase, the state is funding temples and martial arts academies from Nepal to Tanzania. As Xi Jinping extols Buddhism with Chinese characteristics, the Chinese state is leveraging Buddhism diplomacy to its advantage. To find out more, Louisa and Graeme are joined by anthropologist Gareth Fisher from Syracuse University, the author of From Comrades to Bodhisattvas , and political scientist Chien-Peng Chung from Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Image: c/- Bitter Winter . Weibo image of Xi Jinping visiting Hongjue Temple, 18 June 2024. Transcripts available at https://ciw.anu.edu.au/podcasts/little-red-podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Graeme Smith, Louisa Lim

Guests: Gareth Fisher, Chien-Peng Chung

Topics covered

• Buddhism
• China
• Chinese state
• religion
• diplomacy
• belief systems

Keywords

• Buddhism
• China
• Xi Jinping
• diplomacy
• religion
• Gareth Fisher
• Chien-Peng Chung

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Syracuse University, Lingnan University

Books & works: From Comrades to Bodhisattvas

Places: China, Nepal, Tanzania

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