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The Nine Regions of Han Buddhist Philanthropy

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Religion and China's Welfare Regimes

Part of the book series: Religion and Society in Asia Pacific ((RSAP))

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Abstract

In this chapter, I document another example of the CCP administrative practice of experimenting locally with policy innovations before turning the most successful ones into nationwide policies. I do not attempt to provide explanations for these variants, but I do present the diversity of Han Buddhist philanthropy throughout the country, as documented during the Hu Jintao period and the beginning of Xi Jinping’s governance. I have chosen to follow the spatial framework discussed in the previous chapter of nine macro-regions devised by G. William Skinner and adopted by the historian of Buddhism Jiang Wu.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For the history of this region, see Ashiwa and Wank (2006), Birnbaum (2003).

  2. 2.

    Weller et al. (2017).

  3. 3.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 98).

  4. 4.

    Ibid.: 819–820.

  5. 5.

    See FSFX (2020).

  6. 6.

    For a recent ethnography of this site, see Vidal (2019).

  7. 7.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 768–769).

  8. 8.

    Ibid.: 769.

  9. 9.

    Ibid.: 772.

  10. 10.

    Ibid.: 764–766.

  11. 11.

    Ibid.: 753, 755, 759, 761.

  12. 12.

    For the association’s last recorded activity in 2015, see NBFX (2017a).

  13. 13.

    See NBFX (2017b).

  14. 14.

    For a detailed account of Buddhist activism during this period, see Jessup (2016).

  15. 15.

    On Wang, see Katz (2014: 117 ff.).

  16. 16.

    SZZ BW (2001: 171–173).

  17. 17.

    Ibid.: 173–174.

  18. 18.

    In addition, he has edited multi-authored books on Buddhism that brought together over forty academics. See Juexing (2004, 2007).

  19. 19.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 638).

  20. 20.

    On Jing’an’s development, see Huang (2019).

  21. 21.

    See Welch (1967: 416–417, 412–413).

  22. 22.

    Kiely (2016: 228, 231).

  23. 23.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 78–92).

  24. 24.

    Yangzhong is an urban district in Zhenjiang.

  25. 25.

    The translation of the charter is mine. See Hanshansi (2019).

  26. 26.

    I visited this site before it was established, when it was in the planning stage, and I witnessed its completion over the years.

  27. 27.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 699–712).

  28. 28.

    Li (2020).

  29. 29.

    Jijingjin stands for Hebei (Ji 冀), Beijing, and Tianjin. The Middle Yangzi urban cluster is the first of the emerging clusters announced by the 11th five-year plan for economic development to be promoted by the CCP in 2006–2010. For details of the clusters, see ZZW and GY (2014: 15).

  30. 30.

    Wang (2001).

  31. 31.

    Sadly, he was not able to introduce me to local philanthropic activities, which I was most eager to see.

  32. 32.

    ZFX CGW (2013).

  33. 33.

    Ibid.: 822–826, 827–831.

  34. 34.

    See ASFX (2020).

  35. 35.

    NBS (2019).

  36. 36.

    Using Republican government data published in 1930, Welch estimated that there were twenty times fewer devotees in Jiangxi relative to Jiangsu. See Welch (1967: 412).

  37. 37.

    CX (2015).

  38. 38.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 99).

  39. 39.

    ACMRC (2010). The year 2004 was the latest date for which this kind of comparative data was available.

  40. 40.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 101).

  41. 41.

    DCJ (2019).

  42. 42.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 897).

  43. 43.

    Ibid.: 108–111.

  44. 44.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 920). The Tzu Chi Foundation delivered relief after the 1992 and 1993 floods in townships in the counties of Huangmei and Jingzhou. I visited these locations in 2004, and local residents showed me the mementos of that relief operation, which they had kept.

  45. 45.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 895).

  46. 46.

    HFX (2020).

  47. 47.

    See Nanputuo Administrator (2011).

  48. 48.

    Foci (2020).

  49. 49.

    I follow the usage of linguists who define Cantonese, Hakka, etc., as languages because they are most often unintelligible to each other, and also to monolingual native Mandarin speakers. My use of the term “dialect” acknowledges the variety within each of these languages, with respect to pronunciation, usage, vocabulary, etc.

  50. 50.

    For many years, Polin monastery, established in Hong Kong, ran a website that preserved data on Buddhist philanthropy throughout China.

  51. 51.

    This refers to the companion book to this one, on Chinese Buddhist philanthropy beyond the PRC.

  52. 52.

    Welch (1967: 416–417, 412–413).

  53. 53.

    The BAC appointed Mingsheng to oversee the development of its charity.

  54. 54.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 119–123).

  55. 55.

    GFX (2019a). Shunde is an urban district in Foshan with a population of about 1 million people.

  56. 56.

    GFX (2019b).

  57. 57.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 124–125).

  58. 58.

    GFX (2017).

  59. 59.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 123).

  60. 60.

    Ibid.: 1010–1021.

  61. 61.

    Between 2005 and 2012, fundraising efforts by Buddhists in Nanning collected 4 million RMB. See ZFX CGW (2013: 1046).

  62. 62.

    Welch (1967: 412–413).

  63. 63.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 149–153).

  64. 64.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 1089–1096).

  65. 65.

    In 2017, UNICEF counted over 5 million left-behind children in Sichuan, as well as identifying over 40% of rural children in both Sichuan and Chongqing as left-behind. See UNICEF, NWCCW, and NBS (2018: 139).

  66. 66.

    Jing (2013: 16) also mentioned the Jinyunshan Yangsheng 缙云山养生慈爱基金会 Charity Foundation, which was created in 2007, but the ZFX CGW did not register it.

  67. 67.

    See the summary of the charter in ZFX CGW (2013: 148–149).

  68. 68.

    For example, see Xu (2017).

  69. 69.

    Welch (1967: 412–413, 416–417).

  70. 70.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 140, 146–147).

  71. 71.

    ZFX (2017).

  72. 72.

    However, many of these temples are located in the Tibetan autonomous prefectures.

  73. 73.

    Wang (2001: 104–109).

  74. 74.

    See Bao’en si (2015).

  75. 75.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 1061–1063).

  76. 76.

    Ibid.: 1051.

  77. 77.

    Ibid.: 1053–1054.

  78. 78.

    SXF (2019).

  79. 79.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 556–563).

  80. 80.

    Only the last of these three, established in 2006, has submitted a report to the BAC (ZFX CGW 2013: 61), although the same report mentions the activities of the other two as well (ZFX CGW 2013: 534–535, 544).

  81. 81.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 534–535).

  82. 82.

    Ibid.: 544, 549–550.

  83. 83.

    SSCZ (2020).

  84. 84.

    WSQ (2019).

  85. 85.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 103).

  86. 86.

    Ibid.: 105–108.

  87. 87.

    See PMW (2020).

  88. 88.

    The provincial department of taxation included the foundation among the 103 public welfare social organizations that qualified for public welfare donation in 2019. See SSCT (2019).

  89. 89.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 55–61).

  90. 90.

    Ibid.: 60–61.

  91. 91.

    Yang and Wei (2005), Fisher (2008).

  92. 92.

    I refer to the other book on Buddhist philanthropy beyond the PRC.

  93. 93.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 50–55).

  94. 94.

    Although the Tianjin charity website lists no events for 2020, the Buddhist information site fjnet provides details on this charity drive. See fojiaonet (2020).

  95. 95.

    For the first use of this term, see Duara (2003).

  96. 96.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 582).

  97. 97.

    Ibid.: 583–584.

  98. 98.

    This was the case in Dandong, close to the frontier with the DPRK. See LG (2020).

  99. 99.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 592–596).

  100. 100.

    JSZ (2020).

  101. 101.

    This information, issued by the Heilongjiang Buddhist Association and approved by the BAC, appeared in Buddhist media. See ZFX (2020).

  102. 102.

    ZFX CGW (2013: 1097–1099).

  103. 103.

    Ibid.: 63.

  104. 104.

    Ibid.: 2015–2016.

  105. 105.

    Ibid.: 1217–1219.

  106. 106.

    Ibid.: 1220–1224.

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    André Laliberté

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Laliberté, A. (2022). The Nine Regions of Han Buddhist Philanthropy. In: Religion and China's Welfare Regimes. Religion and Society in Asia Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7270-5_10

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