2014, 11 Feb - Asian Tribune
China is the world’s largest Buddhist country, in terms of its population and size. Buddhists account for more than 1 billion or about 80% of the total Chinese population of 1.4 billion in the year 2014. China accounts for 67% of the 1.6 billion total Buddhist population in the world. The magnitude of the Chinese Buddhist population is evident when compared to Japan which has the second highest Buddhist population of 122 million (122,022,837), which is 7.6% of the world’s total Buddhist population and about 09% of the Chinese Buddhist population. For purposes of comparison, the estimated Buddhist population of Sri Lanka is 14.9 million (70% of her population) which is a mere 1.4% of the Chinese Buddhist population and less than 1% of the world’s total Buddhist population.
There are more than 240,000 Buddhist monks and nuns in China, more than 28,000 Buddhist monasteries and about 16,000 Buddhist temples. Many of the world’s tallest and biggest statutes of the Buddha and Buddhist deities are found in China and most of them were built in the 2000’s. The world’s tallest Buddha statute is the Spring temple statue located in Henan. The world’s tallest stupa or pagoda which is the Femen temple of Shaanxi Province of Northwest China, is 148 metres high and was built in the year 2007. (View on YouTube Chinese Buddhist Cave Shrines).
China is a nation entrenched with a distinct Buddhist character and identity. It is the depository of the largest collection of historic Buddhist scriptures and documents in the world. Buddhism was the primary source of inspiration for the exceptional cultural achievements, the exceptional intuitive, innovative and imaginative powers, spiritual disposition and the outstanding creativity of the Chinese people. This is reflected vividly in the exceedingly rich tangible and intangible aspects of Chinese culture, social norms and values. The largest collection Buddhist sites, temples and structures in the world, are to be found in China. The direct impact of Buddhism is reflected in its unique visual arts and culture evident in its architecture, sculpture, engineering, performing arts, music, dance, drama, poetry and literature.
Buddhism In China
The 1978 Constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees freedom of religion. Since then, there has been a momentous revival and renewal of Buddhism in China, after the set back during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to1976. Today, Buddhism is officially considered and supported as an integral part of Chinese culture and Buddhism is given greater support as compared to other faiths. Since the mid-1990’s there has been a massive program to rebuild Buddhist temples destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. This has permitted the rise of a string of outward-looking and ambitious temples in recent years, the most prominent among them being the Guangxiao Temple in Guangdong Province, which claims to be the oldest and biggest temple in south China.
The most popular form of Buddhism in both mainland China and Taiwan is the Pure Land Buddhism, also known as Amidism. It is a branch of mainstream Mahayana Buddhism based upon the ancient Pure Land sutras which describe Amitabha, an ancient Buddha. It is popular in Korea and is the dominant form of Buddhism in Japan. Theravada is followed by some Buddhists in southwest China and the Tibetan Vajrayana form of Buddhism is found in North China.
China To Spearhead Initiatives To Protect & Promote Buddhism
The 27th General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) was held in China, from October 16th to 18th, 2014. This highly acclaimed international conference of Buddhists had the participation of more than 600 international delegates from 40 countries. “Buddhism and Public-Benefit Charity” was the theme of the conference. The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) was founded in 1950, by the late Dr. Gunapala Malalasekare, as an international organization of Buddhists of all denominations - Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. With its Headquarters in Thailand, it consists of 140 Regional Centres around the world in 35 countries.
The Formal Declaration Of The Conference
The formal Declaration at the end of this highly successful Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in China is clearly indicative of the strong ties among the Buddhist nations of the world, their unwavering unity and solidarity and their firm commitment to promote Buddhism for the benefit of humankind and world peace. China as the world’s largest and strongest Buddhist nation declared its commitment to spearhead and support international initiatives to protect and promote Buddhism and Buddhist culture and values.
Among specific objectives set out in the Declaration was to work jointly for the preservation of intangible and tangible Buddhist cultural heritages which are in danger in different parts of the world. This appears to be of particular relevance and significance to Sri Lanka. Indisputably, the Buddha Dhamma is the crowning glory of the cultural heritage of Sri Lanka. The Buddha’s teachings and related cultural norms and values are the greatest inheritance of Sri Lankans. This legacy continues to have an overpowering influence in shaping the lives of many Buddhist Sri Lankans, wherever in the world they have chosen to live. In contemporary times, with the special cluster of bafflement, discord, threats, challenges and uncertainties faced by Buddhists, the relevance of the Buddha’s teachings cannot be overemphasized and the solemn but firm commitment on the part of all Buddhist nations, spearheaded by China, to adopt a joint approach to preserve and promote Buddhism and related Buddhist culture and values internationally, is most commendable. This reinforce the long awaited unity and solidarity among the world’s Buddhist communities.
Master Chuanyin, president of the Buddhist Association of China (BAC), described the event as a milestone for friendship between the BAC and the WFB and that it will help Chinese Buddhists play a bigger role internationally. He said that this event helps to boost cooperation among Buddhists to promote Buddhism and to make a greater contribution for the benefit of humankind and to foster world peace. The Head of the Japanese Buddhist delegation stated that through events of this nature he feels strongly the deepening relationship between Buddhists in Northeastern Asia and South Asia, and increasing solidarity among Buddhists across the world. The pledges made at this historic international Buddhist conference by China the foremost economic power in the world today, to protect and promote Buddhism and Buddhist culture and values, is of utmost significance to Buddhists across the world, especially to the traditional Buddhist Communities of Southern Asia who in recent years have been subject to undue threats, harassment and violence by Muslim extremists and by the unethical conversion menace of Christian fundamentalists.
Sri Lanka has an enduring, multi-dimensional and deep-rooted relationship with China. The long-standing ties of friendship between the two countries are underpinned by mutual trust and confidence. Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China, and since then the relations between the two nations have become stronger. Chinese leadership has always appreciated Sri Lanka’s steadfast support on issues of their concern and China has always supported Sri Lanka on all issues of importance to Sri Lanka. In recent decades, China’s cooperation with Sri Lanka has reached high economic points especially with substantial Chinese investment in Sri Lankan infrastructural expansion. China’s New Silk Road—a strategic engagement with countries along the ancient Silk Road would pave the way for increased involvement of China in the overall development initiatives including promotion of Buddhism and Buddhist culture and to reinforce the centuries old religious and cultural bonds among nations of Southern Asia, especially between China and Sri Lanka.
Dr. Daya Hewapathirane - Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka
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