Chinese Buddhism as a Social Force: Reality and Potential of Thirty Years of Revival

Résumé En

This article examines the level of religious mobilization of Buddhism in post-Mao China and explores the potential of Buddhism for reconfiguring the relationships between religion, state, and society. In the first part, with existing data, three aspects of the ongoing Buddhist revival are measured: the number of lay Buddhists, the size and composition of sangha (Buddhist clergy), and the number and geographical repartition of monasteries. In the second part, the author analyzes three possible roles that Buddhism may play in Chinese public life, which are, respectively, a spiritual reference for political protest, a source of civil religion, and an element of the state’s soft power. The author argues that although Buddhism has become a basic system of symbolic reference for 10 to 20 percent of the Chinese adult population, it is politically conservative and contributes little to changing the existing social structure and power relations.