Proposal
 
Buddhism was initially created in ancient India, but gradually entered China. Through years’ development, Buddhism combined with Chinese Confucian and Taoist cultures, and eventually formed a Buddhist culture with Chinese characteristics. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Han Buddhist circles first participated in the agrarian reform movement with the people across the country, abolished the feudal landowner ownership and various other exploitation systems, and the Buddhist cause was increasingly developed. In November 1952, the Preparatory Office of the Chinese Buddhist Association was established. In 1953, the Chinese Buddhist Association was established in Beijing. Master Yuan Ying was elected as the chairman. Since the reform and opening up of China, the policy of freedom of religious belief has been restored and implemented, enabling new development of Chinese Buddhism.
 
This project is a public lecture and the aim of this project is to explore the impact of modern Chinese politics on Buddhism. The significance of the project lies in the fact that public lectures can directly reach the vast majority of people, and through such two-way communication, it is hopefully that Chinese Buddhism can be understood by more people. This project hopes that by discussing the development of Buddhism under the influence of Chinese politics, Buddhist thought can be better as a supplement to the law and politics to help build a better society.

Annotated Bibliography
Borchert, T. A. (2006). Educating Monks: Buddhism, Politics and Freedom of Religion on China's Southwest Border.
 
This article uses Sipsongpanna as an example to analyze how religion and politics work together in minority areas in China. Borchert (2006) studies a monastic education of local institutions and finds out while the traditional form of monastic education remains, a leading group of mainland monks has also established its own Buddhist academy and has established links with transnational Buddhist networks and the Chinese nation Sangha to bring their students abroad for acceptance of Buddhist training. In these cases, monks and novices learn not only how to become monks, but also are required to learn how to become members of a particular community. The author believes that Buddhism is not the source of tension between minority groups and the Chinese government, but rather mediates this relationship in the current political environment. The issue is critical for the project because it reveals that the relationship of Chinese Buddhism and politics should not be violent.  
 
Friedlander, P. (2008). Buddhism and politics. In Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics (pp. 23-37). Routledge.
 
The author proposes that the influence of Chinese politics on Buddhism is mainly reflected in two parts, one is the degree of religious freedom, and the other is the attitude towards Tibetans. During the Cultural Revolution, there were large-scale attacks on Buddhist monasteries and criticism of Buddhist culture, but since the late 1970, the liberalization of Buddhism has deepened, and people have also developed great interest in Buddhism. The number of temples, monks and nuns is constantly increasing. Currently, politicians such as former Chinese President Jiang Zeming have even advocated the use of the virtues of Buddhism in political talks. However, China has emphasized in legislation that Buddhism should not undermine society or threaten the authority of the government.
 
Ji, Z. (2012). Chinese Buddhism as a social force: Reality and potential of thirty years of revival.Chinese Sociological Review, 45(2), 8-26.
 
Ji (2012) studies the significance of the religious mobilization of Buddhism in the post-Mao era, he also discovers the possibilities of Buddhism in rebuilding the association between religion, the state, and society. He further points out that in the current political environment, Chinese Buddhist leaders are not allowed to publicly preach and mobilize believers to participate in societal activities. Undoubtedly, in a micro sense, Buddhist thought has become the basic thinking system of many Chinese, which has constructed people's spiritual world and helped them establish their personal identity and comprehend the world. Though from a macro perspective, the political participation of Buddhism is strictly restricted by Chinese politics which makes Chinese Buddhism less impactful on authority relations. Under the existing political circumstances, Buddhism may be more accessible in comparison with other religions. Nevertheless, in the long run, Chinese Buddhism has little power to influence issues of civil rights and social justice because it is not allowed by the Chinese politics.
 
Yanfei, S. (2011). The Chinese Buddhist ecology in post-Mao China: Contours, types and dynamics. Social Compass, 58(4), 498-510.
 
By focusing on Buddhist ecology, Yingfei (2011) describes the structure of Chinese Buddhist ecology in the New China. She explains how politics affects the development model of each type of group. First, the main Buddhist temple recognized by the state was plagued by the process of hollowing out. Secondly, under the interference of the current Chinese social and political environment, the types of Buddhist groups with ambiguous legal status are booming, but face uncertainty. On the brink of institutional Buddhism, there are various forms, including self-appointed monks and a mixture of Buddhism and popular religion, which constitute the third type. In this type of united denomination, accused by the state and Buddhist institutions, they were forced to work underground. The author further points out that the prospect of the ecology of Buddhism is difficult to predict in the current political environment, but believes that the Chinese government is unlikely to treat Buddhism through past totalitarian methods, and the social space for religious development will continue to grow, which is beneficial to the development of Buddhism.
 
Xiangyang, H. (2010). The three major changes of Buddhism in China and the completion of Chinese Buddhism. Cutting Edge, (9), 96-99.
 
This article explores the situation of Chinese Buddhism in the socialist transformation after the founding of People’s Republic of China. The author mentions that after the founding of New China, there are the following aspects to the reform of Buddhism in Chinese politics. The first is a strict religious management system. The Chinese Buddhist Association was established in 1953. This was the first nationwide Buddhist organization. Under its leadership, monks from all over the world participated in political study and productive labor, and transformed Buddhism in accordance with socialism. The Chinese Buddhist Association also participated in a series of social and political activities as representatives of Buddhists, which indicated that Buddhists and the government were on the united front, reflecting the successful political cooperation of contemporary Chinese Buddhism; More importantly, the transformation of Buddhism is the transformation of Buddhists. It means that the Communist Party of China transforms Buddhists into socialists at the ideological and behavioral level through specific measures and movements such as political learning, ideological reform, and productive labor.
 
Oh, K. N. (2000). The Taoist influence on Hua-yen Buddhism: A case of the sinicization of Buddhism in China. Chinese Buddhist Journal, 277-297.
 
It is pointed out in this article that the influence of Chinese politics on Buddhism can be reflected in the sinicization of Buddhism. The Sinicization of Buddhism means that after the introduction of Indian Buddhism into China, it evolved and developed into the Chinese religion with its own characteristics, "Chinese Buddhism", in the process of adapting to Chinese society, politics, economy and culture. Due to the richness and broadness of traditional Chinese culture, and Buddhism itself is a complex system composed of many elements, the sinicization of Buddhism in China has presented an extremely complicated situation and has adopted a variety of different approaches and methods. It is manifested not only in religious belief, philosophical theory, etc., but also in many aspects such as etiquette system, organizational form, and practice of practice. As far as the ways and methods of Buddhism Sinicization are concerned, it can also be understood from different aspects such as the translation of Buddhist scriptures, commentary, and the teaching of Buddhist sutras. At the same time, China is a multi-ethnic country, the Chinese nation is a multi-ethnic family, and different ethnic groups have different cultural traditions and customs. Therefore, as Fang Litian said, "Indian Buddhism came to China and formed the Han Dynasty Buddhism. , Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Dai and other regions, Buddhism, sinicization of Buddhism, in a sense can also be said to be Sinicization, Tibetanization, and Sinicization of Buddhism "From the perspective of ideological theory, the sinicization of Chinese Buddhism is mainly summarized into three aspects, such as the deification of alchemy spirit, Confucianization and Laozhuang metaphysics. The issue is important because it reflects the basics of Chinese Buddhism and the difference of Chinese Buddhism from others mainly due to the Chinese politics.
 
References:
Borchert, T. A. (2006). Educating Monks: Buddhism, Politics and Freedom of Religion on China's Southwest Border.
 
Friedlander, P. (2008). Buddhism and politics. In Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics (pp. 23-37). Routledge.
 
Ji, Z. (2012). Chinese Buddhism as a social force: Reality and potential of thirty years of revival. Chinese Sociological Review, 45(2), 8-26.
 
Oh, K. N. (2000). The Taoist influence on Hua-yen Buddhism: A case of the sinicization of Buddhism in China. Chinese Buddhist Journal, 277-297.
 
Xiangyang, H. (2010). The three major changes of Buddhism in China and the completion of Chinese Buddhism. Cutting Edge, (9), 96-99.
 
Yanfei, S. (2011). The Chinese Buddhist ecology in post-Mao China: Contours, types and dynamics. Social Compass, 58(4), 498-510.