Chinese Buddhist Communities Project

The project has for its purpose to foster, through visits, interreligious dialogue with Chinese Buddhist communities, and through it to promote mutual better knowledge and understanding of these diverse religious traditions in China.

Yet taking into consideration the present religious policy of the Chinese government, the project can only start by implementing modest realisations, which can be further developed according to the circumstances.

A first concrete step is to have a team of two members of the Macau Ricci Institute visiting some communities of the major temples and monasteries of China, in order to make a brief survey of the situation of Buddhism in the PRC. Through these visits, materials and data will be collected to prepare the publication, in English, of a “guide to the communities, temples and monasteries of China”. Such a guide will be useful to those interested in interreligious dialogue with Chinese Buddhists.

The development of this project has the following main advantages:

  • To get a better knowledge of the real situation of Buddhism in the PRC.
  • To establish friendly relations with some of the most influential Monks and Nuns throughout China.
  • With the publication in English of the above mentioned guide to the major communities, temples and monasteries, to make an important contribution to the cause of interreligious dialogue worldwide.

The estimated budget for four trips and visits per year by the team of researchers would be about US$ 9,500.