Buddhism in Chinese Political Discourse: Construction of a Religious-patriotic Narrative

On three occasions Buddhism had to face and overcome major persecutions in the history of China, and there were various ways by which it created a discourse adapting to cultural and political circumstances in support of its doctrine. In the early twentieth century Chinese Buddhism emphasized a modernizing discourse, in order to later adapt its religious concepts to communist ideology. Today, Buddhism must respond to the Xi Jinping patriotic policy of the “Chinese Dream”. This paper aims to analyze the religious-political narrative through the use of concepts and ideas circulating in the media and public talks that the Buddhist Association of China promotes among believers