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Paper long abstract:

The establishment of the White Horse Temple (Baima si 白马寺) in Henan Province by Emperor Ming (58-75 AD) marked the introduction of Buddhism into China (Yang & Wang, 2014). According to tradition, it is the first Buddhist temple in China, established in 68 AD. The main temple buildings, were reconstructed during the Ming and Qing dynasties, refurbished in the 1950s, and again in 1973 after the Cultural Revolution. A few more additions and renovations were completed in the past decade, and uniquely, the complex now includes temples designed and dedicated to Buddhist traditions of other countries beyond Chinese Buddhist traditions; namely: Myanmar, Thailand, and India. These architectonic, stylistic and cultural expressions raise several questions including: Why would the first Chinese Buddhist temple stress foreign Buddhist traditions? What stands behind the choice of these particular countries?

Since the early 2000s, the CCP has increasingly used various cultural heritage sites, including Buddhist ones, as soft power agents. Furthermore, In the context of the "One Belt, One Road" (Yidaiyilu一带一路) initiative launched by President Xi in 2013, Buddhist temples, representatives, and practices have been harnessed to play a part in the PRC's agendas. In this context, the White Horse Temple, as part of cultural tourism in Henan, is facing new opportunities and challenges (Lin & Wei, 2022).

Beyond the explicit and implicit political message inscribed in the developments in the temple, the paper turns to deal with further concerns, namely, what happens to religious space now that it has, for the past three decades, been used, redesigned, and renovated under the strong influence of diplomatic and political motives? What can be said about how the cultural heritage of the temple is preserved? How do these developments affect local Chinese Buddhist visitors to the temple?

The paper looks into the material particularities of the reconstruction of the oldest Chinese Buddhist temple in light of the trajectory described above, based on field notes from 2018, as well as online ethnographic data from the Chinese social media app Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu 小红书). I argue that the temple's unique spatiality and characteristics stress a double cultural message. The first is that the temple, as ancient Buddhist heritage, ties the Buddhist tradition with the Chinese nation, and history. This message is part of a broader endeavor for the Sinicization of Buddhism (Fojiao zhongguohua jincheng佛教中国化进程). The second is that Buddhism is a collective Asian tradition, shared among the PRC's potential allies and therefore a fruitful cultural common ground for economic and political collaboration.