After an ancient temple was repurposed for an activity center, believers continue their religious practices in secret, without seeing the statues of deities.
At an activity center for the elderly, a devout Buddhist was worshipping in front of an iron-sheet wall while muttering, “Bodhisattva, Buddha, I’m sorry. These circumstances are beyond my control. There’s nothing I can do.” There were no statues of deities or any other religious symbols or icons in sight – they were behind the wall. And the activity center was once an ancient temple.
Located in the Huiji district of Zhengzhou city, the capital of central China’s Henan Province, the ancient temple was popular with believers and housed a variety of historical and religious artifacts; among them were two inscribed stone tablets from the eras of emperors Qianlong (1711-1799) and Guangxu (1871-1908) of China’s Qing dynasty (1644-1912).
Seeing its dilapidated state, villagers raised funds to renovate the ancient temple, and from June 2017, they went from one office to another, hoping to get the necessary permits, as required by China’s religious management policies. To their surprise, the local Religious Affairs Bureau not only rejected the believers’ permit application but started interfering with and controlling the temple’s activities, eventually prohibiting any worshiping.
In October 2018, pressured by the local Religious Affairs Bureau, local officials ordered workers to cover with sheets the donor recognition plaque inside the temple and put up a poster promoting the Core Socialist Values. The “Guanling Hall” signboard above the temple’s gate was replaced with “Elderly Cultural Center.” The temple has been repurposed – a daily occurrence in China’s current crackdown on religions.
Two months later, all of the Buddhist statues and symbols in the temple were hidden behind the specially installed iron sheets, preventing the religious from accessing them. But they continue to come back and secretly lay out offerings and worship Buddha that has been hidden behind the iron-sheet wall.
A local official revealed that each level of the Chinese government is held accountable for the successful implementation of the suppression of religions. “If the Central Inspection Team for Religious Supervision discovers that the crackdown hasn’t been carried out at the grassroots level, they will look for who is responsible,” the official explained. “The authorities will either summon you for ‘a talk,’ revoke your Party membership or take intra-Party disciplinary actions against you. In cases of serious dereliction of tasks, you will be relieved of all your duties. All of this can jeopardize your future. We have no choice but to cooperate in carrying out the central government’s policies.”
Video: The before and after: Buddhist statues at the ancient temple have been hidden from worshipers.