Factors of the Central Government in Developing Tibetan Buddhism in the Chinese Context—A Case Study of the Yuan,Ming,and Qing Dynasties
Since Buddhism was introduced to Xizang in the 7th century A.D.,it has undergone a process of lo-calization,evolving from royal influence during the Tubo period to autonomous development in the fragmented era,transitioning into folk practices in the form of sects.In the complex early stages of Tibetan Buddhism,the major directions,fundamental paths,transformation criteria,and driving forces for localization were ex-plored.Since the Yuan Dynasty,Xizang has been formally incorporated into the administrative jurisdiction of the central government,marking the central government as the most influential promoter and guide in the process of developing Tibetan Buddhism in the Chinese context.During the Yuan,Ming,and Qing Dynasties,corresponding management systems for Tibetan Buddhism were formulated and implemented by the central governments.Guided and propelled by these dynasties,Tibetan Buddhism in this period actively revered the central government,embraced mainland culture,and innovated and developed in aspects such as sectarian in-heritance,doctrinal principles,management systems,cultural exchange,academic education,and temple eco-nomics,continually adapting to local characteristics.Simultaneously,under the patronage of successive central governments,Tibetan Buddhism accelerated its external dissemination,transcending geographical,linguistic,scriptural,and ethnic boundaries,becoming a cultural tradition deeply rooted in the vast expanse of China,shared by multiple ethnic groups,and achieving further localization.
Develop religions in the Chinese contextTibetan BuddhismYuan,Ming,Qing DynastiesIntegration of politics and religionReincarnation of Living Buddhas