Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese

This study analyzes the growing appeal of Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese in contemporary China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It examines the Tibetan tradition’s historical context and its social, cultural, and political adaptation to Chinese society, as well as the effects on Han practitioners. The author's analysis is based on fieldwork in all three locations and includes a broad range of interlocutors, such as Tibetan religious teachers, Han practitioners, and lay Tibetans.

Joshua Esler is a researcher and Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education and Director of the Indian Ocean Research Centre. He is also Senior Research Fellow at the Indo-Pacific Research Centre, Murdoch University, Australia.

Introduction: Tibetan Buddhism as a Worldview Chapter One: The State, Popular Imagination, and Traditional Chinese Cosmology Chapter Two: Superscribing New Meaning on Guan Gong, the Chinese 'God of War' Chapter Three: The Confucian Revival and Tibetan Buddhism Chapter Four: Pragmatism, Protestantism and Tibetan Buddhism in Hong Kong Chapter Five: Tibetan Deities and Spirits in a Multilayered Tibetan Landscape Chapter Six: Chinese Ghosts and Tibetan Buddhism Conclusion: Tibetan Buddhism Engaging Contemporary China: Continuity, Change, and Authenticity