Born: 1907, Taihu, Anqing, Anhui province, China | Died: 2000
Name in Chinese: 趙樸初 (zhào pǔchū)
Also known as: Zhao Pulao (赵朴老; zhào pǔ lǎo)
Roles:
Zhao Puchu was a Chinese public leader and a key figure in the revival of Han Buddhism in service of the Chinese state. He was one of the founders, and later served as President (1980-2000) of the Buddhist Association of China (BAC) and from 1979 was a leading member of the Religious Affairs Bureau. Following the suppression of religion during the Cultural Revolution, Zhao was rehabilitated in 1972, and later praised by the Communist Party as an “outstanding patriotic religious leader who made important contributions to guide religions to adapt to socialist society.”
Zhao was a student of the activist and thinker Taixu (1890-1947) the progenitor of the doctrines of “Humanistic Buddhism”. A great part of Zhao’s life’s work was devoted to developing and implementing these theories, to assimilate Buddhism as a political component of the PRC’s “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” and involve China’s millions of Buddhists in the formation of a modern, wealthy and powerful Socialist society under the strict command and control of the CCP.
Advocating a continuity of Taixu’s theories under the guidance of the Communist Party, Zhao referred to the Bodhisattva ideal as a way to justify Chinese social concerns. Quoting the scholar monk Yin Shun, he claimed that: “seeking enlightenment without the intention to serve the society is tragedy for Buddhists.” To keep Buddhism viable in contemporary China, Zhao aligned the Buddhist concept of “Pure Land” with China’s socialist polity, interpreting it as a relentless human pursuit of well-being on earth rather than in a transcendent sense. He used the Chan motto “a day without work, a day without food” to justify his belief in all people’s right and obligation to work. As such, he was the guiding hand behind the adaptation of Buddhism to a Communist state.
Zhao began his work on Buddhism in the 1930s, serving as secretary of the Chinese Buddhist Association, which had been founded in Shanghai in 1929 by Master Yinguang (印光法師) (1862-1940), Master Dixian (諦閑法師) (1858-1932) and others. He also helped Master Yinguang to establish the Honghua society (弘化社) that would publish a profusion of Buddhist books, up to the present day. In 1949, Zhao chose to stay in the Mainland to accomplish his great task of merging Buddhism into Communism.
In 1957 Zhao created the Chinese Buddhist Academy (CBA) in the Fayuan Temple, Beijing. The goal was to produce a new elite of young clerics motivated to promote a form of Buddhism which supported the new “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.” The CBA’s School Policy included objectives such as cultivating and fostering a love for the motherland, accepting the leadership of the Party and the government, adhering to the road of socialism, safeguarding national unification and national unity, and to actively revitalise the “true faith”.
Even the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 would not stop him. He would witness the forced return of monks to lay life, and the prohibition of all the traditional forms of Buddhism, as mere temporary experiences. He would stay confident in the Buddhist revival despite the massive destruction of temples and of countless Buddhist texts and relics. With his unwavering smile, he would just wait for the death of Mao Zedong. Immediately afterwards, he gracefully helped his emerging form of Socialism-compliant Han Buddhism to gradually resume. To this effect, he advised the Central Committee of the CCP on how to formally allow such a resumption of nationwide religious activities. This door-opening was officially formalised on 31 March 1982 with the publication of the famous “Document No. 19”, “Basic Viewpoints and Basic Policies on Religious Problems in the Socialist Period of Our Country”.
Zhao Puchu (c) accompanying Mao Zedong welcoming a Cambodian delegation in 1958
Zhao Puchu arriving in a "red flag limo" in 1980
Zhao Puchu and the 10th Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen in Beijing, 1980
Zhao Puchu, sitting next to Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen (l) and Deng Yingchao (c) addressing
the inaugural meeting of the China Advanced Institute of Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing, 1983
Zhao’s Humanistic Han Buddhism would later be preached by influential clerics on Taiwan who became close friends with Zhao in the 1980s such as Sheng Yen and Hsing Yun, founder of the powerful Fo Guang Shan order.
In order to ensure that Buddhism could fully live up to its role in China’s economic growth, Zhao mostly promoted Buddhism as a “culture” and worked actively on its “de-religionizing”. His strategy was first articulated in April 1986 when he published an article entitled “We should study the influence of Buddhism in Chinese Culture” in Fayin (“Voice of Dharma”) the official journal of the BAC.
Although Zhao was involved totally in the Communist agenda, he nevertheless kept a personal tie with Buddhism in general, and with the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism in particular. This connection materialised with the 9th Panchen Lama Thubten Choekyi Nyima (1883-1937), from whom he received initiations in Shanghai in 1934 when the latter was the official guest of the Mayor of Shanghai. Zhao sustained his relationship with the two subsequent holders of the Panchen title. When he founded the BAC, he managed to appoint the 10th Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen as the Honorary Co-President, together with the 18 year-old 14th Dalai Lama. He was also instrumental in the appointment of the patriotic 11th Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu in 1995.
Zhao was very close to the 10th Panchen Lama. After the latter’s political rehabilitation, he was appointed Dean of the China Advanced Institute of Tibetan Buddhism which Zhao founded in 1987 with State Council approval, to cultivate and build a reserve of Tibetan Buddhists who are “politically reliable, educated and venerable.”
Zhao understood the value of Buddhism for China's soft power and diplomacy from a very early stage. In 1993 he was guest of honour at the inauguration of the 34-metre tall “Tian Tan Buddha” statue on the Island of Lantau in Hong Kong, four years before the handover of Hong Kong from the British. His speech made perfectly clear the meaning of the monument in preparing the population of Hong Kong for their absorption into China.
"The Tian Tan Buddha Statue is the fruit of the close co-operation between the mainland and Hong Kong, a symbol of the unity of the Chinese nation. It is indeed a most meritorious achievement. Today, the largest outdoor bronze statue of Buddha Sakyamuni sits majestically on the hilltop of Lantau Island. With its face to the north, i.e. the capital of China, It bestows blessing quietly on all living beings on the solemn land of China, wishing that they would pursue their religious cause with boldness and vigour, and wishing them success in their work. While we praise the Buddha statue, we look to the propitious future of the motherland as forecast by the Buddha statue."
Zhao was in charge of the BAC during the period in which the Chinese government appointed Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, whom Zhao Puchu personally enrolled into the BAC in 1994. It was during Ogyen Trinley Dorje's visit to Beijing to celebrate the PRC’s 45th anniversary and pledge his allegiance to President Jiang Zemin. Zhao Puchu instructed him to work for the unity of the Han and Tibetan ethnicities by creating a “patriotic Buddhism”, specifically through the development of Buddhism in Tibetan and Chinese.
Zhao passed away in Beijing in May 2000 at the age of 93. His funeral was attended by the highest PRC officials including Jiang Zemin.
Zhao Puchu addressing the 7th CPPCC National Committee in 1989
Zhao Puchu holding hands with the young 11th Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu in Beijing, 1995
Zhao Puchu with PRC President Jiang Zemin in 1997
PRC President Jiang Zemin consoles the wife and family of Zhao Puchu at his funeral in 2000
